Week of 2/5/24
It was a stacked Saturday, with 4 top 10 matchups and 5 ranked matchups. Those games caused a lot of shakeups, along with other upsets throughout the week. There's only 1 month left off regular season basketball. Teams like Texas Tech and Iowa State need to stay consistent, while Purdue and Tennessee need to avoid upsets.
In a league of their own, UConn and Purdue can’t be stopped. They were both tested this week, but they both preserved. With UConn, it came against Saint John’s on Saturday. UConn was without Alex Karaban, which made it even harder for the Huskies. It was close throughout, and Saint John’s went into halftime up 37-36. It continued to stay close until 13 minutes left in the game. That’s when UConn started to pull the way, off the back of players like Tristen Newton and Stephon Castle. Newton finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists. He didn’t have the best shooting game, as he went 4-11 from the field and 0-4 from deep. He went 10-11 from the line, his second straight game with over 10 free throws attempted. Newton’s averaging 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists this year, making him a strong candidate for national player of the year. As for Castle, he had 21 points, going 7-12 from the field. Castle had a very hot day, and has been an integral part of UConn’s 10 game winning streak. Cam Spencer led the way with 23 points and 3 steals in 39 minutes. UConn shot insanely well, as they shot 49% from the field and 46.7% from three. They crashed the boards too, as they had 38 rebounds to St. John’s 23. UConn was also tested by Providence on the 31st, as they went into halftime up 1. Although UConn led for most of the second half, it was always close until UConn scored 5 points in 30 seconds at the end, winning 74-65. Castle shot 50%, scoring 20 points. Newton had a double-double off 16 points and 11 rebounds, going 10-16 from the line. Cam Spencer also had a good game, with 15 points and 7 rebounds. UConn didn’t get that big of a spark off the bench, as the 4 bench players combined for 4 points. UConn did not shoot nearly as well against Providence, as they went 4-23 from deep. They were a lot sloppier when it came to shooting free throws, as they only missed 2 against Saint John’s. They missed 10 against Providence, which came out to 72%. UConn now looks forward to playing Butler and Georgetown this week. I have no doubt that they’re going to win these games, but UConn still has to play Marquette twice. Hopefully they don’t look to far ahead this week to that game. As for Purdue, they also got tested twice this week. However, unlike UConn, they didn’t start to pull away in the second half. In their first game of the week, which was against Northwestern. Northwestern took it into overtime, as it was 81-81 at the end of regulation. Purdue went into the half up 47-39, but Northwestern out scored Purdue 42-34 in the second half. It was a high-scoring overtime, as Purdue out-scored Northwestern 24-15. Zach Edey and Braden Smith both played 41 minutes, both putting up double-doubles. Edey scored 30 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, his sixth straight double-double. Edey had a tough time shooting free throws, going 8-17. Smith had just 11 points, 8 of them in the first half. However, he had 16 assists, which is not only a career high, but the second most in a Purdue game ever. Smith’s averaging 7.3 assists this season, 4th in the country. He’s also averaging 12 points per game and 5 rebounds. Lance Jones had another big game, as he had 26 points and made 5 of his 7 threes. Fletcher Loyer had 15 points, and Mason Gillis had 14 off the bench. Purdue destroyed Northwestern in the paint, as they had 36 rebounds to NU’s 22. They also had 12 more points in the paint. Purdue had less than half of Northwestern’s fouls. Purdue suffered another scare against Northwestern, which was something that stayed with them into the game against Wisconsin. The first half was back and forth, and eventually ended with Purdue going into the half up 34-32. They kept the lead for the rest of game, but Wisconsin eventually came within 2 points with 5 minutes left. Purdue did get away from that, as they won 75-69. Zach Edey had 18 points and 13 rebounds, making it his seventh straight double-double. Smith had 19 points, but just 3 assists. However, he had 2 steals. Loyer had 12 points, but Mason Gillis just had 2. Those 2 points were the only bench points in the game from Purdue, but Gillis did have 6 