HCS Big 12 Men’s Basketball Week 6 Starting Five
After watching each of the Big 12 games for Week 6 of the league season (Feb. 4-9), here is the Heartland College Sports Men’s Basketball Starting 5.
KAMAU STOKES, G, KANSAS STATE
The player they call “Kam” in Manhattan had a fine week for the Wildcats, capped by his 20-point, 6-rebound and 4-assist game against Baylor. He’s a big reason why the Wildcats have a two-game cushion in Big 12 play with eight games to play.
DESMOND BANE, G, TCU
The junior went off for 26 points in a pulse-pounding win over Oklahoma State, a game that saw him hit six 3-pointer and join TCU’s 1,000-point club. Then he put in a solid 17 points with 6 rebounds in the road win over Iowa State. The Horned Frogs are crawling back into the middle of the pack and Bane is leading the charge.
NORENSE ODIASE, F, TEXAS TECH
Odiase does a lot for this Red Raiders team and he does it with relatively little attention. Well he deserves a tip of the hat this week for being one of the backbones for the Red Raiders’ last two wins. Sometimes you don’t have to score a ton of points to have an impact. Odiase had just 11 points last week. But he had 21 rebounds — 10 against West Virginia and 11 against Oklahoma — to keep the Red Raiders in the Big 12 race.
MARIAL SHAYOK, G, IOWA STATE
Shayok hit the go-ahead bucket against Oklahoma on Monday and scored 16 points in the process. Then on Saturday he scored 24 points in the loss to Texas. He might be the most reliable offensive option in the Big 12. Only Kansas State has held him below double figures.
KERWIN ROACH II, G, TEXAS
Texas hasn’t had many selections here this season, but Roach’s week deserves mention. Against the Baylor Bears he scored 21 points to lead one of Texas’ best overall shooting games of the season. Then, on Saturday at West Virginia, he helped the Longhorns avoid the dreaded trap game with 14 points, 2 assists and 3 steals. If Texas remains on this upswing, Roach will be a big reason why.
THE SIXTH MAN
KENDRIC DAVIS, G, TCU
TCU went on the road to face Iowa State and, frankly, the Horned Frogs should not have won. But they did and Davis was a huge reason why. The freshman guard came off the bench to score a career-high 22 points in the nine-point win. His playing time is still inconsistent, but his game against ISU was the probably the most meaningful game off the bench this week.
