To the victors, the spoils
Huskies sweep AP Big East awards as Newton, Hurley and Spencer earn honors
Uconn men’s basketball was the clear-cut class of the Big East this season, and their dominance was reflected in the Associated Press’ Big East awards voting on Tuesday.
Dan Hurley took home AP Big East Coach of the Year honors, Tristen Newton won AP Big East Player of the Year, and Cam Spencer captured the AP Big East Newcomer of the Year award.
Voting for the awards was done by 11 Associated Press writers who cover the Big East. The honors are separate from the Big East’s awards, which are voted on by the league’s coaches. Those winners will be announced Wednesday.
Hurley guided the Huskies to a 28-3 record, a Big East record 18 conference wins (18-2) and the program’s first outright regular season conference title since 1999. Uconn did all of this despite being picked to finish third in the conference’s preseason poll and not garnering a single first-place vote.
Newton averaged 15 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.8 assists while shooting 40.5% from the field. He also racked up nine double doubles and two triple doubles this season, putting him in some elite company in NCAA history. Newton was joined on the AP All-big East first team by Marquette’s Tyler Kolek, Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner and Baylor Scheierman, and Providence’s Devin Carter.
Spencer emerged as the top transfer in the Big East and arguably the best in the country, averaging 14.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and shooting 49.2% overall and a conference-best 45.1% from 3-point range. He also earned second team honors, joined by Seton Hall’s Kadary Richmond, Creighton’s Trey Alexander, Marquette’s Osho Ighodaro and Villanova’s Eric Dixon.
Uconn is set to take the court in the Big East quarterfinals on Thursday at 12 p.m., against the winner of Wednesday’s game between Butler and Xavier.