Player of the Week
Jared Butler (Baylor)
Baylor is on an absolute tear right now, recently beating number three Kansas to advance to 13-1 and 3-0 in the Big Twelve. Their star player, Jared Butler (pictured), has been nothing short of spectacular in Big Twelve play. In their win against Kansas, Butler scored 22 points shooting 50% from the field and over 40% from beyond the arch. He did not perform as well earlier in the week against Texas Tech, but his leadership was key and he does a lot of things that don;t necessarily show up in the box score, helping his team beat another ranked Big Twelve team.
Who’s Hot
Desmond Bane (TCU)
The leader of perhaps one of the most surprising teams in the Big Twelve played well once again this past week. TCU is 12-3 and the senior has been a huge part of their success. 20 points and a win against Oklahoma State, 16 points and a win against Kansas State, 16 points and an overtime win against Iowa State. Throughout conference play he has been putting up some impressive rebounding numbers as well, him being one of the larger guards that some of these teams have seen. Bane and the Horned Frogs will be going into their first big test of the new year when they play West Virginia on the 14th.
Miles McBride (West Virginia)
Showing up in the “Who’s Hot” category for the second week in a row is West Virginia freshman, Miles McBride. In West Virginia’s win against 22 Texas Tech, McBride scored 22 points and shot 72% from the field. While he has proven he can score and has stepped up in big games, he is still largely unproven and I for one am excited to see what he can do the rest of the season/ going forward in his basketball career. Definitely keep an eye out for him in upcoming years.
Kristian Doolittle (Oklahoma)
Doolittle has been playing out of his mind recently, dropping 14 recently in their loss against Iowa State, 22 points in their win against rival Texas in Austin, and 19 in a close game against Kansas State. In the Kansas State game he showed his rebounding prowess with 11, and in the game against Texas he pulled down eight. On the 14th Oklahoma plays a really tough Kansas team, and they Jayhawks will be playing angry after their recent loss to Baylor.
Who’s Not
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State has been on a downward spiral recently starting conference play 0-3. They lost to 22 Texas Tech, 17 West Virginia, and at TCU. While these seem like quality losses that Oklahoma State dropped, they lost to Texas Tech by 35 and only scored 50, only scored 41 against WVU, and 40 against TCU. It is not looking good for OK State as they do not have any big time scorers on their offense and will be playing Texas and Baylor in the upcoming week.
Davide Moretti (Texas Tech)
Texas Tech has dropped its last two games, and Davide Moretti did not play as well as he has been able to in the past. The Red Raiders look to Moretti as a spark plug to hit some shots consistently, but lately he has not been that role for this team. In their loss to Baylor he scored eight points and shot 27% from the field. Even in their non-conference wins, he has been going downhill with seven against Rio Grande Valley and six against Cal State Bakersfield. If Texas Tech wants to get back to their previous success, they will need Moretti to step into his role a little bit.
Big 12 Top Freshmen
1. Jahmius Ramsey (Texas Tech)
The best freshman in the Big Twelve should be no surprise to anyone. He is leading the Red Raiders in scoring and is playing like he is the future of this team. The 6’4” guard has the size of an NBA player and showed up to Lubbock ready to play and has helped Texas Tech perform to expectations after losing Jarrett Culver to the draft.
2. Oscar Tshiebwe (West Virginia)
West Virginia’s success has been a surprise this year, but not as big as their freshman forward being such a key piece of their team. Tshiebwe leads the Mountaineers in scoring with 11.9 points per game, rebounds with 9.8 per game, blocks with 1.3 per game, and field goal percentage, shooting 60% from the field this year.
3. DaJuan Gordon (Kansas State)
While DaJuan Gordon may be on one of the lower tier teams in the Big Twelve, but he is a bright spot for the future of Kansas State basketball. He might not be lighting up the scoreboard, only scoring 6.5 points a game, but he has solid size at his position standing 6’4” and has a lot of room to develop into a solid all around player.
4. Miles McBride (West Virginia)
Miles McBride has been a regular in the “Who’s Hot” category lately thanks to his ability to step it up in big time games. He is averaging only 10 points a game, but he scored 21 against then 2 Ohio State and 22 against 22 Texas Tech. He is a dangerous player and great addition to West Virginia, and if you are facing the Mountaineers, he is someone you need to game plan around.