UConn's Kemba Walker was announced the winner of Bob Cousy Award, given annually by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the nation’s top point guard.

Walker beat out Jimmer Fredette of BYU and Nolan Smith of Duke among others for the award, which is given out by the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

“I am thrilled that Kemba has been named the winner of the Bob Cousy Award. He is having one of the great seasons ever in college basketball history,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said in a statement. “Beyond the stats, game-winning shots and accolades, he epitomizes the leadership that a great point guard must have and what he has done to lead our young team to a Big East Championship and to a spot in the Final Four has been unforgettable.”

Walker is averaging 23.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.9 steals per game.

The Utah Utes have received permission from the New Jersey Nets to interview Nets assistant coach Larry Krystowiak as they continue their search to fill their men's basketball coaching vacancy.

Krystowiak was hired to coach Montana in 2004, and went 42-20 over two seasons with two NCAA Tournament appearances.

Krystkowiak became an assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2006 and was named the head coach in 2007. He lasted one season as the Bucks' head coach.

He joined the Nets’ coaching staff in July of 2010.

Senior guards Jimmer Fredette of BYU and Nolan Smith of Duke are the leading vote-getters on The Associated Press All-America team.

Freshman Jared Sullinger of Ohio State, junior guard Kemba Walker of Connecticut and senior forward JaJuan Johnson of Purdue also are on the team announced Monday.

Fredette, the nation's leading scorer, received all but one of 65 votes from the national media panel that selects the Top 25. Smith, who led the Blue Devils to a No. 1 ranking for 10 weeks this season, got 61 votes.

When Jimmer Fredette makes shots, his defense — or lack thereof — isn't nearly as much of a factor.

You can live with — or without — it.

But on Thursday night, when the shots just weren't falling, he needed to give his team more.

He could ill-afford to be a liability on that “other” end of the floor.

“Coach (Billy Donovan) said that whoever he's on, exploit him,” Florida guard Kenny Boynton  said after the game.

That's exactly what happened.

Florida was able to take advantage of Fredette throughout the game, whether it was when BYU was stuck in its 2-3 zone or forced to go man-to-man after the Gators connected on some perimeter shots.

“He doesn't really pay attention to defense,” Boynton added. “There's a couple of guys like that we've gone up against. But with them (BYU), it's harder to tell because they usually sit back in the zone.”

Jimmer Fredette needed 29 shots to score 32 points against Florida as the Gators escaped with an 83-74 victory in overtime Thursday. Florida was relentless in defending ball screens and challenging open looks.

“Fredette has seen a lot of defenses and can make a lot of shots,” Florida coach Billy Donovan said. “The biggest thing with him is that he gets fouled a lot. He sells ball fakes and draws contact. The key in defending him was that nobody jumped — we never left our feet.”

BYU sank only 30 percent of its shots in the second half and 35 percent for the game and was 0-for-4 from three-point range in overtime.

“They were really hedging hard on those ball screens,” Fredette said. “I didn’t shoot the ball great, but credit to their defense. We had chances and we fought, but I just didn’t make shots at the end.”

Kemba Walker scored 36 points to lead UConn to a 74-67 win over San Diego State. Walker scored 22 of his 36 points in the second half.

A number of different Aztecs tried to guard Walker.

“We were going to vary who guarded him, go with Chase (Tapley) to start with either fatigue or success by Walker…We had it planned all along that Billy (White) was going to guard him for a good portion of the game,” SDSU coach Steve Fisher said. “But it didn’t matter who was guarding him, he was pretty effective today.”

Walker did all he did after missing his first four shots. Calhoun was asked if the other Huskies every worry when Walker starts slowly.

“He’s a friend. They love him but they follow him,” Calhoun said. “If he misses they don’t worry about that. They really don’t. They believe in him as much as I do.”

There are several ways to defend the pick-and-roll. Florida’s strategy against BYU could go a long way toward determining whether the Gators advance to the next round.

BYU has started to use the pick-and-roll with much greater frequency, going so far as to set picks as soon as Jimmer Fredette crosses halfcourt. Matt Giles notes that Fredette relies on a pick for more than 20 percent of his offensive possessions, and roughly three-quarters of BYU's pick-and-rolls start well beyond the 3-point arc. Setting a pick that high allows Fredette to create a kind of 4-on-3 "break," which creates something of a dilemma for the Gators.

A soft hedge will give Fredette enough separation to fire away from three, while a hard hedge would free whomever sets the pick.

Fredette primary pick-and-roll partner, Noah Hartsock, is the most efficient spot-up forward on the squad, producing 1.17 points per possession.

Kawhi Leonard said he does not need the NBA right now, and that he might return to San Diego State for his junior season.

“It’s tempting to come back,” said Leonard. “People like to have a winning team. It makes you want to keep playing.

“My family doesn’t need the money right now. We’re not starving, hungry, living poor. It will be nice to have a lot of money, but I think my family could hold out two more years if I play through my senior year.”

Leonard is averaging 15.6 points and 10.6 rebounds for the Aztecs.

Jimmer Fredette is generally considered offensively gifted, defensively challenged and destined to be a solid rotation player in the N.B.A.

Stardom, however, is unlikely, the scouts and front-office personnel said. Comparative players that came up were Jeff Hornacek, Steve Kerr, Kyle Korver and Jason Kapono.

“I think he’ll be a really good pro, but not great,” said a Western Conference executive, who would not be named because he is not permitted to talk about prospects. “He’ll be a guy who is a better Steve Kerr, a better Kyle Korver. A better Kapono. Both those guys can’t put the ball on the floor.”

The B.Y.U. strength coach, Justin McClure, said he expected Fredette to test well in the physical drills. He said Fredette has a vertical jump of 36 inches, can bench-press 265 pounds and should be able to lift 185 pounds 9 or 10 times.

“I think he surprised people with that,” McClure said. “He’s a lot quicker and more agile than people give him credit for.”

With both BYU and San Diego State advancing to the Sweet Sixteen, the Mountain West Conference will distribute $1.7 million per year to its league members over the next six years.

“It gives us more money for the future,” said Chuck Lang, SDSU’s associate athletic director for business administration. “We have those shares for the next six years. That’s a good place to start.”

Each tournament game a team plays – excluding the championship – is worth at least $240,000 annually for that team’s league over a rolling six-year period, according to the NCAA’s distribution formula. With at least seven tournament games this year, the MWC will receive at least $1.7 million from this year’s bracket from 2011 through 2016.

The NCAA money comes from television and other sources, with the value of each game expected to grow annually. It’s a relative windfall for the MWC.

Of the $180.5 million in Division I basketball funds to be distributed this year, 63 percent goes to the six power conferences: the Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, Southeastern and Atlantic Coast.