King, Wright Earn Pac-12 Postseason Honors
BOULDER – University of Colorado senior guard George King was named to the 2018 All-Pac-12 Conference Second Team while McKinley Wright IV was selected to the All-Freshman Team by a vote of league coaches, the conference announced on Monday.
In addition, Wright earned honorable mention to both the main All-Conference team and the All-Defensive squad.
King is Colorado’s third second team All-Pac-12 selection, joining Askia Booker (2014-15) and Carlon Brown (2011-12). He’s the ninth Buffalo to be named to one of the league’s two All-Conference teams. Colorado has had a first or second team All-Conference performer in all eight seasons as a member of the Pac-12.
Wright is Colorado’s third Pac-12 All-Freshman Team member, joining Josh Scott (2012-13) and Spencer Dinwiddie (2011-12). He is the 12th Buffalo to be named to a conference All-Freshman Team dating back to Matt Bullard’s selection in 1985-86 in the Big Eight Conference.
King leads Colorado in rebounding and 3-point field goals and has been among the Pac-12 leaders in those two categories all season. He finished the regular season fifth in rebounding at 8.0 per game while ranking third in defensive rebounds (6.2 drpg). King has nine double-figure rebounding games this season, with six coming during conference play.
The 2016 Pac-12 Most Improved Player of the Year, King is averaging 12.8 points while hitting 44 percent from the field and 39 percent from 3-point range. His 3-point accuracy improved to 41 percent during the conference season, ranking ninth on the league charts while his 2.3 made per game ranked sixth.
Wright leads Colorado at 14.2 points, 5.3 assists and one steal per game. He tops all Pac-12 freshmen in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.8) while ranking third among first-year players in scoring. On the overall Pac-12 leaderboard, Wright is third in assists, eighth in assist-to-turnover ratio, 15th in offensive rebounds (1.7 orpg) and 17th in scoring.
Wright won Pac-12 Player of the Week and several National Freshman of the Week honors after leading Colorado to a sweep of No. 4/6 Arizona State and No. 14/16 Arizona, Jan. 4 & 6. He averaged 17.5 points, 7.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the field and 81 percent from the free throw line.
Wright broke Chauncey Billups’ team record for assists in a freshman season and currently ranks fourth in points by a freshman (426). He is on pace to become the seventh Buffalo to lead the team in scoring for the season since freshmen became eligible in 1972.
The Pac-12 Coach of the Year, Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year awards will be announced on the Pac-12 Network’s Postseason Awards show, set to air tonight at 6 p.m. MT.
Colorado, 16-14 overall, is the eighth seed at the 2018 Pac-12 Tournament and will play ninth-seeded Arizona State in a first round game on Wednesday, March 7, at 1 p.m. MT, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.