The Associated Press national player of the week in men’s college basketball for Week 6 of the season:
Melvin Council Jr., No. 17 Kansas
The 6-foot-4 senior stepped up with a huge game that helped Kansas edge N.C. State in overtime on the road, posting career highs of 36 points and nine 3-pointers in the 77-76 win.
Council was averaging 10.7 points but had missed his first 10 3-pointers of the season and entered Saturday’s game having made just 5 of 27 3-pointers. Council took advantage of the Wolfpack’s sagging-in defense to build a confident rhythm that would ultimately carry through a tight finish, with Hall of Fame coach Bill Self saying Council “put us on his back tonight.”
Council had matched his career high by making four 3s in the first 15 minutes, and scored the last 13 points of regulation for Kansas, whose freshman star and top NBA prospect Darryn Peterson checked out late in regulation due to lingering hamstring troubles. He finished 13 of 27 from the field and 9 of 15 from behind the arc.
Runner-up
Brayden Burries, No. 1 Arizona. The 6-4 freshman had season highs of 28 points and seven rebounds in the Wildcats’ weekend road win against then-No. 12 Alabama. Alabama led 41-39 at halftime, but Burries led the charge back with 20 of his points coming in a 14-minute second-half flurry. By game’s end, Burries had made 11 of 19 shots and 5 of 10 3-pointers as Arizona won by 21.
Honorable mention
AJ Dybantsa, No. 10 BYU; Pryce Sandfort, No. 15 Nebraska; Lamar Wilkerson, Indiana.
Keep an eye on
Dennis Parker Jr., Radford. The 6-6 junior guard has blossomed as a scorer since transferring from N.C. State. That includes him scoring 53 points — the highest in Division I by any player all year — in Sunday’s win against Coppin State.
Parker made 19 of 24 shots and 10 of 14 3-pointers to go with eight rebounds in 33 minutes. His scoring output was a school and Big South Conference single-game record, and was nine points more than any other D-I player has managed this season entering the week. Parker is averaging 19.0 points and shooting 49.7% for the Highlanders.
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