In college basketball’s season of the unexpected, perhaps this qualifies as one more surprise: The same five players selected for Sporting News’ midseason All-America team were chosen as our first team at the close of the regular season.

But it also could be indicative of a rare piece of certainty in this tumultuous season.

What makes it all the more intriguing that these five players turned out to be the five best from beginning to end is that the midseason team is not selected in the same manner as the Sporting News All-America team — one of four used to establish the NCAA’s official consensus All-America squad.

SN POSTSEASON AWARDS:

Iowa's Luka Garza is Player of the Year

The midseason team is chosen primarily by several SN staff members involved in the coverage of college basketball. The official All-America team is selected by a blue-ribbon panel of college basketball journalists that represents all regions of the country.

Their ballots told a compelling story — one that turned out to be consistent from beginning to end:

First team All-Americans

Luka Garza, C, Iowa

Key stats: 23.9 ppg, 9.8 rpg, .542 field goal percentage

Defining game: 33 points, seven rebounds, 10-of-18 shooting in 90-83 victory over Michigan

Garza’s unyielding excellence during the course of the season, but particularly against an imposing series of big men in Big Ten play, earned him the selection as Sporting News Player of the Year. He closed the year with 16 consecutive 20-point scoring performances, including 25 points and 17 rebounds in a victory over Penn State. Said coach Fran McCaffery of Garza: “I don’t think people have appreciated how much his defense has improved, his ball-screen defense, his ability to rim-protect. It’s not like he’s leading the country in shot blocks, but he’s got a lot, and he talls up, gets where he’s supposed to get, stays out of foul trouble and then he’s in position to rebound. It’s just consistency of effort and performance that separates him.”

Obi Toppin, PF, Dayton

Key stats: 20.0 points per game, 7.5 rebounds per game, .633 field goal percentage

Defining game: 24 points, 10 rebounds, 3-of-6 3-point shooting in 78-76 overtime victory at Saint Louis

Dayton did not play many close games, in large part because Toppin was so much better than the rest of the Atlantic 10 that even the league’s NCAA Tournament contenders couldn’t keep up. That game at Saint Louis turned out to be the one great chance there was to prevent an 18-0 Dayton run through the conference, but Toppin’s tip-in with 8:20 left ignited a 29-16 Dayton close to regulation that forced overtime. His 3-pointer just inside the four-minute mark closed the deficit to a single basket. When Duquesne got too close for comfort in the Flyers’ trip to Pittsburgh, Toppin attacked the rim for eight points in the final eight minutes to help preserve a four-point win. He scored in double figures in every game but one and produced eight double-doubles, helping the Flyers to a school-record win total (29) that figures to keep growing.

Myles Powell, PG, Seton Hall

Key stats: 21.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.9 apg

Defining game: 34 points, seven rebounds, three assists, 12-of-24 shooting in 78-71 victory at Georgetown

Against a schedule that may have been as difficult as anyone’s in college basketball, Powell often carried a Seton Hall offense that struggled to find a consistent way forward. As the Pirates erased a 13-point halftime deficit against St. John’s, Powell scored 23 of his 29 points in the second half. In recovering from 10 down at Butler, he scored 16 of his 29 points. He topped the 25-point mark 10 times and, as he struggled to relocate his 3-point touch, closed the regular season with an average of 5.2 assists over the final six games. He is Seton Hall’s first first-team All-American since Walter Dukes in 1953.

