Chaz Lanier of Tennessee is the AP men's college basketball player of the week

The Associated Press national player of the week in men’s college basketball for Week 9 of the season:

Chaz Lanier, Tennessee

The 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Nashville spent four seasons at North Florida, where he was a two-time All-Atlantic Sun pick, before transferring back to Tennessee for his final year. And he's making the most of it, leading the top-ranked Vols to a pair of wins last week. Lanier had six 3-pointers and 24 points in a win over Norfolk State, then drilled five 3s and scored 29 to lead Tennessee to a 76-52 win over then-No. 23 Arkansas in the first SEC game of his career. Lanier is averaging a league-best 20.3 points this season and is second nationally with four 3-pointers per game. He is the second straight Tennessee player to be voted AP player of the week after Zakai Zeigler took home the honors on New Year's Eve.

Runner-up

Malik Thomas, San Francisco. The 6-5 shooting guard, who spent two seasons at USC before spending the past two with the Dons, averaged 30.7 points over three games last week. He had 34 along with eight rebounds and a 12-for-12 clip at the foul line in an overtime win over Santa Clara, then had 24 points in a win over Pacific. Thomas wrapped up his week on Saturday against Washington State, where he had 34 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Honorable mention

Koby Brea, Kentucky; Javon Small, West Virginia; Ace Bailey, Rutgers.

Keep an eye on

Oscar Cluff, South Dakota State. The 6-foot-11 forward from Australia, who spent last season at Washington State, had 21 points and 15 boards to help the Jackrabbits hang tough with No. 5 Alabama in a 105-82 loss last week. Cluff followed with 30 points on 10-for-13 shooting and 19 rebounds in just 24 minutes in a 91-70 rout of Denver.

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The Associated Press