Top players
Boo Buie, Northwestern
There may be no more electric player in college basketball than this senior at Northwestern. The do-everything guard has racked up 20-plus points 16 times this season, including a 31 point performance when the Wildcats handed Purdue their first loss on the season. Buie’s a Kemba candidate not just for this tournament but the big dance as well, averaging 18.9 points and 5.2 assists per contest and shooting 48% from deep in conference play on over 100 attempts.
Zach Edey, Purdue
If you need an introduction to Edey you likely haven’t watched college basketball the last two seasons, so welcome back! The 7-4 giant is a lock for Player of the Year in college basketball and for good reason. Edey changes the court as soon as he steps on it, forcing teams to avoid the paint when he clogs it. He led the conference in offensive rebounding rate, offensive possessions and foul drawing. There is seemingly no answer for him, you just hope to survive him. His 24.2 points per game leads all of college basketball.
Terrence Shannon, Illinois
Missing six games due to suspension for a pending legal case, the Illini are a wholly different team with Shannon than they are without him. The fifth-year transfer senior leads the team in made three-pointers despite playing three fewer games than the second-best shooter, and leads the team in points per game. If head coach Brad Underwood is to make the Sweet 16 for the first time in his career, it will largely be Shannon who gets him there.
Jahmir Young, Maryland
Now here is a dark horse Kemba candidate. If the Terrapins go on a run in the conference tournament they could possibly play themselves into the big dance. It’s a big if and a big ask for Maryland’s best player Young, who will need to carry the Terps starting Wednesday night. Young leads the team in scoring, averaging 20.8 per game. If Young is able to get to the line and grind out games, the Terps could be a challenging team for the top half of the bracket to face.