Jan. 18, 2010

LEXINGTON, KY – UK men’s basketball player Eric Bledsoe was named the SEC Freshman of the Week as announced by the league office on Monday.

Bledsoe, a 6-1 guard from Birmingham, Ala., averaged 19 points to go along with 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in helping lead Kentucky (18-0, 3-0 SEC) to wins at Florida and at Auburn.

He scored a career-high and game-high 25 points at Florida to lead the Cats to their first win in Gainesville since 2004. He became the third UK freshman to score 25 in a game this season. It’s the first time Kentucky has had three freshmen score 25 in a game since the 1975 season.

The Alabama native also scored 13 points in a win at Auburn over the weekend.

The honor is the second Freshman of the Week award for Bledsoe this season.

The Wildcats have now been awarded a league record nine weekly awards from the SEC this season. Freshman John Wall has been named the league’s freshman of the week four times, while Cousins (SEC Player of the Week and SEC Freshman of the Week) and Bledsoe have been honored twice and Patrick Patterson (SEC Player of the Week in week two) once.

Kentucky returns to Rupp Arena for the first time in two weeks on Saturday, hosting Arkansas. The game is scheduled for a 4:00 p.m. ET tip and can be seen live on the SEC Network.