Mason and Jackson named to USBWA midseason watch lists

ST. LOUIS – Kansas men’s basketball players Frank Mason III and Josh Jackson have been named to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) midseason watch lists, the USBWA announced Monday. Mason is one of 19 named on the Oscar Robertson Trophy (National Player of the Year) watch list, while Jackson is one of 12 on the Wayman Tisdale Award (National Freshman Player of the Year) watch list.

A two-time Big 12 Player of the Week in 2016-17, Mason is having a national player of the year season. The 5-foot-11, St. Petersburg, Virginia, senior guard leads the conference in scoring with a 20.1 points per game average and his 20.9 points per contest in league play are also tops in the Big 12. Mason has 10 games of 20 points or more and has led Kansas in scoring in 15 of 19 games this season. Mason leads the Big 12 in 3-point field goal percentage at 53.7 percent. He is fourth in 3-pointers made at 2.3 per game.

Jackson has been named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week a KU record-tying four times in 2016-17. The 6-foot-8 Detroit guard’s 15.1 scoring average is eighth in the Big 12 and first among conference freshmen. Jackson is ninth in the Big 12 in rebounds at 6.7 boards per contest. He has earned Big 12 Player of the Week once and is one of three players in KU history to be named both player and newcomer in the same season. Jackson leads KU with 26 blocked shots and he is tied for first on the team with 32 steals.

Balloting for the USBWA’s All-America Team, All-District Teams and the association’s individual awards will take place in March. The Oscar Robertson Trophy will be presented at a news conference on Friday, March 31, at the Final Four in Phoenix. The Henry Iba Coach of the Year will be presented at the association’s awards breakfast the following Monday. The presentation of the Wayman Tisdale Award is to be announced.

No. 2/1 Kansas (18-1, 7-0) plays at No. 18/18 West Virginia (15-4, 4-3) on Tuesday, Jan. 24, at 6 p.m. (Central). The game will be televised on ESPN.

2016-17 USBWA MEN’S MIDSEASON WATCH LISTS

Oscar Robertson Trophy (Men’s National Player of the Year)
Dwayne Bacon, Florida State
Lonzo Ball, UCLA
Joel Berry II, North Carolina
De’Aaron Fox, Kentucky
Markelle Fultz, Washington
Ethan Happ, Wisconsin
Josh Hart, Villanova
Marcus Keene, Central Michigan
Luke Kennard, Duke
Jock Landale, Saint Mary’s
TJ Leaf, UCLA
Lauri Markkanen, Arizona
Kelan Martin, Butler
Frank Mason III, Kansas
Malik Monk, Kentucky
Johnathan Motley, Baylor
Alec Peters, Valparaiso
Caleb Swanigan, Purdue
Nigel Williams-Goss, Gonzaga

Wayman Tisdale Award (Men’s National Freshman Player of the Year)
Lonzo Ball, UCLA
De’Aaron Fox, Kentucky
Markelle Fultz, Washington
Jonathan Isaac, Florida State
Josh Jackson, Kansas
TJ Leaf, UCLA
Lauri Markkanen, Arizona
Malik Monk, Kentucky
Justin Patton, Creighton
Shamorie Ponds, St. John’s
Dennis Smith, North Carolina State
Jayson Tatum, Duke

KUAthletics.com: The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund contributions, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos and much, much more.