by US Fed News

The Big West Conference announced the All-Big West Men's Basketball Teams for 2008-09 on Monday, March 9, and Highlanders sophomore Kyle Austin was among those honored with First-Team accolades. The Pasadena, CA native finished second in the conference in scoring this season (16.8ppg), seventh in rebounding (6.1), eighth in field goal percentage (.449), eighth in defensive rebounds (4.2), ninth in offensive rebounds (2.0) and seventh in minutes played (31.3) in his first year with UC Riverside. The transfer from USC helped lead the Highlanders to a 17-12 overall record and a tie for fourth place in the Big West during the regular season.

The 17 wins were a Division I record for UCR as were the eight conference wins. Austin was twice honored as the Big West Player of the Week award winner this year, most recently on March 2 when he averaged 21.5 points and 10.0 rebounds in the Highlanders games against Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine. The 6-7 forward scored 21 points and grabbed 10 boards in UCR's 63-60 win over Cal State Fullerton on Feb. 26, and he followed up that performance with a career-high tying 24 points and 10 rebounds in UC Riverside's 78-70 overtime loss at UC Irvine on Feb. 28. After sitting out the first seven games of the year due to NCAA transfer rules, Austin made a splash in his UCR debut at Loyola Marymount on Dec. 15 scoring 20 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. He followed that effort with an 18-point, six-rebound performance vs. Montana on Dec, 18 and earned his first Player of the Week award the following Monday.For more information please contact: Sarabjit Jagirdar, Email:- htsyndication@hindustantimes.com

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