Gonzaga's Drew Timme, Julian Strawther in the running for national college basketball awards

Gonzaga men’s basketball standouts Drew Timme and Julian Strawther are in the running for the nation’s top players at their respective positions.

Timme is among 10 candidates in contention for the Karl Malone Award, awarded to the country’s best power forward, while Strawther is in contention for the best small forward after he earned a spot on the Julius Erving Award midseason watchlist.

TIMME BECOMES GONZAGA'S ALL-TIME FIELD GOAL LEADER

Timme, who won the Karl Malone Award as a sophomore in 2020-21, was also named to the Naismith Trophy midseason watchlist along with 29 other players across the country.

Timme and Strawther lead a Gonzaga offense that averages the most points per game (86.2) in the country while shooting 52% from the field, which is also the best mark in the nation. Both are having the best scoring seasons of their respective careers.

Timme’s 21.2 points per game and 60.6% shooting from the field lead the WCC, while his 7.4 rebounds per game ranked sixth. Nationally, the two-time All-American is top-10 in field goals made and total points. With 2,051 career points, Timme is second on Gonzaga’s career scoring list and sits 146 points shy of passing Frank Burgess for the top spot with five games left in the regular season.

At his current pace, Timme would need to maintain his scoring average for seven more games, in which case he would become Gonzaga’s all-time leading scorer during the WCC Tournament.

The list of candidates for the Naismith Trophy will be cut down to 10 in early March. Following those results, four finalists will be named on March 21 before the winner is announced on April 2, one day prior to the National Championship game.

Strawther is averaging 14.1 points per game while shooting 41.3% from deep, which is eighth in the WCC. He’s also top-10 in rebounds with 6.7 per game.

It’s been a career year for Strawther in more ways than one. Along with his 3-point percentage and rebounds, the Las Vegas native is also shooting a career-best 74% from the free-throw line. He became the first Zag since 2016 to score 40 points when he knocked down eight 3-pointers in Gonzaga’s 82-67 win against Portland.

Former Zags Corey Kispert (2021) and Rui Hachimura (2019) took home the Julius Erving Award during their Gonzaga careers.

Fan voting for the positional awards begins on Feb. 10.