Paul McCoy earns second C-USA Rookie of the Week award

[PonyPride]

Paul McCoy Named C-USA Rookie Of The Week - Second Honor
Scored A Game-High 29 Points At UAB

Feb. 16, 2009

SMU freshman Paul McCoy was named Conference USA men's basketball Rookie of the Week McCoy averaged 19.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in games against Houston and UAB. He shot 48.4 percent (15-31) and hit 6-of-11 three-pointers. At UAB, he scored a game-high 29 points in the Mustangs' 78-75 loss. His point total is the second-most most by a C-USA freshman this season (he also had 32 points in a game on Dec. 31). Against UAB, McCoy hit 12-of-20 from the floor, 4-of-8 from 3-point range, and added five rebounds and three assists as SMU nearly upset the Blazers which are now 11-0 at home. This is McCoy's second C-USA Rookie of the Week honor (Nov. 24).

For the season, McCoy is averaging a team-high 13.8 points and is on pace to become the first freshman to lead the Mustangs in scoring. McCoy ranks among the Conference USA leaders as a freshman. He is 15th in scoring (13.8), eighth in field goal percentage (47.8), fifth in steals (1.87), and 15th in assist to turnover ration (1.25). Among C-USA freshmen, he is first in field goal percentage, second in scoring, second in steals, fourth in assist to turnover (1.25), and first in minutes at 34.74. In C-USA games, he is scoring 12.5 per game (24th), and ranks 10th in steals (1.40), 13th in assists (3.30), 14th in assist to turnover ratio (1.27), and 9th in minutes (35.90). Through Feb. 15, he was 92nd in the NCAA in steals.

McCoy took C-USA Rookie of the Week for Nov. 17-23 when he averaged 17.0 points, 3.3 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 2.3 steals with just four total turnovers to make the All-Tournament Team of the SMU Tip-Off Classic. In November, he was named by The Sporting News as one of the "Top freshman you may not know." On January 7, he was selected as the nation's No. 12 freshman by Basketball Prospectus. On Jan. 16, he was named one of ten finalists for the for Oregon's 2008 Johnny Carpenter Prep Athlete of the Year Award, as selected by a 78-member, statewide panel of voters.

The Mustangs (7-16, 1-9 C-USA) visit No. 5 Memphis (22-3, 10-0 C-USA) in a CBS College Sports nationally-televised contest on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game is also on KAAM 770 AM or at SMUMustangs.com.