Big 12 Tournament: Biggest Playmakers to Watch in Kansas City

The Big 12 has been one of the best conferences in college basketball this season, and its stars will be on a national stage this week during the conference tournament.

The conference boasts defenders who can throw off an opponent’s entire offensive strategy, scorers who can put up points in bunches, and all-around players who contribute significantly on both ends of the floor.

The Big 12 tournament begins Wednesday and will give fans a chance to see some of these playmakers go head-to-head in a win-or-go-home environment. Here’s a preview of some of the biggest playmakers to keep an eye on as the tournament begins.

These 10 players, one from each team in the conference, are the ones who affect their teams' chances to win most significantly. They have the ability to make big plays that can change the outcome of a game. Therefore, fans should be aware of them as the tournament gets underway.

Now, here are the players for each team in the Big 12 fans should watch out for during the conference tournament.

10. Chauncey Collins

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TCU is probably destined for an early exit from the Big 12 tournament, so fans should enjoy watching Chauncey Collins play while they can.

The sophomore is a boom-or-bust player, and head coach Trent Johnson has given him the green light to fire heat checks at will. When he’s hitting his shots, he’s tough to contain. He put up 29 points at Texas Tech on Feb. 23, and the Horned Frogs scored 79 points in the loss.

Inversely, when Collins is off, it hinders the team’s whole attack. He had 11 points and was 1-of-8 from the field in a loss at Kansas State on March 2. TCU only managed 54 points that day.

Fortunately for the Frogs, their first-round matchup will be with the Red Raiders, a team Collins has scored a lot of points against this season.

In two games against Texas Tech this year, Collins shot 50 percent from the field and averaged 24 points per game. Even if TCU goes home after Wednesday night, Collins is worth watching.

9. Wesley Iwundu

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Kansas State has struggled during its conference schedule. The Wildcats went 5-13 in Big 12 play, but one of the bright spots for them has been the performance of Wesley Iwundu.

Iwundu is K-State’s most well-rounded player. He is second on the team in points per game (11.9), second in steals per game (1.3) and first in assists per game (3.7).

The forward is a great defender, earning a spot on the Big 12 All-Defensive team. He can also make a huge difference on the other end of the floor.

In the Wildcats’ upset of Oklahoma on Feb. 6, Iwundu led the team in scoring with 22 points and was 7-of-11 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. He also had seven assists in that game.

The Wildcats are best at both ends when Iwundu is playing well. Fans should keep an eye on him when K-State tips off the Big 12 tournament against Oklahoma State on Wednesday.

8. Jeff Newberry

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When Jawun Evans went down for the year with a shoulder injury in February, Oklahoma State turned to Jeff Newberry to pick up the offensive load.

Newberry had played 30 minutes in 11 of the team’s 21 games before Evans was injured against Texas Tech on Feb. 3. He has played at least 30 minutes in seven of the team’s nine games since then.

The Cowboys will need him to continue to shoulder the burden of scoring in the Big 12 tournament. His 11 points per game lead the team’s healthy players.

Newberry and the Cowboys play Kansas State on Wednesday. The Wildcats boast the No. 3 scoring defense in the conference. Oklahoma State has the worst scoring offense in the league. If the Cowboys want to advance, Newberry will need to buoy their offensive production.

7. Toddrick Gotcher

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Tubby Smith’s Texas Tech squad has surprised everyone this year, and few players have been more surprising than Toddrick Gotcher.

Gotcher has improved in nearly every statistical category this season. His scoring, rebounding, assists and field-goal percentage are all up from a year ago.

The Big 12 coaches named him an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention after he led Texas Tech in scoring this season. He is one of the many parts in a balanced Red Raiders offense.

The senior has the Red Raiders in position for a likely NCAA tournament appearance. Winning more than one game in the conference tournament would improve their seeding dramatically.

Regardless of what he does this week, though, it probably won’t be more memorable than his proposal to his girlfriend last week.

6. Prince Ibeh

The No. 23-ranked Texas Longhorns are one of the four best teams in the conference. That starts with what they do on defense, which revolves around center Prince Ibeh.

Ibeh was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year because of how he stifles opposing teams around the rim.

The 6’11” center has the reach to swat away layups and floaters with ease. He averages two blocks a game, second in the Big 12.

Even when he can’t block a shot, his presence and length affect shots and make opponents far less efficient around the basket. When teams can’t score in the paint, it impacts everything else they want to do.

The popular choice for Texas’ biggest playmaker might be Isaiah Taylor. That would be reasonable, given that Taylor made first-team All-Big 12. Ibeh, however, is the one who will have the biggest effect on the Longhorns’ run through the tournament.

In conference tournaments and during the NCAA tournament, every team has a game where nothing works offensively. Eventually, a team will be forced to win a game with defense.

