Lewis most improved in Big East; Kalkbrenner defensive POY

By MIKE FITZPATRICK
AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Marquette forward Justin Lewis has won the Big East’s most improved player award and Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner was voted the conference’s defensive player of the year. Point guard Jared Bynum from regular-season champion Providence took the top sixth man prize, and Georgetown captain Donald Carey was honored with the league’s sportsmanship award. Lewis, rated the Big East’s best NBA prospect, boosted his averages from 7.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game as a freshman reserve last season to 17.1 points and 8.0 rebounds in 2021-22. The 6-foot-7 sophomore earned a spot on the all-Big East first team and won the league scoring title with an average of 18.2 points in conference games. Kalkbrenner, a 7-foot-1 sophomore, led the Big East with 80 blocked shots.