Muhammad leads Bruins in Pac-12 awards

Two days after UCLA won an outright Pac-12 title, Shabazz Muhammad became the eighth player in program history to win Pac-12 Freshman of the Year — sharing the honor with Arizona point guard Jahii Carson.

The star swingman, who ranked third in the Pac-12 with 18.3 points per game, is the first Bruin to win since Kevin Love in 2008. Muhammad also made the 10-man all-conference first team with senior point guard Larry Drew II, while freshman point forward Kyle Anderson was a second-team selection.

Muhammad and Drew both generated some talk for the conference’s Player of the Year Award, but that went to Cal guard Allen Crabbe. Oregon’s Dana Altman won Coach of the Year, and had his Ducks positioned for a conference title before losing the last two games of the season.

Muhammad and Anderson also made the All-Pac-12 Freshman team, but guard Jordan Adams missed the cut for the five-man list. He averaged 15.2 points per game, eighth best in the conference, and was an honorable mention for receiving at least three votes.

Here’s the full list of conference awards:

PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Allen Crabbe, Cal
COACH OF THE YEAR: Dana Altman, Oregon
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Andre Roberson, Colorado
CO-FRESHMEN OF THE YEAR: Shabazz Muhammad, UCLA; Jahii Carson, ASU
MOST IMPROVED: Dwight Powell, Stanford

FIRST TEAM
Jahii Carson, ASU, G, Fr.
Allen Crabbe, Cal, G, Jr.
Spencer Dinwiddie, Colorado, G, So.
Larry Drew II, UCLA, G, Sr.
Solomon Hill, Arizona, F, Sr.
Mark Lyons, Arizona, G, Sr.
Shabazz Muhammad, UCLA, G/F, Fr.
Dwight Powell, Stanford, F, Jr.
André Roberson, Colorado, F, Jr.
E.J. Singler, Oregon, F, Sr.

SECOND TEAM
Kyle Anderson, UCLA, G/F, Fr.
Justin Cobbs, Cal, G, Jr.
Carrick Felix, ASU, G/F, Sr.
Brock Motum, WSU, F, Sr.
C.J. Wilcox, Washington, G, Jr.

Honorable Mention (receiving at least three votes): Jio Fontan (USC, Sr., G), Arsalan Kazemi (Oregon, Sr., F), Roberto Nelson (OSU, Jr., G), Jason Washburn (Utah, Sr., C), Eric Wise (USC, Sr., F).

PAC-12 ALL-FRESHMEN TEAM
Kyle Anderson, UCLA, G/F
Jahii Carson, ASU, G
Damyean Dotson, Oregon, G
Shabazz Muhammad, UCLA, G/F
Josh Scott, Colorado, F
Honorable Mention (receiving at least three votes): Jordan Adams (UCLA, G), Kaleb Tarczewski (Arizona, C).

PAC-12 ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
Jordan Bachynski, ASU, C, Jr.
Carrick Felix, ASU, G/F, Sr.
Josh Huestis, Stanford, F, Jr.
Arsalan Kazemi, Oregon, F, Sr.
André Roberson, Colorado, F, Jr.
Honorable Mention (receiving at least three votes): Nick Johnson (Arizona, So., G), Eric Moreland (OSU, So., F)

Quick thoughts: If I could cut the bloated 10-man first team roster down to five, I’d probably keep Shabazz Muhammad, Jahii Carson, Allen Crabbe, Andre Roberson and Dwight Powell. At its full size, Mark Lyons and E.J. Singler are the players that should be bumped. Carrick Felix, Brock Motum and Roberto Nelson — whose 19.1 points per game was tops in conference play — all had worthier claims.

Jordan Adams was a big, big snub from the all-freshman team. Oregon’s Dominic Artis deserved at least an honorable mention considering that Oregon lost four of nine games when he went down with a foot injury.