Bruce Weber makes case for Perry Ellis as Big 12 Player of Year

By Matt Tait     Feb 20, 2016

Nick Krug
Kansas forward Perry Ellis (34) gets up for a dunk against Kansas State forward Dean Wade (32) during the first half, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016 at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kan.

? Disappointed by yet another hard-fought loss, both to Kansas University and during this trying Kansas State men’s basketball season, KSU coach Bruce Weber took a moment after Saturday’s 72-63 loss to KU at Bramlage Coliseum to sound off about some bigger-picture Big 12 issues.

When one team, in this case Kansas, takes a two-game lead in the conference race with four games to play, it becomes time to talk about these sorts of things.

And Weber had no problem doing so, even if his claims were a little unconventional and unprompted.

“To me, if they win the league, (Perry) Ellis should be (Big 12) player of the year,” Weber said of KU’s senior forward. “I know (Oklahoma guard) Buddy (Hield) may be national player of the year, but Perry should be the (Big 12) player of the year. You know, if you win the league and you take your team to the championship, you should be the MVP. That’s what it’s about.”

Never was Ellis’ importance to this Kansas team (23-4 overall, 11-3 Big 12) or the Big 12 Conference race, which KU now leads by two games thanks to Oklahoma’s Saturday win at West Virginia, more evident to Weber than during a second-half stretch in which K-State trimmed a 17-point Kansas lead to three, largely because Ellis was in the locker room getting a dozen stitches on his head and dealing with a scratch on his eye.

There certainly were elements other than Ellis’ absence that allowed K-State (15-12, 4-10) to crawl back into the game, but Weber did not shy away from expressing what a huge break Ellis’ medium-sized gash was for the Wildcats.

“I hope people appreciate how good he is,” said Weber of Ellis, who finished with 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting in 30 minutes Saturday. “Because, when he’s not in the game, it sure makes a difference. I promise you I’d rather play them without him any time.”

However, more than Ellis’ impact, the K-State coach who, a few weeks ago in Lawrence, joked about wanting to go to Ellis’ graduation party so he knew definitively he would never have to coach against him again, said it was KU’s roster of weapons that made the Jayhawks so tough to take down.

On Saturday, KU’s biggest gun was junior guard Frank Mason III, who single-handedly took over a stretch late in the first half that turned a four-point KSU lead into a 10-point Kansas advantage.

“It seems like different guys pick it up for them,” Weber said. “(Sophomore guard Devonté) Graham’s been playing special and he didn’t have (a big) game, so Frank picked it up…. The stretch right before the half was probably the difference in the game.”

For K-State, which KU coach Bill Self said easily could have won four more conference games this season and been right in the thick of the NCAA Tournament talk, the missed opportunities and inability to take that final step through the door currently is haunting them.

“We cut it to three,” said KSU senior Stephen Hurt (13 points, nine rebounds). “We had our chance. We just have to execute a little bit better.”

Added senior guard Justin Edwards: “Obviously, it sucks. When we spot teams a lot of points like that, it’s hard to come back. Especially (against) good teams.”

— See what people were saying about KU’s rematch with rival Kansas State during KUsports.com’s live coverage


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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.