Sow named Big West Player of the Week

UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif.- Sophomore Amadou Sow garnered his second career Big West Men's Basketball Player of the Week award as the catalyst behind UC Santa Barbara's victories against the top two teams in the conference.

The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 25.5 points and 8.0 rebounds as the Gauchos took down second place Hawai'i (76-66) and league-leading UC Irvine (64-61) at the Thunderdome.

Sow became the first UCSB sophomore to score 30 points in a game since November of 2017 when he tallied 30 against the Rainbow Warriors. He made 12-of-13 field goal attempts, the .923 field goal percentage the best by a Gaucho with 10 or more attempts since 2000.More impressively, Sow dealt with first half foul trouble and scored 24 of his career-high 30 in the second stanza.

Against the Anteaters, Sow notched his sixth double-double of the season and the third in his last four games with 21 points and 10 rebounds. He was 8-of-15 from the field.

Sow displayed an ability to score from anywhere on the court as he made both of his three-point attempts against UH and went 2-of-4 from distance against UCI. He went 7-for-7 from the free throw line for the week, including two key makes against UCI in the final seconds of a close game. For the week, the Bamako, Mali native shot 71.4% (20-of-28) from the field and 66.7% from three-point range.

The Gauchos, winners of three straight and four out of five, travel to UC Davis on Thursday, Feb. 13 for a 7:00 p.m. game against the Aggies.