Jan. 24, 2006

SAN BRUNO, Calif. - Gonzaga's Adam Morrison is this week's West Coast Conference Player of the Week for his performance in guiding the Bulldogs to a pair of road wins at San Diego and at San Francisco. The weekly honor is the fourth of his career, all of them coming this season. The wins improved Gonzaga's conference record to 6-0, while upping its overall mark to 16-3.

Despite playing in hostile environments in packed houses, and playing against defenses geared to stop him, Morrison continues to make a strong case for National Player of the Year honors. The Spokane, Wash. native averaged 28.5 points per game to go along with 5.5 rebounds per game in the Zags two wins. Morrison shot an efficient 55.9 percent from the field (19-for-34) and a blistering 63.6 percent from beyond the arc (7-for-11), while knocking down 92.3 percent from the free throw line (12-for-13).

Going against one of the top defenders in the country in San Diego's Corey Belser, and a team defense on a mission to stop him, Morrison chipped in 16 points in the Zags' 64-63 win over the Toreros.

Coming off his second-lowest scoring effort of the season, Morrison came out firing against San Francisco, knocking down nine of his first 10 shots from the field, including a ridiculous 28-foot three-pointer midway through the first half, giving him 26 first half points. He added 15 more points in the second half en route to a game-high 41 points. The performance marked his third 40-point outburst this season and the fourth time in the last five games that he's topped 30 points. Morrison added nine boards and knocked down all eight of his free throw attempts in 37 minutes of action.

After his marvelous weekend, Morrison increased his national-best scoring average to 28.3 points per game, while grabbing 5.9 rebounds per contest. The 6-8 forward is shooting 52.2 percent from the floor, 42.4 percent from beyond the arc, and 80.2 percent from the charity stripe.