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Big Ten Basketball questions: 2023 POY picks, under-the-radar storylines

By Tristan Freeman

Jan 11, 2019; Madison, WI, USA; The Big Ten logo on the floor at the Kohl Center before the game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Purdue Boilermakers. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 11, 2019; Madison, WI, USA; The Big Ten logo on the floor at the Kohl Center before the game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Purdue Boilermakers. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports /
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Big Ten Basketball Purdue Boilermakers center Zach Edey Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports /

3. Who is your prediction for Conference Player of the Year? Possible runner-up?

Kay

Zach Edey at this point of the season is the heads-on favorite to win conference player of the year. He has led the Boilermakers to a 15-1 record and a top-three national ranking due in most part to his dominant play. He is averaging nearly 22 points a game along with over 13 rebounds and two blocks a game as well. He had an amazing game against Penn State where he scored 30 points to go along with 13 rebounds, three assists, and three blocks. Earlier in conference play, he put up 31 points and grabbed 22 rebounds in a win over Minnesota. He is the most likely player to be named Big Ten player of the year.

A possible runner-up is Iowa’s Kris Murray who has played really well this season. He scored 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a victory over Indiana and he for example scored 32 with nine rebounds and three assists on the road against Penn State. He has scored 17 or more points in every Big Ten game he has participated in this season.

Lidskin

Zach Edey is the easy pick at the moment. Averaging nearly 22 points and 13 points while also being one of the most efficient offensive players in the country will put him on top of Big Ten POTY leaderboards as well as National POTY leaderboards. The question of runner-up is also not difficult as Jalen Pickett is having an unbelievable year. The Penn State guard is one of the country’s biggest triple-double threats, averaging 17 points, 7.5 rebounds, and seven assists per game.

Simberg

It’s Zach Edey. He is the most dominant player in the sport, sleep-walking into double-doubles on a nightly basis. He’s averaging an efficient 21 points and 13 rebounds per game on the league’s best team.

In any other year, Penn State’s Jalen Pickett has a real candidacy. He is the only player in the country averaging over seven assists and seven rebounds per game, on top of 17 points per game. Pickett is kind of like the guard version of Edey, being an absolute nightmare matchup out of the guard spot in the post. Micah Shrewsberry has done a really good job surrounding him with shooters and playing to his strengths. Pickett is great, he just happens to be in Edey’s conference.

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