Arizona junior guard James Akinjo was named to the All Pac-12 first team and UA’s Jordan Brown was named the Pac-12 Conference’s Sixth Man of the Year as voted on by the league’s coaches.
The conference announced the teams on Tuesday.
Brown is Arizona’s first-ever recipient of the Sixth Man of the Year honor. He came off the bench in 14 of the Wildcats’ 20 Conference contests, pumping in 8.8 points on 51.5 percent shooting and 4.7 rebounds in just 18.8 minutes per league game.
To be eligible, players must not exceed more than one-third starts in league games.
And, Azuolas Tubelis and Bennedict Mathurin were named to the All-Freshman team.
Akinjo became the first Wildcats since T.J. McConnell in 2015 to lead the Pac-12 in assists in league play with 117. In league games, he ranked seventh in scoring (15.9), fifth in 3-point field goal percentage (43.9), fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.39), and fifth in 3-point field goals made per game (2.15). He scored in double figures 15 times in conference play and reached 20 points or more in seven times. He closed the season averaging 21.0 points per game over the last five games despite playing the most minutes per game of any player in the conference (35.56).
In Pac-12 play, Tubelis he ranked third in rebounding (7.75), 15th in scoring (13.7), second in offensive rebounds (2.8) and fourth in defensive rebounds (4.95). He scored in double figures 15 of 20 conference games, including a 31-point effort against USC and a pair of 16-point, 15-rebound games against USC and Washington.
Mathurin averaged 10.8 points and 4.7 rebounds in conference play. He ranked fourth in free throw percentage (86.8), seventh in 3-point field goal percentage (42.1) and 15th in 3-point field goals made per game (1.6). Mathurin registered two double-doubles in conference action, going for 24 points and 11 rebounds at Washington State and logging 10 points and 13 rebounds in the home win over Washington on Feb. 27. His highest scoring output of the season came at Oregon State, when he dropped 31 points on 10 of 12 shooting and 6 of 7 from behind the 3-point line
Brown started six out the 20 conference games played, just below the threshold of starting one-third or fewer conference games to be eligible for the award, and averaged 8.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and shot 51.5% from the field. He ranked ninth in the conference in field goal percentage and 13th in blocked shots. He scored in double figures five times and had one double-double in conference play, going for 19 points and 13 rebounds in the win at USC. His season-high scoring output came at Oregon State when he dropped 25 points on 10 of 12 shooting.
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