Rob Dillingham named AP National Player of the Week

If there was one bright spot in Kentucky’s pair of home losses to Florida and Tennessee last week, it was Rob Dillingham‘s otherwordly offensive display. He started with a 20-point, four-rebound, four-assist effort against the Gators, then followed it with a career-high 35 points on 14-20 shooting and 6-8 from three against the Volunteers.

Those performances earned him Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week honors on Monday. And now on Tuesday, an even bigger accolade at the national level.

AP Player of the Week: Rob Dillingham.

The 6-3 freshman’s 35 points were the fourth-highest by a Kentucky rookie in the John Calipari era. They also made Dillingham just the third player to hit 35 points against Tennessee under Rick Barnes, joining Mason Jones and Domantas Sabonis. And his big moments are becoming a trend: he’s averaging 20.5 points on 61.9% from three in the Cats’ four games against ranked competition.

The Hickory, NC native has scored in doubles figures 17 times this season, including four outings of at least 20 points. He ranks second on the team in scoring at 15.3 points per game, while also dishing out 77 assists and totaling 26 steals.

“I thought up until tonight I was the best player to ever come out of Hickory,” Rick Barnes said Saturday. “But that got blown up tonight. (Rob) Dillingham was phenomenal. He was phenomenal.”

I know his highlights are probably playing through your head on loop, but just in case you need a refresher, take a look:

Now how about turning these ridiculous performances into wins?