When the Longhorns inevitably reach that game, they will still have Ibeh. He affects the game on the defensive end as much as any player in the conference. That’s why he makes the list.

5. Jaysean Paige

West Virginia enters the conference tournament as a No. 2 seed and ranked No. 9 in the country. Jaysean Paige was one of the biggest reasons the Mountaineers accomplished that.

Paige leads WVU in scoring and is No. 6 in the Big 12 with 14.3 points per game even though he comes off the bench. He’s only averaging 22.2 minutes a game. That’s why he earned the Big 12 Sixth Man Award.

The second-team All-Big 12 selection attacks the basket well off the dribble. He also has the athleticism to make big plays around the rim. He shows that throwing down the alley-oop against Kansas State in the clip above.

Paige and the Mountaineers will play the winner of TCU-Texas Tech on Thursday. Both teams are in the bottom half of the league in points allowed per game.

Whichever one makes it through the first round will have a hard time stopping Paige.

4. Taurean Prince

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Baylor comes into the Big 12 tournament having lost three of its last four games. The Bears will need first-team All-Big 12 selection Taurean Prince to play better to go far in the conference tournament.

Prince is one of the best scorers in the conference. He is fourth in the Big 12 in scoring (15.5 points per game). Listed at 6’7” and 220 pounds, he has the size to take the ball strong to the rim against contact.

Recently, however, he has struggled shooting the ball. In the Bears’ last three losses, Prince shot a combined 15-of-43 from the field and 6-of-19 from beyond the arc.

The Bears need their leading scorer to make shots to survive against some of the best teams in the conference.

He is also extremely valuable to the Bears on the defensive end. He averages 1.3 steals per game, creating turnovers that result in easy buckets in transition. His length makes him a difficult matchup for opponents because of his ability to affect shots.

The Bears are a talented team, but they are victims of the conference in which they play. Their last three losses have come against teams ranked in the Top 10. Prince has the ability to change a game, though, so fans should keep an eye on him.

3. Perry Ellis

It seems like Perry Ellis has been at Kansas forever. Now a senior, he’s helped lead the Jayhawks to their 12th straight regular-season conference title.

Ellis makes his impact by being efficient. He has a .521 field-goal percentage and scores 16.5 points per game. He throws down dunks with authority, as he shows in the highlights above against TCU.

He has also become a reliable three-point shooter. He doesn’t take many shots from deep—only 1.8 per game—but he makes 45.6 percent of them.

The senior comes into the tournament playing well. He scored 20 and 22 over the Jayhawks’ last two games against Texas and Iowa State, respectively. He was a combined 18-of-30 from the field in those two games.

The Jayhawks are the No. 1 team in the country in part because of their experience. The roster is littered with juniors and seniors, and Ellis sets the tone for everyone.

More experienced teams that have dealt with pressure situations know what to expect in a conference tournament environment.

Ellis was on the team in 2013 that won the Big 12 tournament and went to the Elite Eight. He knows what it takes to win, and his leadership makes him both one of the most valuable players in the conference and one fans should be watching this weekend.

2. Georges Niang

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While Iowa State enters the tournament as the No. 6 seed, lower than it would have hoped before the season, the Cyclones still have one of the best players in the conference in Georges Niang.

Niang is second in the league in scoring at 19.4 points per game. He’s also No. 8 in rebounding with 6.2 per game and No. 4 in field-goal percentage at 54 percent.

He’s such a difficult player to defend because of his versatility. He has the size (6'8", 230 lbs) to post up against defenders, and he’s athletic enough to get around them when he drives to the basket.

Not to mention the fact that opponents have to defend him out to the three-point line, where he’s shooting 38 percent.

The Cyclones will be facing No. 3 seed Oklahoma in their first game of the tournament. Niang scored 51 points over Iowa State’s first two games against the Sooners while going 5-of-9 from three-point range.

He will need to produce against the Sooners once again. Oklahoma is the No. 6 team in the country and has the only player who could keep Niang out of the top spot on this list.

1. Buddy Hield

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Buddy Hield is the Big 12 Player of the Year and a contender for national player of the year for a reason. He’s second in the nation in scoring and first in the Big 12, putting up 25.1 points a game.

The most impressive part of Hield’s game is his efficiency. The senior is shooting more than 49 percent from the field and more than 47 percent from three-point range.

He’s managed to do that while shooting 8.7 three-pointers per game—more than anyone else in the Big 12.

His teammate Jordan Woodard is second in the Big 12 in three-point percentage (.441). Hield has taken 119 more three-pointers than Woodard, and he’s still making them at a significantly higher rate.

Hield has the ability to take over a game with his shooting. If Oklahoma gets into a high-scoring game during the tournament—a likely possibility since the Sooners give up more than 70 points per game—Hield can tip a game in his team’s favor.

That’s what makes him the most exciting player in the Big 12 and the player everyone should be watching during the Big 12 tournament.