Keldon Johnson Tabbed SEC Freshman of the Week
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – After leading the Kentucky men’s basketball team to a pair of victories last week, including a career-high 27-point performance against Tennessee State, freshman Keldon Johnson was recognized as the Southeastern Conference’s Freshman of the Week on Monday.
Johnson led the Wildcats in scoring at 20.0 points per game and also chipped in with 7.0 rebounds in wins over Winthrop and Tennessee State. Johnson was second on the team for the week with 14 rebounds.
The 27 points against the Tigers are the most any UK player has scored this season. Johnson got to the total behind 7-of-15 shooting from the floor and sinking 13 free throws. The 13 free throws tied for the second most of any John Calipari-coached player at UK and the most since De’Aaron Fox made the same number against UCLA in the NCAA Tournament in 2017.
The honor is the first of the season for Johnson and the first of the season for Kentucky.
Kentucky has won more weekly SEC honors (90) than any other school during the Calipari era, including 72 SEC Freshman of the Week honors and 18 SEC Player of the Week awards.
The Wildcats return to action on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. ET inside of Rupp Arena. UK will take on Monmouth and the game is set to air live on the SEC Network. Kentucky defeated Monmouth 93-76 in Madison Square Garden a season ago behind 20 points, six rebounds and four blocks from PJ Washington.
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s basketball team, follow @KentuckyMBB on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and on Snapchat, and on the web at UKathletics.com.
