Feb. 17, 2015

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns was tabbed the United States Basketball Writers Association’s (USBWA) Wayman Tisdale National Freshman of the Week in conjunction with CBS Sports.

The honor from the USBWA is the first of the season for Towns, and the second for Kentucky. Tyler Ulis captured the same honor following a breakout performance against Louisville in December.

Towns was a major factor for the Wildcats in a pair of victories last week against LSU and South Carolina. The Piscataway, N.J., native averaged 10.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game en route to UK tying its best start in program history at 25-0.

The 6-foot-11 freshman recorded his fourth double-double with 12 points and a career-high tying 13 rebounds against LSU. He also added four blocks, two steals and a pair of assists. With UK trailing 66-60 on the road, Towns hit a step-back jumper as the shot clock was dwindling to snap a 16-0 LSU run. He would then help UK recapture the lead, and eventually the win, with an offensive rebound and a score for a 70-69 advantage.

Against South Carolina, Towns logged nine points, four rebounds and a block as UK rolled to a 77-43 win and limited the Gamecocks to 23.6 percent shooting.

Towns leads UK in blocked shots (58) and is tied for the team high in rebounds per game (6.4). Over the last five games, Towns is leading Kentucky in scoring (13.4 points per game), rebounding (7.8) and blocked shots (nine).

The Wildcats return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Tennessee for a 7 p.m. ET tip at Thompson-Boling Arena. The game will air live on ESPN.

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