Former Wildcat Bennedict Mathurin to play in Rising Stars Challenge

A budding star in the NBA, former Arizona Basketball star Bennedict Mathurin will play in the NBA’s Rising Stars Challenge. 

Former Arizona Basketball star Bennedict Mathurin has continued to impress many in his first season in the NBA, and in 52 games in his professional career, he is making a viable case for Rookie of the Year.

So far, Mathurin is averaging 17.9 points (48.1 percent from the field and 32.3 percent from three) with 4.2 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game. And even more impressive is that he has done this all while coming off the bench in 46 of those 52 games.

With the Indiana Pacers currently sitting at 24-28 on the season and in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, Mathurin and the Pacers have the opportunity to still make the playoffs even with NBA All-Star break around the corner.

Ranking second among rookies with the most points scored per game, naturally, Bennedict Mathurin will play in the upcoming NBA’s Rising Stars Challenge.

The NBA All-Star weekend is just around the corner, and our former Wildcat will be in attendance as he takes part in the weekend’s festivities.

Making news on Wednesday, Indiana head coach Rick Carlisle informed Mathurin and fellow rookie teammate Andrew Nembhard, that they will be playing in the NBA Rising Stars challenge.

An exhibition game that takes part just ahead of the weekend’s All-Star game, the Rising Stars game is comprised primarily of first-year players. Now, while the format of the game has changed a bit since its inception in 1994, the honor is well-deserved for Mathurin.

As stated, the Montreal native continues to impress in his first season in the NBA, and for fans that have seen limited action from Mathurin, they will get their opportunity once this game takes place on Friday, February 17!

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