St. John's University Athletics
Ponds Earns More Recognition on Tuesday
2/13/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
QUEENS, N.Y. - A day after being named the BIG EAST Player of the Week for the second time in as many tries and taking home NCAA.com National Player of the Week honors, Shamorie Ponds has garnered even more accolades for his outstanding play of late. The Brooklyn native was named the United States Basketball Writers Association National Player of the Week and the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association All-Met Player of the Week, it was announced on Tuesday.
The sophomore guard averaged 35.0 points per game in a pair of wins for the Johnnies, as the Red Storm knocked off No. 1/1 Villanova on Wednesday night before taking care of Marquette at home on Saturday inside Carnesecca Arena. The victory over the Wildcats marked the program's first over a top-ranked opponent since Jan. 26, 1985, when Chris Mullin netted 20 points to lead the Johnnies past Patrick Ewing and Georgetown, 66-65.
Against Villanova in Philadelphia, Ponds tallied a game-high 26 points, helping the Red Storm snap the Wildcats' 54-game home winning streak against unranked opponents. The sophomore also added five rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals in a full 40 minutes of action.
Returning home on Saturday to face the Red Storm's first unranked opponent in two weeks, Ponds delivered an encore to remember in front of a sold-out crowd at Carnesecca Arena. The Kings County product dropped a career-high 44 points, matching the fourth-highest single game total in program history and becoming the first Red Storm player to eclipse the 40-point mark since Marcus Hatten put up 44 against Rutgers on March 6, 2003, at Madison Square Garden. Ponds set the Carnesecca Arena/Alumni Hall single game scoring record with his outburst, passing the old mark of 43 set by Malik Sealy in a 135-92 win over Central Connecticut on Nov. 24, 1990. He converted on 16 of his 23 shot attempts against the Golden Eagles, including four of his seven tries from beyond the arc.
Over the team's past four games, three of which have come against opponents ranked inside the top six, Ponds is averaging 33.5 points per game with three outings of 30 points or better.
