Justin Edwards Crowned SEC Co-Freshman of the Week

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky men’s basketball freshman guard Justin Edwards was named the Southeastern Conference’s Co-Freshman of the Week, it was announced on Monday. He is the fifth different Wildcat to earn the honor this season.

The 6-foot-8 forward from Philadelphia erupted for a career-high 28 points on a perfect 10 of 10 from the field in the team’s 117-95 upset of No. 13 Alabama. Edwards averaged 18.5 points per game and shot 92.9% from the field in UK’s matchups with LSU and Alabama. The freshman also went 7 of 8 from 3-point range for the week, good for an 87.5% clip, including a career-best four made triples against the Crimson Tide.

Edwards’ offensive explosion on Saturday was the third-best perfect shooting game in Kentucky program history. He became the first Wildcat to shoot 1.000% from the field on at least 10 attempts since Rodney Dent was 12 of 12 vs. Morehead State on Dec. 17, 1993. Edwards shattered his previous career high of 17 points, which came against Vanderbilt earlier this month. He also became the sixth Kentucky player to score at least 20 points this season. Edwards has now scored in double figures 10 times this year and is averaging 8.9 points per game to go along with 3.5 rebounds.

Edwards joins D.J. Wagner (three times), Reed Sheppard (twice), Rob Dillingham and Aaron Bradshaw as Wildcats to be named SEC Freshman of the Week this season. Kentucky has dominated the weekly SEC awards with John Calipari at the helm. UK has won more weekly SEC honors (133) than any other school during the Calipari era, including 102 SEC Freshman of the Week awards and 31 SEC Player of the Week honors.

UK is back in action on Tuesday at Mississippi State for a 7 p.m. ET. tip from Humphrey Coliseum. The game will air nationally on ESPN.

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