LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Southeastern Conference has announced its regular season awards ahead of this week's conference tournament and once again, Kentucky basketball is well-represented across a plethora of categories. Four Wildcats have earned season-long SEC honors, in addition to a pair of individual nods.
Senior guard Antonio Reeves has been selected for the All-SEC First Team, after he finished the regular season averaging 20.2 points per game. That's the highest mark by any Kentucky player in the John Calipari era, and he did so while shooting 50.7 percent from the field and 44 percent from the 3-point line.
Reeves has topped double-figure scoring in all but one game this season and eclipsed the 20-point plateau in 19 games. He is just the second UK player under Calipari to have 20-plus career 20-or-more scoring efforts in his career, joining 2022 National Player of the Year, Tshiebwe, in that category. Twelve of Reeves' 28 career 20-plus point scoring efforts have come on the road.
Against Georgia, he eclipsed 2,000 career points combining his time at Illinois State and at Kentucky. As a Wildcat, he became the 62nd player in program history to amass 1,000 career points with 25 at LSU. He is one of three active players and 10 all-time to tally 1,000 career points at two different programs.
In two seasons with UK, Reeves has scored 1,115 points. The most in a two-year span as a Wildcat is 1,213 by Bill Spivey. Tshiebwe (1,117) is in second.
In his career with UK, Reeves has 55 double-digit scoring games, 42 games with multiple made 3s, 29 20-point games and eight games with five or more made 3s, with one more post-season run still to go.
SEC SEASON-LONG HONORS: Four @KentuckyMBB Cats named
— BBN Tonight (@BBNTonight) March 11, 2024
⭐ Antonio Reeves
⭐ Reed Sheppard
⭐ Rob Dillingham
⭐DJ Wagner
Read more on @LEX18News ⤵️https://t.co/gQv0YBCUTd
Reeves was joined on the eight-man All-SEC First Team by Mark Sears (Alabama), Johni Broome (Auburn), Zyon Pullin (Florida), Tolu Smith III (Mississippi State), Dalton Knecht (Tennessee), Zakai Zeiger (Tennessee) and Wade Taylor IV (Texas A&M).
Freshmen Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham were selected for the All-SEC Second Team and the All-Freshman team, where they were also joined by DJ Wagner.
They were joined on the All-SEC Second Team by Jaylin Williams (Auburn), Walter Clayton Jr. (Florida), Matthew Murrell (Ole Miss), Josh Hubbard (Mississippi State), Ta’Lon Cooper (South Carolina), Meechie Johnson (South Carolina) and Jonas Aidoo (Tennessee), while the All-Freshman team also included Aden Holloway (Auburn), Alex Condon (Florida), Silas Demary Jr., (Georgia), Hubbard (Mississippi State) and Colin Murray-Boyles (South Carolina).
The Wildcats also picked up two significant individual awards.
Reed Sheppard claimed the league's Freshman of the Year honor, and Rob Dillingham has been named the SEC Sixth-Man of the Year.
Head coach John Calipari has now coached 35 players (37 total honors) who have earned All-SEC first- or second-team accolades. At least one player has been named to the All-SEC Freshman Team in each of Calipari’s 15 seasons, including 34 total honors.
In addition to the on-court honors, Brennan Canada was named to the SEC Community Service team last week for his exemplary service in the community.
The Wildcats ended the regular season with a 23-8 overall record and a 13-5 mark against SEC competition. Kentucky's win in the regular-season finale against Tennessee helped the Cats earn the No. 2 seed in the upcoming SEC Tournament, where they'll face the winner of Texas A&M/Ole Miss.
After earning a double-bye, Kentucky's first post-season game will be Friday at 7 p.m.
For more on the Wildcats, watch BBN Tonight weeknights at 7:30 p.m. on the official station of UK Athletics, LEX 18 News.
