Kentucky guard Jamal Murray drives the ball to the basket against Alabama forward Shannon Hale (11) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Murray has earned his second Southern Conference basketball freshman of the week award.The 18-year-old from Kitchener, Ont., averaged 18.5 points and seven rebounds in the Kentucky Wildcats' victories over Arkansas and Vanderbilt. He also averaged 1.5 assists, two steals, and a block.THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Brynn Anderson
Republished January 25, 2016 - 12:07 PM
Original Publication Date January 25, 2016 - 10:50 AM
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Canada's Jamal Murray has earned his second Southeastern Conference basketball freshman of the week award.
The 18-year-old from Kitchener, Ont., averaged 18.5 points and seven rebounds in the Kentucky Wildcats' victories over Arkansas and Vanderbilt. He also averaged 1.5 assists, two steals, and a block.
Murray and LSU forward Ben Simmons are the only two freshmen in the league to have won the award more than once this season.
Murray scored 19 points and grabbed seven boards at Arkansas. Two days later, he had 19 points, seven rebounds and three steals against Vanderbilt. His 7-of-13 shooting from the floor versus Vanderbilt was his best since Jan. 9, and his 3-of-6 from three-point range was his highest since Dec. 19.
Murray leads Kentucky in scoring with 17.8 points a game, the highest scoring average ever for a Wildcats player under head coach John Calipari.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version had the wrong conference name.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2016