BLOOMINGTON — Indiana basketball coach Darian DeVries was in awe of the way Lamar Wilkerson heated up Oregon on Monday night.
Wilkerson scored 41 points in the 92-74 win and had what his coach described as one of the best second half performances he’s ever seen. The fifth-year senior scored 25 points coming out of halftime on 8 of 10 shooting with four made 3-pointers.
After the game, DeVries joked that Wilkerson would be worthy of “all” the postseason awards for the way he’s dominated the opposition this season.
“Just look at the numbers,” DeVries said. “Look at what he’s doing. He’s a big focal point of defenses. What he’s able to do at both ends of the floor. He’s a complete player. That’s something that — you know how hard it is to get 41 points? And he’s done it twice this year already and putting up monster numbers with percentages to go with it.”
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The biggest thing holding Wilkerson back is the other top players in the Big Ten have their teams ranked in the top 25.
He will have a chance to help the Hoosiers reach those heights with a couple upsets over the next couple of weeks as IU has three games coming up against ranked opponents (Illinois, Purdue and Michigan State).
The results of those games won’t change DeVries’ opinion of Wilkerson.
“He is an incredible teammate on top of it,” DeVries said. “There is nothing I would not be in favor of him being the best player and voting for him being the best player in the league.”
Here’s a look at how Wilkerson’s resume stacks up against the other candidates for the conference’s Player of the Year award:
Indiana G Lamar Wilkerson
Stats: 21.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists
Resume: Wilkerson is the conference’s second-leading scorer (tied for 11th nationally) and 3-point shooter (tied for 14th nationally). He’s averaging 3.4 made 3-pointers per game. In a win against Penn State earlier this season, he set a program record in the game with his 10 made 3-pointers. Wilkerson has as many 40-point games this season (two) as IU players have put up since 1990. He’s hit multiple 3-pointers in 18 of his team’s 25 games and scored 30 or more points seven times. Wilkerson is on pace to break the program’s single-season 3-point record set by Steve Alford (107) in 1986-87. He’s twice earned conference Player of the Week honors.
Michigan F Yaxel Lendeborg
Stats: 14.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.3 steals, 1.3 blocks
Resume: Lendeborg leads Michigan in scoring and rebounding while averaging the second-most assists on the team. He’s shooting 67.2% on 2-point field goals this season (No. 72 in the country) and is one of the conference’s top free-throw shooters (84.5%). Lendeborg, who has five double-doubles, is one of the best two-way players in the conference for a Wolverine team ranked No. 2 in the country and sits atop the conference with a 12-1 record.
Michigan State G Jeremy Fears
Stats: 15.1 points, 9.1 assists, 1.3 steals
Resume: Fears leads Michigan State in scoring and assists while ranking second in the country in the latter category. He’s put up double-digit assists in nine games this season and has the top assist rate (53.5%) in the country. He’s just one of 10 players in MSU history with 200 or more assists in a single-season. He’s a team captain for the Spartans who also leads the team in minutes played (31.5 per game). He’s twice won Big Ten Player of the Week honors this season. Michigan State currently ranks No. 10 in the country with a 20-4 record (9-4).
Illinois G Keaton Wagler
Stats: 17.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.2 assists
Resume: Wagler is one two NCAA freshmen (Duke’s Cameron Boozer is the other) averaging at least 17 points, five rebounds, and four assists on the season. He’s on pace to break the school’s freshman scoring record set in 1993-94 by Kiwane Garris (15.9 points per game). Wagler is one of the top 3-point shooters in the conference (43.3%). The No. 7 Illini (20-4, 11-2) are 14-1 since he moved to point guard at the start of December while he averaged 20.3 points and 5.5 assists during that stretch. He earned National Player of the Week honors after scoring 46 points with nine 3-pointers in a 88-82 win over then No. 4 Purdue. The 46 points were the most points scored by a Big Ten freshman and most points scored in any league game in 32 years.
Purdue G Braden Smith
Stats: 15.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 8.7 rebounds, 1.8 steals
Resume: The league’s reigning Player of the Year leads No. 12 Purdue (19-4, 9-3) in scoring and assists. He’s put up double-digits assists in 10 games this season with the Boilermakers going 9-1 in those games. Smith is shooting a career-best 49.6% from the field while also shooting better than 40% from 3-point range. His overall numbers aren’t quite as gaudy as they were last year when he became the first player in NCAA history with at least 550 points, 300 assists, 150 rebounds, and 75 steals in the same season, but he continues to make winning plays in West Lafayette.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Why Indiana basketball’s Lamar Wilkerson could win Big Ten Player of the Year
Reporting by Michael Niziolek, The Herald-Times / Indianapolis Star
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