With about a month left in college basketball’s regular season, I decided to write about an underappreciated player from each Pac-12 Basketball team. This article isn’t meant to point out guys like Isaac Bonton and Timmy Allen but quality players that people may not know.
Arizona Wildcats – Bennedict Mathurin
The Arizona Wildcats have had a good year. They are 13-5 this season and 7-5 in conference play but with the Arizona Wildcats not being eligible for the postseason. The Wildcats haven’t been talked about as much in college basketball circles.
The Wildcats are led by James Akinjo a transfer from Georgetown that’s currently averaging 14.6 points and 5.6 assists per game. But I wanted to talk about another newcomer that needs to be talked about more.
Bennedict Mathurin is a freshman from Montreal Canada, that is currently averaging 11.2 points per game 4.8 rebounds along with 50.0 percent from the field and 43.1 percent from three along with an impressive 76.9 percent at the rim.
The long-armed Canadian was 247sports number 53 prospect in the 2020 class. He takes 79.3 percent of his shots according to Hoop-Math from either the rim or the three-point line. He is good at getting to the rim, is good at shooting off the catch, and due to his athleticism and size can be a pretty good defender.
Against Washington State in a double-overtime win, Mathurin was extremely impressive with a 24 and 11 line. He shot 75 percent from the field and made 6 free throws. He has been one of the best freshmen in the PAC 12 this year but needs to get more consistent. If Mathurin could get more consistent he would be a potential 2022 draft pick.