SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS – October 13, 2015 (Gephardt Daily) – Utah men’s basketball players Brandon Taylor and Jordan Loveridge were both named to positional award watch lists by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Tuesday.
Taylor was one of 20 players named to the Julius Erving Award list, while Loveridge was tabbed one of 20 candidates named to the Karl Malone Award list.
Named after Hall of Famer and 11-time NBA All-Star Julius Erving, the annual honor in its second year recognizes the top small forwards in Division I men’s college basketball. The Karl Malone Award is in its second year as well, and it recognizes the top power forwards in Division I men’s college basketball after the Hall of Famer and two-time NBA Most Valuable Player.
Taylor is coming off a 2014-15 campaign where he was named to the All-Pac-12 Second Team and a Pac-12 All-Defensive Team Honorable Mention selection. He averaged 10.6 points-per-game, shot 44.5 percent from the field to go along with a very efficient 43.9 percent shooting from the three-point line – which ranked third in the league. His 2.34 three-pointers made-per-game ranked fourth in the Pac-12 and he also dished out 3.34 assists-per-game, which ranked 11th in the conference. Defensively, Taylor ranked 10th in the Pac-12 with 1.29 steals per game.
Loveridge started 27 of 28 games last season, finishing the year with 10.0 points-per-game and a 41.6 shooting percentage from the field. The four-year veteran ranked fourth in the Pac-12 with a 43.5 three-point shooting percentage and 10th in the league with 1.93 three-pointers made-per-game. Loveridge ranked third on the team, pulling down 3.9 rebounds-per-game, while leading the squad in free throw shooting with a 87.3 percentage from the charity stripe.
Loveridge enters the season ranked No. 26 all-time with 1,152 career points and will look to move into the top 15, should he total at least 400 points on the year. The West Jordan native also ranks No. 10 all-time in three-pointers made (133) and No. 9 in three-point attempts (363).
Both lists will be narrowed down to 10 in mid-February and then five finalists will be selected in March. The winners of the awards will be presented at the second annual ESPN College Basketball Awards Show in Los Angeles on April 8.
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