UNC Basketball: Two Tar Heels named to Wooden Award Midseason Top 25

Both Luke Maye and Joel Berry have been named to the Wood Award Midseason Top 25 list

We have reached the midway point of the 2017-18 college basketball season. Can you believe it?

As conference play is just starting to heat up, we will be in conference tournaments and then finally March Madness before we know it.

Through the first few months of the season, the sport has seen some big upsets, players making a name for themselves and right now the field might be as open as it has ever been.

With the midway point here, we get an update on one major college basketball award that will be handed out during the Final Four.

The Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 has been revealed and there are some changes from the initial watch list released last October.

The list is dominated by seniors and guards, with 17 upperclassmen and 15 backcourt players being listed.

Among those players listed was North Carolina’s Joel Berry and Luke Maye.

The senior guard Berry was one of the players listed in the preseason watch list and has put together a fine season for the Tar Heels. Berry is averaging 17.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game for UNC.

He hit a game-winning floater against Wake Forest to open up conference play and then single-handedly kept the Tar Heels in the game on the road against Florida State despite falling one-point short.

As for Maye, the former walk-on has had a breakout junior season for the Tar Heels.

Maye is averaging a career-best 18.2 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game for UNC.

The junior has 9 double-doubles in UNC’s 17 games this season. That includes a big performance against Boston College at home where he scored a career-high 33 points and grabbed 18 rebounds.

With his performance against the Eagles, Maye became the first UNC player to have at least 30 points and 15 rebounds in a home game since Antawn Jamison in 1997-98.

Oklahoma guard Trae Young has been arguably the best player in the nation and wasn’t listed on the preseason top 50 watch list. He’s regarded as the favorite to win the award with Duke’s Marvin Bagley close behind.

The advisory board will trim down the list to 15 in late February.

Next: UNC recruits rise in latest Rivals' rankings

For the full 25 player list, please visit ESPN.