Wooden Watch: Jan. 23

Story posted January 24, 2022 in CommRadio, Sports by Dale Ostrander

With one week until February, the college basketball season is in full steam ahead toward March.

The top players are doing everything they can to prove why they are the best and why they could be the recipient of the Wooden Award.

Here’s a look at some of the marquee names vying for the nation’s top individual honor.

Johnny Davis

Johnny Davis is getting national coverage for his play this year, and this week he kept up his great play.

Davis and the Badgers played Northwestern and No. 14 Michigan State this week. They were able to get a win against Northwestern with a great game of 27 points, eight rebounds and three steals as well.

In the matchup against Michigan State Davis had 25 points with five rebounds and four assists. However, his efforts were not enough and the Badgers lost to fellow ranked-opponent Michigan State. Davis’ 3-point shooting was great for him this week as he shot 66% from behind the arc.

Terrell Brown Jr.

A new name to the Wooden watch list Terrell Brown Jr. Out in the Pac-12 Brown Jr. has been torching the competition this season, averaging 21.4 points per game this season while shooting 46.0% from the field so far.

Brown Jr. has been getting his points the old-fashioned way this season, he is going to the paint and getting to the line for six free throws a game. Additionally, Brown Jr. isn’t the best shooter, but he gets after it defensively with 2.6 steals per game this year to help the Huskies.

If Brown Jr. can help lead the Huskies to a better record he could be in the talk for the Wooden Award.

Drew Timme

A name fans haven’t heard much since the Bulldogs’ tough schedule at the beginning of the season — Drew Timme is back dominating opponents in the WCC.

In Timme’s last three games he has eclipsed 30 points twice against BYU and Santa Clara, but for Timme and the Bulldogs, it’s domination that’s the name of the game to keep his Wooden Award hopes alive.

Timme has struggled in some of the ranked opponents he has faced this year but has come to play in their two losses this year. If Timme and the Bulldogs keep dominating, his name will be there at the end of the year for the Wooden Award.

Jaden Ivey

Jaden Ivey has been absolutely red hot in the Big Ten lately. His highly ranked Boilermakers have taken two losses in the month of January.

However, Ivey is doing his share for the team’s success. In his last game against Indiana Ivey kept his team alive at the end with several clutch baskets and 21 points as well, but Indiana was able to pull off the upset.

In the previous game, Ivey was doing a lot of the work for his team when it went into double overtime against No. 17 Illinois. The heavyweight match up between the teams showed a lot of Ivey’s true talent and why he is such a hot commodity for the NBA.

Max Abmas

Max Abmas had a stellar run in the tournament last year for Oral Roberts. However, the success for the Golden Eagles has not carried over into this season.

Abmas has been able to do his thing, though. He’s averaging 22.6 points per game this year while shooting 40.1% from 3-point land this season. If Abmas can start to turn the Golden Eagles’ record around and potentially dominate the game more he could be a potential upset to win the Wooden Award this year.

 

Dale Ostrander is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email dko5097@psu.edu.