IRVING, Texas - Kansas redshirt freshman G Ben McLemore has been selected the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Rookie of the Week for games of January 14-20 in a vote by a media panel which covers the conference, the league announced Monday. McLemore is receiving the honor for the second time and his third league weekly accolade this season as he was the conference’s player of the week last week (1/14).
McLemore led the Jayhawks to victories over Baylor (61-44) and at Texas (64-59) as KU improved to 4-0 in conference play and extended it overall win streak to 15 games, the nation’s longest streak. The St. Louis, Mo., guard averaged 16.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in the two games, shooting 56.5 percent (13-of-23) from the field and 57.1 percent (4-of-7) from beyond the arc. He also recorded five steals and three blocked shots. In Kansas’ come-from-behind win at Texas, he scored 11 of his 16 points in the second half as the Jayhawks rebounded from an 11-point second-half deficit. McLemore leads all Big 12 freshmen in scoring and is first on his team with 16.4 points per game. He is fourth in the league in field goal percentage (.508) and also ranks second from the free throw line, converting 88.1 percent of his attempts.
McLemore is the first Kansas player to earn multiple Big 12 Rookie of the Week honors since current NBA player Josh Selby was named twice during the 2010-11 season. Last week, McLemore became the third different Jayhawk to be named Big 12 Player of the Week this season joining Travis Releford (11/26) and Jeff Withey (12/3). He also became only the second Jayhawk to win the conference’s player and rookie of the week accolades during the same season. He joined NBA standout Mario Chalmers who accomplished the feat during the 2005-06 season.
Kansas (16-1, 4-0 Big 12) will play at Kansas State (15-2, 4-0) Tuesday, at 7 p.m. CT with the winner taking over sole possession of first place in the 2013 Big 12 race.
