City of Basketball Love

Will Slover (@WillSlover31)

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Although the holidays caused for a slow start to the college basketball week, conference play began shortly after and four players with local connections used strong performances to make their way onto their respective conference’s weekly awards lists.

Jalen Brunson (Villanova/So.)

Brunson was a force for Villanova this week, averaging 20.0 points per contest, while also dishing out 5.5 assists and reeling in 4.0 rebounds in his squad’s two conference wins over DePaul and No. 10 Creighton as the sophomore from Lincolnshire, Ill. was named Big East Player of the Week. On Wednesday, the 6-foot-2 guard turned in a solid performance of 13 points, 6 assists and four rebounds in Villanova’s win over DePaul but it was his showing against Creighton that really turned heads. The former 5-star recruit torched the previously undefeated Blue Jays for 27 points, 15 of which came from beyond the arc, and also grabbed five rebounds and dealt out four assists in a statement win for the Wildcats, who are now ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll for the 5th consecutive week.

Ryan Daly (Delaware/Fr.)

The Archbishop Carroll graduate Daly turned in the two best performances of his young career in Delaware’s two games this week and went on to be named Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Week. After torching Iona for 18 points and 12 rebounds in a Delaware win and having the best performance of his career, the best was still in store for Daly. The 6-foot-4 combo guard, who recently broke his way into the Delaware starting lineup, tied his career-high with 20 points and reeled a career-high 15 rebounds in Delaware’s loss to Hofstra.

Charlie Brown (Saint Joseph’s/Fr.)

The 6-foot-7 Brown was a huge part of St. Joe’s win over George Washington in their Atlantic 10 opener. After junior guard and leading scorer Shavar Newkirk tore his ACL just prior to halftime, Brown took over for the Hawks and finished with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while also adding in four rebounds, two assists, one block, one steal and zero turnovers. Brown’s strong performance allowed him to be named Atlantic 10 Co-Rookie of the Week.

Maurice Watson Jr. (Creighton/Sr.)

Watson, who hails from Boys’ Latin of Philadelphia Charter School, had a solid week for No. 10 Creighton and made his way onto the Big East Weekly Honor Roll. The 5-foot-10 point guard, who leads all of Division I basketball in assists per game with 9.1, averaged 13.5 points, 9.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds per contest in Creighton’s two Big East bouts. After turning in a 21-point, 10-assist performance in a win over Seton Hall, Watson wasn’t as impressive in Creighton’s first loss of the season to Villanova as he found himself in some early foul trouble, but the floor general still managed to be effective as he finished with six points and nine assists.