Cowboys’ Cade Cunningham leads Big 12 Top Basketball Players of The Week
Oklahoma State guard Cade Cunningham leads off the Heartland College Sports Men’s Basketball Starting 5 for the games ending Feb. 27.
G Cade Cunningham, Oklahoma State
I mean, did you have any doubt after Saturday? He scored 40 points on No. 7 Oklahoma. He had a double-double after adding 11 rebounds. He also had three steals and two blocked shots in the 94-90 victory. This came off the Cowboys’ win over Texas Tech earlier in the week, with Cunningham scoring 20 points, along with five rebounds, two assists and a steal. His projection as the 2021 No. 1 NBA draft pick is certainly valid.
READ MORE: OSU’s Cade Cunningham No. 1 in CBS Sports Mock Draft
F Derek Culver, West Virginia
Voters left him off the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar finalist list earlier this week, and that was after he had another double-double — 18 points and 14 rebounds against TCU. Culver had another 11 points and six rebounds against Kansas State on Saturday. He’s a likely All-Big 12 First Team selection. In fact, I’d say he’s a lock.
G Jalen Coleman-Lands, Iowa State
Coleman-Lands is a good player and because the Cyclones are winless in Big 12 play, he’s not getting a lot of appreciation. Well, let’s give it to him this week. Against TCU he scored 21 points with four rebounds and three assists, as he had to carry the load in the second half when Rasir Bolton left the game. In the five-point loss to Baylor, he had 13 points with four rebounds and two assists. His 13.2 points per game is his career high.
F David McCormack, Kansas
McCormack was the biggest reason why Kansas was able to upset No. 2 Baylor on Saturday night, as he scored 20 points, along with three rebounds, and one assist. While the Jayhawks lost their other game this past week to Texas, McCormack had 12 points and four rebounds in the loss to the Longhorns. But his role in handing Baylor its first loss is the biggest reason to have him here.
G Austin Reaves, Oklahoma
I don’t typically dip into a team that lost two games in a week. But the Sooners didn’t fall to Kansas State and Oklahoma State due to Reaves, who had two great games. Against Kansas State, he scored 25 points and six rebounds. Against Oklahoma State, a loss that went to overtime, Reaves had 22 points, six rebounds, eight assists, and two steals. He’s going to make that final guard spot on the Big 12 First Team a tough decision.
THE SIXTH MAN
G Taz Sherman, West Virginia
Sherman moved back to the bench for the past week and he flourished, just as he does in the starting lineup. Against TCU he poured in 23 points, along with two rebounds, three assists and a steal. It was the one of the best bench performances of the week. He pitched in eight points against Kansas State on Saturday, a game in which the Mountaineers were in control for the final 20 minutes.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard. Send him a tweet with your question to be included in this week’s Big 12 Basketball Mailbag, which appears each Friday during the conference season.
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