Week of 2/12/24
It was another great week in the world in College Basketball, with a lot of teams trending up and down. It was a poor shooting week, especially from deep. There is less than a month left of regular season basketball, which is making things really interesting.
Starting at the top is UConn and Purdue, who coasted this week. UConn took on Butler and Georgetown, winning 71-62 and 89-64, respectively. Cam Spencer and Donovan Clingan led the way for the Huskies against Butler, as Spencer had 20 points, while Clingan had 18 and 14 rebounds. Clingan was in foul trouble the past 2 games, but he had just 1 foul in the game. The game was evenly played, as they both had 33 rebounds, Butler had just 1 more turnover, and UConn had 1 more foul. But UConn forced Butler to shoot 4-18 from three, while they shot 6-17. UConn was never trailing, and their largest lead got up to 14. UConn carried that momentum into their next game against Georgetown on Saturday, as Alex Karaban had his biggest since last month, which also happened against Georgetown. Karaban had 25 points and 4 rebounds in 29 minutes. Spencer had a big game with 10 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds. Stephon Castle had 17 points and shot 8-11 from the field. Clingan once again had just 1 foul. UConn got a huge boost off the bench, as they scored 27 points. Tristen Newton, who’s averaging 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists had quitter games this past week. He had 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists against Butler, and 6, 6, and 9 against Georgetown. He took just 3 shots in that game, and shot 3-11 against Butler. Hopefully Newton can bounce back this week when the Huskies take on DePaul and Marquette. They’re going to steamroll DePaul, as they are possibly the worst P6 team this season. The game is going to be a lot harder against Marquette, but it is at home. As for Purdue, they destroyed their rival Indiana on Saturday. That was their only game of the week, winning 79-59. Zach Edey had 26 and 13, his 8th straight double-double. He also hit his first career three-pointer in the win. Edey is averaging 23 points and 12 rebounds, both top 3 in the country. Braden Smith had 19 points and 9 rebounds, while Lance Jones had 7 points and Fletcher Loyer had 5. Purdue dominated Indiana down low, as they had 15 more rebounds. Purdue’s largest lead was 28, while IU’s was 3. Purdue hopes to keep on rolling this week, as they take on Minnesota and Ohio State. Following those two are Kansas, North Carolina, and Houston. Even though they lost on Monday, Kansas jumps the Tar Heels with their impressive win against Baylor. I’ll start with that game, where it came down to the final shot. Although Kansas once possessed a 12-point second half lead, Baylor started to come back with 2 minutes left. Ja’Kobe Walter missed a three-pointer to tie it up with a second left. Kansas got the rebound and won. Hunter Dickinson had 15 points and 7 rebounds, while KJ Adams Jr. had 13. Kevin McCullar Jr. didn’t play, but it seemed like it didn’t matter for Kansas. McCullar leads the team in scoring, averaging 19.5 this season. Johny Furphy and Dajuan Harris Jr. had 11 points and 14 points, respectively. Kansas did have a tough time shooting, as they shot 24% from deep. Baylor also out-rebounded them, as they Bears had 42 to Kansas’ 25. However, the Jayhawks forced 21 turnovers. Kansas capitalized off those turnovers, as they had 17 points off them. Kansas played similar in the game against Baylor as they did against Kansas State. Against KSU, Kansas shot 20% from deep, had 10 less rebounds, and forced a lot of turnovers- 16 this time. However, in that game Kansas could not keep the lead. Dickinson had 21 points and 12 rebounds, while McCullar and Harris had 15 points. Harris also had 8 assists, whole McCullar had 6 and 6. KJ Adams Jr. had 13 points, but fouled out. Dickison also fouled out, while Furphy had 4 fouls. Kansas takes on Texas Tech and Oklahoma this week. UNC also lost earlier in the week, that loss coming to Clemson. They lost 80-76, and never led. They