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Gonzaga Basketball

Gonzaga sophomore Drew Timme named finalist for Karl Malone Award

Gonzaga's Drew Timme fends off the defense of BYU's Matt Haarms in the first half of a Jan. 7 game in the McCarthey Athletic Center.  (By Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)

Gonzaga sophomore Drew Timme is one of five candidates for the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award.

GU became the first program in the seven-year history of the Naismith Starting Five Awards to have four finalists in the same season. Timme joins Jalen Suggs (Bob Cousy Point Guard), Joel Ayayi (Jerry West Shooting Guard) and Corey Kispert (Julius Erving Small Forward) as awards finalists.

Gonzaga’s Kispert, Filip Petrusev and Killian Tillie were finalists last season. UCLA (2017) and Duke (2015) each had three finalists.

Timme leads the West Coast Conference in scoring (19.1) and field-goal percentage (64.9). He ranks third in rebounding (7.1). The 6-foot-10 forward scored a career-high 29 points against Virginia, one of his 11 20-point games this season.

Malone finalists include Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis, Pittsburgh’s Justin Champagnie, Seton Hall’s Sandro Mamukelashvili and Villanova’s Jeremiah Robinson-Earl.

Dayton’s Obi Toppin (2020), Duke’s Zion Williamson (2019) and Arizona’s Deandre Ayton (2018) are recent Malone Award winners.

Fan voting begins Monday for the Naismith awards at hoophallawards.com.