March 14, 2012
Kansas City, Mo. — One day before the Lobos make their return to the NCAA Tournament, a pair of Lobos picked up a few more honors. Drew Gordon and Kendall Williams were both named First Team All-District 17 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. In all 240 student-athletes were represented on 24 teams, and they are all eligible for All-America honors, which will be announced on March 20.
Gordon and Williams were joined on the first team by a pair of players from San Diego State in Chase Tapley and Jamaal Franklin. UNM defeated San Diego State 68-59 to win the Mountain West Tournament title. Rounding out the first team was Mike Moser of UNLV.
Gordon led the Lobos in scoring with a 13.4 scoring average and 10.9 rebounds per contest. He is just 14 rebounds away from breaking the single-season UNM rebounding record, as he has 361 for the season. Gordon has logged 17 double-doubles, and he led the conference in rebounding and field goal percentage.
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At the Mountain West Tournament, Gordon was named Tournament MVP after averaging 15.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per game, shooting .533 from the field and .824 from the line. Gordon was on several preseason Player of the Year watch lists, including the Naismith and Wooden Awards.
For Williams, he is currently second on the team in scoring at 12.0 points per game, and his 132 assists leads the team, as does his 42 steals. Williams, a preseason Cousy Award candidate, finished second in the conference in assist-turnover ratio. Williams recorded double-figure points 20 times during the season, and he led UNM in assists 18 times. He also recorded five or more assists in a game 15 times during the year.
District 17
First Team
Mike Moser, UNLV
Jamaal Franklin, San Diego State
Drew Gordon, New Mexico
Kendall Williams, New Mexico
Chase Tapley, San Diego State
Second Team
Anthony Marshall, UNLV
Leonard Washington, Wyoming
Hank Thorns, TCU
Wes Eikmeier, Colorado State
Dorian Green, Colorado State