Ponds named Big East and National Player of the Week

Shamorie Ponds added to his accolades Monday, capturing Big East Player of the Week honors for a second week in a row on top of national billing from Andy Katz. (Photo by Vincent Dusovic/St. John's University Athletics)

By Jason Schott (@JESchott19)

Much like his success on the court, the honors have not stopped for Shamorie Ponds.

The St. John's sophomore had another incredible week, following up his take-charge performance in the Red Storm's upset of then-No. 1-ranked Villanova with a career-high 44 points in Saturday's win over Marquette; and as a result, was honored as Big East Player of the Week for the second week in a row. As an added bonus, he was also named national player of the week by Andy Katz, who selects the award in his column on NCAA.com.

The Brooklyn native began the week with 26 points in Wednesday's 79-75 victory over the Wildcats, the first for St. John's over the top-ranked team in the nation since January 26, 1985; when Ponds' coach, Chris Mullin, was a senior for the then-Redmen and scored 20 points to defeat Georgetown. The win at Villanova ended a 54-game winning streak at home against unranked opponents.

In Saturday's 86-78 triumph over Marquette, Ponds' 44 points set a Carnesecca Arena single-game scoring record, breaking the prior mark of 43 held by the late great Malik Sealy against Central Connecticut on November 24, 1990, in a game that saw St. John's score a school-record 135 points. Ponds' output was the fourth-highest scoring total in a single game in program history, and first 40-point game since Marcus Hatten also registered 44 points against Rutgers on March 6, 2003. Ponds shot 16-for-23 from the floor against the Golden Eagles and 4-for-7 from three-point range, scoring 27 points in the second half; including 13 straight, on 9-of-12 shooting after halftime to help the Red Storm pull away for the win.

Over St. John's past four games, a stretch that has produced a 3-1 record with back-to-back wins against Top 5 teams for the first time in school history and games against three teams ranked among the top six in national polls, Ponds has scored 134 points, accounting for over 42 percent of the team's offense in the process. On the season, his 21.4 points per game rank second in the Big East, trailing only Marquette's Markus Howard.