UW's Penney earns repeat Big Ten honor
By Rob
Schultz
January 1, 2002
Kirk Penney accomplished something that no
Big Ten Conference player has accomplished since 1999 when he was named the
conference's player of the week for the second straight time.
The
6-foot-5 junior guard from New Zealand earned the honors this week after
averaging 22.5 points and 8.5 rebounds during the Badgers' 81-79 victory over
UW-Milwaukee and their 65-62 win over Tennessee last week.
Penney scored
29 points, made 8 of 15 shots overall and 11 of 13 from the free throw line and
tied the score at Milwaukee at 62-62 with a 3-pointer with 1:15 to go. He scored
16 points and did an outstanding job defensively on bruising forward Ron Slay
during the Badgers' victory over Tennessee at the Kohl Center. It was the
Badgers' fourth straight win.
He earned co-player of the week honors
last week after scoring 33 points during the Badgers' 86-73 upset of then-No. 14
Marquette at the Kohl Center on Dec. 22. That scoring output still ranks as the
highest by any Big Ten player this season.
The last time a UW player was
named the conference's player of the week more than once in a season was Michael
Finley in 1992-93. The last time a Big Ten player was named back-to-back
conference player of the week was in 1999 when Ohio State's Scoonie Penn earned
the honors.
The Badgers (7-6) open their Big Ten Conference season
Wednesday at No. 9 Iowa (11-3).
Published: 8:38 AM
1/01/02
