Post-Game Awards: Oklahoma State

Beware of the Blog’s Player of the Game is Naadir Tharpe. For both the second game in a row and the second time all year, Naadir takes home the player of the game award thanks to his heroic effort on Saturday afternoon when starters Wiggins, Ellis and Selden could not buy a bucket. Those three combines for 18 points off a combined 27 percent from the field. Tharpe, on the other hand, poured in 27 points in 39 minutes shooting 4-for-4 on 2-point field goals and 3-for-4 from three. He also sank all four of his free throws. Now, he did have a team high six turnovers, but nobody else was even close in terms of importance in getting this win. Tharpe has been a different player offensively this week. His performances harken back to a stretch by Johnson a year ago, including a few to many bone-headed plays. But, just like Elijah last year, these are games we don’t win without him. Let’s hope he can keep it up.

Current Standings:

• 1. Andrew Wiggins (5)
  
• 2. Perry Ellis (3)
  
• T-3. Joel Embiid (2)
  
• T-3. Frank Mason (2)
  
• T-3. Wayne Selden (2)
• T-3. Naadir Tharpe (2)
• T-4. Tarik Black (1)

You let the whole team down Wayne Selden. This was a tough one. Wayne actually had a positive +/- on the day, but he had the second highest mark in turnovers at 5. Subjectively, his giveaways seemed worse to me. He was just throwing the ball away left and right during the Cowboys’ comeback stretch. This was a strange win, and one that I am surprised KU was able to hold on to. Only one starter ended with a positive +/- on the day and its Mr. Selden here. Not even Naadir was able to achieve a net positive for the team with his time on the floor. Guys that made the most positive impact were Black and Greene in their limited minutes. But, those minutes were part of that 13-0 first half run that bought KU enough breathing room to barely weather the 2nd half storm. In the end, you could say Wiggins, Selden, Ellis or Mason really let the team down in this one statistically. Mason gets out of jail for his late game defensive heroics, despite the missed free throws late. ANd of the other three, Selden just looked to have the most trouble out there.