Reags Top-25 Roundup: Kevin Keatts Is A Winner (Except Last Night), RJ Barrett's Stepback & More
I plan on doing these every so often, or really whenever there’s a million good games on a Saturday. It’s just an easy recap, for those that couldn’t sit around all night and watch games. I get it. It’s one of the downfalls of college hoops. You lose a portion of the season because you’re overshadowed by football and people just waiting for March. So with that in mind, this is what happened around the country and some thoughts that I had on each game/team and then some awards at the end. Note it will just focus on top-25 teams to make life easier. At the bottom we’ll have a preview for tonight’s games.
No. 1 Duke 87, Wake Forest 65
Believe it or not but this was actually a close game for the majority of the first half. But, then Duke did what Duke does. They turned to Zion and RJ Barrett and let them just absolutely take control and win the game. Zion finished with a career high 30 points to go with 10 rebounds. This stepback from RJ was absolutely filthy by the way
No. 3 Tennessee 87, Missouri 63
Another game that was close for the majority of the first half – until Tennessee went on a 24-4 to close the half. Missouri was up 9 at that point! What I was most impressed with though was the balance Tennessee showed. Typically when you think of Tennessee you assume it’s going to be Admiral Schofield and Grant Williams beating you. That’s not saying they weren’t great, but last night it was Jordan Bone and Jordan Bowden leading the way with 17 and 20 points respectively. Oh and Kyle Alexander also had 17 rebounds. It’s going to be key for guys like this to continue to take away pressure from Williams and Schofield in order for Tennessee to win a national title.
No. 6 Michigan State 77, Purdue 59
Cassius Winston, man. That dude is going to be an All-American and is likely the favorite for Big 10 Player of the Year battling with Ethan Happ and Juwan Morgan. You may be wondering where Carsen Edwards is on that list and he’s a candidate for sure, but look at what that Michigan State defense did to him last night. Sparty held Edwards to 11 points on 3-of-16 shooting and 4 turnovers. Meanwhile Winston went for 23, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. I still think the development of wing players is going to determine Michigan State as a national title contender or Final Four contender. McQuaid and Ahrens combined for 13 tonight.
No. 8 Texas Tech 66, Oklahoma 59
Jarrett Culver. Buy all the stock right now if you haven’t already. Culver continues to just flat out win games for Texas Tech. This time he had 23 and 13 leading Texas Tech back at home against a good Oklahoma team – especially on the defensive side of the ball. Culver has turned into a mix of Keenan Evans and Zhaire Smith. What I mean by that is Tech is just giving Culver the ball to go make a play similar to what they let Evans do last year. He’s also breaking out similar to Zhaire and will be a top-10 pick in the NBA Draft. This game sort of shows the Big 12 this year. Winning at home is just so important in the race for the title, which Texas Tech is a part of. Oklahoma had a tough start to conference play losing by 7 at Kansas and Texas Tech. Good news is they knocked out two of the three toughest teams on the road early.
No. 12 UNC 90, No. 15 NC State 82
The game of the night in my eyes happened in Raleigh and I walked away incredibly impressed with both teams, but obviously UNC. They jumped out to an early lead, forcing NC State into quick shots and then turning those missed shots into easy run outs. NC State continued to press, which worked. They would force turnovers, make a run but the impressive thing was UNC answered every damn time. It didn’t matter what happened, every time they cut it to one possession, UNC would stretch the lead back up to 6-8. Luke Maye went for 21 and 11 but it was really balanced for UNC. Every starter had at least 11 points, but the concern is Cam Johnson went down in the second half and didn’t come back in after clutching his knee. The report was it was just cramps, but it’s something to monitor.
South Carolina 87, No. 14 Mississippi State 82 (OT)
What the hell is going on with South Carolina? This team looked absolutely awful in the nonconference and was projected to be one of the 2-3 worst teams in the SEC. They are now 2-0 in conference play with a road win over Florida and this home overtime win over Mississippi State. I guess it’s helping the conference since it’s taking away a chance for a ‘bad’ loss, but is South Carolina going to mess around and finish like 6th? For Mississippi State, it can look at one stat and one stat only. 56% from the free throw line as a team. That ain’t gonna do it.
No. 18 Kentucky 85, Texas A&M 74
We did see the absolute most absurd bad beat in this game:
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But from a basketball standpoint we saw what’s sort of been the Kentucky trend this year against inferior talent. They got off to a slow start, going down 10 early. They then woke up, pushed the lead to double digits on their own before letting A&M back in it during the second half while giving up a ton of threes. The positive? EJ Montgomery, Nick Richards and Immanuel Quickley looked damn good off the bench. The negative? Reid Travis has been a negative on the court for three halves in a row. I really wish we’d see Kentucky go small at times bringing Quickley in and pushing Washington to the 5 and Johnson at the 4. Quickley is really shooting the ball well now and is a strong defender to go next to Ashton Hagans – who continues to be the story here. Hagans is growing game after game offensively, continuing to look to attack off the bounce and get others involved. But, in the last 4 games (118 minutes played) he has 19 steals.
