University of Portland point guard Joel Foxwell has been named the West Coast Conference (WCC) Player of the Week, following standout performances that led the Pilots to two wins, including a notable victory over No. 6 Gonzaga. Foxwell also earned WCC Freshman of the Week honors for the sixth time this season, sharing the recognition with Allen Graves from Santa Clara.
Foxwell, who is from Melbourne, Australia, played a key role in what is considered one of the best wins in school history when Portland defeated Gonzaga 87-80. In that game, he scored 27 points, grabbed four rebounds and provided eight assists while playing 39 minutes. He shot 11-of-18 from the field and added a steal. Despite dealing with cramps during the last seven minutes of regulation, Foxwell helped secure only Portland’s second win ever against a Top 10 opponent and its first win over Gonzaga since 2014.
In another close contest on Saturday against Seattle U, which ended in a 54-53 victory for Portland, Foxwell contributed five points, eight rebounds and nine assists along with two steals. His three-pointer late in the game set up Dante Censori-Hercules’ winning basket with just under two seconds remaining.
Foxwell currently leads all WCC players in assists and ranks first nationally among freshmen—and fourth overall—for total assists at 179. He averages 6.9 assists per game, placing him eleventh nationwide and leading all freshmen.
This marks the first time since January 27 of last year that a Portland player has received WCC Player of the Week honors; Max Mackinnon was recognized on that date.
The Pilots are scheduled to play their next game on Wednesday against San Diego Toreros at 6:30 p.m., which will be their only matchup this week.
A full list of recent WCC Men’s Basketball Players and Freshmen of the Week includes names such as Josiah Lake II (Oregon State), Graham Ike (Gonzaga), Myron Amey Jr. (LMU), Paulius Murauskas (Saint Mary’s), Braden Huff (Gonzaga), Elijah Mahi (Santa Clara), Christian Hammond (Santa Clara), Ace Glass (Washington State), Dillan Shaw (Saint Mary’s) and Sash Gavalyugov (Santa Clara).
Tickets for upcoming University of Portland athletic events can be purchased online at https://portlandpilots.com/tickets or through the official app. Information about group packages is available by emailing pilotsboxoffice@up.edu.
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