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: The Blue Devil forward isn't completely out of the picture for college basketball's top honor, but he's getting pretty close. Plumlee hasn't necessarily played himself out of the race for National Player of the Year, but his recent play definitely hasn't helped him either. He managed just 10 points and seven rebounds in a loss to Virginia, 12 points and five boards in Duke's win against Miami and 14 points and seven rebounds against Virginia Tech. These numbers definitely don't jump off the page, and at a time of year when the country's best players usually play their best basketball, Plumlee doesn't seem to be following suit. Don't rule him out of anything yet—he's still averaging 17.0 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. But he definitely needs to close strong to strengthen his case.
Duke wraps up its regular season schedule on the road against a hot North Carolina team before heading to the ACC tournament in Greensboro, N.C.
Trey Burke, Michigan: The Wolverines rebounded from an embarrassing loss to Penn State, and Burke's point guard play led Michigan to two big wins last week. The first came Sunday in a 58-57 victory against then-No. 9 Michigan State. Burke poured in 21 points and added eight rebounds and five steals to lead his team to victory. The point guard followed up that performance with 26 points, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals in a 80-75 road win against Purdue. Burke's consistency has been one of the keys to his success throughout the season—he is one of the only players to both start and end the year as one of the frontrunners in the discussion for National Player of the Year. As teams head into March, the race remains wide open, but it does appear it could be Burke's award to lose at this point.
Burke's Wolverines wrap up the regular season this weekend with another showdown against No. 2 Indiana before heading to the Big Ten tournament in Chicago.
Victor Oladipo, Indiana: Oladipo has become one of the country's favorite names in the past month, but his play didn't back that up last week. Battling foul trouble in both of the Hoosiers' contests, Oladipo played just 22 minutes in Indiana's win against Iowa, scoring 10 points, grabbing eight rebounds and adding four steals. Then Oladipo managed just 25 minutes of play in Indiana's loss to Ohio State before fouling out, finishing the game with seven points and six rebounds. A couple of bad games shouldn't sway the majority of Oladipo's supporters, but it definitely doesn't help him either as a number of other top candidates continue to gain steam late in the season.
Oladipo can turn his recent struggles around when the Hoosiers travel to Michigan this weekend before heading to the Big Ten tournament.
Doug McDermott, Creighton: If anyone had forgotten about Doug McDermott, they definitely remember him now. The junior scored 41 points in Creighton's final regular season game of the year, a 91-79 win against Wichita State. McDermott shot 15-for-18 from the floor, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range and a perfect 6-for-6 from the line. He also added six rebounds in the contest. McDermott's performance gave his Bluejays the regular season title in the Missouri Valley Conference, finishing one game ahead of Wichita State.
McDermott's run toward the Big Dance begins Thursday night when the Missouri Valley Conference tournament kicks off in St. Louis.
Kelly Olynyk, Gonzaga: After leading his Bulldogs to their first No. 1 ranking in program history, Olynyk started Gonzaga's time atop the AP top 25 with a couple of strong performances. Olynyk scored 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting to lead the Bulldogs to a 70-65 road victory against BYU before capping the regular season off with a 29-point rout against Portland. Olynyk recorded a double-double for Gonzaga in just 21 minutes of action, scoring 15 points on 7-of-8 from the floor and grabbing 11 rebounds while also adding four assists. Olynyk's consistent shooting touch continues to be on display every night for Gonzaga. He has now shot 66.7 percent from the floor or better in seven of the Bulldogs past eight contests.
Gonzaga is now finished with regular season play, finishing the year with a 29-2 record, including a perfect 16-0 in conference play. The West Coast Conference tournament is currently underway, but the Bulldogs have received a bye all the way to the semifinal round and will not play until Saturday.
Otto Porter, Georgetown: One of the newest names in this race is quickly pushing his way to the front of the pack. Porter's play has the Hoyas in strong contention for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, barring some sort of major collapse in their conference tournament. Averaging 16.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game on the year, the 6-foot-8 sophomore had led Georgetown to 11 consecutive win before faltering Wednesday against Villanova. Porter's most notable performance during that stretch was the Hoyas' win on the road against then-No. 8 Syracuse, when Porter scored 33 points and added eight rebounds and five steals. Last week, Porter scored 28 points, pulled down eight rebounds and added three blocks and four steals in Georgetown's win against Rutgers, going 15-for-18 from the foul line. He added 17 points in the Hoyas' loss to Villanova.
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