Men's Basketball Quintet Earn Honors From BIG EAST

OMAHA, Neb. -- Five members of the Creighton men's basketball team received recognition from the BIG EAST Conference on Sunday, March 6. Ryan Hawkins was named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team and Ryan Kalkbrenner was named All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention. Additionally, the Bluejay trio of Ryan Nembhard, Trey Alexander and Arthur Kaluma were named to the BIG EAST's All-Freshman Team.

Hawkins leads the BIG EAST with 11 double-doubles and tops the Bluejays with 14.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in his first year in the program. The sixth-year senior from Atlantic, Iowa, has started all 30 games and is one of three men (along with Adama Sanogo and Justin Lewis) in the BIG EAST to rank among the top 10 in both points and rebounds per game. Hawkins' selection gives Creighton a player named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team for the seventh straight season.

Kalkbrenner has swatted a league-high 80 blocked shots, a key reason that the Bluejays lead the league in field goal percentage defense (.400). The sophomore from St. Louis, Mo., also owns a conference-best 111 offensive rebounds, the most by a Creighton player since Bob Harstad in 1988-89. Kalkbrenner is CU's fourth player named All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention in the past four seasons, joining Denzel Mahoney (2020-21), Martin Krampelj (2018-19) and Ty-Shon Alexander (2018-19).

Nembhard became Creighton's first unanimous choice to the All-Freshman Team since Marcus Zegarowski in 2018-19. Nembhard was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week a league-leading six times after pacing the Bluejays in assists (4.4), steals (1.3) and minutes (34.8) per game. The Aurora, Ontario, Canada product averaged 11.3 points per contest before undergoing season-ending surgery on his right wrist on February 25. Georgetown's Aminu Mohammed and Marquette's Kam Jones were also unanimous choices to the All-Freshman Team.

Alexander averaged 6.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game while starting the final eight of his 30 appearances to date. He's scored in double-figures seven times and took over starting point guard duties after Nembhard got injured on February 23. The Oklahoma City, Okla., native was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week three times during his debut season.

Kaluma is averaging 9.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game while starting 25-of-26 appearances. The Glendale, Ariz., product has scored in double-figures 10 times this season and was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on February 14.

Creighton is the first team to land three members of the BIG EAST's All-Freshman Team in the same season since Georgetown placed Mac McClung, James Akinjo and Josh LeBlanc on the squad in 2018-19.

The league's head coaches choose the all-conference squads and are not permitted to vote for their own players. The league will announce its Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Coach of the Year on Wednesday.

Fourth-seeded Creighton (20-10) will meet fifth-seeded Marquette (19-11) on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. Central in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament presented by JEEP. The game will be played at Madison Square Garden and can be heard on KOZN (1620 AM) and watched on FS1.

ALL-BIG EAST FIRST TEAM+
R.J. Cole, Connecticut, G, Gr., 6-1, 185, Union, N.J.
Adama Sanogo, Connecticut, F, So., 6-9, 240, Bamako, Mali
Justin Lewis, Marquette, F, So., 6-7, 245, Baltimore, Md.
Julian Champagnie, St. John's, G-F, Jr., 6-8, 215, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Jared Rhoden, Seton Hall, G-F, 6-6, 210, Baldwin, N.Y.
*Collin Gillespie, Villanova, G, Gr., 6-3, 195, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.

ALL-BIG EAST SECOND TEAM
Ryan Hawkins, Creighton, F, Sr., 6-7, 222, Atlantic, Iowa
Javon Freeman-Liberty, DePaul, G, Sr., 6-4, 180, Chicago, Ill.
Jared Bynum, Providence, G, R-Jr., 5-10, 180, Largo, Md.
Nate Watson, Providence, F, Gr., 6-10, 260, Portsmouth, Va.
Justin Moore, Villanova, G, Jr., 6-4, 210, Ft. Washington, Md.

ALL-BIG EAST HONORABLE MENTION
Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton, C, So., 7-0, 256, St. Louis, Mo.
Darryl Morsell, Marquette, G, Gr., 6-5, 205, Baltimore, Md.
Posh Alexander, St. John's, G, So., 6-0, 200, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Jack Nunge, Xavier, C, Jr., 7-0, 245, Newburgh, Ind.

BIG EAST ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Jordan Hawkins, Connecticut, G, 6-5, 175, Gaithersburg, Md.
Trey Alexander, Creighton, G, 6-4, 185, Oklahoma City, Okla.
*Ryan Nembhard, Creighton, G, 6-0, 167, Aurora, Ont.
Arthur Kaluma, Creighton, F, 6-7, 220, Glendale, Ariz.
*Aminu Mohammed, Georgetown, G, 6-5, 210, Temple Hills, Md.
*Kam Jones, Marquette, G, 6-4, 185, Cordova, Tenn.

*Denotes unanimous selection

Men's Basketball Quintet Earn Honors From BIG EAST

Players Mentioned

Trey Alexander

Ryan Hawkins

Ryan Kalkbrenner

Arthur Kaluma

Denzel Mahoney

Ryan Nembhard

Marcus Zegarowski

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