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The Daily Wildcat

The Daily Wildcat

 

Williams named Pac-10 Player of the Year

Mike+Christy+%2F+Arizona+Daily+Wildcat%0A%0AThe+Arizona+Wildcats+hosted+the+Washington+Huskies+in+a+battle+of+Pacific+10+Conference+basketball+leaders+Saturday%2C+Feb.+19%2C+2011%2C+in+McKale+Center+in+Tucson%2C+Ariz.+A+defensive+stop+highlighted+by+a+Derrick+Williams+block+with+1.8+seconds+remaining+sealed+the+87-86+Arizona+win.
Mike Christy
Mike Christy / Arizona Daily Wildcat The Arizona Wildcats hosted the Washington Huskies in a battle of Pacific 10 Conference basketball leaders Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011, in McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz. A defensive stop highlighted by a Derrick Williams block with 1.8 seconds remaining sealed the 87-86 Arizona win.

Arizona added to the hardware Monday with forward Derrick Williams earning the Pacific 10 Conference player of the year award and Sean Miller nabbing the coach of the year award in the league.

No other Wildcats appeared on either the 10-man first team or five-player second team for All-Conference honors, though point guard Momo Jones was an honorable mention.

Fellow Arizona guard Kyle Fogg was an honorable mention on the All-Defensive squad while point guard Jordin Mayes also filled an honorable mention spot on the Pac-10 All-Freshman team.

A year following his Pac-10 Freshman of the Year award, Williams averaged 18.8 points per game and 8.2 rebounds an outing, and the sophomore is the sixth Wildcat to win the honor. UA has not had a player of the year since 1999, when guard Jason Terry received the distinction.

Meanwhile, Miller led the Wildcats to a 25-6 regular season record and a 14-4 conference record in his second season in Tucson.

Winning the conference’s freshman of the year was California’s Allen Crabbe. Marcus Simmons of the USC Trojans was the defensive player of the year while Washington Husky Matthew Bryan-Amaning was named as the most improved player.

Coaches vote for all of the major Pac-10 awards, though they cannot vote for themselves or their own players.

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