KU’s Tharpe, Embiid win Big 12 weekly awards

It was a clean sweep for Kansas in the weekly Big 12 awards.

Junior point guard Naadir Tharpe was selected Big 12 player of the week for the first time in his career, while freshman center Joel Embiid was honored as the newcomer of the week for the second time this season.

Tharpe led the Jayhawks to consecutive victories over top-10 teams, averaging 22 points, five assists and four rebounds while making 82.4 percent (14 of 17) of his shots from the field. The week included a career-high 23 points at Iowa State on seven-of-nine shooting and 21 points in a victory against Oklahoma State on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse. Tharpe was six of eight from three-point range in the two games and is now shooting 43 percent from three-point range for the year.

Embiid, meanwhile, continued his rise by averaging 14.5 points and 10 rebounds in the two games. He had 16 points, nine rebounds and five blocks against Iowa State at Hilton Coliseum before adding 13 points, 11 rebounds and eight blocks against Oklahoma State.

He added a little history against the Cowboys, becoming the first freshman in Big 12 history to have 10 or more points, 10 or more rebounds and eight blocked shots in a game.

It was the second straight newcomer-of-the-week award for KU’s freshmen class. Freshman guard Wayne Selden won the award last week, while Andrew Wiggins has also pocketed the honor. Kansas returns to the floor against Baylor on Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

This story was originally published January 20, 2014 at 11:16 AM with the headline "KU’s Tharpe, Embiid win Big 12 weekly awards."