On a team full of stars, Willie Cauley-Stein has emerged as Kentucky’s top candidate for major awards.He’s been named to the shortlists for three major national player of the year awards, but on Tuesday he missed out on Southeastern Conference Player of the Year honors.Arkansas star Bobby Portis took home the big trophy from league coaches.”Honestly, you can give him Player of the Year,” Cauley-Stein said. “I’ll take 31-0 any day of the week. You know, he’s a good player but that’s what it is. I’d rather be undefeated than get Player of the Year.”Not that he needed any consolation, clearly, but Cauley-Stein was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year after averaging 8.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 1.4 blocks. He also won First-Team All-SEC honors, but assistant coach John Robic knows that won’t move Cauley-Stein much either.”These awards, they’re nice and everything, but that’s not what these kids are playing for,” Robic said.Instead, the Wildcats have played for each other and their team. The result has been a perfect regular season – the first for a power-five conference team since 1975-76 – and a wire-to-wire No. 1 ranking in both major polls, not to mention a few other SEC awards.John Calipari was named Coach of the Year, Karl-Anthony Towns Freshman of the Year and Devin Booker Sixth Man of the Year. Towns joined Cauley-Stein on the SEC First Team, while Booker and Aaron Harrison were Second-Team performers and Trey Lyles and Tyler Ulis made the All-Freshmen Team.”It just shows that we all have just taken each other under our wing and cared for each other and looked out for each other,” Towns said. “These awards are very prestigious, and I’m blessed to have a chance, but I’m more blessed to have brothers like I have right now on this team.”Towns credits one of those brothers – Cauley-Stein – for much of his own development during his freshman season.”He’s the cornerstone of this team,” Towns said. “He’s the leader. This team has been taken to new heights with him here.”Towns and his teammates are fully aware of his impact on the team and his ability on both ends of the floor, but Cauley-Stein isn’t so sure the same is true on a national level. Praise for the 7-foot junior’s defense is universal, but his offense is another story. In fact, Cauley-Stein has heard talk of him being a “one-sided” player.”I don’t believe that, my team doesn’t believe that and that drives me nuts,” Cauley-Stein said.Cauley-Stein knows how important defense is and that those outside opinions don’t hold much water, but he still turns to them for a little added motivation.”I’m not just a defensive player,” Cauley-Stein said. “I’m not out there just to play defense and that’s what’s driving me.”Cauley-Stein has shown an improved offensive game this season with refined post moves and even a midrange jumper, but the fact remains that he’s on a team full of offensive weapons. None of the Cats – not a sharpshooter like Booker or a post presence like Towns – has to carry a full offensive load.”I scored in high school,” Cauley-Stein said. “I had to. Here you don’t have to score. And I think that’s why I play the way I am, is because we got so many offensive weapons that one game I’m probably going to have to score. Eventually, they’re probably going to have to start playing on Karl heavy so I’m going to have to step up and score some baskets.”But more than anything, Cauley-Stein just wants to be his best for the sake of his team. He knows everything else will take care of itself.Cauley-Stein said his last five games he hasn’t done that. Leading up to UK’s SEC Tournament opener at 1 p.m. ET against either Florida or Alabama, he plans to do something about it.”I’ve been playing real tentative, not at the best of my game, but I plan on getting right,” Cauley-Stein said. “These next couple days are vital for me getting right and just to show the world, you know, about all these other awards.”