University of Tennessee Athletics
Hubbs Named SEC Player of the Week
January 30, 2017 | Men's Basketball
Tennessee senior guard Robert Hubbs III was selected as the SEC Player of the Week on Monday after leading the Vols to consecutive wins over Kentucky and Kansas State last week.
The Newbern, Tenn., native came up big in UT's upset victory over then-No. 4 Kentucky last Tuesday. Hubbs finished with 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting while adding a team-high seven rebounds. After scoring 15 points in the first half, Hubbs shined in crunch time, helping UT preserve the win with some timely baskets. UK had whittled the Vols’ lead to 68-66 with under four minutes to play, but Hubbs scored five points in the last 3:22—none bigger than his turnaround jumper in the lane that restored UT’s advantage to five with just 1:06 remaining.
Four days later against Kansas State, Hubbs scored 10 points and put in another solid effort on the glass, hauling in seven rebounds for the second straight game. His efforts helped UT post a 43-29 rebounding edge over the Wildcats—tied for its best rebounding margin of the year.
Hubbs is averaging a team-high 18.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game over Tennessee's current three-game winning streak. In that span, he is shooting 62.9 percent from the field and 75.0 percent from the free-throw line.
On the year, Hubbs is the Vols' leading scorer, averaging 15.0 ppg. He ranks fourth in the SEC in field-goal percentage at 52.0 percent and is the only player appearing in the league's top five that stands shorter than 6-9.
Hubbs becomes the third Volunteer to win an SEC weekly award this season. Jordan Bowden was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Dec. 12 while Detrick Mostella earned Player of the Week honors on Dec. 26.
Tennessee plays back-to-back road games this week, starting with a trip to face Auburn on Tuesday night at 9 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
