Big 12 announces Player of the Week, Newcomer of the Week for basketball

After an exciting week of basketball, the Big 12 announced Monday that Texas guard Marcus Carr has been named the conference’s Player of the Week while Kansas State forward Keyontae Johnson claimed Newcomer of the Week.

Carr helped lead the Longhorns to a pair of victories over Rice and Stanford to improve their record to 9-1. The senior’s best game of the week came in an 87-81 overtime win this past Monday against the Owls, as he posted a season-high 28 points on 9-of-16 shooting. He followed that up with a 17-point performance against the Cardinal in addition to five assists in a 72-62 win.

Carr’s performance against Rice came on the same day that Longhorns coach Chris Beard was suspended indefinitely following an arrest for assault. Given what the program is going through at the moment, his stellar play this week carries a bit of extra meaning.

As for Johnson, this marks the second time this season that the Florida transfer has earned Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors. He had his best all-around game of the season in a 71-56 win against Nebraska, recording 23 points, 11 rebounds and a season-high four steals. Johnson has scored in double figures in all 11 of the Wildcats’ games this season and leads the team with 17.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.

College hoops fans may be familiar with Johnson from his inspiring return to college basketball after collapsing on the court due to a medical emergency in 2020. He missed all but four games in 2020-21 and all but one game in the 2021-22 season, when the Gators honored him with a final start on Senior Day.

Carr and Johnson will both hope to carry their solid play over into this week, which is the last week before the Big 12 is set to open up conference play. Both Texas and K-State are scheduled to play next on Wednesday, with the Longhorns facing Louisiana and the Wildcats taking on Radford.