AP men’s player of the week: JT Toppin puts up big numbers in wins for No. 9 Texas Tech

By Canadian Press on February 18, 2025.

The Associated Press national player of the week in men’s college basketball for Week 15 of the season:

JT Toppin, Texas Tech

The 6-foot-9 sophomore and Big 12 player of the week rolled through wins against Arizona State and Oklahoma State.

First came a 41-point performance in double overtime against the Sun Devils for last week’s highest Division I output. He also had 15 rebounds, two blocks and three steals in 44 minutes. Toppin made 17 of 22 shots against Arizona State.

He followed by going for 32 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks and two assists while playing just 25 minutes in a road blowout of the Cowboys. He made 12 of 17 shots in that game, pushing him to 29 of 39 (.744) for the two games for the now-No. 9 Red Raiders.

Runner-up

Cooper Flagg, Duke; and Tre Johnson, Texas (tie).

Flagg has become a fixture on this list, twice as the AP’s top player to join Auburn’s Johni Broome (three) and Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner (two) as the only multi-time winners this year. The 6-9 freshman had 27 points and five rebounds in a home win against California, then had 19 points, five rebounds and six assists against Stanford.

That made Flagg the Atlantic Coast Conference rookie of the week for the 10th time, tying a record held by Georgia Tech’s Kenny Anderson (1990), North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough (2006) and Duke’s Jabari Parker (2014).

Johnson, a 6-6 freshman, shared the runner-up spot after putting up big numbers against then-No. 2 Alabama and then No. 15 Kentucky to be named the Southeastern Conference’s freshman of the week.

Johnson had 24 points in the loss to the Crimson Tide, then followed with season highs of 32 points and nine rebounds to lead the Longhorns past the Wildcats.

Honorable mention

Denver Jones, Auburn; John Tonje, Wisconsin.

Keep an eye on

Yaxel Lendeborg, UAB. The 6-9 senior is averaging 17.9 points, 10.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists, while ranking among the national leaders in rebounding (sixth) and double-doubles (fourth as of Tuesday with 17).

Lendeborg is coming off a week when he had 22 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks in a loss at East Carolina; then had 21 points, 19 rebounds and six blocks in a win against South Florida. The 19 boards were the most by any Division I player last week, marking his seventh straight double-double.

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The Associated Press

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