The PAC-10 announced on Monday their Conference awards. USC senior Marcus Simmons has been named Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year. USC junior Nikola Vucevic was named to the First Team All-PAC-10 team and freshman guard Maurice Jones was named to the PAC-10 All-Freshman team.

Here is what the conference wrote about Simmons:

SIMMONS has been key in leading USC’s defense, allowing a league-leading low of 62.9 points per game overall, and 63.3 ppg in Pac-10 play. He’s been frequently called upon this season to guard the opponent’s top scorer, having limited several All-Pac-10 performers below their shooting percentages – Washington State’s Klay Thompson (12-of-35/.343), Stanford’s Jeremy Green (5-of-22/.228), UCLA’s Tyler Honeycutt (6-of-16/.375), and Washington’s Isaiah Thomas (8-of-20/.400), He’s the second Trojan to earn the honor as Taj Gibson collected the award in 2009.

Awards are voted on by the conference coaches. You can see other winners here.

The Trojans 18-13 (10-8 in conference) finished their regular season last Saturday with a close win over Washington. They play CAL in the quarterfinals of the PAC-10 tournament at the Staples center this Thursday at noon. Click here to purchase tickets.