Big 12: Beasley having a Durant-style impact

Many assumed it’d been a decade or more before the Big 12 Conference — heck, the country — saw a freshman make an impact as big as Texas’ one-year wonder, who led the league in scoring and rebounding a year ago and became the first freshman ever to capture national player of the year honors.

But it turns out Kansas State phenom Michael Beasley, a childhood friend of Durant’s from their days in the Washington, D.C., metro area, could wind up matching those accomplishments this season. It seems unlikely anyone will stop him from leading the Big 12 in scoring and rebounding. His 25.1 points per game is nearly six more than his closest competition, Texas sophomore D.J. Augustin. He leads the league’s second-best rebounder — Texas sophomore Damion James — by nearly two boards per game.

Beasley’s the only player to rank in the top five in both categories nationally, and if he can continue to push the Wildcats (17-6, 7-2 Big 12) up the national rankings — they’re 18th this week but lost Wednesday at Texas Tech — then he’ll certainly receive strong consideration as college basketball’s player of the year.

But he’s hardly the only freshman leaving a deep imprint on the Big 12 this season. Three others rank among the league’s top 10 scorers, and even more than that have stepped in and assumed played major roles for their teams.

“Last year’s freshman class was great, headed by Durant and then you had several other key guys, and we had a couple of them, but this year’s I’d rank right up there with last year’s,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.
 
“You can go down the list to almost every team and find a freshman having a major impact on their program,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said.

The league’s second-best freshman might share the frontcourt with Beasley. Bill Walker, who appeared in six games last season before blowing out his knee in the Big 12 opener against Texas A&M, has come back to average 16.3 points this season, good for sixth in the conference.

Like Augustin did with Durant, he’s teamed with Beasley to make the Wildcats a title contender even though they’ve had to replace their top three scorers from last season.

Oklahoma’s 6-foot-10 freshman, Blake Griffin, might be as important to his team as any rookie. He leads the Sooners in scoring (14.9 ppg) and rebounding (8.5 ppg) and is shooting 58.9 percent from the floor.

“There’s a reason he’s projected a lottery pick whenever he comes out,” Drew said. “I mean, for someone as strong as he is, combined with the athleticism that he has, makes it very tough to guard.”

Griffin ranks 10th in the Big 12 in scoring, just behind Oklahoma State freshman guard James Anderson, who’s averaging team-best 14.9 points per game. He’s already moved into fourth place on the Cowboys’ freshman scoring list.

“I talked to Eddie Sutton before he left to go to San Francisco, and his assessment was he’s got a chance to be one of the best that’s ever come through there,” Texas coach Rick Barnes said of Anderson. “I like what he does. I like his demeanor. You’ve got to like as a freshman, the way he handles himself against us.”

And the list goes on.

Freshmen John Roberson and Mike Singletary are making significant contributions at Texas Tech, ranking third and fourth on the team in scoring, respectively. Roberson also paces the Red Raiders in assists (3.5 apg).

Guard LaceDarius Dunn has bolstered Baylor’s already loaded backcourt and has averaged 12.4 points per game, second-best on the squad.

Craig Brackins, Iowa State’s 6-10 freshman, has averaged 11.5 points and 5.1 rebounds and has teamed with senior Jiri Hubalek to give the Cyclones one of the league’s most formidable frontlines.

Then there’s Texas A&M 7-footer DeAndre Jordan, who other than Beasley might possess the best pro potential of any Big 12 rookie. The athletic but still raw center is averaging nine points and 6.5 rebounds and shooting 65 percent from the field coming off the bench for the Aggies.

“I think our league is a league that’s right there with the best of them,” Barnes said. “I think over time, you go back with what we’ve been able to attract here with Kevin Durant and T.J. Ford, two national players of the year, and you look at what Michael Beasley’s doing and the caliber of players that Kansas continually gets, and it’s going around the league.”

Rising Team: Texas

The 11th-ranked Longhorns look like a title contender after Monday’s 72-69 upset victory over third-ranked Kansas on Monday night in Austin, Texas. They improved to 20-4 on the season and 7-2 in Big 12 play. They are 4-2 against nationally ranked opponents this season with victories against top-10 teams UCLA, Tennessee and the Jayhawks.

Falling Team: Kansas State

The 18th-ranked Wildcats sat alone atop the Big 12 standings for two days following Kansas’ loss at Texas, but their own defeat in the Lone Star State, 84-75 at Texas Tech, dropped them back in a tie for second with the Longhorns at 7-2 in conference play. Of course, they’re still in the hunt for a Big 12 championship, but they’ll have to survive a three-game stretch starting Feb. 23 that includes road trips to Baylor and Kansas sandwiched around a home date with Texas.

