UTEP guard Nigel Hawkins' 24-point effort in Saturday's victory over Rice helped earn him the Conference USA Freshman of the Week, the league announced Monday.
He also had seven rebounds in the 65-64 victory, secured when fellow freshman Jordan Lathon hit a buzzer beater that was the No. 2 highlight of the night in ESPN's top 10 plays.
Rice appealed the outcome to the conference office, saying 0.5 seconds was not enough time for Lathon to get a shot off, but the league upheld the ruling by the officials on the court that the basket was valid.