The Big 12 Conference’s all-time scoring king is in town tonight.
He’s Bernard King, Texas A&M’s smooth 6-foot-5, 195-pound senior shooting guard, who leads runner-up Nick Collison of Kansas, 1,926 career points to 1,882, entering a 6:30 p.m. battle at Allen Fieldhouse.
“Bernard is a fine player. He is doing a great, great job for them,” KU coach Roy Williams said of the Gibsland, La., native, who, like KU power forward Collison, recently passed former Big 12 scoring leader Marcus Fizer — who scored 1,830 points during a three-year career at Iowa State.
“It seems like he’s been at A&M as long as they’ve been in the league.”
Around as long as KU’s Collison and Kirk Hinrich, King is 0-3 against Kansas.
Accused of being a somewhat selfish player during 9-22, 10-20 and 8-20 seasons, King has made 16 of 52 shots (.308) versus the Jayhawks.
Last year he canned eight of 19 shots and scored 22 points in the Aggies’ 86-74 loss to the Jayhawks in College Station, Texas.
King tallied 18 points off 5-of-18 shooting in a 100-70 blowout loss his sophomore season at Allen Fieldhouse.
Three seasons ago, he scored eight points off 1-of-10 three-point shooting and 3-of-15 overall marksmanship in A&M’s 78-57 loss to KU at brand new Reed Arena in College Station.
This year, King has become more of a complete player. He averages 18.0 points, 4.3 boards and 5.4 assists a game for the improved Aggies, 13-10 overall and 5-7 in the conference.
“There have been times when I’ve heard I’m too selfish,” King told the Dallas Morning News. “I’m the most unselfish person out there. I would pass up a shot any day to get it to another player.”
He’s proven that by averaging 5.3 assists per game in Big 12 games, third-best mark in the league.
For the first time in his career, King — who was named honorable mention Big 12 by the coaches and media his sophomore and junior seasons after earning third-team honors as a freshman — is being touted for first-team all-league honors.
“Bernard has been our everything-type player,” fifth-year A&M coach Melvin Watkins said.
| When: 6:30 tonight.Where: Allen Fieldhouse.Television: Jayhawk Network (channels 13, 38); tape delay at 10:30 tonight on Sunflower Broadband Channel 6.Records: No. 7 Jayhawks (20-6 overall, 10-2 Big 12 Conference) vs. Aggies (13-10, 5-7).Line: KU by 21. |
It wasn’t always that way. Last offseason, Watkins told King he needed to step up his game and improve his attitude or seriously consider leaving the program.
King took the ultimatum to heart. He’s been a class act his senior season, recently sending a letter of appreciation to opposing Big 12 coaches.
“As you know more than anybody, it has not always been easy for me,” King said in the letter, recently published by the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram.
“Because of my experiences in the conference and watching the players and coaches in the conference, I was able to grow up and mature more and more with each day. More importantly I have realized what a blessing it is to just have the ability and opportunity to play in one of the best conferences in the country.”
Why’d he write the letter?
“This is my last year and last chance to make an impact in the Big 12,” he told the Star-Telegram. “I felt like sending a letter would be a positive thing so I decided to write it.”
King now is on the verge of becoming the eighth player in NCAA Division One history to score 2,000 points, grab 500 rebounds and dish 500 assists. He needs 74 points and 14 rebounds to accomplish the feat.
“There’s no doubt we have a special player in our presence,” Watkins said. “And I know how I want his final chapter to read. It would be for us to win and for Bernard to get his due recognition.”
Another Aggie on track for postseason honors is freshman guard Antoine Wright, who averages 15.7 points and 7.0 boards per game. He’s a top candidate for freshman of the year.
“We tried to recruit him. I just love him to death,” Williams said of the San Bernardino, Calif., native. “They (King and Wright) give Texas A&M two big-time scorers. They are hard to guard because they can take bad shots and still make them. That’s what you have to worry about. Some nights you can guard people and the ball still goes in and it makes it difficult for you.”
But A&M also has a lot to worry about.
KU enters tonight 20-6 overall and 10-2 in the league and is coming off a disappointing 77-70 loss at Oklahoma.
“You’ve got to stop their transition game,” Watkins said. “How you do that is the million dollar question. Even after you make a bucket, the ball is netted … they are down the floor laying it in on the other end.
“You’ve got to manage their pressure and can’t turn it over against them. Besides all that, they have two All-America players. It is difficult to accomplish things against them.”
