Big 12 Blog

Player of the Week:

Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State

It was a great week for both Oklahoma State and their star freshman guard Smart. They had three nice wins, in which he played a huge role in all of them. He hit two key FT’s to seal the game in OT against Akron, then had 17 9 and 3 in a blowout victory of Tennessee. On Sunday, he had an opportunity to play against #6 N.C. State and go head to head with Lorenzo Brown, who many view as a future lottery pick. Not only did Smart hold his own, he flat-out dominated Brown on both ends of the floor. He put Brown to shame, being a huge factor in the 20 point win and ended up going for 20 7 7 4 and 4 in arguably the performance of the season so far in college basketball. Smart’s winning attitude has clearly affected his teammates and Oklahoma State looks like a serious threat right now. Also it’s very promising to see that Smart’s point totals and shooting percentage have gone up each game this season so far.

Who’s Hot:

Ben McLemore, Kansas

Coming into the season the word on McLemore was that he was as gifted as they come, but he was a little raw. Well he has put the notion to rest, and become the featured player on a very good Kansas team. A redshirt freshman, McLemore is seemingly getting better by the day and his recent performances have been outstanding. In Kansas’  loss to Michigan State, he was arguably the only bright spot scoring 14 points and converting a huge 3 point play at the end of the game, but unfortunately they couldn’t kept a stop and lost. He came out with a vengeance then next game against Chattanooga, lighting them up for 25 points and 8 boards. As the season has progressed he’s starting to hit his deep ball more often, and getting to the line at a better rate, both good signs of things to come for this talented young player.

HM: Cory Jefferson, Georges Niang

Who’s Not:

Juwan Staten, WVU

Yes, I realize he has only played one game and that it was over a week ago, but hear me out. As I stated in my Big 12 preview, Staten was a highly regarded transfer who had a very nice freshman campaign at Dayton, and was supposed to break out this season along with fellow transfer Aaric Murray for WVU. However, he dropped the ball big time in his debut against Gonzaga. While Gonzaga is a tough team, that’s no excuse for Staten, who didn’t score and had only 1 assist in 34 minutes of play. If he is going to live up to the expectations that were set for him this year, he better start right away and get to work against a weak Marist team this Thursday.

HM: Cameron Ridley, Julien Lewis

Top 5 teams in the Big 12 today

1. Kansas (3-1): Only loss was a 3 point game against a ranked and very tough MSU team.

2. Baylor (4-1): Colorado is a team to watch out for in the Pac 12, and they showed Baylor why in Baylor’s only loss so far.

3. Oklahoma State (4-0): Oklahoma State jumps up to #3 after a huge win over N.C. State, while they are 4-0, I won’t move them ahead of Baylor just yet, as Baylor ran into a very tough opponent themselves.

4. Kansas State (4-0): They are undefeated, but have yet to play anyone good. Still, anytime you hold a team to 26 points you must be doing something right.

5a. Oklahoma (2-0): Won’t move them below ISU quite yet, but they haven’t been as impressive in their two victories.

5b. Iowa State (3-0): They haven’t really played anyone, but have been extremely impressive in their 3 victories, if Korie Lucious ever starts to score efficiently this team is definitely someone to watch out for as the season progresses.