Ulis, Kennedy receive top honors from SEC coaches

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) Southeastern Conference coaches have picked Kentucky sophomore guard Tyler Ulis as the league's player of the year and defensive player of the year.

The coaches also voted Texas A&M's Billy Kennedy as coach of the year in honors announced by the league on Tuesday.

Alabama guard Retin Obasohan is the scholar athlete of the year. LSU's Ben Simmons is the pick as top freshman and South Carolina's Duane Notice is sixth man of the year.

Ulis, Simmons and Obasohan all are first-team All-SEC picks. Ties were not broken so eight players were named first-teamers, including Kentucky's Jamal Murray, Mississippi's Stefan Moody, South Carolina's Michael Carrera, Texas A&M's Jalen Jones and Vanderbilt's Damian Jones.

Ulis enters the SEC tournament averaging 16.6 points and a league-best 7.4 assists per game.