The past week has been slow in college basketball -- largely because Christmas happened to fall on a weekend. Consequently, most teams have only played one game since the CBS Sports list of National Player of the Year candidates last updated. And some haven't played at all.
So there's not much movement.
But keep an eye on Caleb Swanigan.
The sophomore forward is posting huge numbers for a Purdue team that could win the Big Ten. If he keeps this up, absolutely, he'll finish the season on All-America teams and be a serious candidate for individual awards.
(Note: National Players of the Year do not come from non-NCAA Tournament teams. Thus, players from teams currently projected to miss the NCAA Tournament are not considered for this list.)
| 1 | |
| Hart got 20 points, seven rebounds and three assists in top-ranked Villanova's 90-48 win over American last Wednesday and is now averaging 20.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 33.3 minutes per contest. The 6-foot-6 senior is averaging 26.0 points in his past four games. He's shooting a career-high 56.0 percent from the field and a career-high 43.3 percent from 3-point range. | |
| 2 | |
| Mason has missed 16 of his past 24 field goal attempts but is still shooting 54.5 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from the 3-point line this season. The senior point guard is averaging a team-high 19.7 points, 5.8 assists and 4.7 rebounds for the third-ranked Jayhawks. He scored 30 against both Indiana and UMKC. | |
| 3 | |
| Ball has been held to single-digits in points in each of UCLA's past two games. But he's still averaging 13.7 points, 8.3 assists and 5.8 rebounds while shooting 53.4 percent from the field and 43.3 percent from 3-point range. The freshman point guard is the main reason the Bruins are undefeated and ranked second entering Wednesday night's game with Oregon. UCLA is now projected by oddsmakers to win the Pac-12. | |
| 4 | |
| The development of Kennard is among the reasons the indefinite suspension of Grayson Allen won't hurt the fifth-ranked Blue Devils too much. The sophomore guard is averaging a team-high 20.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists while shooting 52.0 percent from the field and 42.7 percent from 3-point range. He scored a career-high 35 against Maine. | |
| 5 | |
| Swanigan is averaging 26.5 points and 20.5 rebounds in 15th-ranked Purdue's past two games -- and is averaging 18.3 points and 12.5 rebounds on the season. The sophomore forward has three 20-20 games so far. He's the first high-major player to have back-to-back 20-20 games since Blake Griffin did it eight years ago. | |
| 6 | |
| Watson has ninth-ranked Creighton off to a 12-0 start and is averaging 9.0 assists, which leads the nation. The senior point guard who began his college career at Boston University is the main reason why the Bluejays have an effective field percentage of 61.7. He sets everybody up and is shooting 52.9 percent from 3-point range for a team that's ranked 10th and leading the nation in 3-point percentage. | |
| 7 | |
| Fox is second in points (16.3), first in assists (6.8) and third in rebounds (5.0) for eighth-ranked Kentucky, which makes him the only Wildcat in the top three of each of those three categories. The freshman point guard got a triple-double against Arizona State. He averaged 21.7 points in games against nationally ranked UCLA, Louisville and North Carolina. | |
| 8 | |
| Motley has been the best player for the surprising Bears, who are 12-0 and ranked fourth. The junior forward is averaging 16.0 points and 8.7 rebounds while shooting 51.2 percent from the field. He got a career-high 26 points in a November win over Michigan State. | |
| 9 | |
| Monk wasn't good in Kentucky's loss at Louisville; he finished with 17 points on 16 shots. But the freshman guard is still averaging a team-high 21.4 points while shooting 39.4 percent from 3-point range. His 47-point effort in a win over North Carolina is the most impressive game any player has had this season. | |
| 10 | |
| Trimble finished with 20 points on 10 shots in Tuesday's win over Illinois and is averaging 18.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists for a Maryland team that's 13-1. The junior guard got 31 points in a win over Richmond. He's scored at least 20 in eight of the Terps' 14 games. | |
THE NEXT TEN (in alphabetical order): Joel Berry (North Carolina), Jawun Evans (Oklahoma State), Marcus Foster (Creighton), Ethan Happ (Wisconsin), Josh Jackson (Kansas), Amile Jefferson (Duke), Jock Landale (Saint Mary's), TJ Leaf (UCLA), Kelan Martin (Butler), Alec Peters (Valparaiso).
