We touched Thursday on how Illinois’ Brandon Paul had an outside shot at Big Ten Player of the Year honors.

Ironically, Paul’s stock took a massive hit Thursday with a subpar performance coupled with the Illini’s loss to Indiana.

But let’s now take examine another local Big Ten Player of the Year sleeper – Northwestern’s John Shurna.

What journalists like more than anything are great stories; Northwestern is currently cultivating what could be the story of the year in college basketball. Nearly left for dead at 2-6 in the Big Ten, the Wildcats have won three consecutive games and have put themselves back in the discussion as they shoot for the first NCAA tournament berth in program history.

In the past 10 years, no Big Ten Player of the Year has been selected from a team that hasn’t finished in the top 3 in the conference, and only once was a player picked from a third-place team. The best players on the best teams win the award.

Northwestern isn’t going to finish in the top 3 in the Big Ten. The Wildcats are tied for sixth with a 5-6 record. Their goal is to finish .500 in conference, which should put them into the NCAA tournament.

If Northwestern can achieve that, Shurna could become a legitimate Big Ten Player of the Year contender. Shurna and the Wildcats will be the biggest story, and that could lead Big Ten voters to choose with their hearts and select Shurna over Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger or Michigan State’s Draymond Green.

From an individual statistical standpoint, Shurna is worthy.

He’s averaging a Big Ten-best 19.5 points a game. Furthermore, that average scoring output ranks 19th in the country.

Shurna has especially stepped up during Northwestern’s recent rise. He had 28 points, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals in a win over Nebraska. He scored 17 of his 24 points in the second half in a win over Illinois. On Thursday against Iowa, he asserted himself early and finished with 17 points, four rebounds, one block and four steals.

Even more impressive than those numbers has been his shooting percentage. He’s connecting from inside and outside. He was 9 of 13 from the field against Nebraska, 11 of 15 against Illinois and 5 of 9 against Iowa. He was also 8 of 15 from 3-point range during that stretch.

Based on conference-only statistics, he’s 10th in 3-point percentage (.419), third in three-pointers made (2.4 a game), fourth in blocked shots (1.4), 13th in field-goal percentage (.497), 16th in rebounding (5.3), 11th in steals (1.3) and second in minutes played (39.0).

Shurna and Northwestern have again grabbed the nation’s attention with their recent play. Now, the question is whether they can keep it.