BENNETT AND MARSHALL EARN NABC ALL-DISTRICT 17
HONORS
UNLV freshman selected to first team, while senior on second team for second straight year
UNLV men’s basketball freshman forward Anthony Bennett and senior guard Anthony Marshall have been named to the 2013 National Association of Basketball Coaches’ All-District 17 Teams, the organization announced Tuesday.
Bennett was selected to the first team, while Marshall is on the second team for the second straight year.
San Diego State’s Jamaal Franklin, Colorado State’s Colton Iverson, Air Force’s Michael Lyons and New Mexico’s Kendall Williams were the other first-team members, while San Diego State’s Chase Tapley, Wyoming’s Leonard Washington, New Mexico’s Tony Snell and Colorado State’s Pierce Hornung made up the rest of the second team.
Bennett also became the first UNLV player to be named Mountain West Freshman of the Year in 13 seasons, was named as a member of the Sporting News’ All-Freshman Team and was also a part of the United States Basketball Writers Association’s Freshman All-America Team. He was one of 15 players appearing on the final ballot of the John R. Wooden Award and was included as a finalist for the USBWA’s Oscar Robertson Trophy and Wayman Tisdale Award, given to the National Player and Freshman of the Year, respectively. In addition, he was named to the list of top 30 candidates for the Naismith Player of the Year Award.
Bennett was also named First Team All-Mountain West and joined Marshall in being named to the USBWA’s All-District VIII Team. He was also selected to the MW Championships All-Tournament Team.
For the season, Bennett played in all 35 games, making 32 starts. He led the team and ranked seventh in the MW with a scoring average of 16.1 points per game and paced the team and ranked fifth in the conference with 8.1 rebounds per game. He was second on the team with 43 blocked shots and his 1.2 blocks per game average was fourth in the league. He also led the team in 3-point shooting percentage at .375 and was second in the conference in field-goal percentage (.533).
He recorded 12 double-doubles on the year, which ranked third in the country among freshmen, and had at least 20 points in 13 games this season. He scored in double digits in 28 of 35 games, including a run of his first 17 games on the college level.
Marshall is also a two-time second team All-Mountain West honoree. He ranked in the top 20 this season in the Mountain West in scoring, assists and steals. He was also named to the USBWA All-District VIII team and was selected to the MW All-Defensive Team.
He started all 35 games this season and led the team and ranked fourth in the conference with 33.9 minutes played per game. His total of 203 assists is the fifth most in conference single-season history and his 5.8 assists per game average led the MW and ranks 26th the nation. He ranked second on the team in scoring and 20th in the Mountain West at 10.4 points per game. He was also third in the MW in assist/turnover ratio at 2.1.
Selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC, the 242 student-athletes from 24 districts are now eligible for the NABC’s All-America teams.
The Runnin’ Rebels finished the season with a record of 25-10 and earned their fourth straight NCAA Tournament bid, making their sixth appearance in the Big Dance in the last seven years. Only 11 other teams in the country have matched that.
