Murray Named National Player of the Week by College Sports Madness

LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky senior guard Taylor Murray has been named College Sports Madness’ National Player of the Week for her strong performance in the 2018 Paradise Jam, leading Kentucky to the Island Division championship.
 
This is the first weekly honor of any kind for Murray, who was an all-Southeastern Conference performer last season. The senior guard becomes the first UK player to earn a national player of the week award since Evelyn Akhator in 2016. College Sports Madness also named Murray its SEC Player of the Week.
 
The honor comes after an incredible week at the Paradise Jam for Murray, who earned Island Division All-Tournament honors after helping UK to a 3-0 record with wins over No. 17 South Florida, rv/rv UCLA and North Carolina, who was receiving votes to start the year. The senior guard averaged 18.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 3.3 steals per game during the event.
 
She had an incredible stat line against North Carolina with a season-best 23 points, 10 assists, seven steals and six rebounds. The performance against North Carolina was her first double-double of the season and the sixth of her career, while the 20-point game was the seventh of her career. Murray started the week with 17 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals against South Florida before 16 points, three rebounds, three assists and a steal against UCLA.
 
Murray’s performance last week moved her up to 29th all-time in scoring at UK with 1,070 career points while her 10 assists against UNC moved her into the top 10 all-time at UK in career assists with 358.
 
For the season, Murray ranks second in scoring at 15.6 points while pacing the squad in assists and steals.
 
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