For those that keep questioning that SK doesn't play big in big games, I've already pointed it out once before but I'll do it again in the hopes that it sinks in this time. It's a completely ridiculous argument.
First of all, he has been in a crazy bad shooting slump and at least last night, I think he let it affect his play. However, he still had 13 points on 6-6 shooting. Against Nebraska (an important game) he was 17-18 at the FT line. How is that not stepping up? That is clutch right there. Getting to the line when the shot isn't falling - isn't that what we've all been asking for?
He wasn't very good against Xavier but still managed 17 points. Had 19 against NM where he went 8-8 from the line. You could argue that NCST was big game and he scored 21 points and went 8-8 at the line and 3-6 from 3's.
You want to go even farther back? How about the UConn game where he was absolutely clutch hitting the game winner from 3? How about when he scored 36 against Marquette including the game tieing layup to force overtime and followed that up with scoring 21 against Syracuse? He scored 25 against Xavier last year.
Still don't think he steps up in big games?
Here is the bottom line with SK. A classier person has never put on the Bearcat uniform. He's never showed an ounce of cockiness. Never does any boasting, or in-your-facing after a basket, or staring someone down after a block or dunk. He just plays basketball. I would almost be willing to hang his jersey up next to the Big O and Kenyon based on that alone, regardless of the fact that he will be our 2nd highest scorer ever. I have immense respect for him.
As to his performance, I'm probably more in the group that feels he struggles shooting in big games. This year is a great example. In the 6 games against decent teams, he's shooting 23-78 for 29%. Against the patsies, he is 55-103 for 53%. His overall shooting persentage is about 43%.
His shooting percentage has steadily declineed since his freshman year.
Freshman Overall 43% 3-pt. 37%
Soph. Overall 42% 3-pt. 37%
Junior Overall 39% 3-pt. 30%
This year, his percentage is better, but again, it's inflated against the weak teams at this point. Last year was pretty bad for an experienced Junior. He's obviously drawing better defenders each year, but with Cash and Parker around him last year, they couldn't put all their focus on him.
The big difference this year, as others have pointed out, is that his ball skills have finally improved and he's much more effective driving to the basket and drawing fouls, plus he's getting more high percentage shots because of his ability to penetrate. Last year, we cringed when he tried to drive because he would frequently turn the ball over or travel. Last night, he traveled a couple times on drives. But, his improvement in that phase of the game if very noticeable and his free throw shooting is markedly better. He's definitely a more complete player now.
