LAS VEGAS — Utah’s Timmy Allen was the only player in the Pac-12 this year to rank in the top 10 in three major statistical categories — scoring, rebounding and assists.
It is no wonder, then, that the junior from Mesa, Arizona, was named to the All-Pac-12 First Team on Tuesday as the league announced its year-end awards. Allen is the first Ute to earn first-team honors since Justin Bibbins in 2019 and the seventh Ute to earn first-team honors since Utah joined the Pac-12 prior to the 2011-12 season.
The Pac-12 Tournament begins Wednesday in Las Vegas with No. 7 seed Utah meeting No. 10 seed Washington in a first-round game at T-Mobile Arena.
“I have never coached anybody that wants to compete more, and wants to be on the court more, than (Allen). This is a kid that has had some nagging injuries the last couple of weeks. He has been playing with a wrist (injury) and a foot (injury) and some things, and some guys want to take the time off to get their body ready. Not Timmy.” — Utah basketball coach Larry Krystkowiak
No other Utes were honored by the conference, as USC’s Evan Mobley won Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors. Stanford’s Jaiden Delaire is the Most Improved Player, Arizona’s Jordan Brown in the Sixth Man of the Year, and USC’s Andy Enfield is the John R. Wooden Pac-12 Coach of the Year.
Allen leads the Utes in scoring (16.8), rebounding (6.0) and assists (4.0) and is seventh in the Pac-12 in scoring, tied for 10th in rebounding and tied for fourth in assists.
“I have never coached anybody that wants to compete more, and wants to be on the court more, than (Allen),” Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said Monday. “This is a kid that has had some nagging injuries the last couple of weeks. He has been playing with a wrist (injury) and a foot (injury) and some things, and some guys want to take the time off to get their body ready. Not Timmy.”
Allen is shooting .465 from the field. A second-team selection as a sophomore, Allen has scored in double figures in 21 of Utah’s 23 games. He led the Utes in scoring 11 times and in rebounds 10 times this season.
“One of the biggest joys, I think, is just his engagement in practice, and off the court,” Krystkowiak said. “The culture of our program, he is right in the throes of that. There have been times in practice, I don’t care who it is, he’s got his arm around them, he is talking to them. From a leadership point of view, he has grown leaps and bounds.”
In Pac-12 play, Allen is averaging 17.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.2 assists — including a pair of double-doubles in back-to-back games. He is also an underrated defender, Krystkowiak said.
“We got a lot of guys who are trying,” Krystkowiak said. “It is not always perfect, but we have a connected group defensively and (Allen) has always loved to play defense. He has never had a problem with that. And so I think there is some trust in teammates, and he is one of the catalysts for us defensively, a big, physical kid.”
Allen became the 40th Utah player to score 1,000 career points this season and was just the 21st Ute to do so as a junior. He currently has 1,279 career points.