NCAA Basketball: Pritchard surges in National Player of the Year rankings

Stats: 20.2 ppg, 5.4 apg, 4.3 rpg

Speaking of surging at the right time, Payton Pritchard took full advantage of the final big stage he’ll be on during the regular season by scoring a career-high 38 points while leading Oregon to an overtime road win over Arizona.

After a season full of clutch buzzer beaters and quality performance, Pritchard’s effort against the Wildcats was the perfect cap on a tremendous regular season. He was the only player on either team that played all 45 minutes and was incredibly efficient, making six threes and making all eight of his free throw attempts.

Following the game, head coach Dana Altman praised his senior leader.

"“It was a heck of a performance. We’ve been struggling a little, we’re banged up and in a game we really needed him, he did a tremendous job.”"

It was the kind of performance Pritchard needed to go from nearly falling off this list back to the forefront of the race, yet he still has some work to do if he’s going to take the top spot. The Ducks need to win out (home game against Cal and Stanford), win at least a share of the conference title, and the guy at the top will have to falter a bit for Pritchard – or anyone else – to take his crown.