rebounds. Lance Jones had another big game, with 20 points and 6 rebounds. Jones is averaging 13 points a game, and is hitting 36.4% of his threes this season. Once again, Zach Edey and Purdue dominated when it came to rebounds. They had 42 to Wisconsin’s 29. Purdue escaped, which seems like the theme for their season. They take on their rival Indiana in their only game of the week. It is at home, which should give them an edge. 2 of the next 3 teams both lost this week, those being North Carolina and Tennessee. However, they both got huge wins on Saturday, locking them into their placement. I’ll start with North Carolina, who stays at three. Their week started off with a 1-point loss to Georgia Tech. The game went into halftime tied 37-37, and GT’s Naithan George made a game winning layup. RJ Davis had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but he missed the jumper. Harrison Ingram had 8 points and 13 rebounds, going 2-7 from three. Bacot had 9 and 9, which looked a lot better than his last 2 games. RJ Davis was the only player that played well, as he had 28 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. He did have to take 24 shots, while Ingram and Cormac Ryan both shot 14, and both made just 3. All of Ryan’s made shots were 3-pointers as well. UNC shot 36.4% from the field, going 28-77. On paper, UNC played better than GT, as they had more rebounds and less turnovers. They also add in a lot more stats. However, they could not make a shot. They had to change that before taking on their rivals, Duke, on Saturday. Well, they did, and ended up shooting 50% overall and 37.5% from deep. They made 9 threes, 5 of which came from Harrison Ingram. Just 1 game after going 2-7 from deep, Ingram made 5. He finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Ingram has real NBA potential, as he is an excellent 2-way player. Bacot finally had a big game, with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Davis had 17 points. Seth Trimble had a big game off the bench, as he had 10 points, shooting 5-9. UNC had 10 more assists than Duke did, and they also had 5 more steals. UNC got a big win over the rival, who they won’t meet with again until March 9th. North Carolina takes on Clemson and Miami this week. As for Tennessee, they rebounded for their loss against South Carolina to beat Kentucky. They also had a poor shooting night, shooting 36% overall and 24% from deep. Dalton Knecht continued his hot streak, as he had 31 points and 7 rebounds. But that was just about the only good thing that Tennessee did. Only 1 other player had double-digit points. 3 starters made either 2 or less of their shots, and bench players combined for 3-10 shooting. They shot 48% from the field and 40% from deep. All 5 starters were in double-digits when it came to points. Josiah-Jordan James and Zakai Zeigler both had 26 points, but Zeigler undoubtably had player of the game. Along with his 26 points, he had 13 assists and 3 steals. He also shot 3-6 from deep. Knecht had 16 points and 4 rebounds, while Jonas Aidoo had a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds. Tennessee also out-rebounded Kentucky and had less turnovers. Tennessee takes on LSU and Texas A&M this week. In between UNC and Tennessee is Kansas, who had a hard game against Houston on Saturday. But before that, they had to play Oklahoma State. That proved to not be a problem, as they destroyed OSU 83-54. Oklahoma State never led, and all of Kansas’ starters were in double-digits. Hunter Dickinson and KJ Adams Jr. both had 16, and Dickinson also had 11 rebounds. That game proved to not be a problem for the Jayhawks, which continued into their game against Houston. Houston had one of the best defenses this season, and they still do, but Kansas exposed them. They exposed them to the tune of 78 points, 20 of them coming Hunter Dickinson. Dickinson made a real case for national player of the year in that game, as he had 20 points and 8 rebounds off 9-15 shooting. Johnny Furphy and Kevin McCullar Jr. both had 17 points. Furphy tacked on 8 rebounds and McCullar had 7. Adams had 10 points and 7 assists as well. Kansas shot nearly 70% from the field, which is always incredible, but when you do it against a defense as good as Houston’s defense is, that’s a true accomplishment. Kansas is looking like their former self’s, which they’re going to need to look like to finish this gauntlet of conference games they have left. They take of Kansas State (doesn’t count towards ranking) and Baylor this week.
