Big 12 Basketball: Jarrett Culver leads All-NCAA Tournament Team
By Chris Kern
Tariq Owens
Tariq Owens has been fantastic during the NCAA Tournament, especially on the defensive end. They play a lot of minutes with him at the center spot and he has been very effective there, even when going up against some of the best big men in the country.
Against Northern Kentucky was a perfect example of the way he plays. He’ll make a few shots for you, but his impact is made by blocking shots. In that game, he finished with 12 points, five blocks, and 3 rebounds. He was also 6-7 from the field which is very good to see from him considering he does struggle to stretch the floor despite being willing to shoot it from deep.
In their win over Buffalo, it was his fellow big man Norense Odiase who had the big impact as he finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds. Owens had a solid performance with 10 points and seven rebounds, but the style of the game wasn’t one where he was able to block a lot of shots.
In the win over Michigan he didn’t fill up the stat sheet, but his defensive impact was felt as they held the Wolverines to just 44 points. He wasn’t a factor on offense, but that is often the case for him. In this game, he finished with seven points, 10 rebounds, two blocks, and a steal. He did a little bit of everything, especially inside as Michigan was never able to get anything going.
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In their Elite Eight win over Gonzaga is where he really made his presence felt. He finished with nine points, seven rebounds, and three blocks, but man was he playing at a high level. He was battling with the Gonzaga bigs all game long. The Bulldogs have one of the best frontcourts in the country so it was very impressive to see. Some may question how he can make that big of an impact with the limited numbers he puts up, but if you have watched their games, you see how difficult it is to score with him in the area.