Aldrich, a 6-foot-11 junior from Bloomington, Minn., also was named the league’s defensive player of the year for the second consecutive year.

Sophomore forward Marcus Morris was tapped second-team all-league, while freshman guard Xavier Henry earned honorable mention all-league honors and was named to the all-rookie team.

“Getting these honors is great because there are a lot of great players in the Big 12,” said Aldrich, who has a single-season school record 110 blocks heading into this week’s conference tournament at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.

“With winning the Big 12, these awards represent our team and how hard we played throughout the season,” added Aldrich, who averages 11.3 points and 9.7 rebounds a game.

He ranks second in league games in blocks (3.38 per game) and fourth in rebounds (8.9).

Collins, a 5-11 senior guard from Chicago, leads KU in scoring (15.3). He ranks third in the league in free-throw percentage (83.9) and fifth in assists (4.3).

“Like last year, this is very special because it comes from the coaches,” Collins said. “We have had a great season and hope to continue that success through the Big 12 tournament and the NCAA Tournament.”

Morris, 6-6 from Philadelphia, averages 12.4 points and 6.2 rebounds a game overall and 14.2 points and 7.3 rebounds in conference play. He leads the league in field-goal percentage (56.1).

Henry, 6-6 from Oklahoma City, averages 13.9 points a game, second-best among conference freshmen. He ranks sixth in three-point field-goal percentage (40.7).

“I am proud of the honors that these individuals receive, but they will be the first to tell you that it is a team effort,” KU coach Bill Self said. “I am surprised Xavier was not on one of the first three teams, as he has had a solid season.”

Oklahoma State junior James Anderson was named conference player of the year. He was joined on the first team by KU’s Aldrich and Collins, Kansas State’s Jacob Pulllen, Texas’ Damion James and Texas A&M’s Donald Sloan.

Baylor’s Ekpe Udo was newcomer of the year and Colorado’s Alec Burks freshman of the year. K-State’s Jamar Samuels won the sixth man award. KSU’s Frank Martin was tapped coach of the year.

Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team.

He’s fine

Morris, who banged his head on an advertisement panel during the second half of Saturday’s KU-Missouri game, woke up feeling great Sunday.

“I’m fine,” said Morris, who was a guest on Bill Self’s weekly TV show. “It was a very nasty fall. At first I blacked out for a second, but I woke up, went back to the locker room, did some tests and came back and contributed the rest of the game.”

Self said: “He took a big-time fall. Everybody is fortunate he was not seriously hurt with that fall. That was a scary moment.”

Big 12 tourney ahead

KU (29-2, 15-1) will meet either Texas Tech (16-14, 4-12) or Colorado (15-15, 6-10) in a second-round Big 12 tournament game at 11:30 a.m. Thursday in Sprint Center. The Red Raiders and Buffs will meet at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. Thursday’s winner will meet either Texas A&M, Missouri or Nebraska in a 6 p.m. semifinal Friday. The title game is 5 p.m. Saturday.

Rankings

KU, in league games only, ranked first of 12 teams in scoring offense (79.6), scoring margin (plus 12.4), field-goal-percentage defense (39.8), rebounding margin (plus 5.6) and assists 15.63. KU ranked second in scoring defense (67.1), field-goal percentage (47.6), rebounding (39.3), blocks (5.94) and steals (8.19). KU ranked third in three-point field-goal percentage (39.2) and ninth in three-point-field-goal-percentage defense (37.8).