Arizona basketball nearly sweeps major Pac-12 awards

The Arizona Wildcats earned heavy recognition within the Pac-12 for the men’s basketball team’s 28-3 regular season, with Bennedict Mathurin winning conference player of the year and first-year head coach Tommy Lloyd taking home coach of the year.

Additionally, center Christian Koloko won both Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and Pac-12 Most Improved Player of the Year.

Wildcats forward Pelle Larson earned Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year.

Stanford’s Harrison Ingram won the conference freshman of the year honor.

Mathurin, Koloko and forward Azuolas Tubelis made All-Pac-12 First Team.

Arizona State junior Jalen Graham earned All-Pac-12 Second Team honors, the lone mention for the Sun Devils on the conference honors released before the start of the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas. Graham averaged 10.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.

Mathurin, a sophomore, averaged 17.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game while shooting 47% overall and 38% from three-point range. His efficiency didn’t fall off much despite the wing increasing his role by 5.4 shots per game. He was second in scoring for the conference.

The 6-foot-6 swingman improved as a play-maker with that growth, averaging 2.5 assists per game. That development has Mathurin as a potential lottery pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.

Koloko’s draft stock has similarly improved this year. The 7-foot-1 junior averaged 11.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, up from 5.3 points and 4.8 boards last season.

The center is shooting 62% from the field and has been one of the best shot-blockers in the nation, averaging 2.8 swats per outing. He is one of 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Trophy Defensive Player of the Year award.

Koloko’s 86 total blocks are second in Arizona history to Loren Woods’ 102 (1999-2000). He was joined on the five-man All-Pac-12 Defensive Team by teammate Dalen Terry, who averaged 7.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

Tubelis, a 6-foot-11 sophomore, was second on the Wildcats in scoring average (14.7 points), second in rebounds (6.3) and third in field goal percentage (55%).

All-Pac-12 First Team

Name	School	Pos.	Yr.	Hometown
Terrell Brown Jr.	Washington	G	Gr.	Seattle, Wash.
Tyger Campbell	UCLA	G	R-Jr.	Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Jaime Jaquez Jr.	UCLA	G/F	Jr.	Camarillo, Calif.
Johnny Juzang	UCLA	G	Jr.	Tarzana, Calif.
Christian Koloko	Arizona	C	Jr.	Douala, Cameroon
Bennedict Mathurin	Arizona	G/F	So.	Montreal, Canada
Isaiah Mobley	USC	F	Sr.	Murrieta, Calif.
Drew Peterson	USC	G	Sr.	Libertyville, Ill.
Ąžuolas Tubelis	Arizona	F	So.	Vilnius, Lithuania
Jabari Walker	Colorado	F	So.	Inglewood, Calif.

All-Pac-12 Second Team

Name	School	Pos.	Yr.	Hometown
Evan Battey	Colorado	F	Sr.	Los Angeles, Calif.
Branden Carlson	Utah	C	Sr.	South Jordan, Utah
Michael Flowers	Washington State	G	5th	Southfield, Mich.
Jalen Graham	Arizona State	F	Jr.	Phoenix, Ariz.
Will Richardson	Oregon	G	Sr.	Hinesville, Ga.

HONORABLE MENTION (receiving at least three votes): Boogie Ellis, USC; Harrison Ingram, STAN; Spencer Jones, STAN; Andre Kelly, CAL; Jordan Shepherd, CAL; Dalen Terry, ARIZ.

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