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Longhorns guard Jabari Rice named Sixth Man of the Year in Big 12 Conference
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AUSTIN (KXAN) — Jabari Rice's tremendous season off the bench for the Texas Longhorns was rewarded by Big 12 Conference head coaches Sunday.
Rice was voted the Sixth Man of the Year after averaging 12.6 points per game with 63 assists in 24.2 minutes per game. He scored in double figures 20 times this season and finished second in the Big 12 with an 87% free throw percentage, and he poured in 23 points against the No. 3 Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday, leading the Longhorns to a 75-59 victory.
Longhorns senior guard Marcus Carr was named to the All-Big 12 first team and Rice was a third-team selection. Timmy Allen was named honorable mention in the voting. Rice also made the conference's All-Newcomer team for players who played their first year in the conference this year.
Kansas forward Jalen Wilson was named the Big 12 player of the year and Kansas State's Jerome Tang was named the coach of the year. Baylor's Keyonte George was named the freshman of the year and Kansas guard Dajuan Harris was named the defensive player of the year. Kansas forward KJ Adams was named the league's most-improved player.
Joining Carr on the first team were Baylor's Adam Flagler, Kansas State's Keyontae Johnson and Markquis Nowell along with Wilson. Johnson was named the Big 12's newcomer of the year after transferring from Florida.
Texas earned the No. 2 seed in the Big 12 Conference tournament and will play either Oklahoma State or Oklahoma in the quarterfinals at 6 p.m., March 9 at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.