Antonio Reeves Named Co-Sixth Man of the Year to Lead Wildcat League Honorees

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Headlined by senior guard Antonio Reeves being tabbed the Southeastern Conference Co-Sixth Man of the Year, four members of the Kentucky men’s basketball team were honored with postseason honors by the conference’s coaches on Monday. In addition to Reeves’ honor, Oscar Tshiebwe was a first-team selection, while newcomers Chris Livingston and Cason Wallace were named to the All-Freshman Team.

Tshiebwe was joined on the eight-man coaches’ All-SEC First Team by Brandon Miller (Alabama), Colin Castleton (Florida), Tolu Smith (Mississippi State), Kobe Brown (Missouri), Santiago Vescovi (Tennessee), Wade Taylor IV (Texas A&M) and Liam Robbins (Vanderbilt).

Livingston and Wallace were joined on the SEC All-Freshman Team by Jaden Bradley (Alabama), Noah Clowney (Alabama), Brandon Miller (Alabama), Anthony Black (Arkansas), Riley Kugel (Florida), Gregory “GG” Jackson II, South Carolina and Julian Phillips (Tennessee).

Reeves earned his Co-Sixth Man of the Year distinction alongside Alabama’s Jahvon Quinerly. He joins Darius Miller (2012), Kyle Wiltjer (2013) and Devin Booker (2015) as Wildcats to receive the award.

A list of the full SEC awards is below.

With Tshiebwe’s most-recent honor, head coach John Calipari has now coached 32 players (34 total honors) who have earned All-SEC first- or second-team accolades. At least one player has been named to the All-SEC Freshman Team in each of Calipari’s 14 seasons, including 31 total honors.

Tshiebwe becomes the first Wildcat to earn All-SEC First Team honors in consecutive seasons since Patrick Patterson in 2009 and 2010.

Tshiebwe is leading the country with 13.1 rebounds per contest to go along with a team-best 16.4 points per game. Among Tshiebwe’s SEC-high 18 doubles, the senior has tallied six 20-point, 15-rebound contests this season after seven a season ago. He has 13 of the 55 such contests by SEC players in the last 10 seasons. Tshiebwe is the only player in the country averaging at least 15 points, 10 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks per game.

In just 63 games for Kentucky, Tshiebwe ranks eighth in program history with 894 rebounds. He has registered a double-double in 46 of those 63 games, ranking third in program history behind Dan Issel (64) and Cotton Nash (48). Averaging 12.1 rebounds per game for his career, Tshiebwe joins Paul Millsap and Kenneth Faried as the only players since the 1996-97 season to average 12 rebounds per game for their career.

Despite recovering from a minor knee procedure to start the season, Tshiebwe has gone on to lead the Wildcats in scoring 14 times, rebounds 25 times and blocks on 11 occasions.

Livingston has played in all 31 games, making 23 starts, averaging 6.3 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. The Akron, Ohio native has really hit his stride late in the season, scoring in double figures in four of his last eight games.

Livingston notched his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds in a 66-54 win over No. 10 Tennessee on Feb. 18 before following that up with another double-double with 10 points and career-high 10 boards in an 82-74 win at Florida on Feb. 22.

Wallace sits fourth on the team with 11.7 points per game, while pulling down 3.5 boards per contest in addition to leading the Wildcats with 122 total assists and 56 steals. He ranks second in the SEC with 4.2 assists per game, fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.03 and fifth in steals per contest at 1.93. The Dallas native has induced at least one steal in all but three games and has multiple thefts in 15 games while sitting second on the team playing 31.7 minutes per game.

Wallace tied the UK single-game record with eight steals against Michigan State and his 11 assists at Mississippi State tied for the eighth-most in a single game by a freshman in program history. He has led Kentucky in steals a team-high 17 times while leading the Cats in assists 13 times and blocks six times, both the second-most on the team.

Reeves has been a microwave both off the bench and when he’s been inserted into the starting lineup for the Wildcats. The Chicago native sits second on the team with 14.2 points per game while playing in all 31 contests, including 20 off the bench. In 27.3 minutes per game, Reeves leads the team with 71 made 3-pointers, connecting on 41% (71 of 173) from long range. He’s also shot 80.5% (66 of 82) from the foul line and 43% (151 of 351) from the field.

Reeves’ 11 double-figure scoring contests and eight 20-point games rank second on the team. He’s scored in double figures in 15 of the last 17 games, leading the Cats in scoring at 16.6 points per game while shooting 41.7% (40 of 96) over that span. Reeves’ 12.9 points per game in 20 games off the bench, rank second nationally in among players who have made at least 20 appearances as a reserve.

Reeves came off the bench to score 27 points while making a season-high-tying six 3-pointers in a 75-66 win at Ole Miss on Jan. 31 before a career-high 37-point explosion in an 88-79 win at Arkansas in the regular-season finale. The 37 points tied for the third-most by a Wildcat in the Calipari era and the most for a Kentucky player in a true road game under Calipari.

In addition to the on-court honors, CJ Fredrick was named to the SEC Community Service team last week for his exemplary service in the community.

Coaches’ SEC Awards

First Team
Brandon Miller, Alabama
Colin Castleton, Florida
Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky
Tolu Smith, Mississippi State
Kobe Brown, Missouri
Santiago Vescovi, Tennessee
Wade Taylor IV, Texas A&M
Liam Robbins, Vanderbilt

Second Team
Mark Sears, Alabama
Anthony Black, Arkansas
Ricky Council IV, Arkansas
Johni Broome, Auburn
Wendell Green Jr., Auburn
KJ Williams, LSU
Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee
Tyrece Radford, Texas A&M

All-Freshman Team
Jaden Bradley, Alabama
Noah Clowney, Alabama
Brandon Miller, Alabama
Anthony Black, Arkansas
Riley Kugel, Florida
Chris Livingston, Kentucky
Cason Wallace, Kentucky
Gregory “GG” Jackson II, South Carolina
Julian Phillips, Tennessee

All-Defensive Team
Charles Bediako, Alabama,
Davonte Davis, Arkansas
Colin Castleton, Florida
Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee
Liam Robbins, Vanderbilt

Coach of the Year: Buzz Williams, Texasa A&M & Jerry Stackhouse, Vanderbilt
Player of the Year: Brandon Miller, Alabama
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Kobe Brown, Missouri
Freshman of the Year: Brandon Miller, Alabama
Co-Sixth-Man of the Year: Jahvon Quinerly & Antonio Reeves, Kentucky
Defensive Player of the Year: Liam Robbins, Vanderbilt

Kentucky earned a double-bye and will begin the SEC Tournament as the No. 3 seed at approximately 9 p.m. ET Friday. The Wildcats will play the winner between Vanderbilt and the winner of 14-seeded LSU and 11-seeded Georgia in their quarterfinal matchup.

For the latest on the Kentucky men’s basketball team, follow @KentuckyMBB on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and on the web at UKathletics.com.