STORRS, Conn. — UConn men’s basketball star Tristen Newton became the first Husky since 2014 to make the Associated Press first-team All-American team.
The 6-5 graduate, who elevated his game to give UConn the look of a team that could become college basketball’s first repeat champion since Florida in 2006 and 2007, received 39 first-place votes. He is UConn’s 12th All-American in program history and the first in the first-team since Shabazz Napier in 2014.
He is joined by Purdue’s Zach Edey, Dalton Knecht from Tennessee, RJ Davis of North Carolina and Houston’s Jamal Shead. Edey, a 7-foot-4, 300-pound senior topped all 62 ballots in results Tuesday.
With the departures of Final Four most outstanding player Adama Sanogo and Jordan Hawkins, Newton increased his scoring from 10.1 points last year to 15.2 points per game this season. He was recently named the AP’s player of the year in the Big East.
The El Paso, Texas native is also second on the squad with 7.0 rebounds per contest and first on the team with 6.0 assists per game. He also recorded a pair of triple-doubles and 10 double-doubles this season.
In the Big East title game, Newton also became the first UConn men’s basketball player to record at least 500 points, 200 assists and 200 rebounds in the same season.
RELATED: Reigning NCAA champ UConn tops the East Region bracket as the No. 1 overall seed in March Madness
Newton and the Huskies open NCAA Tournament play on Friday at 2:45 p.m. against No. 16 Stetson in Brooklyn, New York.
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