National Player of the Year Watch: Week 2

Duke forward Mason Plumlee is among the leading candidates for the AP National Player of the Year award. Each week throughout the season, we will check in on Plumlee’s progress as well as the performance of other top candidates for college basketball’s top honor.

Mason Plumlee, Duke: Although his statistical production has picked up in the last week, it appears Plumlee may be quickly playing himself out of the race for National Player of the Year. Despite the fact that he has recorded back-to-back double-doubles in Duke's last two games, the big man is shooting a meager 34.2 percent from the floor in the process, including an abysmal 7-for-20 shooting effort in the Blue Devils' victory against Georgia Tech. He also has been incredibly sloppy with the ball recently, averaging 4.3 turnovers per contest in Duke's last four games.

It is safe to say that if the senior was leading the race for college basketball's top honor early in the season, he probably isn't anymore. Conference play is when the nation's top players begin to shine, and especially in the absence of his frontcourt parter, Ryan Kelly, Plumlee has struggled to lead the Blue Devils in ACC action. One of the many reasons Duke has lost two of its last three games is Plumlee's inability to put this team on his back when it needs him. Had the forward responded to the adversity of Kelly's injury with monster efforts like he did in the beginning of the season, he would have a firm grasp on this award and the nation's top ranking right now—but unfortunately for his team that is simply not the case.

Doug McDermott, Creighton: McDermott's consistency throughout the season has been the main reason why many consider him the favorite for this award right now. Had his Bluejays not dropped two close losses to Wichita State and Drake over the past week, he might be running away with it. McDermott recorded a pedestrian 25 points against the Shockers and added 21 against the Bulldogs, which is exactly the effort college basketball's pundits have come to expect from the forward all season. If McDermott can continue to put up these numbers and lead the Bluejays to a conference championship, there is no reason why he will not continue to factor into the discussion for a number of national awards. Expect the debate to rage on in the coming weeks regarding the strength of McDermott's schedule and whether his performances in the up-and-coming Missouri Valley Conference should be taken at face value.

Trey Burke, Michigan: Burke played just once last week, but was impressive in Michigan's victory on the road against then-No. 9 Minnesota. The guard recorded 18 points and added nine assists, battling foul trouble to lead the Wolverines to the victory after suffering their first loss of the season the week before. Burke turned the ball over just once in 36 minutes of action. As one of the country's top floor generals, it is hard to argue with an assist-to-turnover ratio of nearly 4:1.

Michael Carter-Williams, Syracuse: After inspired performances in Syracuse's back-to-back wins against ranked opponents last week, Carter-Williams has joined the National Player of the Year discussion. Despite averaging just 12.3 points per game on the season, Carter-Williams is dishing out 9.2 assits per contest and at 3.1 steals per game is one of the country's top perimeter defenders. He turns the ball over more than Burke—as evidenced by his eight turnovers in the Orange's victory against then-No. 1 Louisville—but Carter-Williams is the emotional leader of this Syracuse team. Last week, the 6-foot-6 guard recorded 16 points and seven assists in each of his team's 2-point victories. He was on display at the end of the Orange's win against Louisville, taking over the game in the final minutes and recording a huge steal to seal the victory.

Ben McLemore, Kansas: The redshirt freshman recorded just 11 points in the Jayhawks' win against No. 11 Kansas State, but his maturity and consistency have catapulted McLemore into the national discussion following his strong play over the past two weeks. He is averaging 16.1 points per game on the year, including 17.4 points since Jan. 9 as Kansas continues to rise toward the top of the national rankings. McLemore's size and athleticism make him a dominating force in the backcourt, and he has the shooting touch to match. Boasting clips of 44.6 percent from beyond-the-arc this year and 87.1 percent from the line, McLemore is one of the Jayhawks' most reliable scoring options.

On the outside looking in: Louisville guard Russ Smith was on display last week against Syracuse, turning in 25 points and battling Carter-Williams, one of the nation's top defenders. But a meager 2-for-13 shooting performance in the Cardinals' second straight loss to Villanova has many looking at other guards that fit similar molds for the nation's top honor. Indiana forward Cody Zeller has continued to keep himself from falling out of the discussion, albeit just barely. After a 23-point, 10 rebound performance against Wisconsin in which he completely disappeared during the game's second half, Zeller added 21 and 13 in his team's win against Northwestern before recording just two points in the Hoosiers' blowout victory against Penn State. With back-to-back nine-point performances against San Diego State and Colorado State, UNLV forward Anthony Bennett isn't helping his case, either.