Sandro Mamukelashvili Lands BIG EAST Player of the Week Honors

NEW YORK - Seton Hall men's basketball senior and All-America candidate Sandro Mamukelashvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) has been named BIG EAST Player of the Week after averaging 21.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists while helping the Pirates go 2-0 in the week, the conference office announced Monday.

After senior Myles Cale (Middletown, Del.) garnered the Player of the Week nod last week, Seton Hall now has the BIG EAST Player of the Week on consecutive Mondays for just the fourth time in program history.

2020-21: Myles Cale (Dec. 28) and Sandro Mamukelashvili (Jan. 4)
2019-20: Myles Powell (Jan. 6 & Jan. 13)
1999-00: Rimas Kaukenas (Feb. 7) and Shaheen Holloway (Feb. 14)
1992-93: Arturas Karnisovas (Feb. 14) and Terry Dehere (Feb. 21 & Feb. 28)

The senior star was fantastic in Seton Hall's wins at Xavier and at home vs. Butler as the Pirates were the only conference team to pick up a pair of victories last week. First, Mamukelashvili poured in a team-high 18 points, grabbed seven rebounds and recorded three steals in The Hall's impressive win at Xavier last Wednesday when they held the Musketeers to just five made three-pointers. Then at home against Butler, he had a game-high 24 points, picked up nine rebounds and issued six assists. His six assists resulted in 14 Pirates points, meaning he had a crucial hand in 38 of Seton Hall's 68 points on the day. In addition, he was integral during The Hall's first-half ending 21-5 run that put the Pirates up for good with seven points and three assists in that span.

Mamukelashvili, who is a candidate for the 2021 Karl Malone Award and the 2021 Naismith Trophy, is averaging 18.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.3 steals on the season, putting him in the top-12 of the BIG EAST in all four categories, including fifth in scoring. He has six 20-point games so far this season and is one of only four players in the "Power Six" conference to record multiple 30-point games in 2020-21.

Seton Hall is 8-4 on the season overall and is off to a 5-1 start in BIG EAST play, tied for the second-best start to the league in program history. In the first NET ranking of the season, The Hall is No. 44 and is one of only eight teams in the country to boast at least three "Quad 1" wins so far on the young season. The Pirates will battle nationally ranked Creighton Wednesday night in Omaha, Neb., at 9 p.m., Eastern.