tied the game twice, once in the first minute and the second time was with under 4 and a half minutes. Armando Bacot had 24 points and 13 rebounds, while RJ Davis had 22 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds. Harrison Ingram had 11 points and 6 rebounds, shooting 3-5 from deep. Cormac Ryan played 30 minutes, but scored 2 points, shooting 1-10 from the field and 0-6 from three. UNC shot similar to Clemson, and there wasn’t a big difference in between any stats either. UNC came back from down 16 to tie the game in the second half, but they couldn’t stop PJ Hall. UNC also had a hard time against Miami, but they untimely prevailed, winning 75-72. RJ Davis had 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Bacot had 10 and 15, while Ingram had 13 points. Bacot ended up fouling out. After a quiet game against Clemson, Elliot Cadeau had 19 points and 8 assists. Cormac Ryan shot 2-6 from the field in the game. Even though they turned the ball over 16 times, they shot 41% from the field. For two weeks straight, North Carolina has lost early in the week before winning on Saturday. They play Syracuse on Tuesday and Virginia Tech on Saturday this week. It very well could happen again, as they take on Syracuse on the road ad VT at home. As for Houston, they coasted this week with wins over Oklahoma State and Cincinnati. Against OSU, Jamal Shead and Elijah Sharp had big games, scoring 23 and 16 points, respectively. Mylik Wilson had 2 points off the bench, but those were about the only impressive performances in the game. Houston shot 40% from 3 and 49% from the field. Houston also forced 17 turnovers and grabbed 34 rebounds. Houston’s largest lead got up to 29, while Oklahoma State’s largest lead was 2. Things were a lot shakier against Cincy, as Houston shot 3-16 from deep and 39% overall. Houston had 16 more points in the paint. J’Wan Roberts had 20 points, shooting 10-15. Jamal Shead shot 6-25 overall and 2-8 from deep, but scored 16. Houston’s defense got back on track after their game against Kansas, holding Oklahoma State to shooting 24% from deep. They let Cincinnati shoot 37% from the field. Houston is still in first place in the conference, a half game in front of Iowa State. Houston has just 1 game this week, taking on Texas at home.
Just outside of the top 10 are Marquette, Duke, Tennessee, Arizona, and Iowa State. Marquette slides up a spot after their win over Saint John’s. They won 86-75 in their only game of the week. Tyler Kolek had a big game, with 27 points, 13 assists, and 7 rebounds. Kolek shot 11-17, and is shooting nearly 50% overall this year, 49.6% to be exact. That’s sixth in the Big East. Kolek is averaging 7.5 assists this season, which is first in the conference by a large margin. Kolek is also averaging 15.6 points and 5 rebounds. Kolek is protected to go in the late first round in multiple mock drafts, and I can see why. If Kolek can put together a great postseason, he has potential to rise on draft boards. Oso Ighodaro had 9 and 9 in the game, while Kam Jones had 10 points. He shot 3-1 from the field and 1-6 from 3. Stevie Mitchell had 14 points, and David Joplin had 12. Ben Gold and Chase Ross combined for 14 points off the bench as well. Marquette came back from down 15, mainly because of their 3pt shooting. Marquette shot 52% in the game, and 56% overall. Marquette takes on Butler before a very tough game at UConn. If Marquette can pull of the upset twice, as they play UConn again on March 6th, they’ll win the Big East and maybe even end up with a number 1 seed in the tournament. Duke also moves up a spot with wins over Notre Dame, winning 71-53, and Boston College, 80-65. Mark Mitchell led the way against Notre Dame, with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Kyle Filipowski had 8 and 9, but shot 2-9. Jared McCain had 11 points, while Tyrese Proctor had 9 and Jeremy Roach had 7. Caleb Foster had 13 points off the bench. Duke is full of stars, which led to them winning even though they shot 22% from deep. Notre Dame only led once, which was when they hit a 3 pointer to start the game. Duke also forced 