The MVP of the Kansas Jayhawks’ men’s basketball team through 10 games is ....?
After answering numerous questions about the cancellation of the Kansas-Colorado men’s basketball game and COVID issues in sports in general, Bill Self on Tuesday night good-naturedly fielded a few inquiries about the overall state of his No. 7-ranked KU team heading into a four-day Christmas break.
“Who is the team’s MVP through 10 games?” Self, coach of the 9-1 Jayhawks was asked in the lobby of the St. Julien Hotel in downtown Boulder, Colorado.
“We just voted on that,” a sarcastic Self joked, then after a pause, added, “I would say Ochai would probably be our best player to date, C.B. probably coming in second right now.”
Ochai, of course, is 6-foot-5 senior guard Ochai Agbaji. C.B. is 6-7 junior guard Christian Braun.
Agbaji, a graduate of Oak Park High School, leads the Big 12 in scoring at 22.0 points per game, a mark that ranks third nationally behind Iowa’s Keegan Murray (23.2 ppg) and Detroit Mercy’s Antoine Davis (22.2 ppg).
Agbaji also leads the Big 12 in three-point field goals made per game (3.1 which is 36th nationally) and three-point field goal percentage (.484, 13th nationally). Agbaji has scored 20 or more points in seven of 10 games.
Braun, a graduate of Blue Valley Northwest High School, is fifth in the Big 12 in scoring at 16.8 points per contest. West Virginia’s Taz Sherman is second behind Agbaji at 20.9 ppg; Iowa State’s Izaiah Brockington is tied for third with TCU’s Mike Miles at 16.9 ppg.
Braun has scored 85 points in KU’s last four games which is a 21.3 average. He has grabbed 6.7 rebounds per game, which ranks fifth in the conference. Baylor’s Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua is first at 8.5 rpg followed by Brockington (8.4), Kansas State’s Mark Smith (7.9), TCU’s Emanuel Miller (6.8) and Braun.
“Ochai is playing great,” Braun said recently. “I’m really happy to see him confident playing his game. I saw how hard he worked in the summer. We spent a couple weeks working out together. It’s good to see what he worked on pay off. What Ochai is doing is opening up the floor for everybody. Nobody is shocked at what he’s doing. That’s who Ochai is now,” Braun added.
Braun continued to gush about Agbaji: “He’s playing really well. I’m feeding off him. At this point, that’s Ochai. We don’t need to be surprised any more on any little run he’s on. Everyone’s proud of him. I’m glad to see him do it.”
Agbaji likes what he’s seen out of Braun in nonconference play.
“All the work he put in the offseason, too, I saw it,” Agbaji said. “We’re trusting it (the work put in), going off each other’s confidence. I think we’re a hard guard for other teams,” Agbaji noted. “Having one guy get 20 and another get 23 (against UTEP in which Agbaji had 23 points and Braun 20) ... everybody in the starting five has the ability to score. I trust everybody on the team,” Agbaji added.
Braun has made 62.6% of his shots this season (ranking 17th nationally) including 34.5% from beyond the arc. Agbaji’s overall shooting percentage is 56.1 (54th nationally).
“He has been terrific all year. What you see is what you get. He’s like that every day. In practice he’s the same way. He has energy, focus and determination,” KU assistant coach Norm Roberts said of Braun.
Roberts noted that, “Ochai has been very consistent shooting good shots. C.B. has been playing with great force on the glass and is attacking.”
Roberts continued about Agbaji: “He is very confident in what he is doing and we need him to be.”
The team’s third leading scorer behind Agbaji and Braun is senior guard Remy Martin at 10.9 points per game. David McCormack averages 8.5 ppg and Mitch Lightfoot is fifth on the squad in scoring at 5.5. As a team, KU averages 85.8 points per contest and allows 67.5.
“My take is we are not where we need to be defensively,” assistant coach Kurtis Townsend said on Wednesday’s weekly Hawk Talk radio show. “Offensively we are fifth in the country in points scored and we have one of the highest points per possession in the country.”
KU in fact is tied with Purdue for fifth nationally in points per game. Arizona has averaged 89.5 points, followed by Cornell (88.1), Iowa (87.6) and South Dakota State (87.1). KU is third nationally (behind Purdue and Iowa) in offensive efficiency (1.2 points per possession).
“I think our offense is really good. I think our defense is a little behind,” Townsend added.
KU will next meet Harvard at 7 p.m Wednesday in Allen Fieldhouse. After that KU will play TCU in the Big 12 opener for both teams at 4 p.m. Jan. 1 at Allen.
This story was originally published December 26, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "The MVP of the Kansas Jayhawks’ men’s basketball team through 10 games is ....?."
