Feast Week Recap: Part Two

There was simply too much that went on to not break this down into two separate posts, so although it's a little late, here's a look at some of the highlights from last week's tournaments that took over the airwaves during Thanksgiving.

Phil Knight Motion Bracket

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What Happened: Duke overcame second half deficits in all three of its games to take the title. While the Blue Devils struggled at times on the defensive end, they showed that this year's team is more than likely a much more cohesive and talented team than in 2016-17. Florida showed that despite losing the title game against Duke that it can win the SEC and contend for the Final Four. Gonzaga and Texas also both showed inklings that they might be better than many expected, with Texas taking both Duke and Gonzaga to overtime before losing. The Zags lost a good deal from last season's national runner up, but showcased the fact that its experience in the backcourt, and the tandem of Johnathan Williams and Killian Tillie inside will make them a factor once again in March.

Key Storyline Going Forward: It has to be how good Duke can be? It is off to an 8-0 start and have the potential Player of the Year who should still be in high school (Bagley, Marvin). As mentioned in the above paragraph, the defense is still a concern. But the talent of the starting five alone makes this one of the scariest teams of the last ten years. Can the Blue Devils avoid the drama (Allen,Grayson) that has plagued them in seasons past and continue to steamroll everyone all season?

Best Three Players: Bagley was incredible and could go on to have a freshman season that rivals the productivity of Kevin Durant and Michael Beasley years ago. He had double-doubles in all three games, going for over 30 points in the wins against Texas and Florida. A lot of times with freshmen the hype doesn't match the on-court product. Bagley has shown both in this tournament, and in the eight games he's played so far as a college player that the hype is real. Two seniors also showed they could be heading for big seasons with Chris Chiozza from Florida and Williams from Gonzaga taking over games at various points of the event.

Phil Knight Victory Bracket:

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What Happened: North Carolina played one of its worst games of the Roy Williams era in losing the title game to Michigan State. Sparty won the title tilt despite turning the ball over a whopping 24 times. The games on this side of the bracket weren't nearly as competitive or entertaining as the other side. Arkansas looked outstanding at times, but then like garbage against Carolina. There are still plenty of question marks going forward as well with UConn, Oklahoma, and Oregon.

Key Storyline Going Forward: It's a safe bet to assume that Michigan State is one of a handful of teams that can cut the nets down at the end of the season. Two concerning variables that could ruin this are the health of Miles Bridges, and the turnover concerns. Bridges hasn't come out of the blocks nearly as productive as people thought, He only scored 17 points in the two games he played in Portland, and although he doesn't need to score 30 for Michigan State to win, he does need to be its best player and be more assertive. As more the turnover issue, only two of its top seven rotation players have turnover rates under 20 percent. This obviously has to change. The Spartans are doing some really good things in terms of crashing the offensive boards and defending the rim, but they can't turn the ball over at this level if they expect to win the Big Ten and go to a Final Four.

Best Three Players: Luke Maye has gone from the former preferred walk-on, to the guy who hit the shot against Kentucky, to a "maybe legitimate" candidate for awards in March. Maye got shut down against Michigan State, but he was insane against Arkansas with 28 points, 16 rebounds, and five assists. He also had a 20-10 game in the first round against Portland. Cassius Winston stood out for Michigan State with his ability to both score and distribute, while Jaylen Barford averaged 21.3 PPG for the event on 50 percent shooting from deep. Barford and Daryl Macon give Arkansas one of the best guard duos in the SEC.

Best of the Rest

What Happened: Virginia won the preseason NIT by doing what Virginia does. The Cavs held Vandy to 0.68 points per possession, and then squeezed Rhode Island to 0.89 PPP. They've now moved into the top 25 and once again have the nation's top defense per KenPom. West Virginia had to fight a bit to come back against Missouri in the Advocare Invitational and win the title, while Washington State pulled off probably the most shocking tournament win by winning the Wooden Legacy.

Key Storyline Going Forward: St Mary's might have ruined its chances of getting an at-large bid to the field of 68 by losing to Washington State and Georgia in Anaheim. The Gaels only play Cal and Dayton in terms of quality opponents before conference play starts. That means they may be in a situation where they have to beat Gonzaga once or twice to have any hope at an at-large bid.

Best Three Players: Isaiah Wilkins doesn't get nearly enough credit and is one of the most underrated players in the country. Wilkins just does so many blue collar things for UVA that don't flash on the stat sheet, and he was a steady and dominant presence for the Hoos in New York. Jevon Carter terrorized opposing guards in West Virginia's press all weekend, while unknown and unheralded Washington State guard Malachi Flynn averaged 19.7 PPG in Anaheim on 50 percent shooting from behind the arc and 100 percent shooting at the free throw line.

