1. Jahlil Okafor – C – Duke (18.6 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 1.6 BPG) – Okafor played well enough during Duke’s surprising two-game losing streak, but his 18-point, 7-rebound performance to go along with 8-of-10 shooting against then-No.6 Louisville was the main factor in the Blue Devils getting back on track. His defense was a factor too, as Duke’s zone often forced the Cardinals into burning the shot clock on most of their possessions as they struggled to find open shots.
His 14-point outing against Pitt the following game might not have been as impressive stat-wise, but it did provide us with an example of something that’s been overlooked somewhat from the potential No.1 NBA pick this summer: his passing skills.
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Okafor certainly has some stiff competition the rest of the way in the race for the nation’s top player, but he can continue to stay atop of the heap if he keeps stringing together performances like last week, win or lose.
2. Frank Kaminsky – C – Wisconsin (16.9 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 2.4 APG) – Wisconsin fans breathed a sigh of relief as Kaminsky returned to action last week after suffering from a concussion that kept him out during the Badgers’ bad loss at Rutgers on Jan 11th. His 22 points and five rebounds greatly helped Wisconsin in disposing of Nebraska at home by a score of 70-55 last Thursday. Did I mention that he was 3-of-4 from three-point range? The 7-footer has now made 21 shots from behind the arc out of 52 attempts this season, giving him a ridiculous percentage of 40.3, simply off the charts for a center. Kaminsky followed that game up with a 13-point, 11-rebound outing against Iowa last Saturday in another double-digit win for the Badgers.
3. Jerian Grant – PG – Notre Dame (16.7 PPG, 6.4 APG, 2.8 RPG) – Grant responded well in last week’s action after being completely shut down in a loss to No.2 Virginia on Jan. 11th. He played one of his best games of the season in last Saturday’s win over a very hot Miami team, compiling 23 points and 8 assists as he took control late in the 2nd half, helping spur the Irish into eclipsing a late 12-point deficit. Grant also broke a streak during the win of four-straight games without a made three-pointer, but he is still struggling with his jumper somewhat. Look for Grant to have another stat-padding game against a mediocre Virginia Tech team on the road tonight.
4. Melo Trimble – G – Maryland Terrapins (16.1 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 3.0 APG) – After weeks of looking in from the outside, Trimble finally makes a leap into the top five after a productive two-game stretch last week. The freshman guard had a bad shooting performance in the Terrapins win over Rutgers on Jan. 14th, but was still able to help facilitate the offense enough to grab the win while chipping in 11 points, five rebounds, four assists, and three steals. He turned it around against Michigan State the following game, hitting 6-of-9 from three-point range as the Terrapins dominated the Spartans at home by a score of 75-59. Trimble’s 50 percent shooting overall against Michigan State was his first time to make at least half of his shots since a Dec. 27th win over Oakland.
5. Delon Wright – G – Utah (15.1 PPG, 5.9 APG, 4.4 RPG) – No, Wright didn’t have the best of games in an 18-point road loss to No.7 Arizona last week, scoring 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting while getting to the free-throw line only twice. The main reason that he is occupying the fifth spot in this week’s rankings is mainly due to the fact that his bad game wasn’t near as bad as Virginia guard Justin Anderson’s 0-8 clunker against a bad Boston College team on the same day. Wright recovered fairly well yesterday in an 86-64 home win against Washington State, scoring 17 points and dishing out eight assists while shooting 5-of-8 from the field.
Other notables: Justin Anderson, Virginia, D’angelo Russell, Ohio State, Willie Cauley-Stein, Kentucky, Georges Niang, Iowa State, Buddy Heild, Oklahoma.
