BIG 12 CONFERENCE
Kansas’ Melvin Council Jr. was voted as Big 12 Player of the Week and Newcomer of the Week by a panel of media who cover the league. He is joined on the Big 12 Starting Five by Arizona’s Brayden Burries, BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Texas Tech’s JT Toppin and West Virginia’s Honor Huff.
Council scored a career-high 36 points while making nine 3-pointers, the most for a Big 12 player in a single-game since the 2022-23 season. The senior transfer from St. Bonaventure scored the Jayhawks’ final 13 points in regulation, and 18 of the team’s final 25 points, in the 77-76 overtime win at North Carolina State.
The guard from Rochester, New Jersey added seven rebounds, four assists and a steal in the game, while not committing a turnover in the contest. These are his first career Big 12 weekly awards and the first time this season for a Jayhawk to be named Big 12 Player or Newcomer of the Week.
Burries maintained Arizona’s No. 1 national ranking with 28 points and seven rebounds in the 96-75 rout of No. 12 Alabama in Birmingham. Dybantsa’s week was highlighted by a 28-point showing at Madison Square Garden in a thrilling 67-64 win over Clemson. Toppin had 30 points and 11 rebounds against No. 17 Arkansas in the American Airlines Center, while Huff scored 24 points in each of the Mountaineers’ games this week.
Big 12 Player of the Week
- Nov. 10 – Koa Peat, Arizona & Christian Anderson, Texas Tech
- Nov. 17 – Kingston Flemings, Houston
- Nov. 24 – P.J. Haggerty, K-State
- Dec. 1 – Joshua Jefferson, Iowa State
- Dec. 8 – Milan Momcilovic, Iowa State
- Dec. 15 – Melvin Council Jr., Kansas
Big 12 Newcomer of the Week
- Nov. 10 – Koa Peat, Arizona
- Nov. 17 – Kingston Flemings, Houston
- Nov. 24 – Koa Peat, Arizona
- Dec. 1 – Moe Odum, Arizona State
- Dec. 8 – Tounde Yessoufou, Baylor
- Dec. 15 – Melvin Council Jr., Kansas
Big 12 Starting Five:
- Brayden Burries, Arizona
- AJ Dybantsa, BYU
- Melvin Council Jr., Kansas (player and newcomer)
- JT Toppin, Texas Tech
- Honor Huff, West Virginia