Jan. 23, 2012

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Stellar work in a pair of Villanova victories helped junior Maalik Wayns and freshman JayVaughn Pinkston earn notice from the BIG EAST Conference on Monday.

Wayns is this week's BIG EAST Player of the Week. Wayns followed his career high 39 point, 13 rebound effort at Cincinnati on Jan. 14 with a pair of strong efforts last week. The 6-2 guard contributed 25 points, seven assists and five rebounds to an 84-76 win over Seton Hall on Jan. 18 at the Pavilion. In addition, he helped limit standout Pirates senior Jordan Theodore to 2-of-16 shooting from the field.

"Maalik," stated VU head coach Jay Wright, "did an amazing job on Theodore."

On Saturday, the product of Roman Catholic High School dropped in 22 of his 28 points after halftime, helping the Wildcats rally from a 60-50 deficit with 6:51 to play in regulation time for a 79-76 overtime victory. In the process, Wayns became the first Wildcat since Scottie Reynolds to produce three straight outings of 25 or more points. Reynolds accomplished the feat from Feb. 19-28, 2007.

Wayns has averaged 30.7 points per game over his last three contests.

Pinkston, meanwhile, was recognized as the conference's Rookie of the Week. The freshman forward notched his first two career double-doubles last week. Against Seton Hall he poured in a season-high 23 points to go with 11 rebounds in the win over the Pirates. Then, on Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden not far from his home in Brooklyn, N.Y., he followed that up with a 13-point, 12 rebound effort in the triumph over the Red Storm.

Next for the Wildcats is a game on Wednesday night at Louisville (7:00 p.m./ESPN/ESPN 950 Radio). The `Cats will be making their first appearance at the year old KFC Yum! Center after posting a 2-1 record at Freedom Hall since the Cardinals joined the BIG EAST in 2005-06.

For more on this story visit www.bigeast.org