Each week The Intentional Foul takes a look
at the top players in each of the BCS conferences (sorry Mountain West) and selects
a Player of the Year, All-Conference Team, and a Freshman of the Year. In the
2013-14 season all teams play 18 conference games over a span of 2.5 months. While
most fans only see the pre-season and post-season awards, this feature will monitor
the ebbs and flows of conference play with weekly awards. Big East and Big XII
awards are written by Dan Russo, a life-long Hoya fan while the AAC and SEC conferences
are covered by Stephen Kalayil, a Louisville alum. All awards are free of bias
but for any disagreement feel free to send out a tweet.
BIG 12:
Kansas clinched their 10th
straight Big 10 title with a win over Oklahoma last Monday. They followed that
up with a loss at Oklahoma State but that couldn’t damper the week for Jayhawk
fans. Elsewhere in the conference, there is a logjam with four teams tied for
second at 10-6, three games behind Kansas. Oklahoma bounced back from their
loss at Kansas to beat Texas and keep both teams tied for second. K-State went
2-0 this week, with wins over Texas Tech and then a big win over Iowa State,
putting both of those teams also at 10-6. Lastly, Marcus Smart returned for
Oklahoma State and promptly went 2-0, bouncing back into the NCAA tournament
bubble picture.
POY/FOY:
Andrew Wiggins (Kansas) –
16.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg,
Though he didn’t shoot well, Wiggins put up 15 points in both games
this week. He also averaged 6 boards a game over the two games. Wiggins is the
best player on the best team and is usually the Jayhawk who ends up with the
ball in his hands when it comes to winning time.
All Conference Team:
Marcus Smart (Oklahoma
State) – 18 ppg, 7 rbg, 5.2 apg
Smart’s return from suspension coincided with the Pokes return to
conference relevancy. Probably the most well rounded player in the conference,
Smart showed this in wins over TCU and Kansas. Smart put up 17 points, eight
rebounds, seven assists, and five steals against TCU and followed that up with
21 points, six rebounds, five assists, and four steals in a huge win over
Kansas. Due to his behavior and the OSU record, Smart can’t win the player of the
year but another good week can lead the Cowboys to the NCAA tournament and
cement his spot on the Big 12-first team.
Juwan Staten (West
Virginia) – 19.4 ppg, 5.6 rbg, 5.6 apg
Staten the Stat-Stuffer put up 19, five rebounds, and four assists in
a loss at Iowa State an followed that up with 17 points, four rebounds, five
assists, and two steals in a blowout win over TCU. Staten is secon in the league
in scoring, is second in assists, and the 6’1 guard is 20th in
rebounding.
Melvin Ejim (Iowa State) –
19.6 ppg, 8.6 rpg
Probably the biggest competition to Andrew Wiggins for player of the
year, Ejim leads the conference in scoring and is second in rebounding for the Cyclones.
Ejim put up another huge game in a loss to Kansas State with 30 points, 16
rebounds, two steals, and one block.
Deandre Kane (Iowa State)
– 17.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 5.8 apg
Kane is engine that drives the Cyclones. He put up two big games again
this week. In a win against West Virginia, Kane had 17 points and 11 rebounds,
also chipping in three assists and two blocks. Then in a loss to K-State, Kane
and Ejim were the only two Cyclones that showed up. Kane had 24 points, eight
rebounds, and six assists.
On the Verge: – Perry Ellis (Kansas),
Marcus Foster (Kansas State), Joel Embiid (Kansas), Buddy Hield (Oklahoma)
Big East:
Only one of the top
four teams lost this week, with Creighton getting upset by Xavier in a game
that gave the Villanova Wildcats the inside track on the number 1 seed at
Madison Square Garden next week. Villanova went 2-0 to move to 14-2 on the
year. Xavier, Providence, Marquette, and St. John’s all have either 9 or 10
wins and are still jockeying for conference tournament seeding.
Player of the Year:
Doug
McDermott (Creighton) – 26.9 ppg, 6.8 rbg
Hope you bet on Creighton’s Doug McDermott as the National Player of
the Year earlier this season when all the analysts were hyping up the great
freshman class. Dougie Buckets started as a big underdog and is now the
overwhelming favorite. His play this week did nothing to diminish his national
standing. McDermott had a big game in the Bluejays only contest, putting up 27
points and 11 rebounds against Xavier.
