Kentucky makes the case for its own Player of the Year candidate

No. 22 Kentucky (19-6, 9-3) has been playing some inspired ball recently and point guard Tyler Ulis has been the catalyst for that. He's playing tough defense and getting the Wildcat offense to move much better than it did to start the season. Kentucky basketball is convinced that his improved play has earned him at least some consideration for National Player of the Year.

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We've got a few good reasons why Tyler Ulis is a deserving national player of the year candidate: - He is currently averaging 6.7 assists. No player in school history has averaged that much in a single season season with a minimum of 100 assists - He ranks first in the SEC in assists per game (6.7) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.6). He?s 10th nationally in assists per game - He is one of only four players in the country averaging at least 16.7 points and at least 6.7 assists per game - He has now dished out four or more assists in a school-record 18 straight games

A photo posted by Kentucky Men's Basketball (@kentuckymbb) on Feb 14, 2016 at 8:18am PST

They make a good case with some of those stats. Ulis is also shooting 45 percent from the field and 49 percent during conference play. He's shooting 36.5 percent from beyond the arc in conference play as well. He also nabs 1.7 steals a game in conference play and he does it while standing at 5'9", which almost always puts him at a disadvantage defensively.

The race for POTY is considered to be between Oklahoma's Buddy Hield and LSU's Ben Simmons, but Kentucky certainly made a pretty good case for Ulis.