15 turnovers and had 8 more rebounds. All the stars were out against BC, as all 5 starters were in double-digit points. Mitchell had 17 and 7, Filipowski had 16, shooting 7-15, Proctor had 10 and 5, McCain had 11, 10, and 6 assists, and Jeremy Roach had 16 points. Sean Stewart and Caleb Foster both had 5 points. Foster had 6 rebounds as well. Duke shot 47% overall and 33% from deep. Duke takes on Wake Forest and Florida State this week. As for Tennessee, they drop 3 spots, as it is their 2nd loss in their last 4 games. Dalton Knecht had 22 points and 7 rebounds, while Zakai Zeigler had 15, 6, and 6. However, he shot 5-15 overall and 1-8 from deep. Tennessee had a tough night shooting, going 27% from three. Jonas Aidoo, Santiago Vescovi, and Jordan James combined for 15 points as starters, but Tobe Awaka, Jordan Gainey, and Jahmai Mashack combined for 17 points off the bench. Tennessee had a bad shooting night, going 37% from the field and 27% from deep. Tennessee also never led, losing 85-69. Their whole game was different against LSU, as they shot extremely well, going 55% overall and 46% from deep. Tennessee’s largest lead was 26, and LSU never led. LSU shot 24% from deep as well. Tennessee was out-rebounded, as the Tigers had 40 rebounds to UT’s 26. Dalton Knecht had 27, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists, while Zeigler had 17 and 9 assists. Jonas Aidoo had 10 points as well. Vescovi and James had quieter games, while Jordan Gainey had 18 off the bench. Mashack had 6 points as well. Tennessee ended up winning 88-68. Tennessee takes on Arkansas and Vanderbilt this week. As for Arizona, they went to triple overtime against Utah before steamrolling Colorado. Against Utah, the game was sent into OT, double OT, and triple OT all because of Arizona misses. Kylan Boswell missed a three pointer that sent it to overtime, while Caleb Love missed the last shots in both the first and second overtime. Zona had 4 of the 5 starters play in 40+ minutes. Pelle Larsson and Caleb Love both played 48, scoring 27 and 19, respectively. Larsson also had 7 rebounds and 8 assists, shooting 10-17. Love shot just 5-20, but had 10 rebounds. Kylan Boswell played just 30 minutes, scoring 16. Oumar Ballo had 10 and 16 in 45 minutes, while Keshad Johnson had 17 and 9 in 44 minutes. Jaden Bradley played 29 minutes off the bench, scoring 9. KJ Lewis had 7 points in 23 minutes. Even though they had 53 rebounds, Arizona was still out-rebounded. 52 of Zona’s 105 points came in the paint, and the Wildcat’s biggest lead got up to 16. They didn’t struggle nearly as much against Colorado, as the Buffs’ largest lead was just 6. Arizona’s was 20. Arizona forced 16 turnovers, scoring 23 off them. Arizona shot 53% from the field and 45.5% from deep in the game, with Love shooting 4-6 and Larsson shooting 2-4 from deep. Love ended up with 19 points and Larsson had 18. Boswell had 15 points. Ballo had 16 and 13 as well. Jaden Bradley dropped 14 off the bench as well. It was a roller coaster type week for Arizona, and they take on Arizona State this week. As for Iowa State, I think I was being way to harsh on them. I had them at 15th when they were 12th in the AP Poll, and 17th when they were 14th in the AP Poll. They jump 7 spots this week with wins over Texas and TCU. Texas and TCU aren’t insanely good, but they were both once ranked. Anyways, they beat Texas on the road, 70-65. Milan Momcilovic led the way with 13 points and 5 rebounds, while Tamin Lipsey had 12, 7, and 5. Iowa State played really good team basketball against Texas, which helped them never trail and force Texas to shoot 21% from 3 on their home court. Against TCU, the same thing happened. Tre King had 15 points, while Keshon Gilbert had 13. Curtis Jones had 13 points in both games. Momcilovic had just 5 points, as he shot 2-7. ISU shot 50% from the field and 42% from three. ISU shared the ball, as they had 20 assists. Iowa State didn’t force 27 turnovers like they did last time, but they did force 12. ISU really played perfect against TCU, leading to their 71-59 win. They take on Cincy and Texas Tech this week.
