While only one of last season's men's basketball consensus All-Americans returned to school, four of the top six scorers in the sport are back this season, as are seven of the top 20. These are some of the best bucket-getters in the country, who have already proven they can average more than 20 points per game in a season.
Here are the top nine returning scorers in men's basketball for the 2020-21 season.
1. Jhivvan Jackson, UTSA
The diminutive Jackson's game is much larger than his frame. He's listed at just 6-feet tall but he was second nationally at 26.8 points per game, behind only Marquette's Markus Howard. Jackson averaged 18.4 points per game as a freshman and his production has climbed by roughly four points per game in each of the last two seasons to 22.9 points as a sophomore, then 26.8 per game as a junior. If he has one more jump in him, he could push for 30 points per game, which would certainly make him an All-America candidate for the Roadrunners.
He has been a steady 3-point shooter, making between 35 and 37 percent of his attempts in each of the last three seasons. His 2-point shooting has fluctuated, but it rose to 48 percent last season and he has been an 82-percent free-throw shooter for his college career.
2. Antoine Davis, Detroit
Playing for his dad, Mike Davis, at Detroit, Antoine Davis has been one of the top scorers in men's basketball in each of the last two seasons. As a sophomore, he was the fourth-leading scorer in the country at 24.3 points per game, and that was after his scoring average dropped from 26.1 points per game as a freshman.
Davis isn't always an efficient scorer — he averaged 20.8 shots per game last season to average 24.3 points — as he shot just 32.4 percent from three and 43.7 percent inside the arc. However, he did shoot 90 percent from the free-throw line, which suggests that his 3-point percentage could climb closer to the 38-percent clip that he shot as a freshman.
The junior has scored at least 40 points three times in his college career, including 48 points against Wright State as a freshman and 43 points in his last game last season against IUPUI.
3. Luka Garza, Iowa
Garza is the only returning consensus All-American from last season, which makes him the clear choice for preseason National Player of the Year for many media outlets. As a junior, Garza finished fifth nationally in scoring at 23.9 points per game, when his scoring average increased by more than 10 points per game from his sophomore year.
Garza was a focal point on offense as he averaged roughly 17 shots per game, while making 58.9 percent of his attempts inside the arc and 35.8 percent of his shots from behind it. The senior has talented teammates around him, namely guards Joe Wieskamp, CJ Fredrick and Jordan Bohannon, but Garza is the engine that makes Iowa go on offense.
4. Mike Smith, Michigan
Mike Smith averaged 22.8 points per game as a senior at Columbia last season and this winter, he'll suit up for Michigan as a transfer. It'll be a challenge for Smith to put up similar numbers against Big Ten competition, given that he averaged 19.3 shots per game. The key for Smith this season might be to maximize his efficiency as a supporting piece on offense, especially after his 38-percent 3-point shooting from his freshman year has since declined to 30 percent, 25 percent and 33 percent, respectively.
In his final seven games last season, Smith scored at least 30 points four times, including 38 points at Harvard and 37 points against Yale.
5. Terry Taylor, Austin Peay
As a junior, Terry Taylor averaged 21.8 points per game, which ranked 13th nationally. Taylor is an incredibly efficient interior scorer, having made a career-high 62.6 percent of his 2-point attempts as a junior. However, Taylor's 3-point percentage has gone in the wrong direction over the last three years — 43.2 percent to 34.0 percent to 32.0 percent — so his scoring potential and efficiency can increase if he can get back to his freshman-year 3-point shooting.
6. Marcus Burk, IUPUI
The 6-3 Burk averaged 21.3 points per game as a redshirt junior in his first season playing for IUPUI, after transferring from Campbell. He made 38.6 percent of his 7.5 3-point attempts per game and he's roughly an 80-percent career 3-point shooter. Burk has also shown the ability to be an incredibly efficient interior scorer, too, as he made 64.6 percent of his twos as a sophomore.
Burk scored a career-high 39 points at Oakland last season, which included eight 3-pointers.
7. Terrell Brown, Arizona
Playing for Seattle last season, Terrell Brown ranked 20th nationally in scoring at 20.7 points per game — an increase of 6.7 points per game from his freshman season.
Brown has since transferred to Arizona. His shooting percentages leave a lot to be desired despite his scoring average as a sophomore. He shot just 42.9 percent inside the arc and 29.1 percent from behind it, but his 78.4 percent free-throw shooting last season suggests that his field-goal percentage can climb in the future.
Brown scored a career-high 31 points four times last season, including twice in his last three games and three times in his last nine.
8. Colbey Ross, Pepperdine
Pepperdine's Colbey Ross ranked 22nd in the country in scoring average last season at 20.5 points per game, which was his career-high. He made 44 percent of his 2-point attempts and 34.9 percent of his threes, although he shot 42 percent from deep as a freshman and 39 percent as a sophomore.
In his final game last season, Ross exploded for a career-high 43 points against Saint Mary's in the West Coast Conference tournament as he made seven 3-pointers and 10 free throws.
9. Carlik Jones, Louisville
Carlik Jones transferred to Louisville in the offseason after ranking 28th nationally in scoring at 20.0 points per game. Jones's scoring average has increased in each season of college, from 11.8 points per game as a freshman to 15.7 points as a sophomore to 20 per game last season. He made 51.5 percent of his 2-point attempts as a junior, along with a career-high 40.9 percent of his threes.
He's also a career 78.5 percent career free-throw shooter on 4.6 attempts per game, so he could be an efficient complementary scorer for Louisville, even if his scoring average takes a dip.
