MANHATTAN, Kan. (Kansas State Athletics) – Seniors Keyontae Johnson and Markquis Nowell were among 50 candidates named to the Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USWBA) on Thursday afternoon (January 19).
The duo is among six nationally recognized on the list, including Arizona’s Oumar Ballo and Azuolas Tubelis, Baylor’s Keyonte George and Adam Flagler, Kansas’ Gradey Dick and Jalen Wilson, North Carolina’s Amando Bacot and Caleb Love and UCLA’s Jaylen Clark and Jaime Jaquez, Jr. The Big 12 leads all conferences with eight nominees, including the aforementioned group, along with TCU’s Mike Miles, Jr., and Texas’ Marcus Carr.
Since the 1958-59 season, the USBWA has named a National Player of the Year. In 1998, the award was named in honor of the University of Cincinnati Hall of Famer and two-time USBWA Player of the Year Oscar Robertson. It is the nation’s oldest award and the only one named after a former player.
Johnson and Nowell have been one of the most prolific tandems in the country, as they combine to average 35.1 points per game on 48.4 percent (207-of-428) shooting, including 37.7 percent (61-of-162) from 3-point range, and 81.7 percent (156-of-191) from the free throw line. They have combined for 11 games of 20 or more points, including a collective 120 points in the 2 wins at No. 6/6 Texas and No. 19/16 Baylor during the week of Jan. 3-7. It is most combined points by 2 players over a 2-game span in the last 50 seasons, surpassing the 113 scored by Askia Jones and Anthony Beane between March 24-28, 1994.
The duo made the game-winning play in the victory over No. 2/2 Kansas on Tuesday night, as Nowell’s lob pass to Johnson for a dunk with 25 seconds helped K-State snap the Jayhawks’ 10-game overall winning streak and a 7-game skid in the series. Johnson finished with a game-tying 24 points to go with 8 rebounds, while Nowell added a team-high 7 assists and 4 steals, as both played more than 40 minutes. The win was the eighth over the No. 2 team, including the first since defeating No. 2 Baylor, 56-54, in Waco, Texas on Feb. 4, 2017, while it was the highest ranked win since knocking off No. 1 Oklahoma on Feb. 6, 2016. Overall, it was the 26th Top 5 win.
A 5-foot-8, 160-pound point guard from Harlem, N.Y., Nowell is averaging 16.4 points on 41.1 percent (85-of-207) from the field, including 36.8 percent (39-of-106) from 3-point range, and 87.8 percent (81-of-93) from the free throw line to go along with a Big 12-best 8.4 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 2.3 steals in 35.6 minutes per game. He is one of just two active Division I players to total more than 1,500 points, 500 assists and 200 steals in a career.
Nowell ranks among top-3 nationally in assists/game (8.4 apg./2nd) and total assists (151/3rd), while is 24th in assist/turnover ratio (2.85). He has six games of 10 or more assists this season, while he has five double-doubles (points/assists), including the school’s first 30-10 double-double with 32 points and 14 assists in the win at No. 19/16 Baylor on Jan. 7. He became the first Wildcat to post consecutive 30-point games since Michael Beasley in 2008 with his 36 and 32-point efforts at No. 6/6 Texas and No. 19/16 Baylor.
A 6-foot-6, 230-pound forward from Norfolk, Va., Johnson is averaging a team-best 18.7 points on 55.2 percent (122-of-221) from the field, including 39.3 percent (22-of-56) from 3-point range, and 75.3 percent (70-of-93) from the free throw line, to go with 7.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.3 steals in 33.6 minutes per game. He ranks among the top-10 in 6 categories in the Big 12, while he and Kansas’ Jalen Wilson are the only players in the conference to rank in the top-5 in both scoring and rebounding.
At the conclusion of the regular season, the entire USBWA membership will vote for the award. The winner of the award will be announced at the 2023 Men’s Final Four in Houston with the formal presentation to follow at the annual USBWA Awards Luncheon hosted by the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis.
No. 13/15 K-State (16-2, 5-1) return to action on Saturday, as the Wildcats play host to Texas Tech (10-8, 0-6 Big 12) at Bramlage Coliseum at 1 p.m., CT on ESPN2. The game is sold out.
