(University Athletic Department)
BOSTON, MA – University of Massachusetts Boston men’s basketball player Tony Barros (Dorchester, MA) has been selected to the Street & Smith’s Pre-Season Honorable Mention All-America team, it was recently announced.
The senior is coming off a season in which he was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches Northeast Region First Team, the D3hoops.com Northeast Region Second Team and the Little East Conference First Team as well as being named the LEC Player of the Year. He is the only LEC player to be named to the Street & Smith’s squad.
Barros averaged 19.9 points per game to rank second in the Little East and 44th in the nation. He started all 29 games last year and proved to be one of the most well-rounded players in the league, averaging 3.5 steals per outing to tie for second among the nation’s leaders, 5.8 rebounds to rank 12th in the Little East and 0.72 blocks with 21 in 29 games to place 10th in the league. The swingman led the conference with three Player of the Week selections and averaged 2.1 assists per outing to put him fourth on the team. Easily the most prolific three-point shooter in school annals, Barros ranked 24th in all of NCAA III with 3.3 treys made per game, made at least one trifecta in every game this season and has drained a three-pointer in a school-record 45 consecutive games, while ranking third on the team with a .368 (95-258) percentage this season.
He became just the 11th player in school history to net 1,000 career points on January 19, 2006 at Bridgewater State College and has 1,289 career points to tie for third on the Beacons’ all-time list. His 578 points on the season is the third-highest total for a campaign at UMB and his 101 steals fell just one short of the single-season mark at UMass Boston. The Saint Sebastians High School product has 178 steals for his career to rank fifth on the Beacons’ career list and his 58 career rejections place him eighth on the all-time blocks list. Barros knocked down 95 threes last season, eclipsing the mark he set in 2004-05 by three and owns the career standard of 242. The small forward was one of UMass Boston’s most consistent scorers last season, registering double-digits in points in all but three games, including 21 games with 15 or more points and a career-high of 34 points vs. Georgia Southwestern State University on January 3, 2006. Barros grabbed five or more rebounds in 19 games, dished for three or more assists nine times and had less than two steals in just six games last year.
In 74 career games, he is averaging 17.4 points per game to rank fourth on the school’s career scoring average list, while his 219 career made free throws are the seventh-most. His .381 (242-636) career three-point field goal mark ranks fourth-best at UMass Boston, while making at least one three-pointer in 72 of 74 games, including 65 contests with two or more made. He has netted double-figures in points in 61 games, including five double-doubles.
UMass Boston is coming off an 18-11 season, which saw it capture its first Little East Conference Championship and earn an NCAA Tournament berth for the first time in 23 years. The Beacons return the core of last year’s squad and should be a favorite to contend for the LEC crown once again and return to the NCAA Tournament.