Arizona’s Bennedict Mathurin makes Wooden Award late-season watch list

It hasn’t been the best last few games for Bennedict Mathurin, but his mini slump isn’t enough to take away from what’s been a tremendous season. One that’s still keeping him in the running for national awards.

Mathurin is one of 20 players that made the cut for the Wooden Award, which released its late-season watch list on Monday.

Mathurin, a 6-foot-6 sophomore, leads Arizona in scoring at 17.2 points per game along with 6.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists. He’s shooting 45.7 percent from the field and 36.5 percent from 3-point range for the season, but in his last three games he’s just 13 of 47 (27.7 percent) overall.

A preseason all-conference selection who earlier this season won consecutive Pac-12 Player of the Week awards, the third UA player to do that, is trying to be the second Wooden Award winner from Arizona. Sean Elliott won it in 1988.

Former Wildcat James Akinjo, now with Baylor, is also on the late-season watch list.