Kemba Walker 2011 vs. Danny Manning 1988
By Jason McIntyre
Kemba Walker NCAA tournament average: 26.7
Big East Tournament (when Walker really started to take over)
vs. DePaul: 8-15, 26 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists
vs. Georgetown: 10-18, 28 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
vs. Pittsburgh 8-22, 24 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists
vs. Syracuse 9-18, 33 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists
vs. Louisville 6-14, 19 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists
NCAA Tournament
vs. Bucknell 5-11, 18 points, 8 rebounds, 12 assists
vs. Cincinnati 8-20, 33 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists
vs. San Diego St. 12-25, 36 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists
vs. Arizona 7-17, 20 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists
Danny Manning NCAA tournament average: 27.1 ppg
vs. Xavier 8-14, 24 points [Sidenote: Leading up to the game, future NBA player Derek Strong said, “I’m guarding Manning. No problem.”]
vs. Murray State 10-19, 25 points [Sidenote: Larry Brown praised Manning’s late game clutch-ness while taking a shot at Dick Vitale: “For the Vitale’s of the world…I hope he gets to see that last minute.”]
vs. Vanderbilt 16-29, 38 points, 5 rebounds [Sidenote: He scored 25 points in the first half.]
vs Kansas State 10-18, 20 points [Sidenote: K-State had beaten Kansas in the Big 12 tournament semifinals.]
vs Duke 12-21, 25 points, 10 rebounds, 6 blocks [Sidenote: Blue Devils beat the Jayhawks in the regular season. The Duke team featured Danny Ferry, Phil Henderson, and Quin Snyder.]
vs Oklahoma, 13-24, 31 points, 18 rebounds, 5 steals [Sidenote: Sooners beat the Jayhawks twice in the regular season. Oklahoma had three future pros in the starting lineup: Harvey Grant, Mookie Blaylock, Stacey King.]
Runner-up one-man shows: Glen Rice, 1989. Problem is, Rice and Rumeal Robinson were really a two-man show, but the team had three guys who got some run in the NBA – Sean Higgins, Terry Mills and Loy Vaught.
[H/T to @dcpgsports for the Kansas recaps]