Kentucky's Davis voted Player of the Year

ST. LOUIS, March 19 (UPI) -- Kentucky freshman Anthony Davis was voted the national collegiate Player of the Year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, the group said Monday.

Davis, who turned 19 last week, helped the Wildcats to a 34-2 record while averaging 14.3 points and 10.1 rebounds a game. Kentucky is the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA Division I men's tournament and has advanced to the South Region semifinals against Indiana.

Davis leads the country with 166 blocked shots and is second in field goal percentage (63.6 percent). He was voted the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.

"Anthony Davis made an immediate and dramatic impact on college basketball," said USBWA President Lenox Rawlings of the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal. "He has many skills, most obvious among them his ability to block and alter shots.

"Davis' dominance inside solidified Kentucky as a national title contender and brought [former NBA star] Bill Russell back into the dialogue, shining light on the vital half of the game that people often ignore."

Davis is the second freshman, after Texas' Kevin Durant in 2008, to be voted the honor.

The USBWA also selected Davis as its Freshman Player of the ear. That honor had been announced earlier.

He is to receive the Oscar Robinson Trophy as Player of the Year and the Wayman Tisdale Award as Freshman of the Year at ceremonies March 30 in New Orleans.