Antonio Reeves is the most efficient high-major scorer in college basketball vs. conference foes

When it comes to playing against teams within their own conference, there isn’t a more efficient and equally productive scorer in all of high-major college basketball than Kentucky’s Antonio Reeves.

Let’s talk numbers for a second. Across 17 Southeastern Conference games, Reeves is averaging 20.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 32.3 minutes per contest. The fifth-year guard’s shooting numbers place him in rare company — 50 percent from the field, 41.5 percent from deep, and 90.4 percent from the free throw line, slotting him in the elusive 50/40/90 club, typically reserved for only the best of the best at getting buckets.

According to Sports-Reference, just a handful of players can say they’re among that group. Only 12 Division I hoopers with at least 100 minutes played this season currently meet the 50/40/90 criteria against teams from their conference, with only three coming from a high major school. Reeves is one, and the other two are UConn’s Cam Spencer and Texas Tech’s Darrion Williams. The rest play for smaller programs such as Wright State, North Florida, Eastern Washington, etc. Reeves is doing it in a league with five nationally ranked squads.

But compared to everyone in that 12-man group, Reeves stands out against the rest.

The former Illinois State transfer ranks second in total points scored among the dozen at 355, just 16 points behind North Florida’s Chaz Lanier and his 371. Reeves leads all of them in shots taken at 250. Lanier is the only other player from this group who has taken at least 200 field goals this season (233). Both Spencer and Williams have taken 64 and 97 fewer shots, respectively, than Reeves this season.

Somehow, Reeves is still accumulating these insane shooting splits despite shooting the ball at a much higher rate than most in this group.

It’s the way Reeves racks up points that’s impressive to watch, and probably something being taken for granted too often. He has 18 games with at least 20 points this season out of a possible 30, including six in a row. But playing alongside so many talented freshmen has, understandably so, cast a bit of a shadow on his crazy season.

“Not many. I’ve been doing this for 25 years,” Kentucky assistant Chuck Martin said on Friday when asked if he’s coached a player like Reeves before. “I think someone described him as a silent assassin. He really is.

“He doesn’t celebrate much. He hits a three, he’s unassuming, he gets a dunk, he’s really improved driving the ball, he’s got a float game. His float game is as good as anyone in the country. He can make it at 10 feet, he can make it at 12 feet, he can make it from the wings, different angles. You know he’s scoring the ball, you’re in the game, you see it. But it doesn’t really hit you until the end of the game. Man, he’s got 22 (points) or he’s got 30. He’s special, he really is.”

Another reason why Reeves’ consistency has gone slightly unnoticed is because of how he presents himself. His game can be flashy at times, but as an individual, he’s typically calm and reserved. He wouldn’t even make a case for himself as an All-American when asked to earlier this week. That’s just who he is as a person — and that humbleness is beginning to rub off on his teammates.

“Antonio has no ego, which I think our young guys recognize that,” Martin added. “Here’s a kid, a young man who’s a potential All-American here at the end of the year, has had a great year, as good as any guard in the country. And he never talks about himself. He’s never celebrated, he’s not celebrated as much as we should celebrate him, and I think our guys recognize that and say, you know what, we can take a page from Antonio’s book and maybe carry ourselves that way.”

Jamal Murray is the only Kentucky player under John Calipari to finish a full season averaging at least 20 points per game. Reeves is right there (20.0 PPG) heading into the regular-season finale against No. 4 Tennessee on Saturday. But Murray did it on splits of 45.4/40.8/78.3.

What Reeves is doing right now is unprecedented at Kentucky over the last 15 seasons.

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