Luedtke Earns NWC Student-Athlete of the Week Honor for Third Time

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

SALEM, ORE. -- Willamette University junior forward Brandon "Bubba" Luedtke (Meridian, ID/Mountain View HS) has been chosen Northwest Conference Men's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week for the third time this season. He received the most recent honors after helping Willamette win games on Friday, Jan. 23 and Saturday, Jan. 24.

Luedtke averaged 17.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game during the two wins. The Bearcats won at Pacific University, 78-71, on Friday, and defeated Linfield College at Cone Field House, 67-53, on Saturday. Willamette improved to 6-11 overall and moved into fourth place in the NWC with a 4-4 record.

In the victory over Pacific, Luedtke scored 17 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. He scored the go-ahead basket with 9:05 left in the game. Against Linfield, he achieved 17 points and 6 rebounds. He scored five consecutive points against the Widlcats to give Willamette a 60-48 lead with 4:39 remaining.

During the week, Luedtke shot 66.7% from the field as he made 16 of 24 shots. He averaged 2.0 assists, 3.5 steals and 1.0 blocks per game.

Luedtke is Willamette's leading scorer this season with 14.6 points per game. He ranks first in the NWC with 9.2 rebounds per game and is first with 2.1 steals per game. He is fifth in the NWC in scoring.

Now in his third season with the Bearcats, Luedtke has scored 516 career points. He has achieved 394 career rebounds and has earned 84 steals in his career. He owns a career 53.4% shooting percentage.

Luedtke received his first NWC Men's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week honor of the season for his solid play against University of La Verne on Nov. 21 and California Institute of Technology on Nov. 22. He scored 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds against La Verne, and earned 21 points and 11 boards versus Caltech.

He was chosen Student-Athlete of the Week for a second time after leading Willamette to a win over University of Puget Sound on Jan. 9 and a victory over George Fox UNiversity on Jan. 10. Luedtke registered 13 points and 11 rebounds at Puget Sound, and earned 15 points and 11 rebounds against George Fox.

Willamette will travel to Whitman College and Whitworth University this weekend for NWC road games. The Bearcats will take on Whitman on Friday, Jan. 30 at 8 p.m. (PST), before playing Whitworth on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 6 p.m. The Pirates lead the NWC with an 8-0 record, while Whitman is tied for second place at 6-2.