Kris Dunn Named BE Defensive Player of Year for 2nd Straight Season, Ben Bentil Most Improved Player
PC news release…
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – It was announced on Monday, March 7 that Providence College junior guard Kris Dunn (New London, Conn.) was named BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. Also, announced today was that sophomore forward Ben Bentil (Wilmington, Del.) was named BIG EAST Most Improved Player. Both players were named to the All-BIG EAST First Team on March 6.
Dunn and John Linehan ‘02 (2001 and 2002) are the the only Friars ever to earn the league’s Defensive Player of the Year honor. Bentil joins Kadeem Batts ‘13 (2013) and Herbert Hill ‘07 (2007) as Friar recipients of the BIG EAST Most Improved Award.
Dunn, who was the 2015-16 BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year, earned BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year honors after leading the league is steals and ranking third in nation in that category at 2.7 steals per game.
Last year, he was named 2015 BIG EAST Co-Player of the Year and the 2015 BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year after leading the league in steals (2.8 spg). He became the sixth player to win both awards and the first guard in the history of the league to earn those two awards in the same season. On March 5, Dunn joined Bryce Cotton (2013 and 2014) and Ryan Gomes (2004 and 2005) as the only Friars to earn two All-BIG EAST First Team accolades. In addition to leading the league in steals (2.7), Dunn ranks second in BIG EAST in assists (6.4) and fourth in scoring (16.3). This season, Dunn has registered seven double-doubles and one triple double. Dunn became the first Friar ever to register 1,000 points, 500 assists, 400 rebounds and 200 steals. In 91 career games, Dunn has recorded 1,145 points (12.6 ppg), 532 assists (5.8 apg), 475 rebounds (5.2 rpg) and 205 steals (2.3 spg). A preseason Associated Press All-American, Dunn is a candidate for the Oscar Robertson Award, the Wooden Award, the Naismith Award, the Bob Cousy Award and the NABC Defensive Player of the Year honor.
Bentil is one of the most improved players in nation. As a freshman, he averaged 6.4 ppg and 4.9 rpg. This season, Bentil leads the league in scoring in overall action (21.2 ppg) and he led in conference play (22.9 ppg.). He is the seventh Friar all-time to lead the league in scoring and the fourth Friar in the last six years to accomplish the feat. The sophomore forward also ranks fifth in the league in rebounding (7.8 rpg.). Bentil scored 20 or more points in 19 of the 31 games this season. He also scored 30 or more points in five games. Bentil recorded the highest point total by a BIG EAST player this season when he scored 42 points at Marquette on February 10. He has posted seven double-doubles in 2015-16. Bentil’s 657 points scored this season ranks 13th-best all-time at Providence. He has established Friar sophomore records for points scored (657), free throws made (184) and free throws attempted (232).
The Friars finished the regular season with a 22-9 mark overall and a 10-8 record in BIG EAST play. Providence earned the fourth seed in the BIG EAST Tournament and will play No. 5 seed Butler on Thursday, March 10 at 2:30 p.m. at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The game will be televised on Fox Sports 1.
