Dec. 19, 2011

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - University of Memphis sophomores Will Barton and Joe Jackson have been named among the top 65 candidates for the 2012 Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced Monday.

Memphis is one of five schools to have two players among the Cousy Award candidates, joining the company of Florida, Florida State, Syracuse and Washington. Barton and Jackson are two of the three candidates from Conference USA, as Marshall's Damier Pitts is also up for the honor.

This is the third national award/honor that has Barton's and Jackson's names on its list. In addition to the Cousy Award, Barton and Jackson are among the candidates for the Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy, both of which are National Player of the Year honors.

Barton and Jackson join former Tigers Antonio Burks and Derrick Rose, who were also Cousy Award candidates. Burks was up for the honor in 2004, and Rose in 2008.

A two-time Conference USA Player of the Week honoree, Barton is the team's leading scorer (21.2 ppg) and rebounder (8.6 rpg) and is shooting 55 percent from the floor, 34.6 percent from the arc and 69.4 percent from the free throw line. He leads the squad with 16 steals and is third with nine blocked shots.

The Baltimore, Md., native leads C-USA in scoring and is ranked seventh in rebounding and fourth in field goal percentage.

In the Dec. 17 game at No. 4 Louisville, Barton set career bests for scoring (28 points) and rebounds (16) for the fourth time this season. He also had career highs for free throws made (14) and free throw attempts (19) versus the Cardinals.

Barton has scored 20 or more points in seven of the Tigers' first nine games and has four double-doubles to date. The last time a Memphis player had four double-doubles in the first nine games of a campaign was in 2008-09 when Shawn Taggart did so.

Jackson is Memphis' second-leading scorer at 14.3 ppg and is also second on the team with 29 assists (3.2 apg). He is shooting 47.7 percent from the field, 41.2 percent from the arc and 83.3 percent from the charity stripe.

The Memphis, Tenn., native is ranked among Conference USA leaders in scoring (12th), field goal percentage (11th), assists (10th) and free throw percentage (4th).

Jackson has netted double figures in six of the Tigers' nine contests, including four 20-point performances. He scored a season-high 22 points versus Louisville Dec. 17 and played a career-high tying 37 minutes against the Cardinals. Jackson grabbed a career-high tying six rebounds against Georgetown on Nov. 23 in the EA Sports Maui Invitational.

The original Cousy list of candidates will be narrowed down to a final 20 by Jan. 1, a final 10 by Feb. 1, and a final five by Mar. 1. A selection committee will be appointed by the Hall of Fame to review the final five candidates in contention for the nation's top collegiate point guard award. The winner of the 2012 Bob Cousy Award will be presented at the Hall of Fame's Class Announcement on Championship Monday (Apr. 2) in New Orleans as part of NCAA Final Four weekend.