Following the top 5 is Houston, who just got embarrassed by Kansas. Following Houston is Marquette, Duke, Arizona, and Kentucky. Houston entered the game against Kansas leading the nation in field goal defense, at 35.5%. They allowed Kansas to shoot 68% in the first half. Houston also had the nation’s best scoring defense at 52.9 points per game. Kansas hit 53 minutes with just over 14 minutes left in the second half. Houston also had not allowed more than 72 points in a game all season, and had allowed 52 just 2 games prior. Houston still put up a fight, as they scored 65. L.J. Cryer had 24 points, while Jwan Roberts had 11 points and 13 rebounds. Jamal Shead had 7 points and 9 assists as well. Usually that’s enough for Houston, but because their defense couldn’t keep up, neither could their offense. However, they could the game prior, as they beat Texas in overtime, 76-72. In that game, Texas shot 43%, going 26-60. Jamal Shead had a big game, leading Houston with 25 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists. He did all of this in 42 minutes, while being in foul trouble for most of the game. Hopefully Houston’s defense can get back to its old ways this week when they play Oklahoma State and Cincinnati. Neither are good teams, but with the way Houston is playing, I’m not sure it matters. As for Marquette, they took care of business at Villanova before slaughtering Georgetown. Against Villanova, Marquette got carried big time by Tyler Kolek, who had 32 points, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds. Oso Ighodaro had 15 points and 8 rebounds, while Stevie Mitchell had 12 and 9 rebounds. Without Kam Jones, Chase Ross shined off the bench, as he played 31 minutes and got 11 points and 4 rebounds. Marquette made 50% of their shots, and made 45.5% from three. Although Marquette won by just 5, Villanova’s largest lead was just 4 compared to the Golden Eagle’s 20. Marquette than beat Georgetown on Saturday 91-57, in Kam Jones’ return. He dropped a career-high 31 points. Tyler Kolek and David Joplin helped out, as they had 17 and 15 points, respectively. Kolek also had 8 assists. Once again, Marquette shot well, which led to their win. If they can keep on doing that, they could have the Big East locked up. Marquette takes on Saint John’s this week in their only game. As for Duke, their week was swapped compared to their rival UNC. They won in the game that they played on a weekday, and lost on Saturday. They beat Virginia Tech 77-67. Jeremy Roach had 16 points off the bench, while Kyle Filipowski led the starters with 14 points and 8 rebounds. Tyrese Proctor had 12 points, and the rest of the starters were a little underwhelming. Jared McCain had 9 points and 10 rebounds, but shot 3-10. McCain turned around his game against UNC, but it wasn’t enough for the win. McCain had 23 points off 9-18 shooting. He also led the team in rebounds with 11. Jeremy Roach reentered the starting lineup and had 20 points, while Filipowski scored 22, but got into foul trouble, which partially contributed to the loss. Tyrese Proctor had an off night, shooting 1-6. Duke had a field goal percentage of 50.7, but only shot 26% from three. They had 6 more turnovers than UNC, including key ones late. Before the game even started it seemed like UNC was going to win the game, and Duke couldn’t catch up. Their largest lead was only 2. Duke plays Notre Dame and Boston College this week. Arizona had a pretty easy week, taking down Cal and Stanford. Oumar Ballo posted a double-double in both games, with 22 points and 13 rebounds against Cal and 18 and 13 against Stanford. Stanford was one of the teams that beat Arizona earlier in the year, and it looked like it was going to happen again. Stanford went into halftime up big, 45-34. But Zona’s defense shut down Stanford’s shooting in the second half, letting them go 9-32 and forcing 11 second-half turnovers. Caleb Love had 18 points while Pelle Larsson had 17, helping Arizona’s comeback. Against Cal, it showed why Arizona is one of the best teams in the country. They were never behind, and once took a 29-point lead. They had 19 more rebounds than the Golden Bears. Arizona also drew 20 fouls, and shot 18-30 from the