Villanova’s Brunson, Xavier’s Mack headline final batch of Big East awards

Hours before the Big East Tournament tipped off on Wednesday night, the Big East announced its final batch of individual honors for the 2017-18 season.

Xavier’s Chris Mack was named Coach of the Year, as he guided his Musketeers to a 27-4 overall and a 15-3 Big East record. As a result, Xavier took home the Big East regular season title, dethroning VIllanova after a four-year run. The Musketeers head into the Big East Tournament as the No. 1 seed for the first time since realignment.

When it came to the top player, Villanova’s Jalen Brunson was named the Big East Player of the Year. He leads the Wildcats with 19.0 points per game and 4.8 assists per game.

Brunson was also named the Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He is set to get his degree a year early, earning it after this season is over.

His teammate, Omari Spellman, was named the conference’s freshman of the year. In his first season of action, Spellman averaged 10.7 points and 7.8 rebounds.