Emory University men's basketball sophomores Ben Pearce and Jair Knight were honored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and D3hoops.com on Tuesday. Pearce was tabbed to the All-Region Second Team by both organizations and Knight earned a All-Region Second Team nod from NABC. The All-Region recognition for both Eagles comes following the pair were selected to the All-University Athletic Association First Team at the end of February.
For Pearce, he becomes the second player in team history to be named to the All-Region team by the NABC in each of his first two seasons and is the sixth Eagle to become a two-time All-Region selection by D3hoops.com. For Knight, this is his first All-Region selection of his career.
Pearce, a member of the Bevo Francis Award Top 50 Watch List, finished the season fifth in the UAA in scoring at 16.4 points per game and was second in the conference, 26th nationally, in assists with 5.0 per game. He shot over 41.0% from the floor while starting all 25 games, going 136-for-330 and was a 36.4% shooter from distance, knocking down 51 of his 140 three-point attempts. Pearce was among the UAA leaders in three additional categories, placing third in free percentage (79.3), fourth in free throws made (88) and fifth in assists/turnover ratio (1.47). He had 13 games over his season PPG average, including a career-best 32 points in the win over WashU on February 9th.
In his second season, Knight increased his scoring by over six points per game to end the year as Emory's leading scorer at 17.5 while averaging 33.2 minutes over his 25 starts. Knight's scoring clip placed him fourth among UAA scorers, one of five statistical categories where Knight finished inside the top-six in the conference. Knight's 52 steals led the UAA and finished third in minutes per game, fourth in field goals made (159) and sixth in blocks (33). Knight turned it up in conference play, posting 19.2 PPG across 14 games, including eight with 19 points or more. He set a new personal-best with 29 points against Case Western Reserve on February 16 and set additional career-highs in rebounds (12) at Rochester on January 6 and blocks (5) vs. CWRU (2/16). Knight had at least one steal in 20 games, highlighted by back-to-back five steal efforts at Piedmont and Guilford to begin the season.