line. That’s not the best, but shooting 30 free throws is still really good. After 2 straight home games, Arizona heads on the road twice this week to play Utah and Colorado. Now for Kentucky, who falls 3 spots after an 0-2 week. They started the week of with an overtime loss at home to Florida, 94-91. It was a back-and-forth game, but Florida played better when it meant more. Reed Sheppard played all 45 minutes, scoring 24, grabbing 8 rebounds, and also totaling 6 assists. Ugonna Onyenso had a double-double of 13 points and 16 rebounds, while Antonio Reeves had 19 points. Rob Dillingham also had 20 off the bench. It's fine having your two top scorers be freshman, but that is going to bite Kentucky in back later down the line, whether that be the SEC tournament or March Madness. Antonio Reeves is a senior, and so is Tre Mitchell, who’s another starter. They need to take the led in close games, which didn’t happen against Tennessee. Dillingham had a career high 35 points in the loss, shooting 70%. He also had 4 assists and 2 steals. He did all of that in 27 minutes, as he fouled out. Reeves had 21 points while Sheppard had 16. Sheppeard also had 6 assists and 5 rebounds. However, he also fouled out. Not having your star players is going to hurt you, and it hurt them to the degree of an 11-point loss at home. Kentucky takes on Vandy on Tuesday before having a rare non-conference game this late in the season against Gonzaga.
The next 5 teams are Illinois, Auburn, Baylor, Wisconsin, and Creighton. I’ll start with Creighton, who continues to disappoint. It seems like every week or so Creighton lets us down in one way or another. It happened before when they were upset by Colorado State, UNLV, and Villanova, all in different weeks. Or when they got blown out by UConn. We knew they had a slim chance of winning, but we all thought it would’ve been closer. This time it was when they were upset by Butler at home in their only game of the week. 3 of the 5 starters played 40 minutes, while Ryan Kalkbrenner played 38. All 4 of the, scored 20 or more points, with Baylor Scheierman and Steven Ashworth both scoring 26. They played just 2 players off the bench, Fredrick King and Francisco Farabello. With just under 12 minutes left, Butler took the lead. Creighton never led again, but they did tie it up multiple times. Creighton needs to get it together before they play UConn again later this month. They take on Providence and Xavier this week, both on the road. Those games are going to be tough, based off of how Creighton has been playing recently. Wisconsin has not started off the month of February in a good way. In their first game of the month, they fell to Nebraska on the road, 80-72. Wisconsin led by 16 at halftime and their led swelled 18 at one point in the second half. They then proceeded to blow that led, and got outscored 13-5 in overtime. AJ Storr had 28 points, but that was about it. Max Klesmit and Chucky Hepburn both had 13 points, but didn’t make much of an impact. Outside of blowing their lead, Wisconsin played alright. That trend continued into their game against Purdue. They didn’t have a big lead to blow, as their largest lead was just 5. Wisconsin shot 41.5% from the field, but just 3-19 from deep. They had 10 more points in the paint than Purdue, and 6 less turnovers. One of the only areas that Purdue did better than Wisconsin was rebounding, as Wisconsin had 13 less rebounds. Tyler Wahl led the way with 20 points, while Storr had 14. Wisconsin needs to shape up going into their games this week, as they play Michigan and Rutgers on the road. As for the other Big 10 team, Illinois, they suffered a close win over Nebraska on Sunday to stay alive in the Big 10. They won 87-84 in overtime, needing a Marcus Domask free throw at the end to send the game to OT. Coleman Hawkins had 20 points, while Domask had 19 and Terrence Shannon Jr. had 18. Ty Rodgers also had 14 rebounds. They only had 10 bench points compared to Nebraska’s 17. It was an up and down game for Illinois, but what won it for them was their play down low. They had 50 rebounds to Nebraska’s 33 and 14 more points in the paint. Combined with them destroying Ohio State earlier in the week, Illinois is