Tuesday Night College Hoops Observations

Most of the top 25 teams in action won handily in home games against mid-majors last night, but the marquee matchup ended with the Buffalo Bulls continuing their impressive start by knocking off Syracuse 71-59 in the Carrier Dome. There were a couple of other intriguing games involving Big East teams that might find themselves on the wrong side of the bubble as both Xavier and Creighton failed to capitalize on key chances to pick up power five road wins in losing to Missouri and Oklahoma respectively. Here's some random takes/observations from what I was able to watch.

• Buffalo Stays Undefeated: It's time for fans, whether casual or obsessed to take notice of what's going on in Buffalo. The Bulls are now 11-0 after handling a struggling Syracuse team by double-digits. This team isn't going anywhere, with five seniors among its top seven in minutes played. CJ Massinburg and Nick Perkins both can exploit certain matchups, and should become household names as this team continues to roll. Buffalo has one more chance to big up another gigantic road win Friday when it heads to Marquette. With a win there, the chances of an undefeated regular season will intensify. 

• Problems in the Big East: As I mentioned earlier, the Big East had a chance to pick up a couple of quality-to-decent road wins last night, but went 0-2. Xavier was supposed to fall off a bit with the loss of Coach Chris Mack to Louisville, and the graduation of Trevon Bluiett and JP Macura. Things might be worse than imagined however with the Musketeers now sitting at 7-5 and with only one top-100 KenPom win over an Illinois team that might be the worst team in the Big Ten. NCAA Tournament hopes seem pretty bleak at this point. Meanwhile, things aren't as dire for Creighton, but one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country shouldn't start out a game only making one three in the first half in it wants to win on the road. The Blue Jays ceiling is a little higher, and losing to an Oklahoma team that's stock is on the rise won't kill them long-term. But neither of these teams will have nearly as many opportunities as in past seasons to enhance their postseason resumes in conference play with Marquette as the only team currently ranked. 

• Oklahoma "Ewing Theory": I'll spare anyone the explanation of what this means, (just check the link to get the gist of it) but it covers the phenomenon of a team inexplicitly getting better when it loses it's best player. Trae Young went to the NBA after a polarizing season that had him go from the next Steph Curry, to a black hole that shot too much and didn't involve his teammates. His teammates had to essentially listen to how garbage they were all season as the Sooners flamed out rapidly by March. Well now most of that supporting cast is back, and what's followed is a 10-1 start. Christian James has become the best player on the team after playing in the shadows with Buddy Hield as a freshman, and Young last year. The Sooners boast the 10th best defense in the land according to KenPom, and are doing it with a bunch of lengthy, tough wings, and with the help of two graduate transfer guards combining to serve as the primary playmakers. I would have thought Oklahoma would be at or near the bottom of the Big 12, but now this seems like a 5 or 6 seed come March. 

                                                       (Ronald Martinez, Getty Images)

• Player of the Night: Jeremiah Tilmon was just part of Missouri's standout freshman class last season, but definitely took a backseat to the hype around the brothers' Porter. Now Michael Porter Jr is in the NBA, and Jontay Porter is out for the season. With this being the first time I've seen Mizzou play this season, it's evident that Tilmon looks like a different player. He seemed much more poised, and was able to throw up a 23-point, 10-rebound effort against a Xavier team that has a couple of decent interior defenders (shout out Zach Hankins). Tilmon looks like he's gotten a lot better, and Missouri could end up finishing a bit higher in the SEC than I expected. 

• Takes?!?: Is it time for Jim Boeheim to hang it up? As a high schooler, would you want to play for Syracuse? If you do, you're always going to have to answer questions at the next level about your defensive abilities because you're playing in a zone your whole college career. You're not necessarily going to have much support if you want to go to next level early, with Boeheim one of the most vocal coaches I remember criticizing former players like Tyler Ennis and Malachi Richardson leaving early (not that they're exactly killing it at the next level, but I digress). They've had success in the NCAA Tournament, but they really haven't had a great regular season since 2014 when they were a three seed. This season was supposed to be more promising with all five starters returning, but Cuse is now 7-4 with an offense that lacks outside shooting and a reliable post-option. 

                                                    (Rich Barnes, Getty Images)

• Bonus Content: I didn't catch any of these games, but the Pac 12 is kind of garbage right now. USC lost to Santa Clara at home, and Stanford lost to San Jose State. This is after the lone ranked team in the conference lost to Vanderbilt on Monday night. This could be the rare power conference that only gets 2-3 bids on Selection Sunday, or maybe worse. 

