Kentucky men’s basketball freshman Cason Wallace picked up Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week laurels on Monday after averaging 12.0 points, 5.5 boards, 3.0 assists and 2.5 steals for the week as the Wildcats split games at Vanderbilt and at home against No. 9 Kansas.
The award is the third weekly SEC honor and second in as many weeks for a Wildcat. Oscar Tshiebwe earned SEC Player of the Week honors Jan. 23, while Wallace picked up his first conference Freshman of the Week award Dec. 27.
In a 69-53 victory at Vanderbilt on Tuesday night, the Dallas native went for 10 points and five rebounds while connecting on a pair of 3-pointers in 32 minutes. On Saturday in a 77-68 setback against the No. 9 Jayhawks, Wallace totaled 14 points and six boards to go along with a team-best five assists and five steals. The games were Wallace’s 11th and 12th double-figure scoring games of the season and the five thefts against Kansas marked his second-highest total of the year and the fourth time he’s tallied four or more steals in a game.
Kentucky has dominated the weekly SEC awards with John Calipari at the helm. UK has won more weekly SEC honors (122) than any other school during the Calipari era, including 92 SEC Freshman of the Week awards and 30 SEC Player of the Week honors.
Wallace ranks among the league leaders in steals per game (6th/2.05), assists per game (7th/3.6) and assist-to-turnover ratio (8th/2.00-to-1). He sits third on the team with 11.3 points and 3.6 rebounds per game and is the only Wildcat to start all 21 contests.
