Baylor Basketball's Mason Named Big 12 Player of the Week
IRVING, Texas – Baylor senior guard Makai Mason was named the Big 12 Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, as voted on by a panel of media members and announced Monday by the conference office. The honor is his second consecutive Big 12 weekly award, as he was named Newcomer of the Week on Jan. 28.
The Greenfield, Mass., native led the Bears to a pair of dominating wins during the week. He helped BU roll to a 77-47 win at Oklahoma on Monday and a 90-64 win over TCU on Saturday. The win at OU was Baylor’s sixth-largest margin of victory in a Big 12 game and the win over TCU tied the 11th-largest margin of victory in a Big 12 game.
Mason broke the Baylor school record for points in a Big 12 game with 40 in Saturday’s win over TCU. It was the seventh 40-point game in program history and the first in conference play since 1985. He went 14-of-20 from the field, including 9-of-12 from 3-point range, and added a team-high four assists in 33 minutes, helping the Bears extend their winning streak to six consecutive games.
His nine made 3-pointers tied the Baylor record for 3-pointers in a conference game and tied for fourth-most by any player in a Big 12 Conference game in league history. Mason’s 40 points were seven more than any other Big 12 player has scored this season, and he also posted the most made field goals (14) and 3-pointers (9) by any Big 12 player this year.
Mason scored a game-high 12 points and added four assists in 29 minutes of Monday’s win at Oklahoma. He has scored in double-figures in 13 consecutive games and is averaging 18.0 points per game during the streak, and he’s made at least one 3-pointer in 15 consecutive games.
Mason leads the Big 12 with 20.1 points per game in conference play. He also leads the league with 3.4 made 3-pointers per game in league play, ranks fourth in 3-point percentage (.458), tied for ninth in assists (3.0), eighth in free throw percentage (.769), 10th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2) and 15th in minutes per game (32.9).
With this week’s Player of the Week recognition, Mason becomes the fifth player in program history to earn both Big 12 Newcomer and Player of the Week honors in the same season, joining Terry Black (2000), Ekpe Udoh (2010), Kenny Chery (2014) and Manu Lecomte (2017).
Mason is the third Baylor player to earn Big 12 Player of the Week this season, joining Tristan Clark (Dec. 30) and King McClure (Jan. 21). It’s the third time Baylor has had three different players named conference Player of the Week. Cory Jefferson, Isaiah Austin and Chery were recognized in 2014, and Rico Gathers, Taurean Prince and Jonathan Motley were honored in 2016. This marks the first time in league history Baylor has had a Big 12 weekly award winner in three consecutive weeks.
Baylor players have earned multiple Big 12 Player of the Week honors in eight consecutive seasons, and a BU player has been named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week at least once in 13 of the last 15 seasons.
BU has earned 31 Big 12 Player of the Week honors in the last 12 seasons, more than four-times as many as the seven such awards earned by Baylor players in the league’s first 11 years. All told, 22 different Baylor players have earned 38 total Big 12 Player of the Week awards during the league’s 23-year history.
Baylor has now won five consecutive Big 12 games, matching the program record for consecutive Big 12 wins in a single season. BU sits at 6-2 in Big 12 play, tied with Kansas State atop the conference standings. The Bears play at Texas at 7 p.m. CT Wednesday on LHN and host K-State at 5 p.m. CT Saturday on ESPN2. Ticket information is available at www.BaylorBears.com/1TGF.
2019 BIG 12 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Nov. 12 – Dedric Lawson, Kansas
Nov. 19 – Lagerald Vick, Kansas
Nov. 26 – Dedric Lawson, Kansas
Dec. 3 – Lagerald Vick, Kansas
Dec. 10 – Christian James, Oklahoma
Dec. 17 – Jarrett Culver, Texas Tech
Dec. 26 – Dedric Lawson, Kansas
Dec. 30 – Tristan Clark, Baylor
Jan. 7 – Marial Shayok, Iowa State
Jan. 14 – Barry Brown, Kansas State
Jan. 21 – King McClure, Baylor and Dean Wade, Kansas State
Jan. 28 – Kouat Noi, TCU
Feb. 4 – Makai Mason, Baylor
2019 BIG 12 NEWCOMERS OF THE WEEK
Nov. 12 – Quentin Grimes, Kansas
Nov. 19 – Talen Horton-Tucker, Iowa State and Jaxson Hayes, Texas
Nov. 26 – Jaxson Hayes, Texas
Dec. 3 – Dedric Lawson, Kansas
Dec. 10 – Tyrese Haliburton, Iowa State
Dec. 17 – Dedric Lawson, Kansas
Dec. 26 – Miles Reynolds, Oklahoma and Curtis Jones, Oklahoma State
Dec. 30 – Devon Dotson, Kansas
Jan. 7 – Tyrese Haliburton, Iowa State
Jan. 14 – Dedric Lawson, Kansas
Jan. 21 – Marial Shayok, Iowa State
Jan. 28 – Makai Mason, Baylor and Dedric Lawson, Kansas
Feb. 4 – Ochai Agbaji, Kansas
BAYLOR BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOREES
1997 – Patrick Hunter (2/17)
1998 – Patrick Hunter (1/4)
1998 – Brian Skinner (1/11)
1999 – Kish Lewis (11/24)
2000 – Terry Black (1/3)
2001 – Terry Black (2/19)
2003 – Lawrence Roberts (2/17)
2008 – Curtis Jerrells (11/19)
2008 – Kevin Rogers (12/24)
2008 – Curtis Jerrells (1/28)
2008 – Kevin Rogers (3/3)
2010 – LaceDarius Dunn (11/16)
2010 – LaceDarius Dunn (1/4)
2010 – Ekpe Udoh (1/11)
2010 – LaceDarius Dunn (2/15)
2012 – Perry Jones III (12/19)
2012 – Perry Jones III (1/16)
2013 – Cory Jefferson (11/12)
2013 – Pierre Jackson (1/28)
2013 – Pierre Jackson (3/10)
2014 – Cory Jefferson (12/2)
2014 – Isaiah Austin (2/17)
2014 – Cory Jefferson (2/24)
2014 – Kenny Chery (3/9)
2015 – Rico Gathers (1/26)
2015 – Rico Gathers (2/9)
2016 – Rico Gathers (11/16)
2016 – Taurean Prince (12/7)
2016 – Johnathan Motley (2/22)
2017 – Johnathan Motley (11/28)
2017 – Manu Lecomte (12/5)
2017 – Johnathan Motley (1/9)
2017 – Johnathan Motley (1/23)
2018 – Manu Lecomte (2/12)
2018 – Terry Maston (2/19)
2019 – Tristan Clark (12/31)
2019 – King McClure (1/21)
2019 – Makai Mason (2/4)