UConn point guard Silas Demary Jr. was one of 15 players named to the late-season team for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award on Friday.
The “head of the snake” has keyed the Huskies’ turnaround into a top-10 defensive unit this season with his ball-hawking nature at the point of attack. He leads the team and is top 10 in the Big East with 1.7 steals per game, also helping UConn hold opponents to just 5.8 made 3-pointers per game – eighth-fewest nationally – on 30% shooting. Demary has had 10 games this season with multiple steals, including five in the January overtime win at Providence.
The 6-foot-4, Raleigh, N.C., native was one of five guards and one of two Big East players on the list.
UConn is No. 6 nationally with a 44.6% effective field goal percentage against and has limited opponents to 44.9% from two-point range, which is good for eighth-best in the nation.
The Huskies moved up to No. 9 by KenPom’s defensive efficiency rating after Wednesday’s dominant win over No. 15 St. John’s, in which they held the Johnnies to just 40 points on 19.6% shooting from the field. St. John’s went the final 17 minutes and 28 seconds of that 32-point game without a made field goal and shot just 7% from the field in the second half.
UConn has a top-15 scoring defense, allowing just 65.1 points per game, is No. 14 in field goal percentage defense (36.9%) while leading the Big East in both scoring margin (+13.9) and rebound margin (+5.0).
Demary is looking to collect UConn’s fifth national defensive player award after Emeka Okafor (2003, ’04) and Hasheem Thabeet (’08, ’09) each won twice. UConn retired Okafor’s number on Feb. 18 and inducted Thabeet into its Huskies of Honor on Feb. 14.
Naismith Defensive PPOY late-season team
Flory Bidunga, Kansas; Cameron Boozer, Duke; Jaden Bradley, Arizona; Maliq Brown, Duke; Javontae Campbell, Bowling Green; Rueben Chinyelu, Florida; Somto Cyril, Georgia
Silas Demary Jr., UConn; Zuby Ejiofor, St. John’s; Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan; Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State; Aday Mara, Michigan; Tyler Tanner, Vanderbilt; Joseph Tugler, Houston; Ernest Udeh Jr., Miami