Markus Howard, PG Marquette

Key stats: 27.8 ppg, 3.3 assists per game, .412 3-point percentage

Defining game: 51 points, 9-of-17 3-point shooting, 14-of-17 free throw-shooting in 101-79 victory vs. USC

Howard somehow added a full point onto his scoring average in the season’s final two months. That’s not tough for someone averaging four points a game who suddenly pops in a few 3-pointers. But for a player already leading Division I in scoring? Amazing. Howard closed the season with five consecutive 30-point games, the kind of production rarely seen around college hoops since the gunslinging days of the early '70s with Johnny Neumann of Ole Miss, Austin Carr of Notre Dame, Bird Averitt of Pepperdine and the king of them all, Pistol Pete Maravich of LSU. He is eight points away from passing Duke great J.J. Redick and entering the ranks of the top 20 NCAA Division I career scorers. Whether it’s here with Obi Toppin and Luka Garza, or on that list with Lionel Simmons, Tyler Hansbrough and Elvin Hayes, Howard is keeping some pretty serious company these days.

Payton Pritchard, PG, Oregon

Key stats: 20.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 5.5 apg

Defining game: 38 points, six rebounds, four assists, 6-of-14 3-point shooting in 73-72 over victory at Arizona

Pritchard began his career as an essential piece of the Ducks’ 2017 Final Four team and will end his senior season as a first-team All-American, a Pac-12 regular-season champion and … who knows? The Ducks will make their third NCAA Tournament in four years with Pritchard at point guard. A starter in 140 games over a 144-game career (to date), he blossomed this season, reaching or exceeding the 20-point mark 16 times and passing for at least seven assists nine times. He increased his 3-point percentage from .328 to .415 and attempted 26 percent more free throws. He converted his 2-point attempts at a .512 clip. Already an excellent player, he elevated to dominance.

SN POSTSEASON AWARDS:

Dayton's Anthony Grant is Coach of the Year

Second-team All-Americans

Devon Dotson, PG, Kansas

Key stats: 18.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 4.0 apg, .468 field goal percentage

Defining game: 21 points, six rebounds, three assists, three steals and 40 minutes played in 78-75 victory over Texas Tech

It’s quite obvious Dotson and teammate Udoka Azubuike affected each other’s pursuit of the All-America first team. Each had significant support among the voters for first-team honors and each fell just short. They’ve spent much of the past month on top of college basketball, though, since traveling to Waco and defeated top-ranked Baylor in a revenge Big 12 meeting. Dotson has been essential to the Jayhawks’ excellence. His ability to be a multiple threat from the point guard position helps cover for the team’s infrequent 3-point shooting.

Udoka Azubuike, C, Kansas

Key stats: 13.2 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 2.5 blocks per game, .737 field goal percentage

Defining game: 23 points, 19 rebounds, three blocks, 11-of-13 shooting in 64-61 victory at Baylor

Big 12 coaches predicted in the preseason he would be their league’s player of the year, probably because they’d spent all summer trying to figure out a way to deal with him. (They didn’t). Azubuike’s improved fitness enabled him to average 28 minutes per game, and that figure increased against Big 12 opponents. He reached the four-foul mark only six times in 31 games, demonstrating his increased ability to dominate defensively without fouling.

Malachi Flynn, PG, San Diego State

Key stats: 17.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 5.1 apg, .441 field goal percentage

Defining game: 36 points, five rebounds, seven assists, 13-of-20 shooting in 83-76 victory at Nevada

Flynn became an out-of-nowhere star for the Aztecs after transferring from Washington State, where his team won only four league games. This year, with Flynn at the controls, San Diego State won nearly all of them, falling just short of a perfect regular season with a late-season home loss to UNLV. Flynn became a more productive player as the season progressed, scoring in double figures in every Mountain West game and hitting the 20-point mark seven times against league opponents.

Vernon Carey Jr., C, Duke

Key stats: 17.8 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 1.6 bpg, .577 field goal percentage

Defining game: 26 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks in 87-75 victory at Michigan State

On a team filled with talented young players whose offensive production occasionally went missing, Carey was a foundational piece of the attack who delivered most every time. He scored in double figures in every game but two, and both of those were comfortable victories in which he could afford not to ring up baskets. He struggled periodically with foul trouble but still averaged 25 minutes. He managed to lead Duke in scoring while ranking only second in shots.

