Houston’s Kingston Flemings picked up Big 12 men’s basketball Player and Newcomer of the Week awards to headline this week’s Starting Five, which includes BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Iowa State’s Tamin Lipsey, Kansas’ Flory Bidunga and Texas Tech’s JT Toppin for their performance during the week.

Flemings led the Cougars in scoring and assists, averaging 20.0 points, 8.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game in wins over Oakland and No. 22/25 Auburn. He opened the week with 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, while he notched a career-high nine assists with zero turnovers against the Golden Grizzlies. The freshman from San Antonio then helped UH capture a neutral-site victory over the Tigers with a game-winning block to secure a 73-72 win. During the game, Flemings tallied a career-high 22 points, a game-high seven assists and grabbed five defensive boards in 34 minutes. He is the league’s first player to earn both Big 12 honors in the same week in their collegiate debut season since 2021.

Dybantsa scored 21 points in the second half against No. 3 UConn to spur a comeback attempt in a hard-fought two-point loss. Lipsey eclipsed 1,000 career points during a career-high 25-point performance against Mississippi State last week. Bidunga registered a double-double (25 pts, 10 reb) against Princeton as he became the third Jayhawk in the Bill Self era to make 10 shots in 11 or fewer attempts. Toppin scored 35 points and grabbed 11 rebounds against No. 14 Illinois before ending the week with 10 rebounds against Milwaukee.

Big 12 Player of the Week
Nov. 10 – Koa Peat, Arizona & Christian Anderson, Texas Tech
Nov. 17 – Kingston Flemings, Houston

Big 12 Newcomer of the Week
Nov. 10 – Koa Peat, Arizona
Nov. 17 – Kingston Flemings, Houston

Big 12 Starting Five (Nov. 17)
AJ Dybantsa, BYU
Kingston Flemings, Houston (player and newcomer)
Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State
Flory Bidunga, Kansas
JT Toppin, Texas Tech