The next 5 teams consist of Illinois, Baylor, Auburn, South Carolina, and FAU. I’ll start at the back this time with FAU. They played 2 overtime games this week, losing to UAB and beating Wichita State. Johnell Davis had 17, 11, and 5 against UAB, but he shot 5-21. Alijah Martin had 14 points and 7 rebounds as well. FAU shot 26-77 overall, which was 34%. That’s not too bad, but its much worse in comparison to UAB’s 44%. FAU forced 15 turnovers and turned them into 16 points, but were dominated in the paint, with 12 less points there. FAU could not close the game late in both the second half and overtime, something that was the opposite against Wichita State on Sunday. FAU didn’t have a chance to close out the game in the second half, as Wichita State had the last shot attempt. Then, in overtime, FAU out scored the Shockers, 21-8. Vladislav Goldin led the way for FAU, as he had 20, 9, and 5. Goldin tacked on 2 steals. Davis had 14 points in his 32 minutes as well. Brandon Weatherspoon had 19 points in 29 minutes off the bench, the second most in his career. Just like Arizona, FAU had a roller coaster of a week. FAU takes on Temple and USF this week. South Carolina is one spot ahead of FAU, as they had a close win over Ole Miss before steamrolling Vanderbilt. Against Ole Miss, Collin Murray-Boyles had 16 points and 9 rebounds, shooting 8-11 overall in his 24 minutes. Ta’Lon Cooper had 12 points and so did Myles Stute, but everyone else was underwhelming. That led to SC nearly blowing a 17-point lead. It was a close first half against Vanderbilt, as SC went into overtime down 32-28. However, SC trailed for just 15 seconds in the second half before taking over to win 75-60. South Carolina ended up shooting nearly 52% from the field and 31% from deep. Murray-Boyles had 31 and 7, while Cooper had 7 assists. BJ Mack had 18 points as well. South Carolina got through the week, and take on Auburn on the road and LSU at home. Speaking of Auburn, they got revenge on Alabama to start the week before falling to Florida on Saturday. The beat Alabama 99-81, as Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome combined for 50 points and 13 rebounds. Tre Donaldson also had 14 and 6. Even though they shot 26% from three, they forced 15 turnovers and grabbed 42 rebounds. However, their shooting did not get better. They shot 17.6% from three, and this time they lost 15 turnovers. Auburn never led, and started the game down 13-2. Broome led Auburn in scoring with just 14 points. Williams had 6 points, shooting 3-10. Hopefully Auburn can improve this week when they take on South Carolina and Kentucky, both at home. Baylor and Illinois both lost this week, but it doesn’t move Illinois at all and a previous win over Texas Tech moved Baylor up. Starting with Baylor, they beat TTU 79-73. Baylor had 9 more rebounds and shot 49%. RayJ Dennis led the way with 21 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds. Yves Missi had 17 and 7 as well. Baylor did not build on that positive performance against Kansas, as they trailed for most of the game. They did start to comeback late, but still couldn’t tie it up or take the lead. Baylor lost the ball 21 times, and they could not stay consistent. Baylor plays Oklahoma and West Virginia this week. In Illinois only game last week, they fell to Michigan State in East Lansing, 88-80. Both Illinois and Baylor get the benefit of their losses coming on the road. Terrence Shannon Jr. had 28 points and 7 rebounds, nearly playing all 40 minutes. Coleman Hawkins had 14 points and 7 assists in 33 minutes as well. Illinois had a big lead with under 8 minutes left, but they chocked it away. Hopefully they don’t this week against Michigan and Maryland.
The last 5 teams of the top 20 are Creighton, Alabama, Dayton, Wisconsin, and Virginia. Wisconsin falls 5 spots after their fourth loss this weekend to Rutgers. They got destroyed 78-56, where they never led. Wisconsin shot 24% from deep, while Rutgers shot 59% from beyond the arc. Connor Essegian led the way with 15 points in 24 minutes off the bench. Outside of AJ Storr, the other starters combined for 19 points and shot 7-27. Storr shot 5-16 himself, going 0-5 from deep. Wisconsin also lost to Michigan earlier in the week, 72-68. Wisconsin shot 26% from deep in that game. Wisconsin also got no help off the bench, as the bench players combined for 6 points. Wisconsin takes on Ohio State and Iowa this week. In their 4-game losing streak, their loss at home came to Purdue. Ohio State is not Purdue, so hopefully Wisconsin ca get a nice win at home before heading back on the road. Dayton also lost this week, falling to VCU 49-47. That was the same score for the last 3 minutes and 4 seconds off the game as