Seeking to combine the shot-blocking presence of Christian Koloko and the emerging offense of Azuolas Tubelis, Arizona coach Sean Miller moved Jordan Brown out of the starting lineup for the first time at Oregon State on Jan. 14.
It worked out pretty well for all involved.
Brown became a more consistent producer off the bench and, combined with the fact that he didn’t start again the rest of the season, he became the Pac-12’s Sixth Man of the Year award on Tuesday.
Brown started only the first six of the UA’s 20 conference games, keeping him just under the maximum of 33% of conference games that players can start and still be eligible for the award.
Tubelis kept improving the rest of the way, becoming possibly the most qualified freshman player not named Evan Mobley, the USC phenom who became the first player ever to sweep the Pac-12’s Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards.
Tubelis was named to the all-freshman team and was honorable mention all-conference, while wing Bennedict Mathurin joined Tubelis on the all-freshman team and guard James Akinjo was named as expected to the Pac-12’s 10-player all-conference first team.
The Pac-12’s official awards were voted on by the league’s 12 head coaches. The Associated Press also released awards Tuesday that were voted on by media who regularly cover the conference. In AP honors, Akinjo was named a second-team pick (only five players make its first team) while Oregon’s Chris Duarte was named Player of the Year and Mobley the Newcomer of the Year.
USC coach Andy Enfield, whose team finished in second place a game behind Oregon in the loss column while winning one more overall, was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year both by his peers and AP media voters.
Together, Brown and Tubelis wound up playing a big role in keeping the Trojans from ultimately winning the Pac-12 title. In the UA’s 81-72 win at USC on Feb. 20, Brown posted one of his three double-doubles with 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Tubelis had 16 points and 15 rebounds.
Tubelis later noted that playing against a high expected NBA pick such as Mobley was an additional source of motivation, while Brown offered measured words.
“We just came out ready to play and physically, we went at them,” Brown said, adding of the Wildcats in general that “I definitely think this game, the way we competed, we showed something.”
While Brown was known for speaking softly throughout the season, the USC game was only one example of his competitiveness. In that first game he played off the bench at Oregon State, Brown had a career-high 25 points on 10 for 12 shooting, approaching the game from a different angle and possibly with a little less pressure.
“Sometimes when you take a guy out of the lineup, it gives them a chance to watch the beginning of the game, kind of watch things settle in,” Miller said after the Jan. 14 game. “One of the things that I like about Christian is Christian’s our best low post defender and he does a lot of things that help our defense. Based on the way our team came out, having him start makes sense for really both parties and my hope is that it brings out the best in our team.”
Koloko went on to record the 40th-best block percentage in the country, swatting away opponents’ two-point shots 8.8% of the time when he was on the floor, and was the league’s fifth-leading shot blocker overall (1.3) in Pac-12 games despite averaging just 17.5 minutes in them.
While Koloko didn’t make the Pac-12’s all-defensive team, even though Miller said “clearly at times” he played like he would, Brown might have been a minor surprise on the other end — in part because teammate Terrell Brown excelled in a sixth-man-type role for the Wildcats all season.
Terrell Brown averaged 7.7 points and 3.5 rebounds while posting a conference-best 3.35-1 assist-turnover ratio in Pac-12 games, often playing off the bench but staying on the floor at the most critical times.
But because Jemarl Baker broke his wrist on Jan. 9 and Kerr Kriisa wasn’t eligible until Feb. 4, Terrell Brown started seven games between Jan. 14 and Feb. 6 (plus two more in the Wildcats’ final homestand), making him ineligible for the sixth man award.
Jordan Brown beat out other sixth-man candidates such as Washington’s Marcus Tsohonis (10.3 ppg), Colorado’s Jabari Walker (7.9), WSU’s Aljaz Kunc (6.4), USC’s Ethan Anderson (5.8) and ASU’s Jaelen House (5.9). He did it by averaging 8.8 points in conference games while shooting 51.5% from the field. He also had three double-doubles and drew an average of 5.7 fouls per 40 minutes, the 85th-highest rate in the country, though he made free throws only at a 59.8% rate.
In conference games, Brown was Arizona’s fifth-leading scorer; he played an average of 18.8 minutes a game.
Akinjo made an unsurprising leap on to the Pac-12’s official 10-player first team. A junior transfer from Georgetown, Akinjo was a consistent force in both scoring and assisting teammates while logging heavy minutes on a team that went without Baker and Kriisa for long stretches.
In conference play, Akinjo averaged 35.6 minutes per game, putting up 15.9 points and 5.9 assists and a 2.4-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. He also shot 43.9% from the field and made 80.6% of his free throws in conference games, drawing 4.6 fouls per 40 minutes in all games while committing only 2.2.
Akinjo scored in double figures in 12 of Arizona’s last 13 games, and scored 19 or more in his last five. During conference games, he wound up leading the Pac-12 in assists during conference games, was fifth in 3-point percentage (43.9) and seventh in scoring.
Akinjo ended the season in characteristic style, with 19 points and eight assists over 36 minutes at Oregon on March 1.
“I don’t think everybody truly knows what an outstanding season he really had,” Miller said after the Oregon game. “He was just outstanding.”
A freshman from Lithuania whom the Wildcats largely recruited virtually last spring, Tubelis lived up to his billing after ESPN called him the best European player to take the college route in 2020-21.
Tubelis averaged 13.7 points and 7.8 rebounds in conference play, adapting quickly enough from the international game that Miller moved him into the lineup on Dec. 22 against Montana, just before the Wildcats entered conference play.
Tubelis shot an even 50% in conference games, and hit 72% of his free throws, while hitting game-winning shots against ASU in Tempe and Washington at McKale Center.
“He’s proven home and away, and against every style, that he’s a very good player,” Miller said, “and the best is yet to come.”
Mathurin also showed plenty of promise during his freshman season, drawing the most NBA draft buzz of any Wildcat player. He averaged 10.8 points and shot 42.1% from 3-point range in Pac-12 games, proving to be a selective and efficient shooter, taking advantage particularly in the first half of conference play before attracting more defensive attention down the stretch.
Mathurin played a key role in the UA’s double-overtime win at WSU on Jan. 2 with 24 points and 11 rebounds, while playing out of position much of the time because of foul trouble with the the UA’s post players, while dropping a season-high 31 points at Oregon State on Jan. 14.
“He’s starting to develop into a special player,” Miller said after the Jan. 14 game.
As it turned out, a lot of things started to happen that night in Corvallis that ultimately defined who the Wildcats players were in 2020-21.
