Jump To Top of Page
MBB: Asa Newell Named SEC Freshman of the Week, Again
Georgia’s Asa Newell has been selected as the SEC’s Freshman of the Week in men’s basketball, the league office in Birmingham, Alabama, announced on Monday. Newell has been named the league’s Freshman of the Week twice in five weeks this season.
Newell, a 6-11, 220-pound freshman from Destin, Fla., posted game-high tallies of 20 points and 11 rebounds in Georgia’s 69-48 win over Notre Dame last Tuesday in the SEC/ACC Challenge. Newell’s efforts represented his second 20-point outing and second double-double in eight games this season. He also matched his season high with two assists in the victory.
Newell helped Georgia seize control of the contest late in the first half against Notre Dame. He scored 11 points over the final 5:45 of the period as the Bulldogs’ pushed their lead from five points to 12 at the intermission. After the Fighting Irish pulled within 47-41, Newell scored nine points to lead Georgia on a 22-7 surge the rest of the game.
Newell leads Georgia in scoring (15.9 ppg) and rebounding (6.7) rpg. Among SEC statistical leaders, he enters this week ranked No. 14 in both scoring and rebounding, as well as No. 4 in field goal percentage (.555) and No. 12 in blocked shots (1.22 bpg).
Newell was also tabbed SEC Freshman of the Week on Nov. 18 after he averaged 13.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 assists in wins over Georgia Tech and North Florida. Newell is one of 10 Bulldogs who have earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors a combined 15 times since the award’s inception in 1988. He is the first Georgia player to claim the accolade multiple times since Anthony Edwards earned four certificates during the 2019-20 campaign.
Georgia is currently 8-1 on the season, matching the Bulldogs’ best start since also going 8-1 to begin the 2006-07 season. Georgia is currently No. 22 in the NCAA’s NET rankings and was projected as a No. 10 seed in last week’s edition of ESPN.com’s Bracketology.
The Bulldogs will return to action this Saturday when they face Grand Canyon, an NCAA Tournament team three of the last four years, at 6:00 p.m. in Holiday Hoopsgiving at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Hoopsgiving is triple header also featuring Auburn vs. Ohio State at 1:00 and Florida vs. Arizona State at 3:30.
Georgia will then return to Stegeman Coliseum on Thursday, Dec. 19 to face Buffalo at 7:00 p.m. The Bulldogs will wrap up non-conference play with Sunday games against Charleston Southern on Dec. 22 and S.C. State on Dec. 29. Georgia is riding a 24-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents.
Tickets for Hoopsgiving and all Georgia home games are available at www.georgiadogs.com/mbbtix.
Jump To Today’s Discussion Thread