well. All Dayton had to do was make 1 shot in 3 minutes, and the game would’ve been tied. Dayton shot 23.5% from deep, which did not help at all. Nate Santos and DaRon Holmes II combined for 31 points, and no one else helped in the points department. Dayton did beat Saint Josephs earlier in the week, which does help them not fall. Dayton takes on Duquesne and Fordham this week. As for Virginia, they destroyed Miami before taking down Florida State on the road last week. Against Miami, Reece Beekman had 16 points and 7 assists, while Ryan Dunn and Isaac McKneely combined for 14 rebounds. UVA then went on to shoot amazingly against FSU, going 50% from the field and 55.6% from deep. McKneely had 29 points, shooting 8/12. Beekman also had 21 points. Virginia has now won 8 straight, and are sitting at 19-5. That’s the same record as teams like Arizona, Kansas, North Carolina, and Auburn, who are all ranked higher than them. UVA takes on Pitt and Wake Forest this week, both at home. Alabama went 1-1 this week with a win over LSU and a loss to Auburn. Alabama had 33 fouls against Auburn, which led to the Tigers making a school record 40 free throws. Alabama also had 15 turnovers. Mark Sears had 25 points and 9 rebounds, while Grant Nelson had 16 points. Alabama then balled out against LSU, scoring 60 points in the second half. Sears had 23, 8, and 5, while Latrell Wrightsell Jr. had 21 and 10. Rylan Griffen and Aaron Estrada combined for 31 points, while Nick Pringle had 17 off the bench. Alabama takes on Texas A&M this week. Creighton, who’s ranked the highest out of all of these teams. They lost to Providence before beating Xavier this week. Against Providence, Creighton got destroyed in the paint, as they had 24 less points in the paint. It was close throughout, but Crieghton couldn’t get it done in OT. Creighton reversed the rolls against Xavier, as they had 10 more points in the paint. Ryan Kalkbrenner had 28 points and 7 rebounds in the win. Creighton takes on Georgetown and Butler this week.
The last 5 teams in the top 25 are Kentucky, Oklahoma, BYU, Saint Mary’s, and Indiana State. I’ll start with the three teams that weren’t in the poll last week, Oklahoma, Saint Mary’s, and Indiana State. Oklahoma has had an up and down season, and for a while it looked like they couldn’t stay consistent. That all changed last week when Oklahoma took down both BYU and Oklahoma State. They beat BYU 82-66 and OSU 66-62. Javian McCollum scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half to help Oklahoma win 82-66, outscoring BYU in the second half 48-32. Milos Uzan also had 16 points while Sam Godwin had 8 rebounds to further help OU’s upset. Against their rival, Oklahoma State, it was the Jalon Moore show, as he had 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 blocks. McCollum also made 4 clutch free throws late to seal the game for OU. Oklahoma has a big week ahead of them, taking on Baylor and Kansas. Saint Mary’s has a very good shot to win the WCC, as they’re undefeated in conference play at 11-0, and at least 2 games ahead of anyone else in their conference. Saint Mary’s had a very bad start to the season but figured things out right before conference play, and that means that they have a great shot to be an automatic qualifier in the tournament. The Gaels destroyed Pacific and Portland this past week to advance to 20-6. They’re led by Aidan Mahaney, who’s averaging 14 points per game. Although he had no points against Pacific, he had 20 the game before and 19 the game after. Saint Mary’s take on Pepperdine this week. As for the last of the new comers, Indiana State, they look like a team that could make a big upset come March. They’re 22-3, and first in the Midwest Valley Conference. They’re led by the trio of Isaiah Swope, Robbie Avila, and Ryan Conwell, who are all averaging 16 or more points per game. Indiana State beat Valparaiso and Missouri State last week, and take on Illinois State and Southern Illinois. The other Big 12 team in this group of 5 is BYU, who lost to Oklahoma and beat K-State. Against OU, BYU started down and could never get back up for a long period time, and it certainly didn’t help that OU shot 29 free throws to their 16. They turned the tables against K-State, as they forced 16 turnovers and took 21 free throws. BYU’s largest lead in that game was 17. BYU takes on UCF and Oklahoma State this week. Kentucky has been sliding recently with losses to Florida, Tennessee, and now Gonzaga. Even though the Zags shot 22% from deep, Kentucky had 12 less rebounds, which didn’t help on the offensive end, as they had 40 points in the paint to Gonzaga’s 50. Kentucky is now 16-7, and tied for fifth in the SEC. UK plays Ole Miss and Auburn this week.