Saddiq Bey leads a group of four Villanova players receiving Big East postseason honors

Sophomore forward Saddiq Bey was a unanimous selection to the All-Big East first team announced Sunday, one of four Villanova players honored with postseason recognition by the conference.

Junior guard Collin Gillespie was named second-team all-conference, and forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and guard Justin Moore were unanimously voted to the all-freshmen team. All votes were made by the league’s head coaches, none of whom were allowed to vote for their own players.

The 6-foot-8 Bey ranked seventh in the conference in scoring with a 16.1-point average overall, and his 17.3 points per game in league play tanked fifth. He led the Big East in three-point shooting at 45.1% (48.4% in conference games) and knocked down 79 threes, averaging 2.55 per game.

Gillespie averaged 15.1 points per game, 10th in the conference. The 6-3 guard also ranked in the top 10 in assists (4.5 per game, fifth) and free-throw percentage (81.7%, eighth) while sinking 70 three-point baskets.

The 6-9 Robinson-Earl was fourth in the conference, averaging 9.4 rebounds per game while he scored at a 10.5-point-per-game clip and hit 81.4% of his free throws. Moore, who is 6-4, was third on the team in scoring at 11.3 points per game and shot 39.6% from three-point range, making 61 threes.

As the only two players to receive every vote for the all-freshman team, either Robinson-Earl or Moore is likely to win freshman of the year honors when the award is announced Wednesday. They combined for 10 freshman of the week awards during the regular season.

Two other players, guards Markus Howard of Marquette and Myles Powell of Seton Hall, were unanimous selections to the all-conference team for the second straight year. The remainder of the six-man first team consisted of Ty-Shon Alexander of Creighton, Kamar Baldwin of Butler, and Naji Marshall of Xavier.