Shamorie Ponds. @StJohnsBball. |
St. John's point guard Shamorie Ponds was awarded with National Player of the Week honors from the Citizen Naismith Trophy and United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), it was announced on Tuesday afternoon.
This comes one day after he was named the Big East Player of the Week for the second time this season on Monday for his performances in wins over Georgetown and Marquette.
St. John's also earned a spot in the Associated Press Top 25, ranked 24th in the nation. They are 14-1 overall, including 2-1 in the Big East, this season, their best start in 33 years.
Ponds, the 2018 Haggerty Award Winner, was also named the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association’s All-Met Player of the Week this morning. Ponds also garnered the MBWA’s weekly honor the last time it was presented on Dec. 18.
Ponds averaged 31.5 points on 52.8 percent shooting, including a 58.8 percent effort from three-point range, leading the Red Storm to consecutive wins over No. 16 Marquette and Georgetown.
On New Year’s Day against the Golden Eagles, Ponds set the tone early in a 20-point win for the Red Storm. The Brooklyn native scored 20 of his game-high 26 points in the first half, helping the Johnnies open up a nine-point halftime lead that ballooned even further in the latter stanza. Ponds made eight of his 15 shots on the game, including four of his seven tries from downtown. In addition to his scoring efforts, Ponds also grabbed seven rebounds, dished out five assists and recorded a pair of steals.
Four days later against Georgetown, Ponds led the Johnnies to their first win over the Hoyas in Washington since 2003. The junior guard exploded for 37 points, marking the fourth time this season and the 10th time in his St. John’s career that Ponds has cracked the 30-point plateau. He made 11 of his 21 field goal attempts, including six of his 10 tries from beyond the arc. Ponds also stuffed the stat sheet in other categories, dropping six dimes and registering four thefts.
Ponds and the No. 24/23 Red Storm return to action on the road Tuesday night against Villanova, taking on the defending national champions at 7 p.m.
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