No one has proven more over the past month than Abdurrafi. He brought the intensity on defense with his all-around disruption and contribution on the glass. His output on that end is more impressive given his increased offensive usage. Abdurrafi hunted shots without dominating the ball, often catching off of screens and attacking closeouts with shots from every level. The Wildcats winning with him as their best #1 option on offense and an impact defender is a good sign of things to come.

The lone junior in the starting lineup for the Wildcats, Abdurrafi earned his keep by scratching and clawing on defense. He eagerly defended some of the best opposing guards in the state, making them work for everything they got and making them cough up a few turnovers along the way. His deployment on that end counterbalanced his opportunistic role on the other. Often deferring to a talent group of seniors, Abdurrafi maximized every opportunity to rip through the defense off-the-catch. If he didn’t take the spot-up three, he wasted no time getting to his 1-dribble pull-up or to the hoop.

When the Wildcats needed to apply pressure and crank up the pace, it was Abdurrafi who threw a wrench in the Hawks’ offense. He raked the ball away at the point of attack and shot the gap for deflections, generating fastbreak offense for himself. And because Abdurrafi & company effectively sped up the game, the defense wasn’t able to get set and load up against them as often. The two-way junior guard racked up 14 points and 6 steals.