SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – UCLA freshman Lonzo Ball has been selected as one of five finalists for the 2017 Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award, as announced Monday by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
 
Joining Ball on this season's list of five finalists are Nigel Williams-Goss (Gonzaga), Frank Mason III (Kansas), Joel Berry II (North Carolina) and Jalen Brunson (Villanova).
 
Ball, who has already earned first-team All-America acclaim by USA Today, The Sporting News and NBC Sports, has led the nation in assists per game (7.8 apg) and total assists (241) while averaging 14.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.
 
A 6-foot-6 guard hailing from Chino Hills, Calif., Ball ranks second in the Pac-12 in steals (2.0 spg), 14th in scoring (14.9 ppg) and 16th in rebounding (6.2 rpg). He is on pace to become the first Pac-12 player to average at least 14 points, seven assists and six rebounds in one season since California's Jason Kidd in 1993-94. He is the only college player currently averaging at least 10 points, five rebounds and seven or more assists per game.
 
Ball has already set the Pac-12 Conference's freshman assist record (241), surpassing the 30-year-old mark set by Gary Payton at Oregon State (229) in 1986-87. Ball's 241 assists this season rank second on UCLA's single-season list, as Larry Drew II set the school's single-season mark of 256 assists as a senior in 2012-13.
 
Ball has shot 55.5 percent from the field and 42.4 percent from three-point range. The freshman guard has recorded at least 10 assists in seven games, dishing a season-high 14 assists in the Bruins' 77-68 victory over Washington State last Saturday in the UCLA's regular-season finale.
 
Tabbed as the No. 3 seed in this week's Pac-12 tournament, UCLA (28-3, 15-3 Pac-12) will play on Thursday evening against the winner of Wednesday's first-round matchup between No. 6-seed USC and No. 11-seed Washington. UCLA's game on Thursday will begin at approximately 8:30 pm PT (TV: ESPN).