Pop Isaacs earns Big 12 Player of the Week

Photo Provided by Texas Tech University

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech sophomore Pop Isaacs has been named the Big 12 Player of the Week following his career-high 28 points last week against Sam Houston. The award is the first weekly conference selection for Isaacs and the 29th overall Big 12 Player of the Week selection in Tech program history. Isaacs and West Virginia’s RaeQuan Battle shared Big 12 Men’s Basketball Player of the Week while Iowa State’s Keshon Gilbert picked up Newcomer of the Week.

Isaacs earned the award after scoring 28 points and also having four assists in a 36-point win. He was 10-for-19 from the field with five 3-pointers. A Las Vegas native, Isaacs is leading the Red Raiders with 15.8 points per game this season and is also adding 3.4 assists and 1.1 steals. He followed the career-high performance by scoring a team-high 21 against North Alabama on New Year’s Day to give him back-to-back games with 20 or more points for the first time in his career. He now has four games with 20 or more points in his career, including a previous career-high of 24 last season against Nicholls and 23 points as a freshman against Texas in Austin.

For his career, Isaacs has 493 points and 90 3-pointers made through 38 games going into this weekend where the Red Raiders travel to play at No. 20 Texas at 7 p.m. on Saturday in the Moody Center. Over the past five games, Isaacs is averaging 19.0 points and 4.0 assists along with shooting 14-for-39 (35.9%) on 3-pointers. He is the first Red Raider to earn Big 12 Player of the Week since De’Vion Harmon last season on February 20, 2023. Tech senior Chance McMillian was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on December 4, 2023, after his 24-point performance at Butler earlier this season.

Battle was recognized for the second consecutive week while Gilbert earned his second honor of the season. recorded his first career double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds along with three steals in WVU’s overtime loss against Ohio State. He is averaging 27.3 points in the three games he has played in for the Mountaineers after scoring 29 in each of the first two. Battle is pursuing a Regents Bachelor of Arts degree. Gilbert turned in the eighth triple-double in Cyclones history and the second this month in an 85-70 win over New Hampshire. He became the first player in Big 12 history to have 10 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists and four steals in a game. The sociology major tied a career-high in rebounds, while posting a career-high in assists. It was his 11th game this season scoring in double figures. Iowa State is the first school in Big 12 history with two different players recording a triple-double in the same season. The Big 12 leads the nation with five triple-doubles this season.

Big 12 Players of the Week
Player:
Nov. 13: Ja’Kobe Walter, BU, G, Fr.
Nov. 20: Hunter Dickinson, KU, C, Sr.
Nov. 27: Kevin McCullar Jr., KU, G, Gr.
Dec. 4: Emanuel Miller, TCU, F, Sr.
Dec. 11: Arthur Kaluma, K-State, F, Jr.
Dec. 18: Micah Peavy, TCU, G, Sr.
Dec. 28: RaeQuan Battle, WVU, G, Sr.
Jan. 2: Pop Isaacs, TTU, G, So. & RaeQuan Battle, WVU, G, Sr.
Newcomer:
Nov. 13: Hunter Dickinson, KU, C, Sr.
Nov. 20: Hunter Dickinson, KU, C, Sr.
Nov. 27: RayJ Dennis, BU, G, Sr. & Jaylin Sellers, UCF, G, Jr.
Dec. 4: Chance McMillian, TTU, G, Sr.
Dec. 11: Keshon Gilbert, ISU, G, Jr.
Dec. 18: Max Abmas, UT, G, Gr.
Dec. 28: RaeQuan Battle, WVU, G, Sr.
Jan. 2: Keshon Gilbert, ISU, G, Jr.