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NEW YORK (AP) — Villanova point guard Jalen Brunson, Xavier coach Chris Mack and Villanova freshman Omari Spellman are the Big East award winners.
The voting of the conference's coaches was announced Wednesday.
Brunson, a junior, led the Wildcats to a 27-4 record, 14-4 in the Big East. He is averaging 19.0 points and 4.8 assists per game.
Brunson is the third Wildcat guard in the last four seasons to earn Big East Player of the Year honors. Josh Hart won last year and Ryan Arcidiacono shared the honor with Providence's Kris Dunn in 2014-15.
Mack directed Xavier to its first Big East regular-season title with a 15-3 league record and a 27-4 overall mark. The overall win total is the highest in school history in the regular season. This season, Mack became the school's career leader in victories when he won his 203rd game.
Spellman received all nine possible votes. The 6-foot-9 forward is the Big East's top freshman scorer with a 10.9 average and his rebound average of 7.8 ranks fourth in the conference. Spellman had 12 double-doubles this season.
He is the third Villanova freshman to win the honor joining Scottie Reynolds in 2006-07 and Tim Thomas in 1996-97.
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