Jaysean Paige earns Big 12 honor
He wears No. 5, but for now, Jaysean Paige is set with the number two.
That’s how many times this season the West Virginia guard has earned a Big 12 Player of the Week honor.
After the Mountaineers earned a pair of conference wins in the past week, Paige earned the award for his offensive power. Paige, the first man off the bench for much of the season, continued his patented play in the pair of WVU basketball victories.
In the come-from-behind win at Iowa State on Tuesday, Paige scored a game-high 23 points in just 23 minutes of play. He was plagued with foul trouble in the first half, but managed to come out in the final 20 minutes and do what he needed, and is expected to do, for his team.
Paige’s 3-pointer at the top of the key at the 1:07 mark of the second half gave the Mountaineers a 75-74 lead. It was an advantage they would not relinquish as WVU took an 81-76 decision.
"“A lot of teams don’t think we can shoot the ball, and percentage-wise we haven’t been,” Paige said. “So those shots are going to be open.”"
He continued that trend in WVU’s second win of the week, an 80-69 win at home against Baylor.
Paige tallied 17 points and shot above 50-percent from the field and behind the three-point-arc. The Mountaineers shot 50-percent from the foul line, a considerable improvement from what they were shooting at the start of Big 12 play, and Paige converted all four his his attempts from the charity stripe.
He ranks fourth in the Big 12 for conference games with 17.6 points per contest.
Paige is surely comfortable in his role. He sparks the offense when needed and runs it the way head coach Bob Huggins intends it to. Also, it seems like his play has improved the players around him, specifically point guard Jevon Carter. Just a sophomore, it has taken Carter a while to become adapted to the starting point guard role.
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This far into the season, Carter is surely comfortable. And, the Mountaineers are playing confident.
With Paige keeping his play consistent, these Mountaineers can charge on through the rest of the season as confident as ever.