Kansas Basketball: The Rise of Malik Newman
By Chris Taylor
Kansas Basketball is in the Sweet Sixteen once again, thanks largely to the recent play of Malik Newman. Kansas would be sitting at home without him.
Malik Newman has been a man amongst boys. His emergence has put Kansas Basketball back into the sweet sixteen, and makes the Jayhawks much more dangerous. The remaining distance that the Jayhawks have to go is dependant on Malik Newman’s play.
Newman was expected to be a force for the Jayhawks this season. A top rated recruit when he signed with Mississippi State, after a year of sitting out, it was finally his turn to shine. As the season grew old, the shine never showed. Rays of light appeared, just to disappear. Malik Newman looked to be a flash in the pan.
Then the month of March appeared.
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Previous to the month of March, Newman was a role player with spark. He started the season on a fine pace, his first six games he averaged 13.5 points per game. Then he scored only two points in a win against Syracuse. At Nebraska he scored zero points. Almost a month later he scored one point against TCU.
These games started to pile up for Newman, which kept his season scoring average down at 13.4 points a game. There was a stretch of games that coach Bill Self benched the starting Newman due to his inconsistent play.
There were games like the January ninth game against Iowa State where he scored 27 points and again with Baylor, when he scored 24 points. The problem was not knowing which Malik was going to show up from game to game.
Big 12 tournament
Kansas’ last regular season game was a large deficit loss to the Oklahoma State Cowboys. The first team to sweep Kansas since coach Self had arrived. Newman scored seven points. Low and behold the Jayhawks first tournament was against said Oklahoma State.
Malik Newman scored 16 of his 28 points in the final 9:42 of the game. 8 of those points came from the FT line where he finished 8-8 on the night. #KUBBALL
— Matt Scott (@KUTheShiver) March 18, 2018
Newman scored a season and career high 30 points in helping to defeat the Cowboys for the first time this season. He continued to score against Kansas State, adding 22 points. In the Big 12 Title game Newman scored 20 in a sweep of West Virginia. Newman was the unanimous decision for tournament MVP.
It wasn’t just the scoring that made Kansas fans take notice, although that is the sexy stat to look at. Newman put the Jayhawks on his back. He led the team to victories, he came up with the big shot when the Jayhawks needed it. Malik Newman turned into the guy Kansas was looking for. Devonte’ Graham was always the team leader, no doubts there. He has a good chance at being the player of the year. The Jayhawks needed Newman all year long, and when it came to crunch time, Newman has not disappointed.
https://twitter.com/wibwChrisLilly/status/975198981801299968
First weekend of the NCAA’s
Against Penn, the Big 12 Player of the Year led the Jayhawks. Graham didn’t need the help of Newman, who scored just ten points on 50% shooting. In the round of 32 game against Seton Hall, the Jayhawks needed Newman more than they had ever needed him before.
The game leaned on Newman’s performance. Without him the Jayhawks would be sitting at home watching from here on out. He single-handedly kept the Jayhawks in the lead as the Pirates inched closer and closer in the closing minutes. Each moment that the Pirates got within a bucket, Newman would make a play.
He came away with some vital steals, playing stingy defense throughout, but it was his hot hand that sent Kansas to the sweet sixteen. Newman scored 28 points to lead all Jayhawks on a day that Devonte’ Graham was absent from the scoring barrage.
If you told me Graham would go 1-7 with 5 turnovers and Delgado went for 24 and 23... I would think KU would have lost by double digits. #kubball
— Bryce Wood (@woodymlb4) March 18, 2018
The Jayhawks will continue to win games if Newman can stay hot. He doesn’t need to make every shot, he just needs to continue to make the important ones. When Kansas needs a pick me up, Newman has been there to oblige. If the combination of Svi Mykhailiuk, Graham, Newman, and Lagerald Vick can all score from the field, the Jayhawks will be unbeatable.
Next: Best seasons all-time for Kansas Basketball
The Jayhawks will be in every game as long as Malik Newman continues to stay confident. He has risen to stardom, and the fan base has taken notice.