Beverley Named SEC Newcomer of the Year Ervin SEC Player of the Week for 2nd Time
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas freshman guard Patrick Beverley has been named the Southeastern Conference Newcomer of the Year by the Associated Press, it was announced on Tuesday, and junior guard Gary Ervin has been named the SEC Player of the Week for the second time this season.
Beverley was also named first-team All-District VII by the United States Basketball Writers Association on Tuesday after last week being named the league’s Freshman of the Year by CollegeHoops.net and second-team All-District 9 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
He is ranked among the individual league leaders in a league-high tying eight of 13 categories.
The Chicago native leads the team and is 13th overall in scoring (14.3), leads the team and is second overall in free-throw shooting (.835), leads the team and is fourth in minutes played (1,033), leads the team and is fifth in steals (1.90), leads the team and is sixth in three-point shooting (.415), leads the team and is ninth in three-point buckets per game (2.20), is second on the team and 11th in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.52), and is fifth on the team and 29th in the league in rebounding (4.4).
Among all newcomers in the SEC, he is first in scoring, free-throw percentage, three-point percentage, steals and minutes played; ninth in rebounding, third in assists and second in three-point goals.
Beverley is Arkansas’ first SEC Newcomer of the Year since Joe Johnson won the award as a freshman in 2000.
He is joined on the USBWA All-District VII team by Morris Almond of Rice, D.J. Augustin and Kevin Durant of Texas, LSU’s Glen Davis, Texas Tech’s Jarrius Jackson, Texas A&M’s Joseph Jones and Acie Law, New Orleans’ Bo McCalebb and Houston’s Robert McKiver. Durant is the Player of the Year and Billy Gillispie of Texas A&M the Coach of the Year.
Ervin set career scoring highs in each game last week, helping Arkansas post wins over Mississippi State and at No. 19 Vanderbilt.
In the win over MSU, he was six-of-12 from the floor and six-of-seven at the line for 20 points while adding six rebounds and a game-high seven assists.
He topped that a few days later with 21 points at Vanderbilt, going six-of-10 from the floor, including two-of-three on threes, and seven-of-eight at the line. He also had five rebounds and a game-high tying four assists.
For the week, he averaged 21.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.0 steal while shooting 54.5 percent from the floor (12-22) and 86.7 percent at the line (13-15).
For the season, he is averaging 9.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists, which ranks second in the SEC.
He earned SEC Player of the Week honors on Jan. 8 after leading the Razorbacks to wins over Tulsa and No. 8 Alabama. He had a double-double of 18 points and 11 assists along with six rebounds and three steals against the Crimson Tide. Against Tulsa, he had 14 points, six assists and two steals with no turnovers.
For the week, he averaged 16.0 points, 8.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals while making 12-of-17 shots (.706) and six-of-seven free throws (.857). He had just one turnover in 68 minutes.
He is the first Arkansas player to win SEC Player of the Week honors twice in the same season since 2002 when guard Jannero Pargo was selected two times.
