Nick Smith Jr. named SEC Freshman of the Week
Arkansas freshman guard Nick Smith Jr. earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors on Monday after he averaged 25 points and 3.5 rebounds last week across two games against Georgia and No. 2 Alabama. The nod marks the second time this season that Smith has been named SEC Freshman of the Week.
The five-star first year player scored a season-high 26 points in Tuesday's 97-62 win over Georgia and he added his second-best season-scoring output with 24 points in Saturday's 86-83 loss at Alabama.
Georgia marked the fourth game back for Smith after he missed 13 games due to a right-knee injury. He shot a season-best 5-of-8 from 3-point range and he helped Arkansas set a program record for the best shooting percentage in an SEC game (63.8%) while making a season-high 11 3-pointers (20 attempts) thanks to Smith’s five.
In the second half against the Bulldogs, Smith scored 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting (4-of-5 3PT) including a personal 8-0 run with a jumper and back-to-back 3’s to give Arkansas its largest lead of the game (34 points) with 4:32 to play.
Smith played nearly the entire game (39:38) at Alabama as he scored 24 points, pulled down a season-high six rebounds and tied a season-high with two steals. He scored 14 points in the second half, and with Arkansas down 12 with three minutes to play, Smith helped the Hogs out-score the Crimson Tide 20-10 as he scored seven of his 14 second-half points to get the Hogs within two of Bama (85-83).
In the only two times this year Smith has started two games in the same week, he was tabbed the SEC Freshman of the Week on both occasions. His previous honor came on Dec. 12, when he scored 22 points in a win over UNC Greensboro and 21 points in a win over Oklahoma.
Arkansas will return to the hardwood Tuesday in Knoxville, Tennessee, when they take on the No. 12 Tennessee Volunteers. The game will tipoff at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN2.