Two Utah men’s basketball players named to All-Pac-12 teams

If I were a betting woman I’d bet that the Utah Runnin’ Utes are still celebrating after they clinched the number three seed in the Pac-12 Tournament. In addition to soaking that news all in, the team is also probably celebrating the fact that two of their seniors, Justin Bibbins and David Collette were named to the 15 member All-Pac-12 men’s basketball teams. The league office made the announcement on Monday. Bibbins was tabbed first-team, while Collette earned second-team honors.

In a vote by all 12-league coaches, Bibbins was one of 10 first-team selections and Collette was one of five players named to the second-team.

Bibbins has been a key player for the Utes this season. If you don’t agree with me, just ask head coach Larry Krystkowiak. After Saturday night’s win over Colorado, Coach K was asked about Bibbins, his game-high 24 points and what he has meant to the team this season.

“Heck of a way to have his senior night departure. Not sure where we would be without him,” Coach K said.

Here’s more from UtahUtes.com on Bibbins and Collette’s season accomplishments:

These honors are fitting for Bibbins who averaged a team-best 15.8 points per game in Pac-12 play, which also ranked tied for 10^th in the league. He was fifth in the Pac-12 with 5.1 assists per game and he ranked ninth among league players with 1.4 steals. He tallied a .859 free throw percentage, which ranked sixth-best in the conference. Bibbins was named Pac-12 Player of the Week back on January 22.

This marks the third all-conference honor for Bibbins, who was also tabbed all-Big West second team in both 2015-16 and 2016-17 as a player at Long Beach State.

Bibbins becomes the fourth Utah player in the past five seasons to earn all-Pac-12 first-team honors. He joins Delon Wright (2014, 2015), Jakob Poeltl (2016) and Kyle Kuzma (2017) as the only Utah players to earn first-team accolades.

Collette led the Pac-12 with a .653 field goal shooting percentage, while ranking 22^nd in the league with 12.4 points against Pac-12 opponents. He totaled 4.7 rebounds, dished out 23 assists, 15 steals and collected 12 blocked shots in 18 league games.

This is Collette’s first Pac-12 honor and second all-conference honor in his career overall. He was a third-team all-Mountain West selection back in 2014-15.