ECU's Jayden Gardner Named AAC Player of the Week

GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina junior Jayden Gardner picked up American Athletic Conference Player-of-the-Week honors on Monday for the third time in his Pirate career.

The 6-foot-7 forward from Wake Forest, N.C. averaged 22.0 points, 12.0 rebounds. 2.5 assists and 38 minutes in the Pirates’ last two games that included a nine-point win over nationally ranked Houston.

Gardner scored 21 points and grabbed a season-high 15 rebounds in ECU’s win over the 5th ranked Cougars, while also handing out a season-best four assists. In the process, he became the third player in AAC history to amass 30 career double-doubles with his league leading seventh of the season.

He scored 23 points in the Pirates’ loss at Memphis Saturday, missing a third consecutive double-double by one rebound. Gardner went 7 of 10 from the charity stripe against the Tigers to become the third player in school history and eighth player in league history to reach 400 career free throws.

Gardner has found new energy of late, scoring 20 in the last four games and eight times overall this season. He ranks second in the AAC in scoring (17.7 ppg) and rebounding (8.6) and has the seventh-best field goal percentage (.490) in the conference.

The Pirates return to the court Monday night against SMU for a 5 p.m. tipoff inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.