DENVER – Kyle Barone’s strong play is a big part of Idaho’s five-game winning streak and on Monday, he was honored again by the Western Athletic Conference as its Verizon Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 13-19.
Barone, a junior center from Garden Grove, Calif. (Pacifica HS), led Idaho to a 77-68 win in its Sears BracketBusters game against Portland State at the Cowan Spectrum on Saturday. He led all players with 25 points on 10-of-11 shooting – both of which are career bests – and added eight rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block.
The 10-of-11 field goal percentage is tied as the third-best single-game shooting performance by a Vandal and is the best since Mike Hall equaled the tally in a win over San Jose State on Jan. 24, 2008. It’s also the second-best single-game shooting effort in the WAC this year.
In addition to his hot shooting from the field, Barone also went 5-of-5 from the free throw line.
The honor is Barone’s second in a row this season and the second of his career. During Idaho’s active season-best five-game winning streak, he’s averaging 17.6 points and 8.4 rebounds on 33-of-54 (.611) shooting from the field, along with a 22-of-28 (.786) free throw clip.
Idaho men’s basketball has one game this week as the team heads to Logan, Utah, for a Friday matchup with Utah State. The Vandals and Aggies tip off at 6:05 p.m. (PT).