Four Wildcats Added To Mid-Season Award Watch Lists

Four Wildcats were selected to various United States Basketball Writers Association Midseason Watch Lists, it was announced by the association Friday. Junior Willie Cauley-Stein was tabbed to the Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason List for the nation’s top player. 

Freshmen Devin Booker, Karl-Anthony Towns and Tyler Ulis were selected to the midseason lists for the Wayman Tisdale Award, which honors the nation’s top freshman.

Cauley-Stein leads the Wildcats in rebounding with 6.9 per game while swiping a team-high 30 steals. The junior from Olathe, Kan., is averaging 9.4 points per game and shooting a squad-best 57.3 percent from the floor.

Booker is leading the Cats with 34 made 3-pointers on the season. He’s shooting 50 percent from behind the arc for the season while averaging 10.4 points per game – the most of any freshman on the team.

Towns has logged two double-doubles on the season. He is averaging 8.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game while registering a team-high 46 blocks on the year. His seven blocks in a win over Vanderbilt marked the most by a UK player this season.

Ulis was named the Wayman Tisdale Freshman of the Week following a breakout performance in a road victory over Louisville. The Lima, Ohio, native is logging 5.6 points and 3.6 assists per game while leading the Southeastern Conference with a 3.6 assist-to-turnover ratio.

The awards will be presented at the Devon Energy College Basketball Awards on April 14 at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

While these standout players are the leading contenders to be named to the USBWA's All-America Team and as finalists for the Oscar Robertson Trophy and Wayman Tisdale Award, all Division I players remain eligible for postseason honors from the USBWA. The association will announce its 2015 All-America Team in mid-March. At that time, finalists will also be chosen for the player of the year. Once finalists are announced, the entire USBWA membership will vote for the winner of the Oscar Robertson Trophy.