Gonzaga’s Brandon Clarke, Rui Hachimura among 30 candidates for Naismith player of the year

Gonzaga forwards Brandon Clarke and Rui Hachimura have been named to the Naismith Trophy midseason team, putting them among 30 candidates for the Naismith player of the year.

Clarke is shooting 68.8 percent from the field, tops in the nation, and recently broke the school’s single-season block record. He’s averaging 16.8 points and 8 rebounds to go with 77 blocks.

Hachimura leads Gonzaga at 20.2 points per game. He’s hitting 60 percent of his field-goal attempts, 45.8 percent of his 3-point attempts and 73.7 percent at the free-throw line. He averages 6.4 rebounds.

The Zags are one of seven programs with two candidates.

The list will be trimmed to 10 finalists March 4, with four finalists announced March 19.