NEW YORK – UConn men's basketball standout Tarris Reed Jr. has been named the winner of the BIG EAST Sixth Man Award, as announced by the conference on Monday (March 10) morning. It is the first year-end conference honor of the junior big man's career.

Reed Jr. has been a revelation for the Huskies as the big man off the bench this season. He is UConn's fourth-leading scorer with 10.0 points per game and paces the squad with 7.3 rebounds a night – coming off the bench in all but one contest. He is shooting 66.8 percent from the floor and ranks top-five in the BIG EAST with 1.7 blocks per game.

In league play, Reed Jr. averaged 9.4 points and 7.0 rebounds on 64.1 percent shooting while coming off the bench 19 times and logging 20.3 minutes per game. His rebounding prowess is evident in the analytics: per Kenpom, Reed Jr. led the BIG EAST in both offensive rebounding percentage (17.8) and defensive rebound percentage (25.3) during conference action. He was also second in block rate (9.8 percent) and fourth in field goal percentage over the BIG EAST season.

The signature performance of conference play from Reed Jr. came on March 1 at Providence, when the St. Louis native posted career-highs across the board with 24 points, 18 rebounds and six blocked shots. It was the only instance of a 24-18-6 line in the NCAA this season and one of 16 recorded in the Elias era.

In total, the 6-10 center compiled four double-doubles during BIG EAST play including three of the '20 and 10' variety. On the year, seven of his eight double-doubles have come as a reserve – the most bench double-doubles in the nation this season.  

Reed Jr. is the second-straight Husky to be honored with the Sixth Man Award after teammate Hassan Diarra secured the award a season ago. The duo joins Tyler Polley (2020-21) as the three winners in UConn history. The award dates back to the 2007-08 season.

The Huskies return to action Thursday night in the BIG EAST Quarterfinals.