Who is the most underrated player in the Pac 12? – Holden Walter Warner (@hwalterwarner)
Arizona is finally back and they have one of the best players in the league that no one talks about. The Wildcats are loaded everywhere but the talk of the team is in both big men Christian Koloko and Azuolas Tubelis. Those two big men do a lot for Arizona but without their star guard on the team Arizona would not be nearly as good as they are.
Benedict Mathurin is a budding star and he needs to start getting the publicity he deserves. He is currently playing at an extremely high level and right now should be the frontrunner for the Pac 12 player of the year. Heading into the huge game against Illinois, the sophomore guard was already having a great season; he came in averaging 17 points per game, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists per contest as well. He is currently shooting 50% from the floor and about 35% from three-point range. He is the most important player for Arizona and he is going to just keep getting better under new head coach Tommy Lloyd.
In the showdown with Illinois, Mathurin dropped 30 points while shooting 10-17 from the floor and 5-8 from deep. The Wildcats won the game by 4 points and Mathurin was a huge reason why Arizona was able to come back from a halftime deficit and defeat Illinois.
Arizona is really good and looks to be back to the team to beat in the Pac 12. If that is the case Mathurin will likely win player of the year in the conference and he won’t be underrated anymore.