Week One College Hoops Observations

College basketball is back, and due to some employment circumstances beyond my control, I’ve been able to watch a fair amount of it over the last seven days. What follows is some of my observations from what I’ve watched over the last week. I hope to write at least a post once a week depending on what else in life goes on. I may write more, I may write less. Here’s what I thought about the opening week of games.

Did Duke just break College basketball?: I mean, the Blue Devils came back to Earth a bit in their second game against Army, but this hypothetical stems from its opening salvo when Kentucky was made to look extremely pedestrian. This debut from the boys from Durham simply smashed all expectations I had for this team, especially compared with all the hype surrounding the previous two freshmen-laden preseason top five teams. To come out and make KENTUCKY look like a freshman team scrimmaging the varsity was something that I don’t think anyone expected. Each of the four freshmen completely blew me away with their athleticism and their competitiveness. I expected this to be the case with Zion Williamson, but RJ Barrett,  Cam Reddish, and Tre Jones all had moments that made me say “holy shit!” while watching at home. Are they going to be able to maintain this dominance all year? Will someone like Virginia or Syracuse be able to figure out a way to guard them, thus giving other teams a blueprint heading into March? Will role players Jack White or Alex O’Connell become the next white Duke player all of America hates? These are all questions going forward for what is sure to be an entertaining ride watching the 2018-19 Duke Blue Devils.

                                                                              (Getty Images)

Kansas Not to be outdone by Duke’s freshmen, Kansas has two freshman guards that also acquitted themselves rather well on opening night. Quentin Grimes and Devon Dotson both had stellar debuts as they combined for 37 points in leading the Jayhawks to a mostly easy win over Michigan State. Udoka Azibuike crushed Nick Ward, and Dedric Lawson managed a 20-14-6 line despite a horrible 5-for-18 shooting night from the floor. Ten players logged minutes for the Jayhawks, and they look like they have the best 1-10 roster in the land. Without Duke going ballistic, this would have been the story from opening night. The Jayhawks also struggled a bit in their second game, but this game Lagerald Vick hit all eight of his threes on his way to 32 points. It looks like Kansas could have a different player that goes off in any given game. 

Trash or Nah: I honestly don’t know if Kentucky is going to be good or not. Preseason polls and recruiting rankings are saying that they are a Final Four threat. My eyes tell me that they maybe have only one or two shooters, too many big guys that can’t space the floor, a freshman point guard that should be a high school senior that looks spooked every time he comes in the game, and countless other issues. Stay tuned on this one, as we won’t really know much until the Wildcats play Seton Hall, Utah, and North Carolina in December. 

Players of the Week: 

• CJ Massinburg: Massinburg put on a clinic against West Virginia, netting 43 points with 35 coming in the second half in Buffalo’s road upset over WVU. He hit nine threes, with most of them coming from deep NBA range. He didn’t do much in Buffalo’s other two wins, but Massinburg is the leader for a team that could be the next mid-major that stakes its claim in going from virtual unknown to top 25 mainstay in 2018-19. 
• Markus Howard: The best scorer in the Big East led the Golden Eagles to two wins putting up averages of 28-8-6 with only four turnovers. After a quiet opener, he torched Bethune-Cookman for 37 in game number two. 
• Zion Williamson: Other than already being a cultural phenomenon on a first-name basis, his numbers stood up as well in his first two college games. Williamson is shooting 81.4 percent from the field, averaging 27.5 PPG, 11.5 RPG, and 3.5 blocks. Obviously these won’t continue, but if he can average a double-double with that kind of shooting, he could easily surpass his teammate RJ Barrett and others to win Player of the Year. 
• Oshae Brissett: Tyus Battle got most of the preseason love, but Brissett might be the best all-around player in Syracuse. The sophomore has started the season off with 18.5 PPG, 11.5 RPG, and 2.5 Steals as Cuse cruised in its first two games. 
• Ty Jerome: Jerome doesn’t get as much hype as Kyle Guy or Deandre Hunter, but he’s arguably the most important player on Tony Bennett’s roster. Jerome kicked off his campaign to be the best point guard in the land by leading UVA in points, assists, and steals in his first two games. He’s made 10 of his first 14 threes, and is a pest at the heart of Virginia’s top-ranked defense. 

