March 1, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Irish junior guard Ben Hansbrough (Poplar Bluff, Mo.) was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after leading Notre Dame to its most impressive week of the season as Notre Dame defeated No. 12 Pittsburgh (68-53) and No. 11 Georgetown (78-64) in back-to-back contests last week. Hansbrough, who earns the honor for the first time in his career, averaged 18.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the two games.
Rick Jackson of Syracuse garnered player-of-the-week accolades, while Lance Stephenson of Cincinnati was honored as the league’s rookie of the week. Joining Hansbrough on the Honor Roll were Kemba Walker of Connecticut; Edgar Sosa of Louisville, Lazar Hayward of Marquette and Mike Rosario of Rutgers.
In Notre Dame’s win at Purcell Pavilion over the Panthers, Hansbrough played 39 minutes and finished with 15 points (connected on 6-10 shots from the field), grabbed nine rebounds and dished off four assists. He followed that up with a 21-point effort against Georgetown (his third 20-plus point outing of the season and second in the last three games) that included 19 second-half points. Hansbrough opened up the second half by scoring Notre Dame’s first 10 points. He also played 39 minutes in the contest and grabbed three rebounds and dished off three assists. Hansbrough missed just three shots (7-10) and hit three of his five three-point attempts.
He has started all 29 contests for the Irish and is the team’s third leading scorer with a 12.5 points per game average and also is averaging 4.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists. He also stands sixth nationally with a 2.78 assist-to-turnover ratio. Currently, Hansbrough has scored in double figures in eight straight games (the second-longest double-figure scoring streak of his career) and has netted double figures in all but seven contests.