BEST of the WEEK | Feb. 9, 2004
Awards based on games from Monday through Sunday

CO-PLAYERS OF THE WEEK:
Emeka Okafor, Connecticut and John Lucas, Oklahoma State

	Lucas

	Okafor

UConn junior center Emeka Okafor has been one of the nation's premier players this season, and he continued his dominance in a pair of big wins. He shot 20-of-29 from the floor (totaling 48 points), grabbed 21 rebounds and blocked 10 shots in wins over Syracuse and West Virginia.

Oklahoma State junior guard John Lucas, the transfer from Baylor, totaled 48 points, hitting 14-of-22 shots from the field (including 9-of-14 trifectas), and dished out 10 assists without any turnovers in road wins at Texas A&M and Iowa State.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Connecticut
Coach Jim Calhoun's Huskies not only won their two games, they came through in slam-bam-jam fashion.

First came an 84-56 dismantling of a talented Syracuse team. It was an M&Mer, a total mismatch, as Okafor and Co. ran, ran, ran -- and the Huskies are oh-so-tough in transition. Then came an 88-58 blowout over West Virginia.

COACH OF THE WEEK: Rick Barnes, Texas
Coach Rick Barnes and the Longhorns had a couple of big wins. First came a 76-63 decision over Colorado. Texas followed up with a 66-37 blowout of Oklahoma.

Texas is now sitting at 16-3, with the only losses coming against Duke, Oklahoma State and Arizona. Barnes and Co. could be dangerous come NCAA Tournament time.

SHOCK OF THE WEEK: Northwestern over Wisconsin
This looked like an M&Mer coming in. The Badgers entered with a 15-3 record (6-1 in the Big Ten)and were battling for first in the conference. Wisconsin guard Devin Harris was coming off a career-high 38 points against Minnesota. Northwestern entered 8-11 overall (3-5 in the Big Ten).

But somebody forgot to tell coach Bill Carmody's team who was supposed to win! Northwestern went on a 34-11 run in the first half and Harris shot 4-of-18 from the field. The Wildcats got the W, 69-51.

DIAPER DANDY OF THE WEEK: Leon Powe, California
Freshman forward Leon Powe came up big in Cal's upset of Arizona, scoring 21 points while grabbing 12 rebounds. Powe followed up with a double-double (13 points, 11 boards) against Arizona State.

Coach Ben Braun's Golden Bears are trying to make a run to be the third Pac-10 team in the Big Dance (after Stanford and Arizona). They've won three straight games while moving to 7-4 in the Pac-10.

Dick Vitale coached the Detroit Pistons and the University of Detroit in the 1970s before providing color commentary for ESPN's first college basketball game in 1979 (he's been an analyst for ESPN ever since). Send a question for Vitale for possible use on ESPNEWS.