Arizona basketball has 3 Wildcats land on SI’s Top 50 players of the year
Mar 13, 2022, 10:00 AM
Arizona Wildcats center Christian Koloko (35)and Arizona Wildcats guard Bennedict Mathurin (0) box out for a rebound during the Roman Main Event tournament college basketball game between the Arizona Wildcats and the Wichita State Shockers on November 19, 2021, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The Arizona Wildcats men’s basketball put together quite the 2021-22 regular season that resulted in an outright Pac-12 Championship, a potential No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a Pac-12’s Player of the Year.
With March ramping up and the NCAA Tournament just days away, Sports Illustrated revealed its Top 50 players of the 2021-22 season that featured three Wildcats in the Top 30.
Leading Arizona throughout the course of the season, Pac-12 Player of the Year Bennedict Mathurin was named as the No. 10 player for the college season by SI.
Averaging 17.3 points per game to go with 5.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists, Mathurin was named one of 10 semifinalists for the 2022 Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year Trophy on Friday.
Mathurin has been the star of one of college basketball’s most entertaining teams: he’s at his best playing in space and running in transition, and Arizona has done that extremely well … The Wildcats are an ensemble cast, but they wouldn’t be outgunning teams on the regular without him.
– Jeremy Woo
The next Wildcat to crack the list was big man Azuolas Tubelis at No. 14 after the forward averaged 14.5 points along with 6.3 boards.
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Tubelis lived up to his expectations coming into the season after a stellar freshman year that earned him Pac-12 All-Freshman honors.
The Lithuanian was named Pac-12 Player of the Week on Feb. 7 and was named to the watchlist for the Karl Malone Award, given to the nation’s best power forward.
Often overshadowed by Bennedict Mathurin’s flashier game, Tubelis may be one of the more underappreciated stars in college hoops … Advanced metrics love Tubelis’s impact on the game, and it’s no coincidence that two of Arizona’s three losses have come when Tubelis played 15 minutes or less due to foul trouble.
– Kevin Sweeney
Rounding out Arizona players was center and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Christian Koloko at No. 26.
Koloko has been the primary anchor to Arizona’s defense as he’s emerged as one of the nation’s best rim protectors. The junior is a semifinalist for Naismith Defensive Player of the Year after tallying 87 blocks and 22 steals on the year.
