Hilliard and Arcidiacono make All-Big East first team
Villanova's Darrun Hilliard, a unanimous selection, and Ryan Arcidiacono were named Sunday to the All-Big East team in a vote of league coaches.
Villanova senior guard Darrun Hilliard was named Sunday as a unanimous All-Big East selection and joined his teammate, junior guard Ryan Arcidiacono, on the first team.
Hilliard and the Providence duo of junior guard Kris Dunn and senior forward LaDontae Henton were named on every ballot in the voting of league coaches who were not allowed to vote for anyone from their own team.
No Villanova players made the second team. Junior center Daniel Ochefu and senior forward JayVaughn Pinkston were named honorable mention.
The 6-foot-6 Hilliard led the fourth-ranked Wildcats in scoring during the regular season with a 14.2-point average overall but turned his production up in conference games, averaging 15.4 points. During one nine-game stretch in Big East play, he averaged 18.7 points.
Hilliard also was one of the Big East's most prolific three-point shooters, knocking down 66 shots from beyond the arc this season.
Given the unanimous vote, Hillard established himself as a frontrunner for Big East player of the year, which will be announced Wednesday.
The 6-foot-3 Arcidiacono averaged 10.7 points and provided valuable leadership as the Wildcats' point guard. He handed out 3.6 assists per game and had one of the conference's best assist-turnover ratios at 2.4 to 1. He also shot 44.4 percent from three-point range in Big East games.
Ochefu, who shared Big East most improved player honors last season with Hilliard, served as the Wildcats' defensive anchor averaging 8.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocked shots. While Pinkston's average of 9.9 points was below his career average of 12.4 entering the season, he improved significantly at the defensive end.
The seven-man All-Big East first team included junior guards Kellen Dunham of Butler and D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera of Georgetown and senior guard D'Angelo Harrison of St. John's. The second team consisted of guards Matt Carlino of Marquette and Sterling Gibbs of Seton Hall, forwards Sir'Dominic Pointer of St. John's and Roosevelt Jones of Butler and center Matt Stainbrook of Xavier.
Guard Billy Garrett Jr. of DePaul joined Ochefu and Pinkston as honorable mention.
Center Angel Delgado of Seton Hall and forward Trevon Bluiett of Xavier were unanimous picks to the All-Freshman team. Also making the squad were forwards Isaac Copeland and L.J. Peak of Georgetown and guard Isaiah Whitehead of Seton Hall.
--Joe Juliano