Little Named Big 12 Rookie of the Week

Feb. 9, 2009

LAWRENCE, Kan. –

Kansas junior guard Mario Little has been selected as the Phillips 66 Big 12 Rookie of the Week for Feb. 2 – 8 in voting by a media panel. Missouri senior forward DeMarre Carroll was selected as the Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week and junior guard Zaire Taylor shared rookie accolades with Little.

Little helped KU extend its win streak to eight games with wins over Baylor (75-65) and Oklahoma State (78-67) last week. He posted 12.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, connecting on 10-of-15 (.667) from the field. The junior guard also added three assists, one block and one steal, while hitting 4-of-5 (.800) from the free throw line. Little averaged more than double his season average (6.0 ppg) entering the week in the two contests en route to recording his second and third double-figure scoring outputs of the year.

It is the first Phillips 66 Big 12 Rookie of the Week honor for Little, who was voted the Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year at the beginning of the season. Fellow Jayhawk, freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor, was the last Jayhawk to receive this honor for the week of Jan. 12 – 18 and has been named Rookie of the Week three times this season.

Carroll averaged 22.0 points and 6.5 rebounds, while shooting 59.4 percent (19-of-32) from the floor. He scored a career-high with 31 points against Iowa State on Feb. 7 in Ames. Taylor averaged 9.5 points in Missouri’s two wins.

Little and the Jayhawks will face off against the Tigers tonight in Columbia at 8:00 pm on ESPN.