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Last week saw Jim Delany's office retain the Commissioner's Cup (no really, that's what it's called) with a 6-6 result in the B1G/ACC Challenge. A number of players shined on the national stage, and as a result we have our first tie for Player of the Week in this series' short history. Without further ado, your Team of the Week:
Team of the Week, December 2nd - December 8th
Player of the Week (tie):
LaQuinton Ross, Ohio State - 2 GP, 21.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 61.5% FG, 50% 3pt
Rayvonte Rice, Illinois - 2 GP, 23.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.0 apg, 59% FG%
Ross, the B1G's official Player of the Week, finally found his scoring touch after a slow start to the season. His single-game high was 17 points until this week, when he averaged just over 20 ppg against Maryland and Central Connecticut State. His 20-point, 6-rebound performance against the Terps was a return to the form we saw in last year's NCAA tournament. The Buckeyes were already one of the nation's best with Ross throwing up single digits - with a scorer like him, there's no telling what could be in store for Columbus come March.
Despite a loss to the Georgia Tech in the B1G/ACC Challenge, Rice continued his excellent season with an 8-15 shooting performance (5-6 on 2-pointers) to lead the Illini's charge. The Drake transfer followed that up with another 20-point effort, this one against Auburn in Champaign. He's been excellent all season, converting a blistering 61% of his shots from inside the arc and leading the Illini with 18.4 points per game. At 6'4" 235lbs, he's no slouch on the glass either, gathering 8.3% of the offensive boards available to him. Rice was last week's BIG PotW and splits the honors with Ross this week, as our voters couldn't separate the week's top two scorers.
Sam Dekker, Wisconsin - 2 GP, 13.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg
Dekker didn't have the greatest numbers in Wisconsin's dogfight against Virginia, but he sure made up for it in the battle for the state against Marquette a few days later, posting 20 points and 10 rebounds to take the Badgers to 10-0 on the year. The sophomore has been instrumental in his team's surge to #4 in the polls, and along with Frank Kaminsky he forms one of the best frontcourt duos in the B1G.
Tim Frazier, Penn State - 2 GP, 19.0 ppg, 6.0 apg, 4.0 rpg, 58% FG%
The Nittany Lions continue to fire on all cylinders on offense and Frazier is the key that turns it on. He's leading the B1G in assists and dished out nine of them in Penn State's 90-77 win over Marshall last week. Frazier can score when he needs to as well, putting up 27 against KenPom's #4 team Pitt in the Challenge. PSU lost that game, but the national audience (everyone gets ESPNU in their cable package, right?) saw that he's back to being the player we saw in 2011-12 and then some.
Aaron White, Iowa - 2 GP, 13.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 4.5 apg, 71% FG%
The high-powered Iowa offense doesn't look like it can be stopped by just any team, and Notre Dame was any team on Tuesday night. Led by White's 20-point, 7-rebound, 7-assist game, the Hawkeyes put up 93 points in front of the home crowd. White doesn't always have games like that, but that's because his team doesn't really need him to. Fran McCaffery's squad is legitimately 10-players deep, as Ken Pomeroy pointed out yesterday, but it's clear White is one of the leaders.
Others receiving multiple votes:
- Andre Hollins, Minnesota
- Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin
- Mitch McGary, Michigan
- Terone Johnson, Purdue
