ARIZONA BASKETBALL

Four Wildcats awarded Pac-12 honors

Mar 10, 2014, 7:48 PM | Updated: 9:01 pm

Four players on the fourth-ranked Arizona Wildcats were awarded with conference honors Monday, headlined with two All-Pac-12 First Team selections in Aaron Gordon and Nick Johnson.

Johnson, who was also the recipient of the conference Player of the Year award and named to the All-Defensive team, led the Wildcats in scoring (16.1) and finished eighth in the Pac-12 in that category.

The junior guard has increased his scoring average in each of the past three seasons and only failed to score double-digits in three of the team’s games this year.

The 28-3 Wildcats would not be celebrating their conference regular season title without first-year player Aaron Gordon. In addition to his First Team honors, the 6-foot-9 forward was also selected to the All-Freshman Team and named the conference Freshman of the Year.

Joining Gordon on the All-Freshman Team is teammate Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. Hollis-Jefferson had 13 games this season with double-digit points and led his team with 31 blocks.

Senior guard T.J. McConnell was the lone Wildcat on the All-Pac-12 Second Team, after spending his junior season on the bench due to NCAA transfer rules. The 6-foot-1 guard was also selected to the All-Pac-12 Defensive team, finishing with a team-high 57 steals — third-most in the conference.

Head coach Sean Miller was awarded the Pac-12 John Wooden Coach of the Year award, after leading the Wildcats to a 15-3 conference record and a perfect 20-0 at home. Miller also won the award in 2011 after finishing the regular season at 25-6 and 14-4 in the conference.

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