Iverson earns MWC honor for third time

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Colorado State senior center Colton Iverson earned his third Mountain West Player of the Week honor on Monday, after posting a conference-record performance and back-to-back 20-point performances last week to lead the Rams to a school-record 24 victories with wins at Wyoming and vs. Nevada.

Iverson, a native of Yankton, S.D., shot nearly 91 percent from the field while averaging 25.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game as Colorado State closed out regular-season play and earned its best finish in the 14-year history of the Mountain West. The Rams enter this week's conference championships as the No. 2 seed.

Iverson netted a career-high 29 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Wednesday's 78-56 Border War victory at Wyoming. He tied a MW single-game record for shooting percentage by going a perfect 12-of-12 from the field, adding five free throws and two steals to his tally for the night. The original MW record for field goal shooting percentage was set by San Diego State's Billy White, who went 12-of-12 in a Feb. 14, 2009 meeting with Wyoming.

Iverson followed his midweek performance with 21 points, nine rebounds, two assists and one steal in Saturday's 77-66 victory over Nevada. He opened the game making seven straight baskets, running his streak of consecutive field goals made to 19 before missing his final two shot attempts.

For the week, Iverson was 19-of-21 from the field (.905) and 12-of-20 (.600) from the free throw line.

Iverson, a Mountain West Player of the Year candidate who was recently selected by the Denver Post as the Region's Player of the Year, is the only player in the league to earn outright weekly honors three times in 2012-13. Both Boise State's Derrick Marks and New Mexico Alex Kirk also earned a trio of weekly accolades, but shared the award on March 4. Kirk also shared the award with San Diego Stat's Jamaal Franklin on Jan. 14.

Iverson and the Rams open play against seventh-seeded Fresno State on Wednesday afternoon in Las Vegas. Tipoff between the Rams and the Bulldogs is slated for 3:30 p.m. MT/2:30 p.m. PT and the game will be televised live on CBS Sports Network.