now 17-5 overall and 8-3 in conference play, tied for second. Illinois has one game this week, taking on Michigan State. Baylor also had a close game this weekend, barely beating Iowa State. Baylor did this with coach, Scott Drew, being ejected for the first time in his career. Baylor still preserved, but needed a buzzer beater from Iowa State to be overturned to win. It would’ve been an impressive win if Drew wasn’t ejected, but the fact that he was ejected and Baylor still got the win makes it even better. RayJ Dennis had 18 points and 7 rebounds, while Jayden Nunn had 16 points, including the game winning layup with 2 seconds left. Baylor beat UCF earlier in the week, as Langston Love led the way with 24 points and 7 rebounds off the bench. The starters didn’t really have productive games, but Dennis had 11 points and 8 assists. Baylor has a tough week though, as they play both Texas Tech and Kansas, traveling to Kansas. As for Auburn, they got back on track after 2 straight losses with wins over Vanderbilt and Ole Miss. They absolutely destroyed both teams, beating Vandy 81-54 and Ole Miss 91-77. I’ll start with the game against Vanderbilt, where Jaylin Williams had 21 points and Johni Broome had a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds. Denver Jones also had 19 points. Against Ole Miss, Auburn rallied from down 9 t halftime and at one point 13 to beat the Rebels. Jaylin Williams had 16 points, while Johni Broom had 15, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists. He has a serious case for SEC player of the year, as he’s averaging nearly 16 points, tied for seventh the SEC. He also is averaging 9 rebounds, first in the conference. He’s also shooting the second best out of anyone in the SEC from the field. Chad Baker-Mazara had 15 points off the bench, and K.D. Johnson had 11. Auburn also had 42 rebounds and 44 points in the paint, 16 and 12 more than Ole Miss, respectively. Auburn plays Alabama and Florida this week, which could trip them up. They already lost to Alabama this season, but that was on the road. They now get a chance of revenge at home. As for the game against Florida, the Gators upset Kentucky last week, and that was on the road. Imagine what they could do at home to Auburn. I’m not saying Auburn will lose, but they have to be very careful this week, as they’re just 1 game behind first place in the SEC. IF they beat Alabama, Auburn should be either tied or have sole possession of first place in the SEC based on the South Carolina game. Auburn takes on SC on the 14th of this month.
The teams rounding out the top 20 are FAU, Iowa State, Dayton, Alabama, and South Carolina. I’ll start with the 2 mid-majors, FAU and Dayton. FAU had just 1 game this week, destroying Tulsa 102-70 for the 7th straight win. In a pretty chaotic Saturday, this game was much quieter, mainly because of FAU’s offense. They scored 62 points in the second half, and shot 53% overall. They also shot 38.5% from deep. All 5 starters were in double digits, as Johnell Davis led the way with 24 points. Alijah Martin had a near double-double, with 16 points and 9 rebounds. FAU also forced Tulsa to shoot 14% from 3 and go 26-70 from the field. FAU takes on UAB and Wichita State this week, both on the road. As for Dayton, they move up 1 spot with wins over Saint Bonaventure and George Washington. DaRon Holmes II led the way in both games, with 25 points against George Washington and 34 against St. Bonaventure. He also had a double-double against GW, grabbing 12 rebounds. Holmes is averaging 20 points per game and 8 rebounds per game, and is hoping to bring Dayton to an A-10 crown. Dayton hasn’t won since 2003. Dayton takes on Saint Josephs and VCU this week. The two SEC teams, Alabama at 19 and South Carolina at 20, are going to have a photo finish for the regular season SEC crown. Bama is 16-6 overall and 8-1 in SEC play. SC is 19-3 and 7-2 in conference play. Alabama already beat South Carolina this season, in a 74-47 blow out game. Alabama also blew out a team last weekend, taking down Mississippi State 99-67 on Saturday. Alabama was up 47-24 at halftime and once led by 34. Mark Sears led the way with 21 points, while Aaron Estrada had 15 points and 