New faves: I really don't follow recruiting over than to learn the names of the top 100 freshmen coming into college each season. So I almost always have no clue what to expect with newcomers playing for prominent teams at the beginning of the year. That leads to discoveries such as the players I mention here being unexpected joys to watch.  This begins and ends with Georgetown freshman and Virginia native Mac McClung. I just assumed that he was a dunking phenom who wasn’t actually any good at playing basketball. Come to find out he’s starting in the backcourt with another freshman against Illinois and contributing heavily. I legitimately said “Oh God” aloud when he got a steal and had a wide open path to the rim last night Two or three other Sportscenter Top 10 type plays and it’s safe to say The Hoyas will be appointment television within the Big East. Another one who stood out is USC’s Kevin Porter Jr. He’s been creeping up draft boards as a potential one-and-done, but even while playing limited minutes due to foul trouble Sunday night against Vanderbilt, you can see that he could take the Pac 12 by storm with his athleticism and ability to get to the rim. Lastly, Zach Hankins from Xavier stood out. He is a Caucasian with tattoos and cornrows. He’s a rim protector who at times gave Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ fits when the two squads met last night. Happ absolutely murdered him in the post to the tune of 30 points, but Hankins had some moments where he swatted a couple of shots and talked copious amounts of shit the whole time. I compared him on twitter to a bigger version of former Big East villain Eric Devendorf. Whether he or Xavier is relevant this year is hard to say right now, but at least for one night he stood out. 

             

                                                                        (Fox Sports 1)

Worst that I Saw: The offenses of Georgia Tech and Cincinnati were rather putrid in nature in losses to Tennessee and Ohio State respectively. Neither squad is really known for their offensive prowess, but 0.76 points per possession on 3-for-19 from three (Georgia Tech), and 0.89 PPP on 23.1 percent from deep as you open your brand new arena (Cincinnati) is no way to go through life. 

Mid-Major love: Buffalo has to be the leader in the clubhouse right now for best mid-major that started the season outside the top 25. Hoops junkies knew they were going to be good with most of the 2017-18 team that destroyed an Arizona team with three guys now playing in the NBA back this season. But two road wins, including one over West Virginia that could age really well has the Bulls in the top 25 already. They’re experienced and have had a taste of March success already. If they can beat St. Bonaventure on the road later on in early December, they could be 11-0 heading into a December 18^th showdown with Syracuse at the Carrier Dome. 

Week Ahead: The 2K Empire Classic is not necessarily a loaded field, but Syracuse-UConn and Oregon-Iowa on Thursday, with the winners and losers matching up on Friday could make for decent intrigue. From a Big 10 vantage point, this is the first chance for Iowa to pick up a quality win as they try to come back from a losing season with the majority of that roster still in Iowa City. Other questions to be answered: How good is Oregon's freshman Bol Bol? And is Syracuse really a threat within the ACC and a dark horse Final Four contender?

                           

                                                                       (Rich Barnes Getty Images)

Charleston: The tournament here is sneaky good with two top 25 teams, and then a bunch of other fringe top- 100 teams that could pull off a couple of upsets. I honestly don’t know if Purdue or Virginia Tech is the best team here. Purdue is still figuring things out after losing four program cornerstones to graduation. Carsen Edwards is a Player of the Year candidate, but how good can the supporting cast be? VT brings back most of its roster, but as of right now is missing its most versatile player with Chris Clarke suspended. Nickell Alexander-Walker might be on the verge of becoming a breakout star. Wichita State, Alabama, and Davidson all loom as bracket busters that could really set themselves up for big seasons with a couple of upset wins.

 Big East-Big 10: This event already kicked off last night with two games, but it really gets going tonight with a rematch of last season’s National Championship game. Michigan heads to Villanova to try and get revenge. Marquette just cracked the top 25 and gets an important test when they head to Bloomington to play Romeo Langford and Indiana. There are four other games of varying importance also set to take place over the next three days with Seton Hall at Nebraska, Ohio State at Creighton, Penn State at Depaul, and St John's at Rutgers. 

Picks Sure to go Wrong: (So if one were into gambling or that sort of thing, go the other way)

• Villanova over Michigan
• Nebraska over Seton Hall
• Marquette over Indiana
• Purdue to win the Charleston Classic
• UCF to win the Myrtle Beach Invitational
• Syracuse to win Empire 2k Classic

Weekend (Plus Monday) in Review

The SEC-Big 12 Challenge and a top five clash in the ACC highlighted the last three days of college basketball, that of wish I actually got to watch a fair amount for the first time in a while. So that's why after a brief hiatus, I'm back to provide analysis of what went down. Here's a brief look at some of the highlights and other random thoughts from the games I watched over the last three days.

                               ( Ty Jerome has seven assists and three steals to lead
                                  UVA to a two-point win at Duke (AP Photo).

