Handing out some Pac-12 men’s basketball awards

With the Pac-12 regular season over and the conference tournament beginning on Wednesday, it is now time to dole out some individual performance awards.

First, here are the final conference standings:

1. Oregon (25-6, 14-4)
2. Utah (24-7, 13-5)

3. California (24-7, 12-6)

4. Arizona (22-9, 12-6)

5. Colorado (21-10, 10-8)

6. USC (20-11, 9-9)
7. Oregon State (18-11, 9-9)
8. Washington (17-13, 9-9)
9. Stanford (15-14, 8-10)
10. UCLA (15-16, 6-12)
11. Arizona State (15-16, 5-13)
12. Washington State (9-21, 1-17)

And here are the conference’s statistical leaders:
Scoring : 1. Andrew Andrews (UW) 21. 2 ppg 2. Jakob Poeltl  (Utah)17.5 ppg 3. Isaac Hamilton (UCLA) 17.2 ppg

Assists : 1. Julian Jacobs (USC) 5.4 apg 2. Bryce Alford (UCLA) 5.3 apg 3. Gary Payton II (OSU) 5.3 apg

Rebounds : 1. Josh Hawkinson (WSU) 11.0 rbg 2. Ryan Anderson (AZ) 10.2 rpg 3. Jakob Poeltl (Utah) 9.1 rpg

Blocks : 1. Chris Boucher (UO) 3.7 bpg 2. Malik Dime (UW) 2.7 bpg 3. Gordon Wesley (CU) 2.1 bpg

Steals : 1. Gary Payton II (OSU) 2.4 spg 2. Dejounte Murray (UW) 1.8 spg 3. Jordan McLaughlin (USC) 1.6 spg

So, that’s the objective information. Now for the objective (fun) stuff.

Freshman of the Year: Jaylen Brown, California
A tough award this year, because all of the most talented freshman had equally dynamic teammates. Washington’s Dejounte Murray was one of the conference’s most dangerous scorers, but not even the most prolific point-getter on his own team. Arizona’s Allonzo Trier looked like the team’s best player, until the team showed it could win without him during his injury. Brown himself may play in the deepest starting five in the league. In the end, I’m giving the award to the freshman most capable of taking over a game. Brown’s insane athleticism has him poised to be one of the first few players selected in the NBA draft, and he’s the biggest reason the Golden Bears are back in the NCAA tournament.

Most Improved Player: Rosco Allen, Stanford
It can’t be anyone other than Allen, a Hungarian forward who increased his scoring average from 7.3 points to a team-leading 15.7 points per game. The Cardinal were not a good team this year, but they were a dangerous one, knocking off California, Oregon and Utah. In those games, Allen scored 22, 24 and 17 points, respectively, saving Stanford from a dismal season.

Defensive Player of the Year: Gary Payton II, Oregon State
Give it to The Glove’s kid, again. Gary Payton II’s 2.5 steals per game lead the conference and rank sixth nationally. He’s one of the most active players I’ve ever seen and when he breaks out of his position in OSU’s 2-3 zone to intercept a pass, he usually finishes the play with a monster dunk. Payton II won this award last season and nobody knocked him off his perch.

Coach of the Year: Dana Altman, Oregon
Dana Altman is the best coach in the Pac-12, and it doesn’t seem particularly close. Year after year his Ducks exceed expectations, and that’s a program that has more roster turnover than most. The UO went undefeated at home, won the Pac-12 and can lock up a 2 or 3 seed in the NCAA tournament this week.

Player of the Year: Andrew Andrews, Washington
I’ve been ready to give this award to Jakob Poeltl since the Utah center demolished the Cougars in Salt Lake City. Truthfully, he’ll probably win the award and it’s an easy case to make. The 7-foot Austrian won Pac-12 Player of the Week four times, is a finalist or semifinalist for every major national award and is a thoroughly dominant interior player.

But WSU coach Ernie Kent made his stump speech for Andrews after the UW senior scored 47 points against the Cougars last week and I have to agree with him. For the only non-freshman starter for UW to lead a young team, which was picked to finish No. 11 in the preseason, into a three-way tie for sixth place in the conference shows that Andrews is the conference’s most important player to his team. Andrews shouldered a bigger burden than anyone, leading the conference in scoring by nearly four points per game in his first year playing point guard. Andrews probably won’t win the award, but I think he should.

All-Pac-12 First Team
G: Andrew Andrews, Washington
G: Gary Payton II, Oregon State
F: Dillon Brooks, Oregon
F: Ryan Anderson, Arizona
C: Jakob Poeltl, Utah

Second Team
G: Gabe York, Arizona
G: Julian Jacobs, USC
F: Josh Hawkinson, WSU
F: Jaylen Brown, California
C: Josh Scott, Colorado

Third Team
G: Dejounte Murray, Washington
G: Isaac Hamilton, UCLA
G: Tyrone Wallace, California
F: Rosco Allen
F: Chris Boucher, Oregon

Honorable mention: Allonzo Trier , Arizona; Elgin Cook, Oregon; Ivan Rabb , California; Julian Jacobs , USC; Marquese Chriss , Washington, Tra Holder , Arizona State.