No. 19 Buffalo 110, Toledo 80
Well, this is the definition of an ass kicking. This was supposed to be one of the toughest MAC games for Buffalo – even with it being at home. Toledo was ranked in the top-70 on KenPom coming into the game. However, Buffalo’s big three made sure it wasn’t going to be close. Harris had 34, Massinburg had 17 and Perkins had 21 off the bench. Buffalo also continued to do what the Bulls like to do – force turnovers and turn it into easy offense. They forced Toledo into 17 turnovers. Buffalo needed a win like this to make sure people keep talking about them for an at-large if something bizarre happens in the MAC Tournament.
Baylor 73, No. 20 Iowa State 70
Ah, the classic beat Kansas and then letdown game. Granted it was on the road, but Iowa State, who many think can contend for the Big 12 title now, got off to a hot start before Makai Mason showed up. The former Yale standout and 10-year college student dropped 25 against the improved Iowa State defense. The Cyclones almost had a chance to tie this game late. With 5 seconds left Lindell Wigginton was fouled on what was called a three. However, after a review his foot was on the line and forced him to go to the line for just two. He made both to cut it to 1 before Baylor hit two free throws following. Iowa State actually had a chance to tie again and there was contact but the runner from three came up short.
Villanova 76, No. 24 St. John’s 71
Perhaps the demise of Villanova came a bit too soon. The Wildcats are now 3-0 in Big East play after coming from behind at home against St. John’s last night. It looked like the Red Storm were going to absolutely blow Nova out. They came out firing from three, jumping out to a 13-point first half lead and they were even up 11 in the second half. But, then Nova’s experience came out. Phil Booth and Eric Paschall scored 23 and 25 respectively. Booth hit the three to give Nova the lead with about 2:30 to go. This is sort of the game to watch if you’re a St. John’s fan. They shouldn’t have lost this the way they played, especially early. But, shot selection went to shit late. You can see a bit of panic. This is what happens when you finally are playing with expectations against a good team on the road. As for Nova, well, guess who is the favorite to win the Big East again?
Wednesday Night:
Will TCU finally get some respect?
TCU has been damn good lately with a 12-1 record and wins over Baylor and at SMU. But, they still are flying a bit under the radar due to the lack of a major win and the loss to Lipscomb. That can change tonight when they play Kansas at Kansas. It will be the second Big 12 game in a row that Kansas won’t have Udoka Azubuike as it was announced he’ll be out for the season following the loss to Iowa State. Look for TCU to try and use their two guards in Jaylen Fisher and Alex Robinson to beat Kansas defense off the dribble and kick. For Kansas, look for the 5-out offense centered around Dedric Lawson.
Offense in the Big East
Two of my favorite teams to watch go up against each other tonight. Marquette and Creighton play two of more fun offenses as they like to play fast, look for a shot and can attack. This Creighton backcourt should be talked about more with Ty-Shon Alexander, Mitchell Ballock, Damien Jefferson and Davion Mintz. Creighton is also coming off a game at Butler where they simply couldn’t shoot for shit. The 3-point line is going to be the difference tonight. Creighton is 43rd in the country in 3PA/FGA while Marquette is 53rd defensively in the same category. They are doing an excellent job of taking teams away from the line.
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Can Houston remain perfect?
Houston goes to Temple tonight in their first AAC road game. The Cougars are one of just three unbeaten teams left in the country and have separated themselves as the best team in the AAC. Temple is fighting to get on the bubble. The American has limited quality wins for a team like Temple so they desperately need a home win over the 31st KenPom team. Houston is going to slow the game down, but look to get up a bunch of threes. From there they look to extend the defense and then let guys like Corey Davis and Galen Robinson attack and dish.
Bounce back home games
Both Nevada and Seton Hall lost somewhat disappointing games on the road. Nevada got killed at New Mexico while Seton Hall lost at DePaul in a one possession game. Both return home today. Nevada gets the pleasure of playing San Jose State, who is one of the worst teams in the country. Seton Hall gets a Butler team who has been very up and down.
Auburn opens up conference play
One of the three teams expected to finish in the top-3 in the SEC is Auburn. They are a bit overlooked because of Tennessee’s dominance early and Kentucky being the name. But, Auburn should be talked about as a potential favorite in the league as well. They go to Ole Miss tonight in the conference opener. It’s quite simple. Auburn is the best in the country at forcing turnovers thanks to their pressing style and traps. Ole Miss is slightly below average in taking care of the ball. Whoever wins that battle should win the game.
5 Best Games:
Marquette at Creighton
Butler at Seton Hall
Auburn at Ole Miss
TCU at Kansas
Houston at Temple
Picks:
Georgia -1.5
Under 132 Clemson/Syracuse