Reags Roundup: A Wild Ass Wednesday Is Exactly Why We Watch College Basketball
I plan on doing these every so often, or really whenever there’s a million good games. 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, picks and best games for the night if it calls for it.
I know I did these a bit different the last few days with a roundup of top-25 teams. But, after last night I sort of just want to talk about the sport of a whole. More importantly, nights like last night is exactly why I love this dumb, beautiful game. I get asked quite a bit about why I like college basketball more than the NBA and I fully acknowledge that the NBA is a better game, with more talented players, more free-flowing and easier to watch. But, we rarely get nights in the NBA like we did last night. A crazy upset in the NBA is a team like the Hawks beating the Warriors. In college hoops we’re getting East Carolina beating Cincinnati or Texas Southern beating Oregon. Or last night we saw Rutgers beat Ohio State.
What we saw on the court last night was awesome. There were a million close games with miraculous endings (we’ll get into that). But, we also saw teams have to come back in order to avoid an upset. We saw crazy swings in the gambling world that was well-documented last night by all of us here at Barstool Sports. There’s something beautiful about the way a college team can collapse late in a game for simply no reason. Let’s get into the top-25 games from last night.
No. 4 Virginia 83, Boston College 56
I can’t stop talking about how much I love this Virginia team. They are now one of just two remaining undefeated teams in the country and they are flat out kickings teams asses. De’Andre Hunter continues to be the most important piece for this team and I’d still make the case that he may be the most underrated player in the country. I know people talk about him quite a bit, but his versatility allows Virginia run that defense with correct rotations better than ever.
No. 7 Kansas 77, TCU 68
Dedric Lawson, man. He may mess around and end up in the NPOY conversation. He isn’t being talked about in that shortlist just yet but he should be after another 30+ point game and 15 rebound game. We saw them run more of a spread offense with Azubuike out and that’s where Lawson is going to benefit. He’s getting more touches and we saw him take advantage of the space by using his little shimmy into the lane and drop step/baby hook. We also saw the debut of Ochai Agbaji, who had his redshirt pulled to add depth to the rotation. He was damn impressive in that debut. He had 7 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals.
No. 9 Virginia Tech 52, Georgia Tech 49
One of the forgotten games last night was this Virginia Tech/Georgia Tech game. The Jackets actually had a chance to take the lead twice in the last 1:30. They missed a front end of a one-and-one and then a pretty open layup rolled out. I’m impressed that Virginia Tech was able to win a game like this. When you think about the Hokies you think about them running and wanting to play in the 80s. I know Georgia Tech isn’t a great team, but this is a road game in a style that Virginia Tech doesn’t really want to play.
No. 10 Nevada 92, San Jose State 53
A bounceback game for Nevada and we saw a different look. The Wolf Pack actually moved Caleb Martin to the bench to start the game. He struggled with his shooting in the first half before scoring 21 of his 23 in the second half. Really that’s the story of this game. Nevada struggled in the first half as a whole, scoring just 32 points and letting San Jose State stick around. But, then playing at home and against a sub-300 team the second half opened up for them.
Ole Miss 82, No. 11 Auburn 67
For sure the arguably biggest win won’t be talked about enough because of all the crazy ass endings. But, Ole Miss got the home win and a notable win for first year head coach Kermit Davis. Terence Davis continues to be a star for the Rebels going out and getting 27 as he completely outplayed Jared Harper, who was just 3-for-14 from the field. Ole Miss simply just responded every time Auburn made a run – they cut it to 2 with 9 minutes left before Ole Miss pushed the lead back up. The Rebels are 12-2 and now up to 34 in KenPom. Their losses are only at Butler and neutral vs Cincinnati – no bad losses. For a team that was expected to finish in the bottom of the SEC, this is one hell of a start.
No. 13 Florida State 68, Miami 62
You want to talk about balance? Florida State had no one score over 13 points as they had 6 guys score 6 to 9 (nice) points. Florida State has a unique style still with their pressing and trapping with a big guy at the rim to protect a 2 on 1. It’s a different way we see teams push tempo and one that I really enjoy watching.
Rutgers 64, No. 16 Ohio State 61
How about Rutgers here? They continue to be competitive under Steve Pikiell and they finally caught a team this year. Arguably more importantly it was with Eugene Omoruyi playing just 7 minutes after suffering a dislocated knee cap according to Pikiell. CJ Jackson had a pretty clean look from three to tie it up but clanged it off the rim. This is a bad loss for Ohio State though who was trying to hold on to the 3rd or 4th spot in the Big 10. After blowing the lead at home against Michigan State they went on the road and loss to Rutgers, who, while they are better will still likely finish in the bottom-2 of the Big 10.
Temple 73, No. 17 Houston 69
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That’s how the game ended. On a charge call. Was it correct? Probably. I’d lean more towards a no-call here, but if you’re making a call it’s a charge. That said, I stand by that losing on a charge call on the buzzer is the worst loss you can have. It’s not like a player is hitting a ridiculous shot or making an incredible play, you’re going to a ref for a 50/50 whistle. Just brutal. Temple continues to lean on guys like Quinton Rose and Shizz Alston, who combined for 34 points. This was a big win for Temple. While they are 12-3, computer models don’t really love them as they are still No. 66 in KenPom. They didn’t really have a notable win and with a limited AAC schedule you have to win home games in order to get on the bubble. The three teams that people expect to make the NCAA Tournament – Houston, UCF and Cincinnati – you have to win those games. They only get Cincinnati once and already lost at UCF. That’s why this is so important in order for Temple to get closer to the bubble.
No. 21 Marquette 106, Creighton 104 (OT)
Markus Howard dropped 53 points. But, it was Sam Hauser that had everyone talking because of this ridiculous shot at the buzzer. The ending to the game was absolutely bonkers – not to mention this game was absolutely awesome. Marquette made a layup with less than a second to go to cut the lead to 3. Okay, no problem. Just get the ball inbounds and no matter what happens you win. Well, Creighton overthought it a bit and made the long pass. Remember this is college basketball. Dumb mistakes happen so obviously they overthrew it.