Coming into Saturday’s matchup between Oklahoma State and Kansas, it was supposed to be about Andrew Wiggins versus Marcus Smart, the matchup between two players coming into the season that were projected top-five lottery picks in the upcoming NBA draft.
Instead, the day belonged to the seven-footer who is quickly shooting up mock drafts – Camaroonian freshman Joel Embiid.
The Jayhawks centre shot 5-for-6 from the field and finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high eight blocks in the Jayhawks’ 80-78 win over the Cowboys.
At the moment, most mock drafts have Embiid locked in as a top -3 pick, eclipsing Smart and Kentucky’s Julius Randle. After this game, however, don’t be surprised to see him as the No. 1 prospect, over his Canadian teammate Wiggins.
With the national spotlight shining bright on the Thornhill native, Wiggins failed to deliver, scoring just three points on a pedestrian one-for-five shooting. So poor was Wiggins’s performance that Kansas coach Bill Self was forced to bench the freshman for most of the second half, despite multiple spirited runs from the Cowboys that brought them within single digits after being down as much as 19 in the first half.
This game could seriously bump Wiggins down draft boards as his passive nature caught up to his scoring output in a big way and was magnified with how dominant Embiid was in the tight contest.
Smart’s performance also highlighted Wiggins’s shortcomings despite a dreadful shooting night of his own.
The reigning Big 12 player of the year shot just three-for-14 from the floor but still finished with 16 points because he was a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe. The super sophomore also came within an assist shy of a triple-double with his 10 rebounds and nine dimes. The three buckets he did convert also all came down the stretch with the game within reach, so he was able to impact the game in other ways despite struggling with his shot.
Wiggins should be happy his team managed to squeak out such an important win but given his individual performance he can’t be totally content with the outcome.
That game was like a microcosm of how everyone expected KU’s season to go, a star freshman who’s native land isn’t the United States leading the Jayhawks to victory. The exception being that star freshman isn’t the one who hails from Canada.
