Taveion Hollingsworth named USBWA National Player of the Week after C-USA Co-Player of the Week nod

Elliott Wells

Junior guard Taveion Hollingsworth has been named the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association announced Tuesday morning.

Hollingsworth is the first Hilltopper to ever earn the USBWA’s National Player of the Week honor.

Hollingsworth was named Conference USA Co-Player of the Week on Monday afternoon, earning a nomination for the weekly award. The Lexington native was chosen by a representative of the USBWA board of directors from a list of Division I conference players of the week.

The 6-foot-2-inch guard averaged 32.5 points, four rebounds and three assists in a split of two overtime games across two C-USA Bonus Play games over the weekend.

In WKU’s final game in Diddle Arena for the 2019-20 season, Hollingsworth navigated the Hilltoppers to a 95-91 overtime victory over Louisiana Tech. The Hilltoppers were down by 15 points with 3:23 left in the contest, but Hollingsworth scored 17 points over the rest of regulation, including a game-tying 3-pointer with two seconds left.

Hollingsworth ended the game setting a career-high 43 points in 44 minutes, shooting 11-of-18 from the field, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc and converting 17-of-19 free throws the foul line. The junior guard’s 43 points were the eight-most ever by a Hilltopper and the most since 1971, as well as the ninth-most ever by a C-USA player.

The Hilltoppers returned to the court on Sunday afternoon in another overtime game against North Texas, and Hollingsworth led WKU with a team-high 22 points and four steals despite the Hilltoppers losing their second game in C-USA Bonus Play to the Mean Green, 78-72.

Reporter Elliott Wells can be reached at [email protected]. Follow Elliott on Twitter at @ewells5.