Player of the Week: Aleks Maric, C, Nebraska

The Cornhuskers’ Australian-born 6-11 center averaged 27 points and 15 rebounds as his team split home games against Texas Tech and Missouri. He had 22 points and 14 rebounds in Saturday’s 73-62 win over the Red Raiders, then turned in season highs of 32 points and 16 rebounds in an 86-78 overtime loss to the Tigers. Maric scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the second half of that game as Nebraska fought back from as many as 13 points down to force overtime. For the week, he shot better than 59 percent from the field.

Freshman of the Week: LaceDarius Dunn, G, Baylor

Dunn did his part in 10-point road losses to Kansas and Oklahoma State, averaging 24.5 points and four rebounds in the two games. The 6-4 guard from Monroe, La., shot 16-for-31 from the field. He made five 3-pointers and scored 23 points in Saturday’s 100-90 loss to the Jayhawks, then had 26 points as the Bears fell 93-83 in Stillwater, Okla.

Stats of the Week

1-13: What Texas sophomore guard D.J. Augustin shot from the floor in Monday night’s game against Kansas. Even with their All-American guard struggling, the Longhorns still found a way to upset the third-ranked Jayhawks.

20: The number of double-doubles Kansas State freshman Michael Beasley has this season, already a Wildcats’ single-season record. He added two more last week with a 23-point, 13-rebound effort against Oklahoma State on Saturday and a 22-point, 15-rebound performance in Wednesday’s loss to Texas Tech.

21-4: Oklahoma State’s record against Baylor since the Big 12 began play in 1997. The Cowboys improved to 11-1 at home against the Bears with a 93-83 victory Wednesday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

They Said It

“Young people make mistakes. It is part of the maturation process as a youth, but when we came to Missouri, we promised the parents, our administration and our fans that we would help turn these boys into men by the time they left our program. Part of becoming a young man is accepting the consequences of your actions, not compounding them.” — Missouri coach Mike Anderson in a statement announcing the dismissal of senior point guard Stefhon Hannah more than two weeks after Hannah was involved in a late-night altercation outside a Columbia nightclub that left him with a fractured jaw and led to his suspension and arrest on suspicion of third-degree assault

“I talk to Sean all the time. I tell Sean, he’s my Yoda. I’m like Luke Skywalker, and he’s my Jedi master to get all the information, because he and I have always been close since we’ve got here at Tech. He’s a guy I can run a lot of things off of, and it reminds me a lot of relationships my dad had with coaches in the past.” — Texas Tech coach Pat Knight on his friendship with Oklahoma State head man Sean Sutton, who, like Knight, succeeded his famous father

“I’ve told him many times that I don’t care what he’s done up until the end of the game, but he’s our guy and we’re going to go to him. I trust him totally. I think on nights where he has poor shooting, his penetration created all kinds of problems for them because it allowed him to get to the rim and attract guys to block his shots, and that is where Damion James and Justin Mason get the opportunity to come in and clean it up.” — Texas coach Rick Barnes on All-American guard D.J. Augustin, who contributed several key plays down the stretch of Monday’s 72-69 victory over Kansas despite finishing 1-for-13 from the field

“I’ll hate you if you ask me about him next year.” — Nebraska coach Doc Sadler, when a reporter told him he was going to hate him for asking a question about Kansas State’s star freshman Michael Beasley

Key Upcoming Games

Saturday, Feb. 16
Texas at Baylor
The Bears are looking to avenge an 80-72 loss to the Longhorns on Feb. 2 in Austin. They squandered a 14-point lead in that game. Baylor has lost 21 in a row against Texas.

Monday, Feb. 18
Texas A&M at Texas
It’s the Longhorns who’ll be looking for payback on Monday night when they play the 16th-ranked Aggies, who beat them 80-63 on Jan. 30 in College Station. That was the second victory in a five-game winning streak for the Texas A&M, which can make it six in a row if it can knock off Oklahoma State on its home floor Saturday.

Tuesday, Feb. 19
Baylor at Oklahoma
Another intriguing matchup in the southern half of the Big 12. The Bears and Sooners are both trying to chase down NCAA Tournament berths — they could be the last two of six Big 12 teams invited into the Field of 65 — and Tuesday’s game could be key for both sides’ fortunes. Plus, it should be interesting to see how Baylor’s perimeter attack compares to Oklahoma’s inside game, which is closer to full strength now that Longar Longar has returned after missing two games with a broken bone in his right leg. He scored six points and grabbed five rebounds in Wednesday’s win against Iowa State.