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Player of the Week: Lauri Markkanen, Arizona

Arizona State v Arizona

TUCSON, AZ - JANUARY 12: Lauri Markkanen #10 of the Arizona Wildcats drives the ball past Torian Graham #4 of the Arizona State Sun Devils during the first half of the college basketball game at McKale Center on January 12, 2017 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

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Lauri Markkanen entered this week mired in an awful slump.

Over the course of his last four games, he was shooting 20 percent from the floor and 25 percent from three. He hadn’t scored more than eight points in any of the four games and, frankly, looked nothing like the seven-footer who had drawn comparisons to Dirk Nowitzki as he averaged 15.4 points and shot 45.7 percent from three.

That was until the Wildcats had to play against the Washington schools.

With Dusan Ristic and Kadeem Allen both battling injury, Markkanen played some of his best basketball of the season, averaging 22.5 points and 12.0 boards in the two wins. The most promising part of it is that Markannen was more than willing to change his game, going away from being a perimeter oriented player to anchoring Arizona’s post offense. On the season, roughly 45 percent of Markannen’s field goals come from beyond the arc. This past week, just six of the 30 shots he attempted were three-balls.

Yes, it came against Washington State and Washington.

But that’s not what matters here.

What matters is that Lauri got his groove back and Sean Miller figured out that he has another option to work the post if Ristic gets himself into foul trouble or sprains an ankle during the NCAA tournament.
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THEY WERE GOOD, TOO


  • Mike Daum, South Dakota State: Daum went for 51 points and 15 boards, hitting seven threes as a 6-foot-9 forward, as the Jackrabbits beat Fort Wayne on Saturday. That came on the heels of a 26-point performance during the week. Daum is the first player to score 51 points in a game since ... South Dakota State’s own Nate Wolters in 2013.
  • Frank Mason, Kansas: Mason played just about his best game of the season on Saturday, finishing with 23 points and eight assists as the Jayhawks went into Waco and knocked off No. 4 Baylor. That came on the heels of a 24-point, 5-assists, 4-rebound performance in Monday’s comeback win over No. 9 West Virginia.
  • Jayson Tatum, Duke: Tatum had 19 points and seven boards in Duke’s win over Wake Forest on Saturday, but his most impressive performance came on Wednesday night, when he had 28 points and eight boards - including three game-changing threes in the final five minutes - as the Blue Devils landed an impressive road win over No. 14 Virginia.
  • Markus Howard, Marquette: Howard went for 34 points and tied a Marquette record by hitting nine threes on Saturday night as the Golden Eagles landed a statement, 22-point win over Xavier. That win may be enough to get Marquette into the NCAA tournament.
  • Khadeen Carrington, Seton Hall: Carrington went for a career-high 41 points and seven assists as the Pirates landed a critical win over No. 20 Creighton last week, one that could be enough to get Seton Hall into the tournament. He also had a team-high 22 points in the loss to Villanova on Saturday.