• Athlon Sports – College Basketball Weekly Tipoff: Who are the MVPs, surprises from the last month?

Who was the Player of the Month in January?

David Fox: Even though McDermott is a virtual certainty for National Player of the Year, my top player of January is one of the few players in the Big East who can match McDermott’s scoring prowess. Bryce Cotton of Providence has been one of the most underrated players in the country, but the Friars are on the precipice of their first NCAA bid in a decade thanks to Cotton’s play of late. Cotton averaged 21.7 points and 6.3 rebounds in a month that saw Providence beat Georgetown, Creighton and Butler. Even more, Cotton has been a workhorse, averaging 41.1 minutes per game thanks to a double-overtime game against St. John’s in which he played all 50 minutes. –

• Cincinnati.com – Shannon Russell – Jalen Reynolds and other notes