Feast Week Recap Part One

Thanksgiving has come and gone, and with it there were approximately 9,007,682 college basketball games played during the week of giving thanks. Due to pesky things like "family obligations" many might have missed much of the action that took place last week. Luckily, I was there to watch as much as possible and will now offer up a synopsis of what took place in the major tournaments over the last seven days.

Maui Invitational

                                                  (AP Photo/Bob Leverone)

 What Happened: Notre Dame beat Wichita State in the final after coming back from a 14-point first half deficit. In the process they moved into the top five nationally. The Irish have two legitimate All-America candidates who played like it in Hawaii, with Bonzie Colson and Matt Farrell showcasing the fact that they are one of the best duos in all the land.

Key Storyline Going Forward: Outside of the top two teams, this field was loaded with teams that might be on the NCAA Tournament bubble all season. Michigan, VCU, and Marquette all had some positive moments, but none of them look like sure-fire tourney teams right now. It will be worth watching if any of these squads can take some of the positives and parlay them into significant improvement as conference play starts.

Best Three Players: Colson was the best player on the islands, putting up 20 points and 10 boards while shooting 61 percent from the field in the three Irish wins. Not to be outdone, his teammate and point guard Farrell averaged 19.7 PPG and five assists while shooting 10-for-21 from deep. Meanwhile despite his team losing two of its three games, freshman Tremont Waters was incredible for LSU. Notre Dame was able to shut him down, but he bounced back by torching Marquette for 39 points in a battle of high-scoring guards. Waters gives Will Wade and the Tigers hope for the future, especially with a solid recruiting class in the fold for next season.

Hall of Fame Classic

What Happened: Baylor pulled it off for the second season in a row, and won another tourney in November. It won the Battle For Atlantis last season, and then turned around and won in Kansas City this year. The Bears picked up what should be two quality resume wins in knocking off Wisconsin and Creighton. Scott Drew's unit showed that it could be a threat to Kansas going forward.

Key Storyline Going Forward: How good is Wisconsin? The Badgers lost both of their games here, and despite the fact that Ethan Happ is still stuffing the stat sheet and putting up numbers, the rest of the supporting cast consists of either freshmen, or upperclassmen that have played supporting roles in the past. I don't know if the bit players are nearly as good and therefore the Badgers might end up being a middle-of-the-pack Big Ten team.

Best Three Players: Jo Lual-Acuil was known for as a shot-blocking sidekick for Johnathan Motley in 2016-17, but he's become much more of an offensive focal point in the early season. The senior posted consecutive double-doubles, going for 15 points and 15 rebounds in the title game. He has the size to score in the post that works well with the perimeter skills of Manu Lecomte. Aaron Holiday made seemingly every key play down the stretch for UCLA in its win over Wisconsin, illustrating the fact that he is going to be a factor in any Pac 12 player of the year discussions. Lastly, Happ was his usually steady self for Bucky, going for 21 points, 11 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in Wisconsin's two losses.

Progressive Legends Classic

What Happened: Texas A&M proved that its early-season win over West Virginia wasn't a fluke, as it took care of Oklahoma State and Penn State to take home the title. The Aggies knocked off Oklahoma State with relative ease, and then beat a frisky Penn State team in the final. Robert "Big Bob" Williams returned to action after being suspended to give the Aggies even more talent in its front-court, giving Billy Gillespie's team even more firepower down low.

Key Storylines Going Forward: Penn State might actually break through and make the NCAA Tournament for the first time during Pat Chambers' tenure in Happy Valley. The Nittany Lions destroyed Pitt, and then were only down six with 5:05 to play before a now top-10 Texas A&M team pulled away late. This could very well be a top-five team in the B1G, especially with Northwestern and Purdue struggling early. Also if being terrible is your jam, Pitt might be the worst team in the power six. Penn State beat the Panthers by 31, and they already have losses to Navy and Montana.

Best Three Players: Williams showed why he's a potential top-ten pick in the draft with a dominant early performance against Oklahoma State. The sophomore stud shot 71 percent from the floor and had two double-doubles in the Aggies' two wins. Tony Carr is on his way to becoming a nationally known name with his start to 2017-18, torching the Aggies for 31 points, and posting an offensive rating of 153 in the win against Pitt. Senior graduate transfer Duane Wilson only averaged 4.8 PPG for Marquette last year, but he's averaging double-figures and has shown to be a nice fit in the backcourt early on for A&M. Wilson has an efficient 22 points on only ten shot attempts in the win over Penn State.

