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Marcus Smart is the Freshman of the Year and he showed why Saturday

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Ben McLemore has been sensational for Kansas this season. Anthony Bennett has meant just as much if not more to UNLV. But the Freshman of the Year should be Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart and he showed why in the Cowboys’ 76-70 win over No. 9 Kansas State Saturday.

His 21 points, six rebounds, and six assists, lock Oklahoma State into the third seed in the Big 12 tournament and cap an 11-2 stretch in the final 13 games of the conference season. And much of the credit goes to Smart.

While Bennett and McLemore have each had their share of struggles down the stretch, Smart has found a way to contribute in ways that don’t necessarily involve scoring the ball. Take, for example, Oklahoma State’s Feb. 6 win over Baylor. Though Smart was 4-of-21 from the floor, he still had eight rebounds, seven assists, no turnovers, and was 5-of-6 from the free throw line.

Saturday, Smart was aggressive getting to the basket, tough, physical and wiling to draw contact in the lane. McLemore might have the scoring acumen, but he is not the type of distributor that Smart is, and Bennett has had to struggle through injuries down the home stretch.

All three should be Top 10 picks in the upcoming 2013 NBA Draft, but at this level, Smart is the nation’s best freshman.

Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_