Aaron Gordon and the Arizona Wildcats roll against UNLV and Boise State; Jabari Parker and the Duke Blue Devils beat the Michigan Wolverines, Julius Randle and the Kentucky Wildcats get upset by 14th-ranked Baylor while Andrew Wiggins and the 13th-ranked Kansas Jayhawks struggle, going through a two-game losing streak.
Here is an update on some of the top college basketball's freshmen that has NBA teams wide-eyed towards the upcoming 2014 NBA Draft:
SF Jabari Parker - #8th-ranked Duke University
Parker dropped 15 points against the University of Michigan last Tuesday but did not shoot well going 7-for-14 from the field and 0-for-2 from the three-point line, shooting 2-of-12 in his last five games from behind the arc. Parker is averaging 22.1 points a game and 7.8 points rebounds but feels he does not have to score to help his team win.
"I personally don't want to score all the time and shoot all the shots," said Parker after the win over the Wolverines. "I just want to do what we've got to do to win. If it's there, take it, but if I know guys are closing in on me, somebody else is going to be open."
G Andrew Wiggins - #13th-ranked University of Kansas
Andrew Wiggins (averaging 16.4 points a game and 6.1 rebounds) bounced back, looking more assertive after struggling in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament dropping 22 points. shooting 7-of-11 from the field, with five rebounds in the Jayhawks 75-72 loss against the 21st-ranked University of Colorado, and scoring 26 points and 11 rebounds in the loss to the 19th ranked University of Florida Gators, his first career double-double.
"We've got to get everyone playing together," said Jayhawks head coach Bill Self about Kansas back-to-back loses. "I can't blame it all on youth. A lot of it may be youth, but I think we can still play better individually."
PF Julius Randle - #11th-ranked University of Kentucky
Randle, averaging a double-double for the season with 17.8 points per game and 12 rebounds a game, failed to get a double-double in the loss to Baylor University last Friday, but had a stellar game dropping 16 points, eight rebounds, and four assists in the 67-62 lose to the 14th-ranked Bears. Randle did manage notch his eighth double-double of the season against Boise State University on Tuesday, dropping 17 points and snagging 11 boards in the 70-55 win over the Broncos.
"We fixed a lot of things from (the game against Baylor)," said Randle to the Central Kentucky News. "We talked a lot better on the floor. We still had some breakdowns but we got better."
SF Aaron Gordon - #1 University of Arizona
Gordon, averaging 12 points and 9 boards a game, scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the 79-58 win over Texas Tech University last Tuesday but struggled in the Wildcats 63-58 victory against the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) on Saturday, going 2-for-10 from the field and dropping only four points.
Gordon played much better Tuesday night scoring 11 points, notching four rebounds and a block in the 74-48 victory over New Mexico State University, though Gordon struggled from the free throw line, going 1-6 against the Aggies, 5-18 in the last three games from the charity stripe.