Nov. 23, 2009
Cancun, Mexico – UK men’s basketball players Patrick Patterson and John Wall were named the SEC Player and Freshman of the Week as announced by the league office on Monday and Wall was named the ESPN.com National Player of the Week.
Wall, a 6-4 guard from Raleigh, N.C., received the league’s freshman of the week honor and national player of the week honor after hitting the game-winning shot with 0.5 seconds left to lead Kentucky to a 72-70 win over Miami University in his season debut. Wall averaged 20.3 points, 7.3 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.7 steals in three games last week. He finished with 19 points and had five assists against the Redhawks. He followed that with a 21-point effort against Sam Houston State and then recorded a double-double with 21 points and 11 assists against Rider, the first double-double in points and assists for the Wildcats since Cliff Hawkins in the 2004 season. His 11 assists are the most by a Wildcat since Rajon Rondo in the 2006 season and the third most by a Wildcat freshman in UK history.
Patterson, a 6-9 forward from Huntingonton, W.Va., was named the SEC Player of the Week after he averaged 18.7 points and 12.3 rebounds in wins over Miami University, Sam Houston State and Rider. He scored 19 points and tied his career-high with 18 rebounds in the win over Rider. On the week, he recorded his 23rd and 24th double-doubles of his career which is tied with Pat Riley for 10th on UK’s all-time double-double list. Patterson moved to 46th on UK’s all-time scoring list with 1,096 points and recorded his 22nd career 20-point game against Sam Houston State. He hit his first career three-pointer against Miami and then hit another against Sam Houston State.
Wall’s national recognition is the first of its kind this season for the Cats, while the league honors were the second and third for UK this year. Wall became the fifth Wildcat to earn SEC Freshman of the Week honors since the SEC started the award in the 2006 season and the second this season after Eric Bledsoe won the award last week.
Patrick Patterson received his fifth career weekly honor. He was named SEC Player of the Week once last season and received the league’s freshman of the week honor three times in 2008.
The Wildcats return to action Tuesday in the Cancun Challenge taking on Cleveland State. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET.
