photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Devonte' Graham (4) drives against Oklahoma guard Trae Young (11) during the second half at Lloyd Noble Center on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018 in Norman, Oklahoma.

A point guard’s primary job is to see that his team puts up as good a shot as possible every time down the floor.

Texas Tech’s Keenan Evans and Devonte’ Graham of Kansas do a terrific job of that by scoring, setting up teammates and keeping the ball moving in a productive fashion.

Oklahoma’s Trae Young?

Fourteen games into the Big 12 season, Young has launched 155 3-pointers and made them at a mediocre .335 rate. He also has averaged 6.4 turnovers per game, a ridiculously high number even for someone leading the conference with 8.4 assists per game.

Young leads the Big 12 with a 30.1 scoring average in conference play. But does he deserve to be named player of the year in the Big 12?

No.

In my mind, Young’s battling fellow freshman Mohamed Bamba of Texas for fifth, behind co-leaders Evans and Graham, plus Kansas State’s Dean Wade. Evans, Graham and Wade are tied for second in the conference in scoring with 18.7 points per game.

That’s not to say Young’s not the most talented player in the Big 12. He and Bamba lead that discussion, but as freshmen they aren’t as schooled in the art of consistently making winning plays as more experienced players.

How can it possibly be a good idea for a player who shoots .335 on 3-pointers to launch 11.1 a game? And 6.4 turnovers a game? Young deserves credit for getting to the line so often (148 times in Big 12 play) and cashing in on his opportunities (.858), but Evans and Graham have done a better job of ensuring their teams have productive possessions.

Evans and Graham play for teams with 10-4 records, Wade 8-6, Bamba and Young 6-8. The Sooners have lost five in a row.

A statistical look at the five players most deserving of first-team, all-conference honors to this point in the season: