Jimmer Fredette of BYU, Jared Sullinger of Ohio State, and Kemba Walker of UConn are among 20 finalists for the John R. Wooden Award as men's college basketball player of the year.

The other finalists are Marshon Brooks (Providence), Alec Burks (Colorado), Norris Cole (Cleveland State), Kenneth Faried (Morehead State), Jordan Hamilton  (Texas), Ben Hansbrough (Notre Dame), Dwight Hardy  (St. John’s), JaJuan Johnson (Purdue), Kawhi Leonard (San Diego State), Jon Leuer (Wisconsin), E’Twaun Moore (Purdue), Marcus Morris (Kansas), Jacob Pullen (Kansas State), Kyle Singler (Duke), Nolan Smith (Duke), Jordan Taylor (Wisconsin), Derrick Williams (Arizona)

Kemba Walker led Connecticut to five victories in five consecutive nights to win the 2011 Big East Tournament.

Walker led all tournament participants in points, steals, minutes and FIC. Walker played in 190 of UConn's available 205 minutes.

Joining Walker on the Big East All-Tournament Team was teammate Jeremy Lamb, Peyton Siva and Preston Knowles (Louisville), Rick Jackson (Syracuse) and Scott Martin (Notre Dame).

• Click here to view RealGM’s comprehensive list of 2011 Conference Tournaments.

Darius Johnson-Odom scored 23 points and Jimmy Butler added 19 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists to lead Marquette to an 87-66 victory over Providence on Tuesday night in the opening round of the Big East tournament.

Marquette held a 53-37 advantage on the glass and held Marshon Brooks to 20 points in his final game for the Friars.

Ben Hansbrough of Notre Dame has been named Big East Player of the Year.

Rick Jackson of Syracuse won Defensive Player of the Year, DePaul's Cleveland Melvin won Rookie of the Year and Dwight Hardy of St. John's won Most Improved Player honors.

Hansbrough was joined on the All-Big East First Team by Marshon Brooks (Providence), Austin Freeman (Georgetown), Ashton Gibbs (Pitt), Dwight Hardy (St. John's) and Kemba Walker (Connecticut).

On the All-Big East Second Team are Corey Fisher (Villanova), Rick Jackson (Syracuse), Darius Johnson-Odom (Marquette), Preston Knowles (Louisville) and Brad Wanamaker (Pitt).

The All-Rookie Team is comprised of Jeremy Lamb (Connecticut), Gilvydas Biruta (Rutgers), Sean Kilpatrick (Cincinnati), Melvin, Shabazz Napier (Connecticut) and Brandon Young (DePaul).

• Click here for more award information from the Big East.

The Golden Eagles held Providence’s Marshon Brooks to just 17 points on 7-for-16 shooting in their first meeting of the season. Afterward, MU coach Buzz Williams said Brooks told him in the post-game handshake line that the scheme he utilized that day at the Bradley Center was the best he'd faced to that point.

"You can never let him get in a rhythm," Williams said on Monday of Brooks, who enters averaging 24.8 points per game and having just been named first team all-Big East after setting the league's single-season scoring mark with 468 points in 19 games.

"Maybe more than other volume shooters, volume scorers, he doesn't score because of his quicks. He doesn't score because he's fast. He scores because he's rhythmic and because he's so long. I think the thing that helped us last game is Jimmy can match his length (Brooks is 6-foot-5; Butler is 6-7).

"That changes his rhythm, because when he has a 6-2, 6-3 guy up under him, it's hard for his rhythm to be off-course because he can still rise above you. You do have to give him different looks. But more than different looks, he can't have fluidity in what he's trying to do. Because when does, that's when he scores the way that he scores.

Marquette faces Providence in the first-round of the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden.

Notre Dame’s Ben Hansbrough was the lone unanimous selection to the All-Big East team on Sunday.

The 6-foot-3 guard was joined by Kemba Walker of Connecticut, Austin Freeman of Georgetown, Ashton Gibbs of Pittsburgh, Marshon Brooks of Providence and Dwight Hardy of St. John’s. The team was chosen by the conference’s head coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own players.

Hansbrough led the Irish in scoring with an 18.5 average, which was third in the league, and he was third in the conference in three-point shooting at 45.1 percent.