All Conference Team:
Semaj
Christon (Xavier) – 18.2 ppg, 4.1 apg
Christon led Xavier to a HUGE week moving into sole possession of
third place. First Christon put up 15, seven, and six in a win at St. Johns.
Then in an upset win against Creighton, Semaj had 21, three rebounds, and four
assists.
Bryce Cotton (Providence)
– 23.3 ppg, 6 apg
Providence went 1-0 this week to keep pace one game behind Xavier for
third place in the conference. In the win at Seton Hall, Bryce had 24 points,
four rebounds, and three assists. For the season, Cotton is second in the
conference in scoring and first in assists.
JayVaughn Pinkston (Villanova)
– 13.7 ppg, 6.8 rpg
Villanova went 2-0 this week to pull into first place in the Big East.
In a blowout win over Depaul Pinkston was able to get some rest, playing only
19 minutes. He still finished with 8 points and seven rebounds. Then in a win
over Marquette, Pinkston had 11 points and seven assists.
James Bell (Villanova) - 14.1
ppg, 5.8 rpg
With the Wildcats rolling to two easy double-digit wins, Bell had a
pretty easy week. Against the Bulldogs of Butler, Pinkston recorded 11 points
and seven assists. Then he barely played in a bit win over Marquette, logging
only 2 shots in 20 minutes of action.
On the Verge: – Markel Starks (Georgetown),
D’vauntes Smith-Rivera (Georgetown), D’Angelo Harrison (St. John’s), Davante
Gardner (Marquette)
Freshman of the Year:
Rysheed
Jordan (St. John’s) – 10.4 ppg, 3 rbg, 3.3 apg
Jordan did not really play this week, missing a game and a few
practices due to a family death. Earlier in the week, Jordan had 11 points
along with an assist and a rebound in a loss to Xavier. Even with this, Jordan
is still the best freshman in the Big East, with only Billy
Garrett Jr giving him a run for his money.
AAC:
The AAC race didn’t get any clearer this
past week with league leaders, Cincinnati and Louisville both dropping close
games to UCONN and Memphis. UofL and
Cincy are still tied for the AAC lead with 13-3 records. UofL has tough games against SMU and UCONN to
end the season, while Cincinnati has an easier slate with Memphis and lowly
Rutgers. SMU is one game back of the Cardinals and Bearcats.
Player of the Year:
Shabazz
Napier (UCONN) – 19.5 ppg, 5.0 apg, 5.7 rpg
In UCONN’s biggest conference win of the
season, Napier took back the top spot after posting 18 points, 11 rebounds, 2
steals and 2 assists in an upset win over Cincinnati. Shabazz is one of the only players in the
country and certainly the only player in the AAC that leads his team in points,
rebounds, assists and steals. In the AAC, he’s amongst the leaders in points (2nd),
assists (3rd), rebounds (12th) and steals (3rd).
Russ Smith and Sean Kilpatrick are still in a very close 2nd to
Napier in the POY race.
All Conference Team:
Sean
Kilpatrick (Cincinnati) – 21.3 ppg, 4.6 rbg
Cincinnati is going through a tough two game
losing streak, but not due to the play of Kilpatrick. In the upset loss to UCONN this past week,
Kilpatrick had 16 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Kilpatrick is still the
leading scorer in the AAC and amongst the leaders in free throws attempted,
free throw percentage and 3 point percentage.
Russ
Smith (Louisville) – 18.4 ppg, 4.1 apg
Russ and the Cardinals went 1-1 last week, with and easy win over
Temple and endured a late game collapse against bitter rival Memphis. Russ had
a solid game against the talented Memphis back court, with a line of 19 points,
5 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals but fouled out during Memphis’s game
deciding run. Smith, the pre-season AAC
player of the year is arguably having his most efficient year of his career.
