NEWARK — Even as his team took a 13-point halftime lead on No. 8 UConn Tuesday night at The Prudential Center, Jordan Theodore looked far from the best point guard in the Big East.
He dished six assists but went scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting.
Then with about 13 minutes left in the game, Theodore told his teammates, “My fault. I got it, don’t worry about it.”
The senior then proceeded to score all 19 of his points in the second half, hitting 3-of-5 from beyond the arc and going 8-for-8 at the line as Seton Hall stunned UConn, 75-63, for its first win over the Huskies since March 3, 2001.
His final line: 19 points, 11 assists, 4 turnovers, 3 steals.
With all due respect to Syracuse’s Scoop Jardine, Pitt’s Ashton Gibbs, Louisville’s Peyton Siva, UConn’s Shabazz Napier, West Virginia’s Truck Bryant and Providence’s Vincent Council, it’s not too much of a stretch to argue that Theodore is the best point guard in the Big East right now.
He leads the Big East and ranks sixth nationally in assists at 7 per game.
He ranks second in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.9.
He ranks 12th in the Big East in scoring at 16 points per game.
He ranks 10th in the league in steals at 1.7 per game.
And his team is 13-2 and on the verge of entering the Top 25 with wins over UConn, West Virginia, St. Joe’s, VCU, Wake Forest, Auburn and at Dayton.
Despite all of that, he was somehow not among the nearly 60 candidates for the Bob Cousy award, given to the nation’s best point guard.
“I’m going to say he is [the best point guard in the Big East,” Pirates coach Kevin Willard said. “He’s my point guard…He is playing terrific, he’s playing 37 minutes, he’s pressing. He really is a very good player right now.”
A year ago, Theodore struggled at times both on and off the court.
He averaged 11 points, 4.4 assists and 3.1 rebounds.
Now he’s averaging 16 points, 7 assists and 3.5 rebounds.
“He is becoming more of a mature player,” Willard said. “He’s really enjoying being the star point guard and being the guy.”
