George Washington University freshman forward Yuta Watanabe earned his second Atlantic 10 Conference's Rookie of the Week accolade, it was announced on Monday.
The 203-cm Watanabe, who hails from Kagawa Prefecture, sank 7 of 10 3-pointers and scored a career-high 21 points in the Colonials' final regular-season game on Saturday in an 87-65 victory over the University of Massachusetts in Washington, D.C.
In a March 4 game at George Mason University, Watanabe contributed six points, six rebounds, three assists and a steal in GWU's 67-51 victory. The Colonials have won three of their past four games.
In 31 games (six starts), he is averaging 21.9 minutes, 7.1 points and 3.6 rebounds and shooting 81.6 percent from the free-throw line. Watanabe moved into the starting lineup last month.
GWU (20-11, 10-8) enters the conference tournament as the No. 6 seed and will face the No. 11 Duquesne (11-18, 6-12) vs. No. 14 Saint Louis (11-20, 3-15) first-round winner on Thursday. The quarterfinals, semifinals and title games are scheduled for Friday through Sunday at Barclays Center in New York.