Pac-10 honors Oregon's Brooks.

Byline: Bob Clark The Register-Guard

After not having a Pac-10 player of the week in the previous two seasons, Oregon has two in the span of a month with Aaron Brooks honored by the conference Monday for his performance against USC and UCLA.

`It feels good,' Brooks said. `I'm definitely happy to be a player of anything after the way seasons have gone in the past couple of years.

`You have to keep it in perspective though because we have some big games coming up.'

UO teammate Bryce Taylor was chosen for the honor Dec. 18. Prior to that, the last Duck so honored by the Pac-10 was Luke Jackson on the final weekend of the 2003-04 season.

`It shows how our program has come back,' UO coach Ernie Kent said of two winners this season.

Brooks scored 56 points against the Trojans and Bruins, and added eight assists, six steals and five rebounds in the games. He shot .645 (20-of-31) overall and .700 (7-of-10) on three point attempts.

There have been other weekends during his career when he was a nominee, but, as he said, `somebody would have a better one.'

In averaging 18.1 points overall, Brooks has taken over the Pac-10 scoring lead. He is also fourth in assists with an average of 4.7 and fifth in steals at 1.7. His free throw percentage of .848 is also fifth in the conference.

Another award

Brooks was also selected as the national player of the week by ESPN's Dick Vitale.

`He had a pair of stellar performances for the Ducks,' Vitale wrote.

Vitale's national coach of the week was Tim Floyd of USC as the Trojans had a weekend sweep with wins over Oregon and Oregon State.

Hairston probable

Malik Hairston is expected to make his return on Thursday when the Ducks play at Arizona State. He has missed the past five games with a heel injury.

`He's playing pretty good for three- or four-minute spurts,' Kent said of Hairston's work in scrimmage situations Monday. `He'll definitely help us now.'

The Ducks also got Josh Akwenuke back for full-court scrimmaging Monday. The junior walk-on had been out a month with knee tendinitis.

`We've still got to watch it,' Kent said of Akwenuke's level of participation. `We'll still be careful with all of those guys' coming off injuries.

Ray Schafer suffered a minor ankle injury in practice Monday and then felt ill, causing him to miss most of the workout. Also not participating was Adrian Stelly, who suffered a slighly sprained ankle when a fan jumped on him during the wild celebration on the court following the win over UCLA. Both are expected to practice today.

Poll changes

Oregon's win over previously No. 1 UCLA, coupled with the Ducks' defeat to unranked USC, meant only a slight change in The Associated Press poll with a move to 15th. Oregon (14-1 overall, 2-1 in the Pac-10) was 16th last week in the AP voting by the media.

`If we're there at the end of the season, then it means something,' Kent said. `Right now it just means you are managing your schedule.

`Now we've got to go back on the road and try to steal some (wins) ... any road wins are huge in the conference' standings.

The loss to Oregon dropped UCLA to fourth in the AP poll released Monday. Arizona, which plays host to the Ducks on Sunday, is ranked 10th after a loss to Washington State, while the Cougars became the fourth Pac-10 team in the AP poll at No. 22.

Computer rankings

In the Sagarin ratings this week, Oregon is at No. 14 nationally. The Ratings Percentage Index, also a computer evaluation, has the Ducks at No. 27.

Why do those matter? Because the NCAA uses a similar computer evaluation when it decides on at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament in March.

One possible concern for the Ducks is the rating of their schedule, which Sagarin puts at No. 282 while the RPI computes it as the 143rd most difficult.

OREGON AT ARIZONA STATE

7:30 p.m. Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena. TV: FSN. Radio: KUGN-AM (590).