Big East weekly awards: Josh Hart, Shamorie Ponds win Player and Freshman of the Week honors

Josh Hart and Shamorie Ponds have won the Big East Player and Freshman of the Week awards.

The Villanova senior and St. John’s freshmen were both honored by the Big East Conference on Monday afternoon.

Hart led Villanova to a pair of victories over La Salle and #23 Notre Dame this week. He had 21 points and eight rebounds against the Explorers before recording a career-high 37 points in Villanova’s 74-66 victory over Notre Dame. Hart also had a team-high 11 rebounds in the Notre Dame game for his third double-double of the season. Hart is widely regarded as the frontrunner for National Player of the Year at this point.

Ponds, meanwhile, led St. John’s to a 2-1 week and flirted with a triple-double Thursday night against Fordham. Ponds had a team-high 26 points to go along with nine assists and seven rebounds. He also had four steals in that game.