Andrew Wiggins completes monster alley-oop in Big 12 tournament

When Andrew Wiggins asserts himself, look out — and that goes double for the defender who is ostensibly protecting the rim.

With fellow likely NBA lottery pick Joel Embiid sidelined for the Big 12 tournament, the Kansas Jayhawks needed something extra from Maple Jordan on Thursday against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. With less than three to go in a nip-tuck tilt, Wiggins called for an alley-oop pass and crushed it over two Cowboys.

That was part of a 30-point, eight-rebound effort in Kansas' 77-70 win.

Wiggins took only 17 shots from the floor to get his 30, which might even be more impressive than the alley-oop. It was also his second consecutive game with at least 30 after he scored 41 in Kansas' regular-season finale vs. Baylor last weekend.

Kansas, which likely needs to win the Big 12 championship in order to earn a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament, will face Iowa State on Friday in the semifinal. That means Wiggins, the conference's freshman of the year, will face the Cyclones' star forward Melvin Ejim, the Big 12 player of the year, in an all-Ontario matchup. Stock up on the popcorn.

As SB Nation's Ricky O'Donnell put it, "Wiggins' college days are slipping away, you might as well enjoy them while you can."

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.