Cassius Winston, PG, Michigan State

Key stats: 18.6 ppg, 5.9 apg, .432 3-point percentage

Defining game: 32 points, nine assists, 11-of-19 shooting in 87-69 victory over Michigan

The story of Winston's senior season cannot be told without the tragedy that affected him and his family in early November: the loss of his younger brother. It indelibly affected his play, but he seemed to recover the joy of the game and return to his typical dominance as the season progressed. His brilliance over the final five games (20.8 ppg, 6.8 apg, .623 field goal percentage) led to five consecutive Spartans wins. On his senior day, Tom Izzo was so reluctant to take him off the court he almost missed the chance to give Winston his curtain call — and the ceremonial kiss of the Spartan logo at center court.

Third-team All-Americans

Jared Butler, PG, Baylor

Key stats: 16.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 3.1 apg

Defining game: 22 points, four rebounds, 9-of-18 shooting in 67-55 victory over Kansas

Butler’s rapid development was one of many essential ingredients for Baylor’s rise to prominence this season, but perhaps the most obvious. He was a 10-point scorer and 35 percent 3-point shooter as a freshman but developed into a dynamic scorer whose 3-point shooting was a key to the Bears’ attack.

Jalen Smith, C, Maryland

Key stats: 15.5 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 2.4 bpg

Defining game: 29 points, 11 rebounds, 10-of-14 shooting in 77-76 victory at Indiana

The player they call “Stix” was moved to center following the departure to the NBA of teammate Bruno Fernando and was surrounded in the Terps lineup primarily by point guards and wings, with occasional assistance from 6-7 freshman forward Donta Scott. But in that crucible of Big Ten bigs that includes two others on this All-America list, plus Ohio State’s Kaleb Wesson, Illinois freshman Kofi Cockburn and Wisconsin’s Micah Potter and Nate Reuvers, Smith at one point posted nine consecutive double-doubles.

Jordan Nwora, PF, Louisville

Key stats: 18.0 ppg, 7.7 rpg, .402 3-point percentage.

Defining game: 22 points, seven rebounds, 4-of-8 3-point shooting in 80-73 victory over Virginia

Nwora served as a prototype of the college “Stretch-4” for the Cardinals, delivering consistently as a defensive rebounder and connecting on 76 3-pointers. He was prone to some scoring slumps — there were three single-figure scoring games in ACC play, and another against Kentucky — that generally were a product of him not being involved enough in the attack. When he is active, he excels.

Daniel Oturu, C, Minnesota

Key stats: 20.0 ppg, 11.4 rpg, .562 field goal percentage

Defining game: 30 points, seven rebounds, 13-of-18 shooting in 75-67 victory over Michigan

Minnesota’s misfortune became Oturu’s misfortune, because he delivered a season worthy of first-team recognition while the Gophers did not. Losing Amir Coffey premature to the draft (he has played in just 13 NBA games) and forward Eric Curry to yet another devastating injury led to the Gophers being undermanned in a Big Ten where any weakness was going to be exposed. Oturu, personally, revealed none. He performed magnificently for a team that could not win at an NCAA Tournament level. He showed 3-point shooting range, the ability to handle the basketball on the move, a deft touch around the rim. He has better things than third-team All-American in his future.

Filip Petrusev, C, Gonzaga

Key stats: 17.5 ppg, 7.9 rpg, .562 field goal percentage

Defining game: 27 points, six rebounds, 8-of-12 shooting in 86-76 victory over Saint Mary’s

Brandon Clarke’s departure for the NBA after last season created the opportunity for Petrusev to play more than last year’s 11 minutes per game. Teammate Killian Tillie’s persistent injuries created the need for Petrusev to do more. He was ready for both. Petrusev scored in double figures 10 times last year despite understandably limited opportunities. Those paying close attention figured he might be capable of more. He only missed that mark twice this season. Defenses found it so hard to deal with him that they sent him to the line for 238 free throws. He only converted at a .655 clip, showing there’s still room for improvement.