Mason heads list of All-Americans
Kansas’ star guard tabbed as lone unanimous choice.
Fra nk Mason I I I was a last-minute recruit for Kansas. He turned into the Jayhawks’ latest All-American.
The senior guard was the only unanimous selection to the 2016-17 AP All-America team Tuesday, receiving all first-team votes from the same 65-member national media panel that selects the weekly AP Top 25.
“I love the kid and I think he knows how I feel about him, but I’ve never been more proud — not that he’s won a postseason award — but he’s done every thing that he’s supposed to do,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “He’s been a great teammate, he’s been tough as nails, he’s worked his butt off, he’s loved by everyone in the academic departments, graduated, and to see him reap these benefits after putting in so much time is an unbelievable honor.”
The rest of the All-America team includes guards Josh Hart of Villanova and Lonzo Ball of UCLA, plus forwards Caleb Swanigan of Purdue and Justin Jackson of North Carolina. Votes were based on the regular season and conference tournaments.
Ma s o n a v e r a g e d 2 0. 8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists while shooting 48.7 percent from 3-point range.
“My goals were always just to be successful as a team, do whatever I can do to make sure we’re successful and really change it at the defensive end and get after it,” Mason said. “Yeah, that’s pretty cool to see my name alongside those great KU players, it means a lot to me, but nothing would be possible without my teammates and coaching staff.”
Mason is the first All-Ameri c a n f r o m K a n s a s s i n c e Thomas Robinson in 2012.
Hart, a senior who was key to Villanova’s 2016 national championship, averaged 18.9 points and 6.5 rebounds for the Wildcats. He received 62 first-team votes.
The sophomore Swanigan led the nation with 26 double-doubles and was the only player in Division I to average 18 points (18.5) and 12 rebounds (12.6) while shooting 53.4 percent, 43.1 percent on 3s.
B a l l , who h a s a l r e a dy declared for the NBA draft, took the country by storm as a freshman. He averaged 14.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.9 assists while putting UCLA back on the national map in a hurry. He received 54 first-team votes.
Jackson, who received 24 first-team votes, helped lead the Tar Heels to a second straight Final Four. The junior averaged 18.1 points and 4.6 rebounds this season.
Nigel Williams- Goss of Gonzaga led the second team and was joined by fellow juniors Dillon Brooks of Oregon and Johnathan Motley of Baylor, sophomore Luke Kennard of Duke and freshman Malik Monk of Kentucky.
The third team included freshmen Josh Jackson of Kansas, Markelle Fultz of Washington and Lauri Markkanen of Arizona, junior Bonzie Colson of Notre Dame and sophomore Ethan Happ of Wisconsin.
Seminole women fall short: Florida State’s bid to become the first women’s team from Florida to reach the final four came up short late Monday night when the Seminoles fell to South Carolina 71-64 in Stockton, Calif.
Ka e l a Dav i s s c o re d 2 3 p o i n t s a n d A’ j a Wi l s o n added 16 to lead the topseeded Gamecocks (31-4) over the third-seeded Seminoles (28-7).
Trailing for most of the game, FSU’s Leticia Romero cut the South Carolina lead to five, 65-60, on a driving jumper with 3:51 left. Then Brittany Brown’s steal and layup at 3:25 made it 65-62, but the Seminoles wouldn’t get closer.
Romero had 16 points, six assists and six rebounds, but shot just 6-for-23 from the field. As a team, the Seminoles shot just 36.6 percent (26 for 71).
“We just didn’t hit shots. That was the big bottom line,” FSU coach Sue Semrau said. “You have to put the ball in the basket.”
W i t h W h i t e s i d e ’ s stitched-up right hand still protected by tape and padding, he tipped in the winner with his “dirty left hand” off a missed shot from Dragic. It was so close to the buzzer, the officials reviewed the play before confirming the shot counted.
“Whatever happens, I’m going to chase this rebound like it’s my last,” Whiteside said of the last play. “So I was just like trying to get a hand on it any way I could.”
Whiteside’s teammates then lifted the 7-footer in the air in celebration.
“In the NBA, that was special,” Whiteside said. “It happened so fast. Next thing I knew, I tipped it in and I was in the air.”
The Heat will be on the court again tonight, as they face the Knicks in New York to complete a three-game trip.
Here are our five t ake - aways from Tuesday’s game:
The return of the Dragic: The Heat needed a big game from Dragic and he delivered.
D r a g i c ’s 2 8 p o i n t s o n 9- of-16 shooting ended a mini-slump. He averaged 14.8 points on 33.8 percent shooting over his previous four games — all without his injured backcourt mate Dion Waiters by his side.
“Goran is a great player. None of us were concerned about that,” Spoelstra said of Dragic’s recent struggles. “That’s the ebb and flow of the NBA season. You’re not going to play great every single night.
“He’s a big foc al point now. Teams know that, so they try to take him out of his normal comfort zone. But he really wanted to put his fingerprints all over this game and have no regrets about it.”
Whiteside is all about w i n n i n g : H e e n t e r e d Tuesday with 19 consecutive games of double-figure rebounds (the longest streak in team history) and 15 consecutive double-doubles (longest in team history).
Whiteside couldn’t keep those streaks alive, as he finished with 17 points and nine rebounds. But none of that mattered after his game-winner.
R o d n e y M c G r u d e r, the scorer: McGruder is known for his defense, but the rookie contributed offensively in Detroit. McGruder finished with 12 points, six rebounds and four assists.
With Waiters out, defenses have been able to throw more defenders at Dragic. But McGruder made Detroit pay for leaving him alone, scoring on opportunistic cuts to the basket among his 5 of 8 from the field.
When McGruder finishes with double-digit points, the Heat are 10-7 this season.
Pistons’ struggles continue: With eight losses in nine games, the Pistons are struggling at a very bad time — the final stretch of the season.
Before the game, coach Stan Van Gundy said, “It’s not the end of the road if we lose tonight, but you can see the end of the road from there.”
T h e P i s t o n s a r e n o w a pp r o a c h i n g t h e e n d o f that road.
Playoff race update: The Heat have a chance to climb higher than eighth in the East. They trail No. 7 Indiana by one game and Milwaukee and Atlanta by two games.