Kansas’ KJ Adams Jr. (player) and Texas’ Sir'Jabari Rice (newcomer) collected their first Big 12 men’s basketball weekly awards after helping their teams to a pair of nail-biting conference wins.
Adams led the Jayhawks to a comeback win over Oklahoma (79-75) with a career-high 22 points on 8-of-13 (.615) shooting with six rebounds, two blocked shots and a steal. It was the first 20-point game of his career. In the victory versus No. 14/14 Iowa State (62-60), Adams made the game-winning shot with 10 seconds remaining. He ended the contest with 15 points on 6-of-9 (.667) shooting with six rebounds, two assists, a steal and a blocked shot. For the week, Adams averaged 18.5 points and 6.0 rebounds while shooting .635 percent from the field. The sophomore forward has scored in double-figures in 10 consecutive games after not reaching double figures in the first seven games of the season.
Rice led Texas to a pair of comeback home wins last week against No. 17/17 TCU (79-75) and Texas Tech (72-70). In the two contests, Rice averaged 16.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists while converting 16-of-19 (.842) free throws in 25.5 minutes per game. Against TCU, Rice registered 15 points and six rebounds in 23 minutes. He scored all 15 of his points in the second half and sealed the win by grabbing an offensive rebound and hitting a pair of free throws with six seconds remaining. In Saturday's victory against Texas Tech, the graduate guard recorded 18 points, four assists, two rebounds, two blocks and two steals in 29 minutes. He tied his career high in blocks and tied his season high in free throws made. Rice tallied 15 points, three assists against one turnover, two blocks and one steal during 17 minutes of action in the second half. He converted 5-of-6 free throws in the final 20 seconds to close out the victory.