Tennessee basketball standout Keon Johnson earned his first career SEC Weekly honor after being named the conference’s Freshman of the Week on Monday. Johnson averaged 19.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and tallied a 7.0 assist/turnover ratio in games at Ole Miss and Kentucky.
On Tuesday against Ole Miss, Johnson scored 11 pulled in four rebounds and went 6-of-8 from the free-throw line, knocking down multiple attempts from the charity stripe while UT struggled for field goals.
On Saturday, the Shelbyville, Tennessee native put together his best UT performance to date, pouring in a season-high 27 points on 9-of-16 shooting, while draining 9-of-11 attempts from the foul line. He also pulled in four rebounds, dished out three assists and recorded both a block and a steal to lead Tennessee to its second consecutive victory inside Rupp Arena.
His performance marked the second consecutive year a Tennessee player recorded 27 points in a win in Rupp, following John Fulkerson’s 27 point outing in last year’s 81-73 win over the Wildcats.
Through 17 games, the fearless freshman currently leads the team in charges drawn and floor burns/diving efforts with eight apiece.
Johnson also ranks fourth on the team in scoring averaging 10.1 points per game and third in assists with 2.2 per contest and 38 total.
Tennessee players have now garnered 18 SEC weekly awards during the tenure of sixth-year head coach Rick Barnes.
Johnson and the 16th-ranked Vols return to action Wednesday when the Orange & White plays host to Georgia. Tipoff from Thompson-Boling Arena is set for 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
-UT Athletics
