NCAA Basketball: Top 20 players midway through 2022-23 season
By Elijah Campbell
#19- Jaime Jaquez, Forward, UCLA
Jaime Jaquez is the go-to scorer on one of the best offenses in all of college basketball. After taking a few losses to high-quality opponents during feast week, the Bruins have been one of the hottest teams in the sport and Jaquez becoming a more reliable and efficient scoring option is a big reason why.
He’s averaging 17 points per game and has become more efficient than he was last season. He’s made the jump from 50% to 57% eFG this year and while the three-point shot isn’t very reliable, has made an improvement to be a 60% two-point shooter.
He’s great when getting into the lane and using his size to create space and now that he’s improved his finishing around the rim, you’ve seen his efficiency improve.
On defense, Jaquez is no slouch. He’s currently at 4.9 STOCKS per 100 possessions and only fouls on 3.1 possessions per 100. He’s great at playing passing lanes and poking the ball away from opposing guards while avoiding foul calls too. He’s one of the more efficient defenders on this list in that sense.
Overall, Jaquez is a seasoned scorer, a fantastic defender for a team that looks like it can replicate its Final Four run in 2020. They’re top 11 in KenPom’s offensive and defensive ratings and he is arguably their best two-way player.