Best Win: With apologies to Big Blue Nation and its mammoth road win in Morgantown, the Wahoos get the nod here for winning at Duke for the first time since 1995. To put that into context for those that know me, I was 5'4, in the 8th grade, and weighed about 100 pounds at the time. Coming into the game, it was known that this would be decided by Virginia's defense and whether it would be able to stop Duke's offense. The Cavs ended up holding the Blue Devils to 0.97 points per possession, and kept them under 70 points for the first time all season. Marvin Bagley and Wendell Carter gave them problems in the paint, but Duke's perimeter players couldn't do anything against the pack-line defense. Ty Jerome hit the key three-pointer late, and Kyle Guy scored 17. There was also nothing better than Guy almost causing another Grayson Allen meltdown at the end of the game. Virginia is for real, whether you find them boring or not. This might be the year they break through in March.

Worst Loss: Kentucky potentially salvaged its season by erasing a 17-point deficit at West Virginia. The Mountaineers really had no business losing this game, especially at home. There are still too many question marks on offense to really take this team seriously in the grand scheme of things. They still really much too heavily on Jevon Carter, and aside from some deep shooting from Beedle Bolden, had no shows from Daxter Miles, Lamont West, and Esa Ahmad. That trio combined for 3-for-20 shooting for the game from the field, which combined with the fact that Kentucky stopped turning the ball over after halftime, enabled the freshmen-dominated Kentucky squad to get the win. If they can't cause turnovers, how does West Virginia figure out its offensive woes?

Player of the Weekend: I tend to go off the grid a bit with these, and so even though it wasn't the flashiest performance, Jaren Jackson Jr. keyed Michigan State's comeback win at Maryland. Only a freshman, Jackson is already one of the best rim protectors in the land, and he had four blocks as Sparty picked up a 74-68 win in College Park. He only took six shots, but made both of his three-pointers he took in a key stretch at the beginning of the second half that helped them silence the crowd that was beyond hyped with Maryland in desperate need of a resume-boosting win. Jackson also had eight rebounds, as he and Nick Ward did their usual work contesting and blocking shots at the rim for one of the best defenses in the land.

Most Efficient Performance: Surprisingly Purdue gets the nod here because it struggled a bit with Indiana in knocking off its in-state rival in Bloomington The Boilermakers are one of two teams that are ranked in the top ten in both offensive and defensive efficiency per KenPom, and it held Indiana to 3-for-16 shooting from three. The Boilermakers didn't turn the ball over, and made 15-for-18 from the free throw line to offset a cold shooting day from deep. People seem to think that they just bomb threes and always beat people that way, but Sunday's game showed that Matt Painter's team can pound the ball inside, get stops on defense, and find other ways to win as they now sit at 21-2 overall with an undefeated mark in Big 10 play.

Random Miscellany:

• Florida Gonna Florida: There might not be a more widespread range of March outcomes for any team in the country than Florida. Its win at home against Baylor showed that this is one of the best teams in the country when they're hot from the outside. The Gators have looked really good, and also really terrible multiple times this season. Good luck figuring out what to do with them in your bracket. 
• Props to Donta Hall: All the talk going into Saturday's Oklahoma-Alabama game was justifiably centered around the matchup between Trae Young and Collin Sexton. But the Crimson Tide has a solid defense anchored by Hall, who ended the game with eight blocks. The combination of the Tide's defense with the abilities of Collin Sexton and John Petty to set the Earth ablaze from the perimeter at any time will make the Tide a tough out going forward. 
• Eff You Phil: I recently went to a Villanova-Depaul game here in Chicago, and since I'm a Carolina fan and Phil Booth had the game of his life in the National Championship game two years ago against UNC, I dislike him. I literally said "Eff you Phil" any time he did anything positive in game. Booth is now out for a couple of weeks with a broken hand, meaning that Donte DiVincenzo now has to start. Nova still was able to beat Marquette on the road Sunday, but they may slip up a time or two with freshman Collin Gillespie essentially taking up the extra minutes. Gillespie has been solid, but is also coming off an injury that kept him out of eight games earlier. Without much depth and with Jalen Brunson tweaking an ankle, one more injury could ruin things for the number one team in the country. 
• Ukainmaker Making it Rain: Kansas dismantled Kansas State fairly easily, and are once again the favorites to win the Big 12 for about the 98th year in a row. Svi Mykhailuik isn't getting enough love as Kansas continues to devour Big 12 opponents. He was only occasionally effective his first three seasons in Lawrence, but he might be the most improved player in the country this season. Svi had 22 points Monday night, and is shooting an insane 47.9 percent from three in 2017-18. He's automatic from deep, can get to the rim, and is finally starting to show the promise that had him touted as a future NBA player.