Texas A&M’s Jalen Jones and LSU’s Ben Simmons have been awarded for their performances this week with SEC basketball honors.
Texas A&M has been a bit of a surprise team this year in terms of SEC basketball. The Aggies are sitting pretty at 15-2 with a 5-0 SEC basketball record thus far this year. That performance has the Aggies firmly entrenched in the tournament and in the national rankings (#10).
One on of the biggest factors in the success of the Aggies has been due to a 6-foot-7, 220-pound senior forward from Dallas, Texas. That man child is none other than Jalen Jones, who received SEC Basketball Player of the Week honors this week for his performances against the Florida Gators and Georiga Bulldogs last week. Of course the Aggies won both games and Jones was a big reason why.
Jalen Jones nearly averaged a double-double week, averaging 19 points and 9 rebounds in the two victories over SEC Basketball opponents. Against Florida, Jones shot 3-of-4 from 3-point range and finished with a game-high 26 points. It was his sixth 20-point performance of the season. He followed that outburst with his 12th career double-double at Georgia. He scored only 12 points but pulled in 12 rebounds in the game. Jones was efficient in his scoring this week, as he shot 46.2 from the floor and 57.1 from 3-point range.
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LSU has not experienced the same success thus far this year, as they sit at 11-6. Their time in SEC basketball has been the strongest point of the season, though. The Tigers have begun SEC basketball play with a 4-1 mark, making their 11-6 record overall shine a little more.
One reason LSU has been having more success lately is 6-foot-10, 240-pound forward Ben Simmons from Melbourne, Australia. Simmons received SEC Basketball Freshman of the Week honors this week after averaging 15.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and five assists in conference wins over Ole Miss and Arkansas.
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Simmons contributed a double-double in one of the two games which added to his league leading 13th double-double. Those 13 also lead NCAA freshman. Simmons scored 15 to go along with 5 boards against Ole Miss to go along with 7 assists. Simmons was 12-of-26 from the field in the two games and finished with 23 total rebounds, 10 assists and 31 points in the two contests. It was just another week for Simmons, who is averaging 20 points per game to go along with 12.9 rebounds.