Busting Brackets
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Big 12 Basketball: 5 biggest takeaways from first month of 2019-20

By Zach Stearman

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 05: Udoka Azubuike #35 and Devon Dotson #1 of the Kansas Jayhawks react in the first half of their game against the Duke Blue Devils at Madison Square Garden on November 05, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 05: Udoka Azubuike #35 and Devon Dotson #1 of the Kansas Jayhawks react in the first half of their game against the Duke Blue Devils at Madison Square Garden on November 05, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

Udoka Azubuike is a national player of the year contender

Talent has never been a question for Kansas Senior Udoka Azubuike, but the big man has had trouble staying healthy in his time on campus. A promising freshman year was cut short by torn ligaments in his left wrist. After a good sophomore campaign, Azubuike was only able to play in nine games last season due to torn ligaments in his right hand.

When on the court, Azubuike has absolutely been a reliable force down low, and he is off to his best start in his career. As a freshman, Azubuike broke the Big XII conference record for field goal percentage, and he is on pace to rewrite it again. Through eight games he is making 80.3% of his field-goal attempts, an absurd number even for attempts around the basket. Azubuike is recording career highs in nearly every statistical category: rebounds, points, assists, blocks, steals. The one weak spot in his game has been free throw shooting, as he is only making 35% from the charity stripe.

Azubuike impacts the game in so many ways for the Jayhawks. Bill Self is known to run his offense through his bigs, and with a player like Udoka, it makes implementing his system very easy. For a player of the year candidate, however, Azubuike actually ends a fairly small number of possessions with the ball. He is averaging a career-low usage rate of 23.9% and only playing 26.6 minutes per game. Though he contributes to the team in a variety of ways, the relatively low usage may hurt his player of the year campaign if he isn’t able to put up gaudy scoring numbers.

Kansas has looked like one of the top teams in the nation so far this season, and Azubuike is arguably the most important piece on the team. He stepped up with his biggest game of the season when Kansas needed it most, in an overtime win over Dayton. Azubuike was able to score 29 points and block four shots before fouling out in OT, but he did enough to help the Jayhawks secure an important out of conference victory over a good opponent. Certainly, his player of the year campaign will be depending on the Jayhawks’ success, but if Kansas is able to win another Big XII title, expect Azubuike to be in the conversation all season long.

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