March 2, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - After recording one of the best individual performances in Conference USA history, senior guard Jermaine Taylor (Tavares, Fla.) received C-USA Player of the Week honors Monday. The league award is the fifth of the season for Taylor, who ranks third nationally in scoring at 26.1 points per game.
Taylor averaged 36.5 points in a pair of games for the Knights last week. The All-America candidate totaled 45 points on 14-of-29 shooting in 34 minutes against Rice. The scoring output was a UCF Division I record and ranked second on the C-USA single-game register. Taylor went 5-of-13 from 3-point range against the Owls and connected on 12-of-13 attempts at the free-throw line. He added seven rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots.
Taylor concluded the week by scoring 28 points for the short-handed Knights at Marshall. During the week, he shot 45.3 percent overall and went 18-of-19 (94.7 percent) at the charity stripe.
Taylor is averaging 28.6 points per game in league play.
The five C-USA Player of the Week honors for Taylor are the most in a single campaign for a league player since the 2002-03 season when Dwyane Wade of Marquette was recognized five times. Kenyon Martin of Cincinnati holds the conference single-season record with six player of the week awards in 1999-00.
During his career, Taylor has been honored seven times. He shared this week's honor with Markel Humphrey of Marshall.
UCF will return to action Wednesday at Tulsa. The Knights will conclude the regular season on Saturday, hosting East Carolina at 7 p.m. at the UCF Arena.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.