Men's Basketball

Paulius Murauskas From Saint Mary's Named USBWA Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week

Murauskas leads the conference in scoring

SAN BRUNO, Calif. – Paulius Murauskas (Kaunas, Lithuania) from Saint Mary's has been named an Oscar Robertson Men’s Basketball National Player of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, the group announced on Tuesday.
 
In addition to the national recognition, Murauskas also collected West Coast Conference Player of the Week accolades this week, marking the second time this season he has earned the award. 
  
Murauskas averaged 24.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game over the Gaels' 3-0 stretch with wins over Pepperdine, Portland and Seattle U. He led the Gaels in scoring in all three contests, including registering his second career 30-point performance against the Redhawks along with a career-high tying 15 rebounds. Murauskas shot 54 percent from the field, 44 percent from three-point distance and 81 percent from the free throw line. He also tallied 11 assists on the week. 
 

The Gael is one of five national honorees along with Rafael Castro (George Washington), Boopie Miller (SMU), Kahlil Singleton (Canisius) and Chase Walker (Illinois State). This is the West Coast Conference's third USBWA weekly national honor after Gonzaga's Graham Ike and Braden Huff collected the previous two awards.  

The West Coast Conference boasted four USBWA national honorees last season.

Saint Mary's is receiving votes in both national polls this week. The Gaels host Washington State on Saturday at 2 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. Saint Mary's is one of three teams in the West Coast Conference, along with Gonzaga and Santa Clara, to currently stand undefeated in conference play at 4-0.

The USBWA's national player of the week program has been affiliated with the Oscar Robertson Trophy since the 2009-10 season. Prior to the 2024-25 season, the USBWA had recognized just one player each week. Each Tuesday during the regular season, designated USBWA board members select five standouts from the 31 Division I conference players of the week to be recognized. The selections are chosen from a list of the conferences that named a player of the week on Monday.