Oladipo named Player of the Week

After stat sheet-stuffing performances in a pair of IU wins, junior guard Victor Oladipo has been named the Big Ten Player of the Week.

The honor is the second one in Oladipo’s career and the second time a Hoosier has earned it this season after sophomore forward Cody Zeller earned it two weeks ago.

“Victor is a great example,” IU Coach Tom Crean said after the Michigan State win. “We watch a lot of film as a team, but he always watches that much more. He’s getting a knowledge base to go with those instincts and his talent and his athleticism, and the more he does that, the better he’s going to be.”

Oladipo led his team in scoring in wins against both Penn State and Michigan State with 19- and 21-point outputs, respectively.

His contributions went beyond offense, though, as the 6-foot-5-inch guard was among the team’s leading rebounders this week, with a 6.5 per game average and 4.5 steals, including six against MSU on Sunday. He also averaged three assists, 1.5 blocks and shot 63.2 percent.

The stat sheet does not reveal all, though, such as Oladipo’s proclivity for diving for loose balls or chasing down opponents to prevent fast-break scoring. Crean noted after Sunday’s game that Oladipo had 15 first-half deflections — a mark for Crean’s favorite statistic that he said he had never seen before — and finished with 23 overall.

Oladipo and his teammates return to the court Wednesday evening in West Lafayette against Purdue, the site of Oladipo’s career-high scoring performance when he scored 23 points against the Boilermakers last season.

— Max McCombs