Montrezl
Harrell (Louisville) – 15.0 ppg, 8.4 rbg, 1.7 bpg
Trez has been in beast mode during AAC play
and keeps improving. Against a solid Memphis frontline, Harrell went off for a
career high, 25 points, 12 rebounds and 3 steals. Harrell is amongst the AAC
leaders in rebounds (1st), blocks (4th) and points (8th).
Nic
Moore (SMU) – 14.6 ppg, 4.6 apg
Nic Moore’s game cannot be ignored anymore. In a league filled with
talented guards, Moore certainly belongs to that group. Along with big man Markus Kennedy, Moore has lead SMU to
an almost certain NCAA tourney birth and a resurgence in SMU basketball. In SMU’s one game this past week, Moore has
18 points, 1 assist and 3 rebounds against UCF.
SMU will get their chance for revenge and another marquee conference win
against the defending national champs, Louisville on 3/5.
Freshman of the Year:
Terry
Rozier (Louisville) – 9.3 ppg, 3.3 rbg
Rozier is still my pick for freshman of the
year due to his stellar play for the majority of the conference season, but Austin
Nichols of Memphis has emerged as a serious candidate to supplant Rozier.
The Cardinal’s backup point guard had averaged 12.6 points, 2.2 assists and 3.6
rebounds over the past 5 AAC games. In
comparison, Nichols has averaged 12.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks.
On
the Verge: Joe Jackson (Memphis), Markus Kennedy (SMU), TaShawn Thomas (Houston),
Isaiah Sykes (UCF), Justin Jackson (UC)
SEC
Top ranked Florida has clinched the SEC
regular season title and has steam rolled the competition this past week. SEC second place UK had a rough week by
dropping games to NCAA bubble team Arkansas and lowly South Carolina. Due to
these unexplainable losses, Georgia is only one game back of the Wildcats
heading into the last week of the regular season. The middle of the SEC hasn’t
got any clearer with Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Georgia and LSU all
fighting for an NCAA tourney birth.
Player of the Year:
Scotty
Wilbekin (Florida) – 14.1 ppg, 3.8 apg
In Florida’s dominating week over Vandy and LSU, Wilbekin had a
relatively quiet week averaging 9 points and 4.5 assists. Despite the quiet
week, Scotty has been the most important player for the best team in the
country.
All Conference Team:
Julius
Randle (Kentucky) – 13.3 ppg, 10.3 rbg (Freshman
of the Year)
In the loss to Arkansas, Randle posted 14
points and 10 rebounds and was one of the only bright spots for UK, along with Willie
Cauley Stein. In UK’s embarrassing
loss to South Carolina, Randle notched 10 points and 15 rebounds. The double-double
machine has easily been the best freshman in the SEC.
Jabari
Brown (Missouri) – 21.5 ppg, 4.0 rbg, 2.6 apg
The Tigers went 1-1 this past week with a loss to Georgia and win
against Texas A&M. Brown had superb
games by putting 17 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist against UGA. In a win over
A&M he notched 21 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Missouri is fighting
for their post season lives and if Brown can lead them to the tournament, it
will be a remarkable feat for a team that lacks any type of a low post
presence.
Jarnell
Stokes (Tennessee) – 15.0 ppg, 11.4 rbg
In a week where Tennessee desperately needed
to go 2-0, Stokes helped lead the way.
In a tight win against Miss St, Stokes put up 14 points and 9 rebounds.
In their most lopsided win of the season, Stokes put up 12 points and 11
rebounds on a reeling Vandy team. Stokes and Randle are still the only players
that are averaging a double double in conference play.
Trevor Releford (Alabama) -19.0 ppg, 3.5 apg, 2.0
spg
Although
Releford’s team isn’t in the post season hunt, he’s had a great season for the
Crimson Tide. Against a tough Ole Miss backcourt, Releford had 16 points, 5
rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists. He more than held his own against Jarvis
Summers and Marshall Henderson. In a win over Auburn, he has 16 points, 5
rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals.
Releford is the SEC leader in steals and fifth in scoring.
On the Verge: Johnny
O’Bryant (LSU), Casey Prather (Florida), Marshall Henderson (Ole Miss), Andrew
Harrison (UK), Jarvis Summers (Ole Miss)
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