NEW YORK – A trio of UConn men's basketball standouts have earned BIG EAST All-Conference honors, as the league announced the first set of year-end awards on Sunday (March 9). Solo Ball and Alex Karaban both nabbed a spot on the All-BIG EAST Second Team, while Liam McNeeley was an All-BIG EAST Third Team pick and a unanimous selection to the All-Freshman Team.

The three honorees mark the fourth-straight season the Huskies have put at least three on All-Conference teams. McNeeley becomes the sixth rookie to earn All-Freshman honors under Dan Hurley and his staff, joining an illustrious list of James Bouknight, Adama Sanogo, Jordan Hawkins, Donovan Clingan, Karaban and Stephon Castle.

Ball earns a Second Team All-Conference nod after a breakout sophomore season that saw the southpaw nearly quintuple his scoring output, going from 3.1 points per game as a freshman to a team-high 14.8 per game as a sophomore. The 6-3 guard has emerged as one of the most lethal 3-point shooters in America, ranking top-20 nationally connecting on 3.0 triples per game at a 42.8 percent clip.

In BIG EAST play, Ball posted averages of 16.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game while shooting 42.1 percent from 3-point range and 87.3 percent from the free throw line. He added 16 steals and 10 blocks while playing nearly 35 minutes per night. His signature performance came on Feb. 1 at then-No. 9 Marquette, where he knocked down seven 3-pointers on only nine attempts and scored a career-high 25 points with 11 rebounds to lead UConn to a road triumph. He scored in double-figures in 19 of 20 league games and had six 20-point outings.

Karaban earns his second All-Conference nod with a Second Team selection after the All-Freshman pick two years prior. The Husky captain logged a team-high 37.2 minutes per conference game while starting all 20 league outings. In BIG EAST play he averaged 14.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.6 blocks per game. While his outside shot was uncharacteristically off in league play, he managed to knock down 1.8 triples per game and shot 83.9 percent from the free throw line.

One of the great winners in college basketball history, Karaban has helped put together a 90-20 (.818) record during his three years as a starter in Storrs. He has continued his ascent in the UConn record books this year, hitting the 1,000-point mark on Dec. 8 in his first career double-double. He moved into the top-30 on the Huskies' all-time scoring on Saturday and the top-10 in 3-pointers earlier this year.

The Third Team and All-Freshman pick for McNeeley come after the league's Preseason Freshman of the Year averaged 15.6 points and 6.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per league game. He shot 35.4 percent from 3-point range and hit on a sterling 88.5 percent of attempts from the charity stripe.

McNeeley missed eight games early in the league season but flourished upon his return.  He posted an 18-points, 11-rebound double-double in his return on Feb. 7 then topped that emphatically in UConn's next game. On Feb. 11 at then-No. 24 Creighton, McNeeley poured in 38 points and snared 10 rebounds to lead Connecticut to its first win in Omaha. It was the most points ever for a UConn rookie in a BIG EAST game.

Additional individual awards will be announced later in the week. The Huskies return to the hardwood on Thursday, taking on either No. 11 Seton Hall  or No. 6 Villanova as the three-seed in the Quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament.