NEW YORK – UConn men's basketball freshman Solomon Ball (Leesburg, Va.) has been named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week, the league office announced on Monday (Dec. 11). In addition, redshirt-sophomore Alex Karaban (Southborough, Mass.) has earned a spot on the weekly honor roll.
The honor for Ball comes after the rookie had a career performance in UConn's top-10 win over North Carolina on Dec. 5 at the Jimmy V Classic. Ball poured in a career-high 13 points to help the Huskies take down the Tar Heels, knocking down a trio of 3-pointers. He followed that up with a nine-point effort against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday, adding a thunderous block and a pair of rebounds.
Ball has started the last eight games for UConn, averaging 6.7 points and 2.5 rebounds per game while playing 25.5 minutes per night. He is the second freshman to earn BIG EAST Freshman of the Week this season, joining classmate Stephon Castle who won the first iteration of the award back on Nov. 13.
The honor roll nod for Karaban comes after his career-high 26 point effort vs. UAPB on Saturday. The forward also had 18 points and nine rebounds in the win over UNC, bringing his weekly averages to 22.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in a 2-0 week.
The Huskies are back in action on Friday, Dec. 15 when they take on Gonzaga in Seattle.
