Daniel Gafford earns SEC honor

Daniel Gafford drives in the first half of Arkansas' 95-79 win over No. 14 Minnesota Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017 in Bud Walton Arena.

Arkansas center Daniel Gafford was named SEC Freshman of the Week by the league office Monday following two impressive performances in Razorback wins.

The 6-foot-11, 234-pound El Dorado native began the week with a 14-point, six-rebound performance in a blowout win over Colorado State and followed it up by producing 16 points on 8 of 8 shooting, seven rebounds and a career-high six blocks in his first collegiate start to help lead the way to a win over No. 14 Minnesota.

Gafford has been one of the SEC's best players, regardless of class, this year, averaging 12.4 points, a team-best 5.9 rebounds and a team-high 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 69.5 percent from the floor, fourth-best in the SEC.

He is also near the top of the SEC in several per-40 minute categories, ranking fourth in scoring (26.0), 10th in rebounding (12.3) and fifth in blocks (4.0).

Additionally, Gafford ranks fifth in the SEC in net rating (+43.7 points per 100 possessions), 10th in rebounding percentage (17.5), fifth in defensive rebounding percentage (24.7) and fourth in block rate (10.8).