Embiid tops ratings with double-double

By Staff     Nov 19, 2013

**1. Joel Embiid**: Baryshnikov’s feet, 7-feet tall, 7 for 7 from the field, 16 points, 13 rebounds, not a bad line for a father to see his son produce the first time he watched him play basketball. Thomas Embiid was in from Cameroon and it was some show he saw.

**2. Perry Ellis**: Great finisher at any pace and against Iona that pace normally was fast. Switched hands in mid-air, reloaded in mid-air to move around defender and also had a beauty of an up-and-under baseline drive. Ellis had 21 points, seven boards and did not turn it over. “Perry’s been our most consistent guy, without question,” coach Bill Self said.

**3. Naadir Tharpe**: Had 10 assists, one turnover and one steal, great ball security. But his coach wants him to play as fast all the time as he does when sharing the court with freshman Frank Mason. “I know they like playing together and yeah, there are some things about that that I like, but Naadir doens’t need to wait for Frank to change the pace. Naadir needs to change the pace. And that’s something I don’t understand. We’ve got to talk about that and probably correct a little bit.”

**4. Andrew Wiggins**: Spent most of the night guarding Isaiah Williams and limited him to three points. Also added two steals to go with 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists without turning it over. Made just 1 of 4 three-pointers, including one air ball. 

**5. Frank Mason**: Makes the whole team play faster when he’s on the court, but played just three minutes in the first half. “First half, I wasn’t as aggressive as the second half and I guess coach didn’t really like that,” Mason said. Self did like the way Mason played in the final 20 minutes. He finished with nine points, two assists and a steal in 13 minutes. In 54 minutes, he has one turnover.

**6. Wayne Selden**: He knows how to feed the post. Mixed seven points with five assists and didn’t have any turnovers. Has 13 assists and three turnovers on season.

**7. Andrew White III**: Had six points and two blocked shots in eight minutes. Looked great attacking the hoop for a bucket in transition. 

**8. Conner Frankamp**:  Played with a lot of pep and confidence and it was contagious. “I thought Conner played well,” Self said. “Matter of fact, I thought Conner was probably our best defender first half. I told him after the game I wish I had played him the second half. I only played a minute or two second half.”

**9. Landen Lucas**: Totaled three points and two rebounds in three minutes.

**10. Tarik Black**: Picked up two quick fouls and didn’t start the second half. In nine minutes, he had three fouls, one point, one rebound and one turnover. Has nine personals in 36 minutes. “We need him to be better,” Self said. “I don’t know. He just can’t seem to catch a break. He’ll get a rebound and throw it out of bounds or not go right back up with it when he’s in there tight playing against smaller guys, things like that. He’ll get that figured out.”

**11. Jamari Traylor**: He’ll have some nights he’s a big part of a victory. This was not one of them. Had three turnovers in 10 minutes. Also struggling with foul trouble, he has been whistled for nine fouls in 43 minutes.

*Season standings*

1. Perry Ellis (31 points)
2. Andrew Wiggins (29)
3. Joel Embiid (24)
4. Wayne Selden Jr. (22)
5. Frank Mason (20)
6. Andrew White III (16)
7. Naadir Tharpe (16)
8. Tarik Black (13)
9. Jamari Traylor (9)
10. Conner Frankamp (9)
11. Brannen Greene (6)
12. Landen Lucas (4)

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