It might have seemed to some that freshman forward Marcus Williams was a lock to win the Pacific 10 Conference Freshman of the Year award, but the Seattle native fell short.

UCLA forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute won the award voted on by the 10 conference coaches, becoming the sixth Bruin to win the award since it was instated after the 1978-79 season.

Mbah a Moute averaged 8.8 points and 8.4 rebounds a game for UCLA, leading the Pac-10 regular season champions in rebounding 25 out of 30 games this season.

Williams led all freshmen in the conference in scoring with 12.4 points a game, which was second behind senior guard Hassan Adams in scoring for the Wildcats.

In conference play, Williams averaged 13.7 points a game and shot 46.9 percent from the field.

After learning about Williams missing out on the award, Arizona head coach Lute Olson said that he was surprised.

“”I didn’t see that, but I am upset if he didn’t,”” Olson said before knowing of the voting. “”I guess all of us have a bias towards our own players, (but) that’s surprising to me.””

Olson said he felt that Williams would win the award easily.

“”I’ll tell him that as far as our staff feels, he’s definitely deserves it,”” Olson said. “”I’m very surprised. I thought that was a given.””

Williams was one of five freshmen included in the Pac-10 All-Freshman team, along with Mbah a Moute, Washington forward Jon Brockman and guard Justin Dentmon and ASU forward Jeff Pendergraph.

Mbah a Moute was the second consecutive freshman of the year for UCLA after sophomore guard Jordan Farmar won the award last year.

Fox trot may end

Olson said yesterday that redshirt senior forward Isaiah Fox may be done for his career at Arizona.

“”I don’t see him being able to play the rest of the year,”” Olson said.

Fox’s back problems have kept him out of the last five games, including Senior Day, where the Santa Monica, Calif. native sported street clothes when presented with a framed jersey by Olson.

The 6-foot-9 forward has averaged 1.4 points and 1.6 rebounds per game this season.

Staples not Olson’s Staple

Olson said that the Pac-10 Tournament needs to be re-evaluated to better suit all the teams in the conference.

The Pac-10 Tournament has been held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles the last four years, and Olson said that if the conference wants to make it fair, it should change the location to better suit all the teams.

“”My personal feeling is if we’re going to have the tournament, I think we’re tied into Staples one more year, I think that there should be consideration for Phoenix, Los Angeles, the Bay Area, Portland (Ore.) and Seattle,”” Olson said. “”I think it’s the only fair way if they’re going to hold it.””

Olson, who has never been a fan of the Pac-10 Tournament, said he thinks it gives the players a disadvantage in comparison to other conferences that play fewer games as a result of shorter schedules before tournament play.

“”I think it’s asinine to play 21 games against league opponents,”” Olson said. “”You talk about the Big Ten having their tournament, but they cut their number of Big Ten conference games to 14, so the maximum they can play is 17.””

Roy, Olson’s Boy

Washington senior guard Brandon Roy was picked as Pac-10 Player of the Year and UCLA head coach Ben Howland was the conference’s Coach of the Year.

After hearing of the winners, Olson announced those two were his picks to win the awards.

Roy led the league in scoring during conference play, averaging 22.0 points a game.

Along with Roy, nine other players were selected as All-Pac-10 including Adams, UCLA sophomore guards Arron Afflalo and Jordan Farmar, Stanford seniors forward Matt Haryasz and guard Chris Hernandez, California redshirt sophomore forward Leon Powe and junior guard Ayinde Ubaka and Southern California sophomore guards Nick Young and Gabe Pruitt.

Adams received All-Pac-10 honors for the first time in his four years at Arizona after leading the Wildcats in scoring, averaging 17.3 points per game, third in the conference.

Junior forward Ivan Radenovic was voted honorable mention All-Pac-10 after averaging 11.4 points, third on the squad, and a team-high 6.3 rebounds.