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As the Big East season wore on, West Virginia senior Kevin Jones was considered a heavy favorite to win the conference's Player of the Year award. The Mountaineers stumbled a bit in the month of February, but Jones was steady with double-doubles in five of WVU's final eight games. Earlier this week, WVU fans found out that someone had a grudge when it was announced that Jones was a First Team All-Big East player but the selection was not unanimous.
On Monday night, Adam Zagoria reported that Marquette's Jae Crowder had beaten out Jones for Player of the Year honors. Via @AdamZagoria:
League sources confirm Jae Crowder of Marquette is Big East Player of the Year & Moe Harkless of #stjbb is the Big East Rookie of the Year
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) March 5, 2012
Jones finished the season by leading the league in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 20 points per game and 11.2 rebounds per game. Crowder was third in the league in scoring with 18.3 points per game, and ninth in rebounding with 7.7 boards per game.
Read more at Big East Coast Bias on how Crowder and Jones stack up against each other.
But Marquette finished the regular season at 25-6 and 14-4 in the conference, good enough for the No. 2 seed in this week's tournament and a top ten ranking in both polls. Playing in their final year in the conference, WVU has never had a Player of the Year in basketball. Providence and Rutgers are the only other two long-standing members to have never have a player receive the award.
For more news, analysis, and discussion on the Mountaineers, check out The Smoking Musket, SB Nations West Virginia blog. Visit Big East Coast Bias for all your conference news during championship week. For more college hoops news as March Madness heats up, be sure to follow SB Nation's NCAA basketball hub.