CHN Player of the Week: Malcolm Delaney

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The last full week of January always means two things: the NFL gets pushed to the back-burner for the first time in over five months and, more importantly, college basketball is about to enter its stretch run. The pretenders and contenders are starting to separate themselves, and conference play is really heating up. This week was arguably the most significant week of the season thus far, as favorites in several conferences began to assert themselves, and the No. 1 team in the country lost yet again. With all the excitement and outstanding games, there was an abundance of standout individuals.

 

Of course, Blake Griffin of Oklahoma furthered his case for Player of the Year with 47 points and 35 rebounds in two games, while Stephen Curry of Davidson tried to keep case by averaging 31.5 points and six assists in his two games. Duke’s Gerald Henderson helped lead the Blue Devils to the top spot in the rankings by averaging 19 points, 7.5 rebounds, four assists and 3.5 steals per game in two games. Jeff Adrien of Connecticut played a major role in the Huskies’ stopping Notre Dame’s 45-game home-court winning streak, not to mention beating Villanova, by averaging 12 points and 16.5 rebounds. West Virginia’s Da’Sean Butler averaged 24 points and seven rebounds as the Mountaineers won at Georgetown but lost to Pittsburgh. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Iowa State’s Craig Brackins, who dropped 42 points and 14 rebounds in a losing effort against Kansas. Don’t forget Oregon State’s Roland Schaftenaar, who averaged 20 points per game in the Beavers’ historic week. However, the best week belonged to Malcolm Delaney of Virginia Tech.

 

The Hokies started off the season slow, going 5-4 in their first nine games, including losses to Seton Hall and Georgia. The four losses were by a total of eight points. Since then, though, Virginia Tech has rattled off nine wins in its last ten games, capped off by a phenomenal two-game stretch this week, led by Delaney. The Hokies went into Winston-Salem and knocked off top-ranked Wake Forest, then followed that up with a road win at Miami (Fl). Delaney was the catalyst, scoring 21 points and grabbing eight rebounds against Wake, and dropping 29 in the overtime win against the Hurricanes. The 6-3 sophomore guard averaged 25 points, six rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.5 steals overall for the week. He also helped rid the Hokies of their late-game woes, by knocking down 16 free-throws in the two games. On the season, he is averaging 16.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game.

 

Finalists:

- Blake Griffin, Oklahoma

- Roeland Schaftenaar, Oregon State

- Isaiah Thomas, Washington (41 points in wins over USC and UCLA)

  

CollegeHoops.net Player of the Week Archive

- Jan 25: Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech

- Jan 18: Jodie Meeks, Kentucky

- Jan 12: Jeff Teague, Wake Forest

- Jan 5: Tyrese Rice, Boston College

- Dec 29: Alex Ruoff, West Virginia

- Dec 22: AJ Price, UCONN

- Dec 15: Dionte Christmas, Temple

- Dec 8: Stephen Curry, Davidson

- Dec 1: Jonny Flynn, Syracuse

- Nov 24: Blake Griffin, Oklahoma