After his 47-point barrage vs North Carolina, Malik Monk is racking up the weekly hoops awards this week.
After being named SEC player of the Week on Monday, Monk became just the second winner of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for the 2016-17 college basketball season, it was announced Tuesday. The other player was Villanova’s Josh Hart last week.
In addition, Monk was also named the USBWA Wayman Tisdale Freshman of the Week. This is the first USBWA honor for the Wildcats since Karl-Anthony Towns was also named the Freshman of the Week on Feb. 15, 2015. He’s the first Cat to win the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week nod since Julius Randle on Feb. 23, 2014.
All of these all well-deserved honors for Monk, who scored a career-high 47 points on 18-of-28 shooting from the field and 8-of-12 three-point shooting. It was the highest scoring output by a UK freshman in program history.
Monk also tied Dan Issel for the sixth-most points ever by a Wildcat in a single game. It was the most by any Wildcat since Jodie Meeks recorded the single-game record of 54 points at Tennessee in 2009. It was the most points by a collegiate player in UK head coach John Calipari’s Hall of Fame career.
The 47 points were the most in a single game by an SEC freshman since LSU’s Chris Jackson had 55 vs. Ole Miss in 1989. They were the second-most points by a freshman in Division I college basketball since at least the 1996-97 season.
Relive the memorable performance through the eye’s of Kentucky Wildcats TV’s latest offering: