Hartford — Stephon Castle is pulling away from the rest of his challengers in the Big East freshman of the year race.

Castle leads all freshmen in the Big East in points (10.9), rebounds (4.6) and assists (3.3) per game.

No one has earned more league freshman of the week honors than Castle, and it’s not even close. He’s won six overall, including five of the last six.

Other weekly winners include Seton Hall’s Isaiah Coleman, Xavier’s Lazar Djokovic, UConn’s Solo Ball, Georgetown’s Rowan Brumbaugh and Providence’s Rich Barron.

Castle, the preseason Big East freshman of the year, is playing his best basketball, averaging 20.5 points while shooting 53.8% (14 for 26) from the field and 66.7% (4 for 6) from three in the last two games. He hit his career high in consecutive games, scoring 20 against Providence last week and 21 at St. John’s while helping the top-ranked Huskies earn two Big East wins.

He’s also contributing on the defensive end.

“What freshman currently is playing better than him all over the court and has his team winning the way he is?” coach Dan Hurley said.

Twenty two games into his college career, Castle, a 6-foot-6 guard, is settling into his role. He says his confidence is at an all-time high, thanks to his teammates and coaching staff supporting him.

Nothing seems to rattle the poised freshman.

“This is basketball at the end of the day,” Castle said. “I’m just realizing that and going out there and playing my game and realizing that I’m here for a reason and I have teammates to back me up whether it goes good or bad.”

His teammates believe Castle is just cracking the surface of his talents.

“I feel like he’s only going to get better from here on out,” said Tristen Newton, Castle’s backcourt partner.

If Castle continues to play well, he’ll be a lock to become the UConn’s first conference freshman of the year since Daniel Hamilton won the award in the American Athletic Conference in 2015. Rudy Gay was the last Husky to accomplish the feat in the Big East, doing so in 2005.

Balanced attack

Entering Tuesday’s game against Butler at the XL Center, all five UConn starters averaged in double figures for points.

Just as Hurley had forecasted prior to the season

“We’re getting really good at this,” Hurley said. “We’ve almost nailed the preseason prediction at points per game across the board with what we thought we’d get from the starters, or pretty close in range to it.

“In a perfect world going into the season from an offensive standpoint, this is exactly how we drew it up. I think that’s what makes the team unique. … Five starters in double figures and five guys that can potentially get 20 on any given night, that’s a tough scout to prepare for.”

Newton checks in at 15.9 points, followed by Cam Spencer (15.3), Alex Karaban (14.5), Donovan Clingan (12.3) and Castle (10.9).

All five players have hit the 20-point mark this season – Newton and Karaban each with five, Spencer four, Clingan and Castle two apiece.

UConn hasn’t had five players finish the season averaging double figures for points since 2007-08 when Jeff Adrien (14.8), A.J Price (14.5), Jerome Dyson (12.5), Hasheem Thabeet (10.5) and Stanley Robinson (10.4) pulled it off.

A birthday celebration

Freshman forward Jaylin Stewart celebrated his 19th birthday on Tuesday.

He’s played a limited but valuable role off the bench this season, averaging 2.3 points and 1.2 rebounds in just 8.9 minutes per game. He’s served mainly as a back-up to Karaban and also seen spot duty at the center spot when Hurley uses a smaller lineup.

He deserves more playing time than he’s had so far, Hurley said.

“He probably deserves 2 to 4, maybe five more minutes a game,” Hurley said. “He’s earned his place and that’s the best way to have it happen for us, not to be gifted minutes. He’s had to earn them and earn our respect and grow up and mature and get tougher. It’s not a talent issue, it’s a concentration issue, it’s a physicality issue, it’s a mental preparation issue, concentration, competitive will, those types of things. And he’s getting there.

“If he stays with it with us, he’s going to have his time where he’s a leading man here.”

Cling Kong

When you’re 7-foot-2, 280 pounds like Clingan, people tend to give you nicknames.

The one that has caught on the most is “Cling Kong.”

Clingan was called that nickname before his UConn days.

“It’s something my family and uncle used to call me,” Clingan said. “It’s something that’s starting to become bigger now. I like it. … My uncle, we used to always call him Cling Kong and he passed it on.”

g.keefe@theday.com