Battle For Atlantis

                                          (Getty Images, Stephen Dunn)

 What Happened: Complete and utter chaos. Villanova showed why its a top-five team by winning the three-day event in the Bahamas, but Purdue and Arizona completely imploded. The Boilermakers rebounded a bit by beating the Wildcats in the seventh-place game, but both squads fell out of the top 25 after previously generating a good deal of Final Four buzz. Tennessee picked up two quality wins and showed even further that the SEC is a threat to end up with 6-7 teams in the tournament.

Key Storylines Going Forward: How does Arizona fix this? This was the most unexpected sequence of events of the whole week. The Wildcats went from number two in the country to unranked all in the span of three losses. They looked lost defensively, giving up an average of 1.17 points-per-possession, while only making 10-for-54 from deep. They obviously have talent, but the pieces need to come together quickly before this season goes completely into the dumpster.

Best Three Players: Villanova's guards stole the show, with junios Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson alternately taking over the game in all three wins. The old adage is that guard play wins in March, and this is what will make Villanova a threat throughout the whole season. Grant Williams was a force for Tennessee, as he put up over 20 points in games against Purdue and Villanova. Tennessee is better than I, and many thought. Williams is the best player on a team that has a high ceiling in a stacked SEC.

Early Season Observations

 The 2017-18 college basketball season is now four days old, and with that it's time for me to start writing again. I've spent the last four seasons writing for Rush The Court covering the Big Ten, but this season I'm trying something new. So welcome to College Hoops Savant(s). The s at the end of savant is because I may have some other people writing on here as the season goes along. For now though, it's just me. And after four days of watching games, I have a couple of thoughts in my noggin about what has happened so far.


 The Big Ten might be more than just Michigan State at the top. While the Spartans looked extremely impressive in their lid-lifting opening win over North Florida, both Purdue and Minnesota showed thus far that this might not just be a one-team race for the top of the B1G standings. Purdue got some love in the preseason in terms of where its ranked despite losing first-round pick Caleb Swanigan, but the Boilermakers have started off the season 2-0 and are averaging 108 points on an obscene 59.8 percent mark from the field. They still have an elite amount of shooters to spread the floor around a threat in the post (Isaac Haas). This team might actually end up being better than it was last season even without Swanigan dominating the glass. Meanwhile, Minnesota picked up the biggest early-season road win of the season when it knocked off Providence last night. With all five starters back, and an elite floor general, the Gophers should also not be discounted when looking at who can win the Big Ten.

                                 (David Berding: Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)



 Jordan Murphy is making an early B1G POY run. It's been all but assumed that unless something drastic happens, Miles Bridges is a cinch to run away with the Player of the Year in the Big Ten, all the while perhaps becoming National Player of the Year. Murphy, a solid two-year starter for Minnesota, is shaking things up early however with a blazing 29.0 PPG and 14.5 RPG start for the Gophers. He took over against a legitimate Providence by getting to the basket at will and owning the paint. If he plays at this level all season, Minnesota could very easily be a Final Four contender.



 Allonzo Trier has serious Jimmer potential. In 2010-11, a West Coast guard became appointment television by putting up insane scoring numbers extremely late at night. Jimmer Fredette averaged 28.9 points as BYU made it to the Sweet 16. Trier is a household name among college basketball circles, but he isn't a crossover star yet. The junior Arizona guard might be on his way to hitting Jimmer-type popularity however if his early-season scoring output continues. Trier has scored 62 points in two games on 64.5 percent shooting from the floor. He does so with an almost casual ease, at least against the opposition he's faced so far. He'll be tested starting on November 22nd when the Wildcats head to the Bahamas for the Battle For Atlantis. But Trier, and future lottery pick Deandre Ayton make Arizona a must-watch and a title contender.

                                              (photo credit: draftexpress.com)

Kentucky might not be that good. The nation will find out more tonight when Kentucky plays Kansas in Chicago, but one of the youngest teams in the country might have some serious issues. The Wildcats obviously be much better once conference play starts with all of the youth on its roster (seven freshman and two sophomores in the rotation), but the lack of shooting and scoring could cause them to plummet in the rankings in the next couple of weeks. They have athletes galore, but look lost on defense. Coach Cal will make adjustments, but his youngest Kentucky roster ever could struggle a bit as things go along.

Buy stock in Nevada. I randomly got to see the Wolfpack play in Milwaukee last NCAA Tournament (humble brag alert), and while they lost a number of key pieces from that team, this is a legitimate top 25-type team that will make the Dance again. Jordan Caroline is one of the most fun players to watch in all the land, and they have a bunch of power conference transfers like the Martin twins (N.C.State), Kendall Stephens (Purdue), and Hallice Cooke (Iowa State) which make this year's squad much deeper than last year. Nevada should be the favorite to win the Mountain West, and when looking for late night hoops, a team that is worth watching.