Tuesday the Pac-12 released its list of postseason awards heading into this week's Pac-12 Tournament and despite not being eligible for the postseason this year the Wildcats were able to land a few players on the lists. Big man Jordan Brown earned the league's sixth man of the year award while junior point guard James Akinjo was listed as a Pac-12 First Team selection.
The freshmen weren't left out of the mix for Arizona as both Azuolas Tubelis and Bennedict Mathurin ended up being selected by conference coaches as members of the Pac-12 All-Freshman team. The Wildcats were the only team in the conference to have two players as part of the five-man group.
In addition to being part of the all-freshman team, Tubelis received at least three votes from Pac-12 coaches to earn an honorable mention nod for the all-conference team as well.
Tubelis and Mathurin were the two standout freshmen for the Wildcats this season with both ending up among the top four scorers on the team. Tubelis finished the season trailing only Akinjo on the team's scoring list as he averaged 12.2 points to go with a team-high 7.1 rebounds.
The Lithuanian power forward won the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week award in back-to-back weeks this season and shined after entering the starting lineup after coming off the bench for the first six games.
Tubelis had three double doubles in conference play plus he scored in double figures in 15 of 20 Pac-12 games. He also was impressive late in games for the Wildcats with game-winning shots against Arizona State on the road and late in the season against Washington at home.
Mathurin emerged as a potent scorer for the Wildcats in his first season and eventually moved into the starting lineup like Tubelis. The Canadian wing hit a couple rough patches throughout the season, but he also had brilliant moments on the offensive end of the floor highlighted by his 31-point showing against Oregon State in his first appearance in the starting lineup.
The performance against the Beavers earned Mathurin the Pac-12 Player of the Week award.
He had a pair of double doubles this season and scored in double figures in 11 of the Wildcats' 20 conference games.
Both players will be key cogs in the future of the program should they return to Arizona for the 2021-22 season.
This marks the second consecutive season Arizona has had two players on the Pac-12 All-Freshman team after Zeke Nnaji and Nico Mannion were named to the squad a year ago.
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