Castle top rookie again
March 13, the first day of the Big East tournament in New York.
Castle continued to strengthen his case by earning his 10th Big East freshman of the week honor on Monday, tying Syracuse's Camelo Anthony for the league record set during the 2002-03 season. He leads all Big East freshmen in points (11.3), rebounds (4.3) and assists (3.0) per game.
He had his best game against Seton Hall, finishing with a career-high tying 21 points to go with four rebounds, three assists and two steals in what may have been his last appearance before the home crowd. He played like an NBA lottery pick that he's projected to be.
“Steph was tremendous,” Hurley said.
During the post-game press conference, Hurley took exception to a reporter's recent critique of Castle's game.
“I saw some super critical breakdown of him on ESPN and his draft potential,” Hurley said. “I'd like to see them be super critical of all the prospects. I watch a lot of these top prospects and I just hope that reporter does a scathing breakdown of every draft prospect, not just ours.”
Newton a top point guard candidate
Veteran point guard Tristen Newton is one of five finalists for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame's 2024 Bob Cousy Award, which honors the nation's top point guard.
Newton is having a career season, leading the Huskies in scoring (15.3 points), rebounding (7.1) and assists (6.0) per game. He is the NCAA's active leader in career triple-doubles with four.
He's also had nine double-doubles this season.
Marquette's Tyler Kolek, Alabama's Mark Sears, Purdue's Braden Smith and Houston's Jamal Shead are the other finalists.
Previous Bob Cousy winners included Shabazz Napier (2014) and Kemba Walker (2011), two former Huskies.
News and notes
UConn climbed one spot to No. 2 in Monday's Associated Press top 25 poll, receiving six first place votes. No. 1 Houston had 52 votes and No. 3 Purdue had four. … Marquette at No. 8 and Creighton at No. 10 are the other ranked Big East teams. … Marquette will be without starting point guard Tyler Kolek for Wednesday's game against UConn and its final regular season game versus DePaul. He's sidelined with an oblique injury. … Sophomore Donovan Clingan earned a spot on the weekly Big East honor roll for the third time this season. … After Sunday's game, Hurley and his family stopped by Ted's Bar, an on-campus hangout, much to the delight of the students there.