By The Associated Press undefined
The Associated Press national player of the week in men’s basketball for Week 18 of the season:
ANTONIO REEVES, KENTUCKY
The senior guard from Chicago had 27 points and seven rebounds in leading the Wildcats to a win over then-No. 4 Tennessee last week, helping to earn Reeves the final AP men’s player of the week honor for the 2023-24 season. He also had 20 points, six rebounds and four assists as Kentucky rolled past Vanderbilt, and his seven straight games of at least 20 points are the most by a Wildcat player since Jamal Murray went 12 straight during the 2015-16 season. Ninth-ranked Kentucky is the No. 2 seed for the SEC Tournament and will play Ole Miss or Texas A&M in the quarterfinals on Thursday night in Nashville.
RUNNER-UP
Zach Edey, Purdue. The reigning AP player of the year finished the regular season with a pair of big performances. The 7-foot-4 Edey had 28 points and eight rebounds in a win over then-No. 12 Illinois, then had 25 points and 14 rebounds while helping the third-ranked Boilermakers beat Wisconsin on Sunday. Purdue is the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
HONORABLE MENTION
Cormac Ryan, North Carolina; L.J. Cryer, Houston; DaRon Holmes II, Dayton.
KEEP AN EYE ON
PJ Haggerty, Tulsa. The transfer from TCU had a career-high 32 points, seven rebounds and five assists in leading the Golden Hurricane to an upset of No. 24 South Florida last week. Haggerty has scored in double-figures in 25 consecutive games. Tulsa plays East Carolina in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference tourney on Thursday.
AP voters: Aaron Beard, Cliff Brunt, Gary B. Graves, Beth Harris, Mike Marot, John Marshall, Eric Olson, Dave Skretta, Teresa M. Walker.
