UConn sweeps AP individual Big East awards after regular-season title

Tristen Newton, Cam Spencer and Dan Hurley gave UConn a sweep of The Associated Press’ top men’s basketball honors in the Big East.

Newton is the conference’s player of the year, Spencer is newcomer of the year and Hurley is coach of the year in balloting released Tuesday by 11 journalists who cover the conference.

Marquette’s Tyler Kolek and Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner are repeat selections to the AP All-Big East first team. They’re joined by Newton, Providence’s Devin Carter and Creighton’s Baylor Scheierman. Kolek, the player of the year in 2023, and Carter were unanimous picks.

The first team is guard-heavy. Kolek, Carter and Newton were the top-three vote-getters, ahead of big man Kalkbrenner, and Scheierman was well ahead of any forward for the fifth spot.

Newton leads the defending national champion Huskies in scoring (15.0 ppg), rebounding (7.1 rpg) and assists (5.8 apg). He enters the Big East Tournament this week with nine double-doubles, including triple-doubles against Manhattan and Villanova.

Newton, who transferred to UConn from East Carolina two years ago, leads active Division I players with four career triple-doubles and is the only active player with at least 1,800 points, 650 rebounds and 650 assists.

Spencer, in his one and only season at UConn after transferring from Rutgers, is shooting a Big East-leading 45.1% on 3-pointers and averages 14.9 points and 3.3 assists per game.

Hurley, in his sixth year, led the Huskies to a Big East-record 18 conference wins and a school-record 28 regular-season wins. The Huskies’ regular-season title was their first since 2006 and first outright title since 1999.

Kolek leads the nation in assists (7.6 apg) and ranks among the league leaders in six categories and has six double-doubles.

Carter averaged a Big East-leading 21.4 points per game in conference play and is shooting 38.5% on 3-pointers.

Scheierman leads the Big East with 14 double-doubles and averages 18.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Kalkbrenner’s 2.97 blocks per game rank second nationally, and Big East coaches named him defensive player of the year for a third straight season. He averages 17.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.

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, Connecticut, 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, Connecticut, 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, Connecticut

Player of the Year: Tristen Newton, Connecticut.

Newcomer of the Year: Cam Spencer, Connecticut.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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