FAYETTEVILLE — Villanova junior guard Jalen Brunson is a leading candidate for national player of the year honors and has led the Wildcats to the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s East Regional.
Trevon Bluiett, a senior guard for Xavier, has led the Musketeers to the No. 1 seed in the West Regional and has joined Brunson on several All-American teams.
Brunson and Bluiett are among three players voted unanimously onto the All-Big East team by the conference’s coaches.
The other will play the Arkansas Razorbacks on Friday in Detroit.
Kelan Martin, a 6-7 senior forward, leads Butler (20-13) in the Bulldogs’ first-round game against the Razorbacks (23-11) at Little Caesars Arena.
“Kelan’s level of play so far this season stacks up with anyone in both our conference and on a national level,” Butler Coach LaVall Jordan said when Martin was announced as an All-Big East first-team player. “People see the scoring and the box score, but his impact on our success is much larger than those numbers. His game and his leadership continues to grow.
Martin is averaging 20.8 points per game this season, but in 18 Big East games he led the conference in scoring at 23.6 and shot 42.6 percent (58 of 136) on three-pointers.
“I think we all are going to have to be aware of where he is, because he’s a guy that has unlimited range,” University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Coach Mike Anderson said. “He can put it on the floor, and he can shoot it from 30 feet out.
“He can rise up over the guards and just pull up and shoot it. He’s a guy capable of getting 30 to 40 points.”
Martin hasn’t scored 40 points in 134 games at Butler, but he has scored 30 or more six times. He scored a career-high 37 points against Marquette earlier this season, 35 against Seton Hall, 34 against Xavier and 30 against Villanova.
Last season, Martin scored 35 against Georgetown and 30 against the University of Central Arkansas.
Martin has scored 20 or more points in 19 games this season. He’s averaging 6.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game and shooting 44.1 percent from the field (241 of
546) and 83.1 percent on free throws (118 of 142).
“He just has this calmness about him that’s impacted and been contagious to the team,” Jordan said earlier this season. “So there’s never been a state of panic regardless of what the score was. He’s had the same demeanor when we’ve been up.”
Arkansas senior guard Daryl Macon said he’s watched tape of Butler’s 101-93 victory over Villanova on Dec. 30, during which Martin had 24 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists. He hit 7 of 12 shots — including 4 of 4 three-pointers — and 6 of 7 free throws.
“I realized that game he’s probably one of the best [forwards] in the country,” Macon said. “He’s tough. That’s basically all I can say — he’s tough. We’re going to try and see how tough he is Friday.”
Butler sophomore guard Kamar Baldwin was asked this week about the perception Martin doesn’t get much attention outside of the Big East and isn’t known nationally.
“He’s led the team the whole year, so we’re riding behind him,” Baldwin said. “We believe in him.
“We know what he’s capable of and what he’s done. We’re grateful to have him.”
Arkansas forward Adrio Bailey, a 6-6 sophomore, likely will guard Martin if the Razorbacks start in a man-to-man defense, but Anderson said it will be a team effort.
“Obviously, in a game there is going to be some switching going on, different guys are going to be on him,” Anderson said. “But we all have to be mindful what kind of scorer he is.”
Baldwin said Martin’s shooting skills help his teammates get open looks.
“He spaces the court,” Baldwin said. “You know they’re not going to leave him, because he’s capable of getting baskets any time from anywhere on the court.
“That opens up driving lanes for the rest of us.”