College Hoops Player of the Week: Elston Turner, Texas A&M

Player of the Week: Elston Turner, Texas A&M

Is this even really a conversation? On Saturday afternoon, Turner went into Rupp Arena and put on one of the most impressive performances that we’ve seen this season: 40 points. 14-19 shooting. 6-10 threes. Six boards, four assists and not a single turnover.

More importantly, he led the Aggies to a win over Kentucky. On Wednesday, he had 15 points as Texas A&M knocked off Arkansas at home. The Aggies actually have one of the better RPIs in the SEC, and with the lack of quality wins that are going to be available during league play — there are only two teams that are notable enough to be considered quality wins, and A&M only gets Florida and Missouri once apiece — A&M couldn’t afford losing to a team with a profile like Kentucky.

Turner has been one of the bright spots for A&M this season. The Washington transfer is leading the team in scoring, averaging 17.9 points, while shooting 44.2% from distance. They’ll need him to continue shooting that way on Thursday, as Florida comes to town in the biggest game of the year to date for Billy Kennedy’s club.

The All-They-Were-Good-Too Team

• G: Aaron Craft, Ohio State: Craft at 15 points in a win at Purdue on Wednesday, which is nice but not the reason that he made this list. On Saturday, as the Buckeyes handed Michigan their first loss of the season, Craft some of the best defense that you will see this season. He frustrated Michigan’s all-american point guard, which completely stagnated Michigan’s offense.

• G: Shabazz Napier, UConn: The fact that Shabazz Napier was left off of the Cousy List, which rates the 20 best point guards in the country, borders on criminal. He’s been sensational this season leading UConn in a year where the Huskies have, quite literally, no postseason to play for. This week he was at it again, averaging 17.5 points, 6.5 boards, 5.5 assists and 2.5 steals while shooting 50% from the floor and 50% from beyond the arc and committing just a single turnover in 74 minutes. Oh yeah, and UConn beat DePaul and won at Notre Dame.

• F: CJ Fair, Syracuse: We’ve been waiting for CJ Fair to start fulfilling his vast potential, and this week the 6-foot-8 lefty looked like a lottery pick. He averaged 22.5 points, 8.0 boards and 4.0 blocks in wins over Villanova and Providence, shooting 14-25 from the field and 16-18 from the free throw line.

• F: Doug McDermott, Creighton: McDermott had arguably the most impressive performance of his career on Friday night. McDermott had 28 of his 39 points in the second half. He hit his first 10 shots from the field in the second half and made 14 straight shots overall. He scored all 18 points in an 18-5 run to start the second half that blew the game open.

• C: Alex Kirk, New Mexico: The Lobos jumped out to a 2-0 start in the Mountain West with wins over Fresno State and UNLV, and Kirk was one of the biggest reasons why. He went for 23 points and nine boards, outplaying Anthony Bennett and Khem Birch in the win against the Rebels, and followed that up with 19 points, 14 boards and two blocks against the Bulldogs.

• Bench: Sean Armand (Iona), Kelly Olynyk (Gonzaga), Devon Saddler (Delaware), CJ Wilcox (Washington)

You can find Rob on twitter @RobDauster.