K-State’s Nowell, Johnson Named to Naismith Trophy Midseason Team
K-State has one of the best duos in the country and in case you needed more proof, forward Keyontae Johnson and guard Markquis Nowell have been named to the Naismith Trophy Midseason Team.
The duo is a large part of one of the best units in the country as the Kansas State Wildcats are in the middle of one of their best seasons in over a decade.
Johnson and Nowell are two of 28 total candidates selected to the Jersey Mike’s Naismith Men’s Player of the Year Midseason Team and one of two duos on the list. The only other duo on the list also happen to be from the Big 12 conference in Baylor’s guard duo of Adam Flagler and Keyonte George.
The Big 12 had a total of seven players make the midseason team with Johnson, Nowell, Flagler, and George joining Texas guard Marcus Carr, TCU guard Mike Miles Jr., and Kansas forward Jalen Wilson.
This is not unfamiliar territory for the pair of Wildcats as both Johnson and Nowell were named to the Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List as well as the Late Season Watch List for the John R. Wooden Award given to the best player in college basketball.
Johnson and Nowell have been incredible this season as they combine to average 34.9 PPG on 46% shooting from the field, including 38.5% from 3-point range, and just shy of 81% from the free-throw line. The pair combined for 15 games of 20 or more points, including 120 total points scored across two wins at the sixth-ranked Texas Longhorns, and the 19th-ranked Baylor Bears. the 120 points scored was the most combined points by two players over two games in the last 50 seasons, leaping the previous record of 113 scored by Askia Jones and Anthony Beane between March 24-28, 1994.
The Wildcats continue their stellar season by taking on the hot-and-cold Texas Tech Red Raiders at 6:00 p.m. CT, on ESPN+.
