Lyles Named SEC Freshman of the Week for Second Time This Season

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Trey Lyles was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday after a breakout week in which he led top-ranked Kentucky to a pair of wins, including a Southeastern Conference championship-clinching win over No. 18/16 Arkansas.

Lyles picked up the honor for the second time this season. Lyles and the Wildcats have now hauled in 11 SEC Freshman of the Week accolades in the last 16 weeks.

Devin Booker has won the award a league-high five times – including four straight from Jan. 12 to Feb. 2 – Karl-Anthony Towns has earned the honor three times, and teammate Tyler Ulis has garnered the award once this season.

Lyles had arguably his finest week as a Wildcat in leading UK to a pair of wins, including a victory over No. 18/16 Arkansas to clinch the outright SEC championship.

The freshman forward opened the week by scoring a career-high 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting. It marked just the second double-figure scoring effort of the season in league competition. It was also the most points he had scored since totaling 12 in the second game of the season.

Lyles also hauled in six rebounds and had a pair of assists. The Indianapolis native followed that performance with another 18-point performance in the win over the Razorbacks. He was UK’s leading scorer in both contests.

It was the first time Lyles strung together consecutive games in double figures since the opening two games of the season. Lyles was 8 of 10 from the floor against the Razorbacks, including the game’s opening points.

For the week, Lyles was UK’s leading scorer and shot an impressive 68.2 percent from the field. He was perfect on all six free-throw attempts while registering 10 rebounds, three assists, and a block and a steal.