ORLANDO – For the sixth time this season, UCF men's basketball freshman Taylor Hendricks has been named as the American Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week. C.J. Kelly earned a spot on the conference's Weekly Honor Roll this week, the fourth time he has done so this season.
His sixth honor ties the conference record for most Rookie of the Week nods, joining three Memphis players with six in a single season. Aside from Hendricks, Jalen Duren was the most recent to do it, accomplishing the feat last season while Precious Achiuwa did it in 2019-20 and Dedric Lawson did it 2015-16. Hendricks has already set the conference record for most consecutive Rookie of the Week honors, earning the nod four weeks in a row from Nov. 21-Dec. 2.
This week saw Hendricks help his team out in multiple ways. He tallied 12 points against Memphis with two blocks and scored 15 points with 11 rebounds while tallying a trio of rejections at Tulane. The double-double is Hendricks' fourth of the season. He now has recorded at least one block in 10 straight contests and is just three away from a tie with the conference's leader. Hendricks' 31 blocks ranks 45th in the country.
Kelly earns his fourth honor roll nod after a pair of games in which he scored over 15 points, draining 21 points in UCF's win over Memphis and added 17 against Tulane. Both his performances were off the bench as he averaged 19.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in the process. Kelly has recorded 15 points or more in three of UCF's last four contests and is second on the team in scoring, averaging 12.3 points a game. He is the team's third-leading rebounder, averaging a 4.0 clip and is behind only Hendricks and Michael Durr in that department.
UP NEXT
The Black and Gold are back in action a week from today as they'll head west on I-4 to face South Florida on Saturday at noon. The game will be televised on ESPNU and can be heard on FM 96.9 The Game.
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