BATON ROUGE – LSU freshman forward Ben Simmons was named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week, the league offices announced on Monday.
Simmons, who will lead the nationally-ranked Tigers into the Legends Classic semifinals against Marquette at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, gives LSU back-to-back FOW after Antonio Blakeney earned the honor for his 22-point opening game of the season.
Against Kennesaw State (11/16) and South Alabama (11/19), the native of Australia, averaged 22.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and three steals in the victories that ran LSU’s record to 3-0. The week was highlighted by the 23 point-16 rebound effort against USA in which Simmons became the first SEC freshman to have a 20-point, 15-rebound game since Julius Randle of Kentucky during the 2013-14 season.