How Flory Bidunga Compares To Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Candidates

Shortly after being named to the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award watch list, Kansas center Flory Bidunga backed up his nomination with a 23-point, 10-rebound effort in Monday's win over No. 1 Arizona.

He's one of 10 candidates up for the award, which is given to college basketball's best center. Recent winners of the award include Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner, Purdue's Zach Edey, Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe and Iowa's Luka Garza.

The watch list will be cut to five finalists in mid-March, and the winner will be announced ahead of the Final Four, with an exact timeline to be announced. Here's the full list of candidates, plus the case for and against each player.

Motiejus Krivas, Arizona

Stats: 11.1 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 2.0 bpg, 1.1 apg, 0.7 spg, 24.1 mpg, 59.9 FG%, 79.6 FT%

The case for Krivas: He's a big reason No. 1 Arizona was the last undefeated high-major team.

The case against Krivas: He has five games with six points or fewer.

Alex Condon, Florida

Stats: 13.3 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 1.5 bpg, 3.6 apg, 0.7 spg, 30.3 mpg, 51.4 FG%, 13.6 3pt FG% (6-for-44), 64.1 FT%

The case for Condon: He has one of the most versatile offensive games, leading the nominees with 3.6 assists.

The case against Condon: A few of his worst offensive games came in losses that contributed to Florida falling out of the top-25.

Flory Bidunga, Kansas

Stats: 14.9 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 2.9 bpg, 1.7 apg, 0.7 spg, 31.4 mpg, 68.6 FG%, 67.5 FT%

The case for Bidunga: He's the nation's second-leading shot blocker while ranking second among candidates in field goal percentage and fourth in scoring.

The case against Bidunga: He has a rather one-dimensional offensive skill set.

Aday Mara, Michigan

Stats: 11.4 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 2.9 bpg, 2.4 apg, 0.5 spg, 23.1 mpg, 63.7 FG%, 57.1 FT%

The case for Mara: Though he's tied with Bidunga in blocks per game, Mara is arguably more intimidating defensively and alters more shots at 7-foot-3.

The case against Mara: He's not relied on as heavily for great performances on a game-by-game basis due to Michigan's depth.

Rienk Mast, Nebraska

Stats: 14.8 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 0.3 bpg, 3.2 apg, 0.5 spg, 28.7 mpg, 46.1 FG%, 33.9 3pt FG% (40-for-118), 81.0 FT%

The case for Mast: Nebraska often runs its offense through Mast as a playmaking point center, differentiating himself from other candidates.

The case against Mast: He's not a shot blocker, and has the worst field goal percentage among nominees.

Henri Veesaar, North Carolina

Stats: 16.4 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 1.2 bpg, 2.0 apg, 0.6 spg, 31.0 mpg, 61.5 FG%, 44.8 3pt FG% (30-for-67), 62.1 FT%

The case for Veesaar: He has the best 3-point percentage and second-most 3-pointers made among candidates, providing more versatility than others.

The case against Veesaar: Some of his worst games came in losses to Miami, SMU, Cal and Michigan State.

Oscar Cluff, Purdue

Stats: 10.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 0.7 bpg, 1.6 apg, 0.3 spg, 23.5 mpg, 72.6 FG%, 68.7 FT%

The case for Cluff: He has the best field goal percentage among candidates.

The case against Cluff: He's the fourth-leading scorer on his own team and loses minutes to Trey Kaufman-Renn and Daniel Jacobsen.

Zuby Ejiofor, St. John's

Stats: 16.3 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 2.0 bpg, 3.5 apg, 1.3 spg, 30.0 mpg, 53.9 FG%, 33.3 3pt FG% (11-for-33), 70.2 FT%

The case for Ejiofor: He has arguably the best combination of inside and outside scoring and passing.

The case against Ejiofor: His shot-blocking numbers are inflated by a two-game stretch with 16 blocks against Ole Miss and Iona.

Tarris Reed Jr., UConn

Tarris Reed UConn Basketball — UConn Huskies forward Tarris Reed Jr. (5) goes to the basket against Seton Hall at Prudential Center. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Stats: 14.1 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 2.1 bpg, 2.3 apg, 1.1 spg, 26.1 mpg, 63.7 FG%, 56.2 FT%

The case for Reed: He leads the Big East in field goal percentage by nearly 10% over Ejiofor.

The case against Reed: He has the worst free throw percentage, has missed time due to injury and was outplayed by Ejiofor in their matchup.

Hannes Steinbach, Washington

Stats: 17.6 ppg, 11.4 rpg, 1.0 bpg, 1.5 apg, 1.0 spg, 33.7 mpg, 54.0 FG%, 35.9 3pt FG% (14-for-39), 75.8 FT%

The case for Steinbach: He's the leading scorer and leading rebounder on this list.

The case against Steinbach: His numbers are arguably inflated by playing the most minutes of anyone on this list. He also on the worst team among the 10 candidates.

Jack Ankony's pick

Let's start by narrowing it down to a top four of Bidunga, Veesaar, Ejiofor and Mara. As it stands, these are the only players I could see winning the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award –– each for different reasons.

Bidunga has perhaps the most dominant offensive game. Despite not being very versatile, he's almost impossible to stop when catching lobs, grabbing offensive rebounds and put-backs and the occasional post up. He's also the nation's second-leading shot blocker.

However, third in blocks per game nationally is Mara, who averages roughly nine fewer minutes per game. So on a per-possession basis, the 7-foot-3 Mara likely gets the nod defensively over the 6-foot-10 Bidunga. Mara is also on the nation's No. 2 team, while it took Kansas longer to hit its stride.

Veesaar is the best 3-point shooter of the bunch, and he's still a strong force inside on both ends of the floor. Ejiofor is the best passer, and of these four players, he's the only one who's the clear-cut best player on his team.

It may be recency bias, but for now, my pick would be Bidunga, who led Kansas to a win over No. 1 Arizona on Monday without Darryn Peterson. Veesaar, Ejiofor and Mara each make compelling cases and could wind up winning the award, with plenty of basketball still to be played.

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