Reed Sheppard named SEC Freshman of the Week for 3rd time

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reed-sheppard-named-sec-freshman-week-3rd-time — Photo by Dr. Michael Huang | Kentucky Sports Radio

For the third time this season, Kentucky’s Reed Sheppard has been named the Southeastern Conference’s Freshman of the Week.

The league announced the news on Monday afternoon. Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht and South Carolina’s Meechie Johnson split SEC Player of the Week.

Sheppard was spectacular during Kentucky’s pair of wins last week, especially on the road against Mississippi State on Tuesday.

The 6-foot-3 native of London, KY dropped a career-high 32 points on 11-14 shooting — including the game-winning shot right before the buzzer — to go along with five rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and two blocks in 36 minutes during a 91-89 win over the Bulldogs. Sheppard then went for 10 points and five assists in 34 minutes his next time out in the Wildcats’ 111-102 home win against Arkansas over the weekend.

Sheppard’s performance against Mississippi State was one that the Big Blue Nation won’t forget any time soon. He scored 23 of his 32 points in the second half and 11 of them in the final 90 seconds. He became the first Kentucky player in the last 25 seasons with multiple games of at least 25 points, five rebounds, and five assists.

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Through 29 games this season (five starts), Sheppard has established himself as one of the best players in all of college basketball — regardless of age. He’s averaging 12.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 2.6 steals in 28.9 minutes per game while shooting 53.5 percent overall, 51.7 percent from deep, and 83.6 percent from the free throw line. Sheppard is up to 76 total steals, which is tied for third-most in program history for a single season.

Kentucky players have now won SEC Freshman of the Week a total of nine times in 2023-24. Sheppard and DJ Wagner have both taken home the award three times while Aaron Bradshaw, Rob Dillingham, and Justin Edwards have all won it once. John Calipari has produced 103 SEC Freshman of the Week and 31 SEC Player of the Week winners during his time as head coach at UK.

Sheppard and No. 15 Kentucky (21-8; 11-5 SEC) will return to action on Wednesday for Senior Night against Vanderbilt (8-21; 3-13 SEC). Tipoff is set for 9:00 p.m. EST on the SEC Network.