8 rebounds. Alabama also beat Georgia last week. Everyone got in on the action against Mississippi State, and that should hopefully continue when Bama travels to Auburn to take on the Tigers. They already beat them, but that was at home. Its different this time, but Bama has a good team. Alabama also takes on LSU on the road. As for South Carolina, they started their week off on a high note. They upset Tennessee on the road, 63-59. Ta’Lon Cooper led the way with 18 points, while B.J. Mack had 16 points, 7 of them from the line. Mack did not shoot well at all, going 4-15 from the fields and 1-8 from deep. Zachary Davis didn’t make a sing of his 5 shots, 4 of them from three. Still, SC has two top 10 upsets this season, both in their 5-game winning streak. South Carolina then did a good job of avoiding the letdown against Georgia, winning 72-62. This time, SC shot nearly 52% from the field. South Carolina takes Ole Miss and Vandy this week. Iowa State had a bit of a tougher week, as they lost their only game, docking them 2 spots. It was close, as Iowa State lost 70-68 to Baylor. Although ISU’s largest lead was just 7 points, they had multiple chances to win the game. Baylor’s coach was ejected with about 11 and a half minutes left in the game, which should’ve let Iowa State get the win. They had the win for about 30 seconds, too. Milan Momcilovic had a game winning three as time expired, but it was overturned, as he released the shot after the final buzzer. It was a poor shooting night for everyone except Keshon Gilbert, who went 7-12. The officials also had to check if the clock started on time multiple times near the end, which you could also blame on the loss. However, ISU’s play didn’t cut it. We know they’re better than this, but they didn’t look like it Saturday night. Iowa State plays Texas and TCU this week.
Finally, the last 5 teams in the top 25 consist of Utah State, BYU, New Mexico, Texas Tech, and Virginia. Utah State did lose this week, falling to SDSU 81-67. However, that game was on the road, where USU’s 2 other losses were. That means that it was just Utah State’s third loss. Utah State is still in possession of first place in the Mountain West, tied with Boise State. Utah State also beat San Jose State last week. USU does fall in the rankings, but only by 1. They take on Nevada on the 6th before playing Boise State for first place in the Mountain West. Speaking of Boise State, they upset New Mexico this week. But obviously, I’m not going to talk about Boise State, I’m going to talk about New Mexico. The Lobos didn’t get a lot of help from the bench, as they combined for 9 points compared to Boise State’s 13. New Mexico didn’t have a bad day shooting as a team, but Jamal Mashburn Jr. and Jaelen House didn’t shoot well. Mashburn went 2-7 from deep, while House went 2-15 from the field and 1-8 from deep. That was UNM’s only game last week, and play Wyoming and UNLV this time around. BYU had an easy week, taking down West Virgina in their only game. Fousseyni Traore scored a season high 24 points, while Richie Saunders had 17 points off the bench. BYU largest lead was 17, while WVU’s was just 4. BYU will play Oklahoma on the road before returning back to Provo to play Kansas State. As for Texas Tech, they had a horrible week. They started it with a loss on the road to TCU, and finished with a 3-point loss at home against Cincinnati. TTU shot really well against TCU, going 52% from the field and 50% from three. However, they turned the ball over 4 more times than TCU and had 7 less rebounds. They followed that up with losing to a Simas Lukosius jumper with 21 seconds left. Pop Isaacs then missed a jumper of his own and after a dunk on the other end from Cincy, Isaacs missed a 3-pointer. Hopefully Texas Tech can regroup and change things this week when they play Baylor and UCF. As for Virginia, they reenter the polls after a win on the road at Clemson, 66-65. Jacob Groves led the way with 17 points off the bench, while Isaac McKneely and Reece Beekman both had 14 in 33 and 36 minutes, respectively. UVA also had just 6 turnovers in the game. Virginia also beat Notre Dame last week. Virginia is now 17-5, and play Miami and Florida State this week.