New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
UConn sweeps AP Big East awards
Hurley, Newton, Spencer each honored
The second Associated Press Big East awards were a clean sweep for the UConn men’s basketball team.
Tristen Newton was named Player of the Year, Dan Hurley was Coach of the Year and Newcomer of the Year went to Cam
Spencer in voting cast by 11 media members from each respective Big East city.
Newton was also a first team All-Big East pick, along with Marquette’s Tyler Kolek, Providence’s Devin Carter and Creighton’s Baylor Scheierman and Ryan Kalkbrenner. Kolek and Carter were unanimous picks.
Spencer made All-Big East second team, alongside Seton Hall’s Kadary Richmond, Creighton’s Trey Alexander, Marquette’s Oso Ighodaro and Villanova’s Eric Dixon.
Voters were asked to pick teams with either a traditional G-G-F-F-C or G-GG-F-F lineup.
Newton, who wasn’t named to a single preseason All-Big East team, led the second-ranked Huskies in scoring, rebounding and assists per game. During league play Newton averaged 14.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game. He recorded six double-doubles in conference action, including a triple-double against Villanova on Feb. 24.
Spencer, a grad transfer from Rutgers who played his first three seasons at Loyola (Md.), averaged 14.2 points in league play while shooting 49.2 percent from the floor and 44.4 percent from 3-point range. Spencer had 65 assists against just 18 turnovers and led UConn with 1.5 steals per game in Big East play.
Unlike the Big East’s own awards, which honor a Freshman of the Year, the AP’s Newcomer of the Year award specifically notes that it doesn’t have to go to a freshman. UConn’s
Stephon Castle is a certainty to win Big East Freshman of the Year.
In his sixth season at UConn, Hurley led the Huskies to their first No. 1 ranking in 15 years, a 28-3 overall record and 18-2 mark in league play, the most wins for any team ever in Big East play. UConn finished a full four games ahead of Creighton and Marquette (14-6 each) to win the program’s first regular-season league title in 18 years.
After winning the national championship last season, the Huskies lost lottery pick Jordan Hawkins and second-rounder Andre Jackson Jr. to the NBA Draft. Final Four Most Outstanding Player Adama Sanogo also went pro, where he’s spent some time with the Chicago Bulls, Joey Calcaterra graduated and Nahiem Alleyne transferred to St. John’s.
But UConn hardly skipped a beat under Hurley’s stewardship and, in fact, had a much better regular season than last year’s team, which finished fourth in the league at 13-7.
These awards shouldn’t be confused with the conference’s own awards, which will be announced on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. during a ceremony at Madison Square Garden. It will be hard for UConn to fare any better than it did in the AP awards.
FIRST TEAM
u-Guard — Tyler Kolek, Marquette, Sr., 6-3, 190, Cumberland, Rhode Island
u-Guard — Devin Carter, Providence, Jr., 6-3, 195, Miami
Guard — Tristen Newton, UConn, Gr., 6-5, 195, El Paso, Texas
Guard — Baylor Scheierman, Creighton, Sr., 6-7, 205, Aurora, Nebraska
Center — Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton, Sr., 7-1, 270, Florissant, Missouri
—“u” denotes unanimous selection.
SECOND TEAM
Guard — Kadary Richmond, Seton Hall, Sr., 6-6, 210, Brooklyn, New York
Guard — Cam Spencer, UConn, Gr., 6-4, 205, Davidsonville, Maryland
Guard — Trey Alexander, Creighton, Jr., 6-4, 190, Oklahoma City
Forward — Oso Ighodaro, Marquette, Sr., 6-11, 225, Chandler, Arizona
Forward — Eric Dixon, Villanova, Jr., 6-8, 255, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania
INDIVIDUAL HONORS
Coach of the year —
Dan Hurley, UConn
Player of the year —
Tristen Newton, UConn
Newcomer of the year — Cam Spencer, UConn
AP ALL-BIG EAST VOTING PANEL
Nick Bahe, Fox Sports; David Borges, CT Insider (New Haven, Connecticut); Zach Braziller, New York Post; Jerry Carino, Asbury Park (New Jersey) Press; Shelby Dermer, Cincinnati Enquirer; John Fanta, Fox Sports; Akeem Glaspie, Indianapolis Star; Steve Greenberg, Chicago Sun-Times; Kevin McNamara, WPRO (Providence, Rhode Island); Ben Steele, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Jon Walker, Omaha (Nebraska) WorldHerald.