Buffs' Scott Still Among Abdul-Jabbar Award Leaders

BOULDER — Colorado's Josh Scott continues to put up numbers that should see him advance to the semifinal round for the national Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award.

The initial watch list for the award, given to the nation's best big man, will be narrowed down from the original 20 to 10 sometime in next two weeks. In March, the award committee will then select five finalists to present to Abdul-Jabbar and the Naismith Hall of Fame selection committee, and the winner will be announced on April 8 at the ESPN College Basketball Awards ceremony.

Scott, averaging 17.3 points and 9.7 rebounds for the season, is currently the second-leading scorer on the watch list and fifth-leading rebounder. Only Weber State's Joel Polomboy (17.9 ppg) has a better scoring average while the rebounders ahead of Scott are Evansville's Egidijus Mockevicius (14.1 rpg), Polomboy (13.3 rpg), Washington State's Josh Hawkinson (10.9 rpg) and Notre Dame's Zach Auguste (10.1 rpg).

Meanwhile, Utah's Jakob Poeltl is just behind Scott in both categories, averaging 17.0 points and 9.0 rebounds.

Scott has faced off with three of the candidates this season. Against Utah, Scott outscored Poelt, 10-6, while the Utes' big man had a narrow 11-10 edge in rebounding.

Against Washington State, Scott had 11 points and eight rebounds while Hawkinson finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

And, in the season opener, he outscored (11-8) and outrebounded (11-8) Iowa State's Jameel McKay.

Scott has definitely left an impression with opposing Pac-12 coaches. Wednesday night, after a 91-75 CU win over Stanford, Cardinal coach Johnny Dawkins one of the best players in the country.

“You have to stop him,” Dawkins said. “He is one of the best players, not just in the Pac-12, but in the country. He's gotten even better on the perimeter and putting the ball on the floor. You have to have an emphasis on trying to slow him down.”

After Scott scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in a 91-87 win over Oregon, Ducks coach Dana Altman said, “He's a good player. He does a good job. He's strong and makes plays."

Cal's Cuonzo Martin, meanwhile, has called Scott a “tremendous player.”

“He makes shots, he makes passes, scores the basketball, runs the floor in transition and he's got a tremendous level of intelligence,” Martin said. “He's just a tremendous player.”

Martin and the Golden Bears will visit the Coors Events Center on Sunday for a 3 p.m. matchup with the Buffs. In their first meeting this year, the Buffs dropped a 79-65 defeat in Berkeley in the Pac-12 opener for both teams.

ABDUL-JABBAR WATCH LIST

Player Pts Reb Blk

Joel Bolomboy, Weber State 17.9 13.3 1.1

Josh Scott, Colorado 17.3 9.7 1.9

Jakob Poeltl, Utah 17.0 9.0 1.7

Egidijus Mockevicius, Evansville 16.7 14.1 2.7

Josh Hawkinson, Washington St. 16.4 10.9 1.3

Zach Auguste, Notre Dame 13.6 10.1 0.9

AJ Hammons, Purdue 13.5 7.8 2.5

Devin Williams, West Virginia 13.1 8.2 0.3

Diamond Stone, Maryland 13.0 5.4 1.3

Jameel McKay, Iowa State 12.9 9.1 1.6