UW Men's Basketball | Hawes earns Pac-10 player of week honor

Only once in the last 13 years has the Pac-10 Conference named multiple men's basketball players of the week, and then it was twins Jason and Jarron Collins of Stanford (in 2001).

So this week, forced to pick just one Washington Husky in the wake of UW's impressive win over LSU, the Pac-10 sided with Spencer Hawes instead of his equally deserving teammate, Jon Brockman.

"I'd have given it to Jon, but I'll take it anyways," said Hawes, a freshman from Seattle Prep who scored 23 points in each of UW's games last week against LSU and Weber State and also averaged 10.5 rebounds. Hawes also shot 20 of 30 from the field.

Brockman had similar numbers, averaging 18.5 points and 13 rebounds, and played impressive defense in shutting down LSU's Glen Davis, though Hawes had a few moments on Big Baby.

Predictably, Brockman didn't argue.

"He proved it on the court why he should be the player of the week," he said.

Hawes is the first UW player to be honored this season.

No TV for USC

Washington opens its Pac-10 season Thursday at USC, a game that will not be seen on live television in the Seattle area. However, it will be available on FSN West and Fox College Sports Central, meaning it should be available on some cable packages. FSN-NW will show the UCLA-Washington State game Thursday night, instead.

UW officials applied for a waiver to have the game shown on FSN-NW but were denied, in part because the UCLA-WSU game features teams from the same TV markets as the USC-UW game.

Non-TV games will be rare for UW this season as at least 25 games are scheduled to be shown. The times and network for some games later in the season is still to be determined.

New digs for USC

Thursday's game will be the first Pac-10 contest played at USC's new on-campus arena, the Galen Center, which seats 10,258. USC had previously played in the rickety Los Angeles Sports Arena. The Galen Center reportedly cost $147 million and includes team offices and a practice facility. Brockman said he was looking forward to playing in it, noting the dead spots in the floor at the Sports Arena last season.

Many around the Pac-10 theorize that the arena will help USC become more consistently competitive in basketball. USC has already signed O.J. Mayo, considered one of the top high-school players in the nation this season, for next season. The Galen Center has yet to prove a real fan attraction, however, as USC is averaging just 3,209 fans for eight home games, the worst average in the Pac-10.

Romar said the arena could make USC a tougher team to compete against but that he welcomes the competition.

"If everybody steps it up, that just makes for a better conference," he said.

NOTE

• Forward Quincy Pondexter sat out practice Tuesday after suffering a mild concussion in the first half against Weber State on Friday but is expected to practice today and play against USC.