NEW YORK — Ryan Kalkbrenner saw his name mentioned in conjunction with another Big East player who enjoyed a storied NBA career at Madison Square Garden.
Kalkbrenner joined Patrick Ewing as the only second player to be named as a four-time winner of the Big East’s Defensive Player of the Year award. The senior standout shot-blocker will look to record another big performance on Thursday night as second-seeded Creighton (22-9) squares off against 10th-seeded DePaul (14-18) in a Big East tournament quarterfinal matchup.
Kalkbrenner won his latest award earlier this week after leading the conference with 80 blocked shots. Along with Khyri Thomas, the Bluejays have earned at least a share of the award in six of the past nine seasons.
“That’s crazy because I wouldn’t think of myself in the same conversation as (former Georgetown and New York Knicks star) Patrick Ewing, at least not yet,” Kalkbrenner said. “So it’s definitely a huge honor to get that award and tie Ewing in that way. Still a lot of work to do for us.”
Kalkbrenner also led the Big East by shooting 66.3 percent from the field and was second behind Villanova’s Eric Dixon in scoring at an average of 19.4 points a game.
Kalkbrenner scored 12 points against St. John’s on Feb. 16 when he tweaked his ankle in a collision under the rim but ended the regular-season by averaging 22.8 points in his final five games, including a 27-point showing in Saturday’s 87-74 regular-season win over Butler.
The Bluejays are attempting to reach the title game for the fifth time since joining the Big East and the third time with Kalkbrenner after doing so in 2021 and 2022.
“That would be awesome,” he said. “In my time we’ve never won the Big East regular season or tournament, and that’s something I would love to do.”
While Creighton relies on Kalkbrenner’s interior play, it also is potent from outside. Steven Ashworth shot 38 percent from 3-point range in the regular season, fourth in the Big East behind Dixon, UConn’s Solo Ball and Xavier’s Ryan Conwell.
Ashworth hit 7 of 15 shots from beyond the arc against Butler. He made 24 of 59 attempts from 3-point range over his final six games since missing all five attempts against UConn on Feb. 11.
DePaul has improved by 11 games under first-year coach Chris Holtmann, who saw his team advance in the Big East tournament with a 71-67 victory over seventh-seeded Georgetown on Wednesday.
The Blue Demons are on a three-game winning streak and have shot at least 50 percent in each game. The past three games are occurring after a 2-14 skid that included a 73-49 home loss to Creighton on Jan. 21 and a 75-65 setback on Feb. 26, when Kalkbrenner totaled 25 points and 13 rebounds.
“It’s going to be a tough matchup with Kalkbrenner,” Holtmann said. “Bottom line, it’s not just Kalkbrenner. They have a terrific team. For us, we’re grateful for an opportunity to come out and compete, and we can’t wait to get out there and play again and wear the DePaul uniform. We’re super excited about it.”
NJ Benson did not play in the previous meeting with Creighton and guided DePaul to its second opening-round victory in three seasons.
Benson, who averaged 8.5 points during the regular season, returned after missing a month with a hand injury and scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half, including 11 straight for DePaul in the second half to turn a tie game into a seven-point lead.
–Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media
