Posted: Thursday, January 8, 2009 12:55 pm

Lester Hudson

For the third consecutive week, UT Martin standout Lester Hudson, a 6-2, 190-pound guard from Memphis, has been named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week.
Hudson scored a career-high 41 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the Skyhawks’ 84-65 road victory over Central Arkansas. Hudson hit 14-of-29 (48.2 percent) shots, 5-of-10 from 3-point range and 8-of-9 (88.8 percent) from the free-throw line to spark UT Martin to its fifth straight victory (four of which came away from home).
Hudson scored 19 points in the first half, including nine of the team’s first 11 points. It marked the first time he had scored 40 points in a game in his career. Hudson has earned Player of the Week honors four times this season. He has won the award eight times over the past two years.
Hudson shared this week’s honor with Morehead State’s Kenneth Faried, a 6-8, 215-pound center from Newark, N.J.
Faried averaged 15.5 points, 17.0 rebounds and hit 47.6 percent (10-of-21) from the field and Morehead State won a pair of road games (at East Tennessee, at Austin Peay) last week. Faried tallied seven points and 17 rebounds in the road win over East Tennessee and followed that with game-highs of 24 points and 17 rebounds in the OVC win at Austin Peay. He blocked three shots against ETSU and added another block (his 30th of the season) against the Govs.
Faried currently ranks sixth nationally in rebounding (11.9/game) and leads the OVC in double-doubles (8).