West Virginia guard Javon Small showed out in front of his home crowd in a must-needed victory yesterday evening for the Mountaineers. He finished with 23 points and 10 assists, making it the first double-double of his career.
More importantly, the Mountaineers defeated TCU by a score of 73-55 keeping their NCAA Tournament hopes alive.
Small has carried his West Virginia team to a 17-11 record (8-9 in the Big 12), and the committee has taken notice. He has been on the Wooden Award Watchlist many times throughout the year and is one of the current favorites for Big 12 Player of the Year.
Small currently leads the league in points while shooting 42.2% from the field. He has found ways to take over games at the right time and has been the most efficient player on a team where he possesses the ball most of the game.
Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson, Iowa State’s Curtis Jones, and Texas Tech’s JT Toppin are all leading candidates along with Small to win the award. All three have different roles on their respective teams but are elite with the basketball in their hands.
Hunter Dickinson, who is averaging 16.8 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, is a paint player for the Jayhawks who can spread the floor at times. His best scoring option is a post-up, and his lefty hook is nearly unstoppable. Even with the Jayhawk’s recent slip out of the AP Poll, Dickinson remains a top candidate to win the award.
Curtis Jones is a pure scorer for the Cyclones. He is averaging 16.9 points per game while shooting 42.7% from the field. What separates Jones from other candidates is that he has come off the bench for almost the entire season.
The Cyclones, who are currently ranked No. 9 in the country, have used Jones to close games all season. He is their best isolation scorer and one of the best scorers in the entire country.
JT Toppin and Texas Tech have been the biggest surprises of the year so far. Toppin is averaging 17.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per game while shooting 55.7% from the field. The biggest part of Toppin’s game is his efficiency. He can shoot from anywhere on the floor but will never take a bad shot. He is leading a Texas Tech team currently ranked No. 10 in the country.
The Big 12 Player of Year race is still up for grabs, but these names are beginning to separate themselves along with Javon Small to take the trophy. It will be fun to watch how it plays out with only three games remaining.
