Every Tuesday, UK Athletics recognizes outstanding performances for our student-athletes. These are the honorees for the week ending Sunday, Feb. 7:
Men’s basketball: DeMarcus Cousins
Cousins, a 6-foot-11 forward from Mobile, Ala., averaged 18.5 points, 13.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in wins over No. 25 Ole Miss and at LSU. He had double-double efforts with 18 points and 13 rebounds against Ole Miss and then 19 points and 14 rebounds at LSU. He has recorded six straight double-doubles, becoming the first Wildcat since 1989 to accomplish that feat. Cousins’ 14 double-doubles on the season lead the SEC and are the most by a UK player since 2000.
Women’s basketball Victoria Dunlap
The 6-1 junior forward posted 18 points, including 13 in the first half, on 6-of-10 shooting to go with seven rebounds in UK’s 80-66 win against Ole Miss. She eclipsed 700 career rebounds against the Rebels, becoming just the eighth player in school history to register more than 1,000 points and 700 rebounds in a career.
Track and field: Walter Luttrell
– Luttrell captured the first win of his career in the 5,000 meters.
– Set a personal-best time by 19 seconds over his previous mark.
– Luttrell is coming off quadriceps compartment syndrome surgery last May.
Track and field: Jenna Martin
– Set an NCAA provisional qualifying time for the first time this season.
– It was Martin’s first appearance in the 400m dash, running primarly in the 200m dash the last competitions.
– Former All-American.
Women’s basketball: A’dia Mathies
– Freshman guard A’dia Mathies averaged a team-high 24.0 points and 6.0 rebounds, helping Kentucky extend its school-record SEC win streak to seven games. With Mathies’ help, the Wildcats have won eight of their first 10 SEC games in a season for the first time in school history.
– Posted consecutive career-high scoring efforts against Ole Miss (21) and at Arkansas (27) this week while shooting a combined 52.9 percent (18-of-34) from the floor.
– Netted a career-high 60.0 percent from the field against Ole Miss, making 9-of-15 attempts.
– Scored 15 of her 27 points in first half at Arkansas while finishing the contest 9-of-19 (47.4 percent) from the field and 7-of-7 from the free-throw line.
– Has scored in double figures in 16 of 23 games this season, including six of 10 SEC contests. All three of her 20-plus point scoring efforts this season have come against SEC competition.
– Has pulled down at least four rebounds in 16 games this season, including six in a row.
Gymnastics: Whitney Rose
Sophomore Whitney Rose earned title honors with a 9.900 on the vault against five-time defending national champion Georgia on Feb. 5 in Athens, Ga. The Frisco, Texas native has won three vault titles this season and five in her young career at Kentucky. She has earned scores of 9.900 or better on vault in three of five meets this season, including a season-high 9.925 set at the Lady Luck Invitational (Feb. 15) and matched at Arkansas (Jan. 29).
Track and field: Kristin Smith
– Smith won her first event of the season in the weight throw after finishing second last week at the Rod McCravy Memorial Meet.
– Set an NCAA Provisional Qualifying distance for the third consecutive competition.
– Improved the varsity record for the third consecutive competition.
Track and field: Rondel Sorrillo
– Posted an Automatic Qualifying time in the 60m for the second consecutive week following his performance last weekend at the Rod McCravy Memorial meet where he ran 20.77 in the 200m dash.
– Equaled his personal best set last year at the SEC Indoor Championships.
– This was Rondel’s first appearance in the 60m dash this season.
