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WEEKLY AWARDS: Buddy Hield stars again, Oregon’s big week.

Buddy Hield, Antonio Blakeney

Oklahoma guard Buddy Hield (24) drives to the basket as LSU guard Antonio Blakeney (2) defends in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016. (AP Photo/Bill Feig)

AP

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Buddy Hield, Oklahoma

Saturday was arguably the best day of college basketball that we’ve seen this season and no player shined brighter than Hield. He had 32 points for the No. 1 Sooners, hitting five straight threes down the stretch in a come-from-behind win over Ben Simmons and LSU. That followed up a performance against a scrappy Texas Tech team where Hield popped off for 30 points on just 12 shots from the floor.

This was peak-Buddy, and to get an idea of just how good peak-Buddy is, think about it like this: offensive rating is a metric used at KenPom to determine just how efficient a player is with the possessions that he uses. Usage rate is a statistic that determines what percentage of possessions end with that player -- shots taken, turnovers, fouls drawn, etc. No one in KenPom’s database, which dates back 13 seasons, has posted a higher offensive rating than Hield’s 127.8 with a usage rate above 28.0 percent. Not J.J. Redick or Adam Morrison in 2006. Not Stephen Curry in any of his three seasons. Not Jimmer Fredette in 2011. Not Doug McDermott. Not Frank Kaminsky. Not anyone.

There’s more: He’s now averaging 26.2 points for the nation’s No. 1 team while shooting 52.4 percent from three and taking more than eight threes per game!

After this week, the question is no longer whether or not Hield can win the National Player of the Year award. Now you have to ask yourself just what kind of magic Kris Dunn or Ben Simmons will have to pull off in order to catch Hield.

THE ‘ALL THEY WERE GOOD, TOO’ TEAM


  • Fred VanVleet, Wichita State: The Shockers took firm control of the Missouri Valley this week, most notably as they won in dominating fashion at Evansville, who many believed was the one team that could push them this season. VanVleet finished with a career-high 32 points at Evansville.
  • Wayne Selden, Kansas: Selden struggled in the loss at Iowa State on Monday night, but he more than made up for it with his 33-point performance in the overtime win over Kentucky on Saturday night.
  • Prince Ibeh, Texas: Ibeh is making Texas fans forget about Cameron Ridley. He averaged 15.0 points, 10.5 boards and 3.5 blocks in wins over Vanderbilt TCU, which followed up his seven points, seven boards and seven blocks against Kansas last weekend.
  • Henry Ellenson, Marquette: Ellenson went for 32 points, 10 boards and six blocks in a key win over Butler.
  • Michael Carrera, South Carolina: Carrera averaging 27.0 points and 13.0 boards in a pair of wins this week for the Gamecocks.
Baylor Oregon Basketball

Oregon’s Dwayne Benjamin, left, celebrates with teammate Dillon Brooks, right, after an NCAA college basketball game against Baylor, Monday, Nov. 16, 2015, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Chris Pietsch)

AP

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Oregon Ducks

To put in perspective what Oregon did this week, you first need to understand that Pac-12 teams just don’t win in the McKale Center. It’s not a thing that happens, at least not in the last four seasons. The last time that Arizona lost at home in Pac-12 play was back in 2012-13, when they lost to UCLA.

The last time that a team landed a sweep of the Arizona schools on the road? You have to go back another year, when Oregon won at Arizona State and Arizona on Jan. 12th and 14th of 2012.

That’s the most difficult road trip in the conference to make, yet Oregon passed that test with flying colors this week, getting 24 points from Dillon Brooks in the win at Arizona and, on Sunday night, getting 26 points, 10 boards and seven blocks out of center Chris Boucher. The Ducks now sit all alone in first place in the conference, and while there are four teams sitting within a game of first place, it really does feel like this will be Oregon’s league to lose at this point.

THEY WERE GOOD, TOO


  • Xavier: Not that you really needed the proof, but the Musketeers showed themselves to be a real Final Four contender during the week when they went into the Dunkin Donuts Center and knocked off Providence.
  • Virginia: The Cavaliers had struggled on the road all season, and they struggled on the road on Tuesday when they very nearly lost to Wake Forest -- thanks, Darius Thompson -- but they availed themselves on Saturday by mollywhopping Louisville in the Yum! Center.
  • USC: The Trojans defended their home court this week, beating Washington State on Thursday and following that up with a win over then-league leaders Washington on Saturday.
  • Kentucky: We all had our doubts about Kentucky, but the Wildcats looked terrific when they took Kansas to overtime in Phog Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday. Remember, when Oklahoma took Kansas to overtime, we realized that the Sooners were actually pretty good. Is that what will happened with Kentucky now?
  • Maryland: The Terps picked up a huge win over Iowa on Thursday night. I explained why it was so important here.

SET YOUR DVR

No. 2 North Carolina at No. 16 Louisville, Mon. 7:00 p.m.
No. 9 West Virginia at No. 14 Iowa State, Tue. 9:00 p.m.
No. 25 Notre Dame at No. 15 Miami (FL), Wed. 7:00 p.m.
No. 6 Villanova at No. 10 Providence, Sat. 2:30 p.m.
No. 21 Purdue at No. 8 Maryland, Sat. 4:00 p.m.
No. 17 Baylor at No. 9 West Virginia, Sat. 8:00 p.m.