Baylor’s Isaiah Austin Named Big 12 MBB Rookie of the Week - kcentv.com - KCEN HD - Waco, Temple, and Killeen

IRVING, Texas – Baylor men's basketball freshman Isaiah Austin was named Phillips 66 Big 12 Rookie of the Week on Monday. Austin earned his second career Big 12 Rookie of the Week honor for his performance in last week's game against Lamar.

Austin had 23 points, 17 rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal in Baylor's win against Lamar on Wednesday. He connected on 11 of 19 shots from the field and had his second career double-double with three minutes still remaining in the first half.

Austin's 23-point, 17-rebound performance was the fourth time in program history a Baylor player has reached those numbers and the first time since Terry Black had 32 points and 17 rebounds on Nov. 27, 1999. Black also had 25 points and 18 rebounds on Nov. 20, 1999, and Brian Skinner had 24 points and 18 rebounds on Dec. 3, 1997.

Austin joined former All-Americans Kevin Durant (Texas) and Michael Beasley (Kansas State) as the only freshmen in Big 12 history to post at least 23 points and 17 rebounds in a game.

With his performance, Austin jumped to second in the Big 12 in rebounding (8.4 per game), fifth in field goal percentage (52.7) and seventh in scoring (14.1 points per game). He leads all Big 12 freshmen in rebounding and field goal percentage and ranks second among freshmen in scoring.

Austin's selection gives Baylor 12 Big 12 Rookie of the Week honorees since the start of the 2009-10 season – the Bears had 13 Rookie of the Week winners in the league's first 13 years. Baylor has had a two-time Rookie of the Week winner in each of the last four seasons, with Austin following Ekpe Udoh (2010), Perry Jones III (2011) and Pierre Jackson (2012).

Baylor returns to action with a pair of home games this week. The Bears host USC Upstate at 7 p.m. Monday at the Ferrell Center, in a game that will be televised nationally on FCS Central and regionally on FOX Sports Southwest and FSN Plus. Baylor then takes on BYU at 8 p.m. Friday at the Ferrell Center, and that game will be televised on ESPN2.