This week’s recap covers games from January 19 through 25.
Team of the Week
Purdue dominates twice, restates case for best team in the nation
After a disappointing loss to an unranked Nebraska Cornhuskers team two weeks ago, the Purdue Boilermakers dropped to No. 2 in the AP Poll after nearly a month of holding the top spot. Coming into this week, they had already righted the ship with two consecutive conference wins, but tests against the Iowa Hawkeyes and Michigan Wolverines still loomed.
On Saturday, the Boilermakers went into Carver-Hawkeye arena, where Iowa was 8-1 on the season, and made a statement. National Player of the Year favorite Zach Edey continued to make history by logging his third straight game recording at least 30 points and 14 rebounds en route to a double digit victory. Additionally, Edey blocked four shots, whereas every other player on the court combined for just three total blocks.
Consistent with the rest of this season, Edey’s output was absurd, and the rest of Purdue’s starters made solid contributions as well. Lance Jones made four of his nine three-point attempts, and Fletcher Loyer scored 12 points. In terms of ball movement, the Boilermakers relied heavily on Braden Smith, who dished out nine assists. Purdue led by as many as 19 points, never letting the Hawkeyes within striking distance in the second half. Iowa has yet to find their signature win this season, and may be in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament.
Iowa still hopes to go dancing, but Purdue’s second opponent this week, Michigan, has completely squandered their chance at an at-large bid due to an awful 7-12 start, including a 22-point blowout loss to Purdue on Tuesday night. The game was already a foregone conclusion at halftime: the Boilermakers led by 24 points, and Edey did not play the last nine minutes.
This week’s two convincing victories remind the nation who has the best résumé in the country. Purdue has 18 wins, five of which came against ranked teams, and just two losses, which were both on the road to conference opponents. The Boilermakers have the best offense in the country, led by the best player in the country. Regardless of where they are ranked in the AP Poll, they will be the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year barring a historic collapse.
Driving the Struggle Bus
BYU’s wheels fall off in the nation’s toughest conference
The BYU Cougars ended non-conference play with an impressive 12-1 record, but the team was more than aware that their first year in the Big 12, the most challenging conference in college basketball, would be a major test.
In fact, after their last non-conference contest, a huge 26-point victory over the Wyoming Cowboys, fifth-year head coach Mark Pope said, “We’re stepping into 18 straight really, really challenging games where we’ll have all kind of things happen to us.”
This week, Coach Pope’s prediction came to fruition. BYU’s opponent on the road this week was the Texas Tech Red Raiders. They have yet to lose a game on their home floor, but BYU seemed unphased by their deadly home court advantage after finishing the first half with a sizable 48-32 lead. However, BYU was sloppy, turning over the ball 12 times as opposed to Texas Tech’s six turnovers.
Additionally, the Cougars had trouble getting to the foul line, an issue that has plagued them all season long. According to kenpom.com, BYU ranks in the bottom three of all 362 D1 schools in the percentage of their points that come from free throws. On Saturday, they scored just three points from the charity stripe, whereas 17 of Texas Tech’s points were made free throws. Suffice to say, BYU’s halftime lead vanished, and the Red Raiders were victorious, 85-78.
After a short two-day turnaround, BYU was faced with an even tougher opponent, the No. 4 ranked Houston Cougars. This season, Houston’s defense has obliterated teams in ways that match up extremely well with BYU’s weaknesses. For example, per kenpom.com, Houston’s defense causes the third-highest percentage of turnovers per possession in the country, and BYU’s offense ranks tenth in turnover percentage out of the 14 Big 12 teams in conference play this season.
On Monday night, Houston forced 13 turnovers against BYU and held their offense to under 70 points for just the fourth time this season. In addition, BYU’s leading scorer this year, Jaxson Robinson, shot a ghastly 2-10 from beyond the three-point line. Ultimately, Houston’s defense proved too much to handle, and BYU dropped their second straight contest, 75-68.
The margin for error in the Big 12 is miniscule, and BYU will have to avoid being out-hustled by opponents if they are going to have success in conference play. However, recent struggles do not take away what has been an immensely successful season for the Cougars.
After Monday’s loss, Guard Dallin Hall said that the team “ha[s]... more room to grow, which is exciting.” Whether or not BYU learns from their losses in January will determine how they handle the gauntlet that is March Madness.
Stayin’ Alive
South Carolina boosts their tournament odds after SEC upset
Coming into this week, the South Carolina Gamecocks were 14-3 without a single home loss to a non-conference opponent, yet they haven’t been ranked all year and are on the outside looking into the NCAA Tournament. Why is that? Well, they had not yet secured a signature win against a ranked opponent. However, with the No. 6 Kentucky Wildcats coming into town on Tuesday night, the Gamecocks had their chance to slay a giant.
But first, they had to travel to Bud Walton Arena on Saturday night and face off against the Arkansas Razorbacks. This season, the Razorbacks had lofty expectations following an impressive trip to the Sweet 16. Disappointingly, they have only mustered up a 10-9 record, including Saturday’s loss to the Gamecocks.
South Carolina had four of their five starters score in double figures, including an 18-point effort from fifth year senior forward B.J. Mack. The Gamecocks’ leading scorer this season, Meechie Johnson Jr., had the lowest scoring output of the starters, which shows that South Carolina’s offense is one of the more balanced groups in the country. The story of the game was on the glass, as the Gamecocks outrebounded the Razorbacks 36-24.
Rebounding has been a strength of South Carolina’s attack all season long: they rank in the top 40 in the country in offensive rebounding percentage per kenpom.com. On the other hand, despite Kentucky’s lethal offense, the Wildcats have not been strong in grabbing boards this year.
On Tuesday, the Gamecocks outrebounded the Wildcats and shot eight percentage points higher from the floor. Surprisingly, after a 23-23 tie late in the first half, South Carolina never gave up the lead and coasted to victory. This time, they were led by a different starter, Ta’Lon Cooper, who scored 20 points on an efficient 8-11 shooting.
Kentucky is still in control of their own destiny regarding their seeding placement in the NCAA Tournament. Now, South Carolina is, too. The Gamecocks will need to continue to defend their home floor over the next month, but assuming they are able to do so, they will punch a ticket to March Madness.
Endangered Species
NC State is dangerously close to losing their way out of the tournament field
Like South Carolina, NC State entered this week with a decent record, 13-4, but zero quality wins. However, there was no team of Kentucky’s caliber on their schedule to give them a chance to prove themselves. In early March, the Wolfpack will play No. 3 North Carolina and No. 12 Duke in back-to-back games, but with the ACC in the midst of a down season, their early conference slate has been against mostly mediocre teams. Therefore, it is imperative that they stay out of the loss column if they want to be in consideration for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
On Saturday, the Wolfpack played a home game against an unranked, 10-7 Virginia State Hokies squad. The first half was disappointing for NC State, as they went into the locker room down one point, desperately needing energy to pull forward in the game’s final 20 minutes. The opening possession coming out of halftime resulted in a 3-pointer from the team’s leading scorer, DJ Horne, a much-needed confidence boost after only having scored four points in the first half.
For the next thirteen minutes of game time, the Wolfpack and Hokies traded baskets, including two more Horne 3-pointers. Then, with 7 minutes remaining, Virginia Tech’s leading scorer, Sean Pedulla, made a 3-pointer of his own to take the lead, 56-54.
From then on, the Hokies only extended their lead, including a 11-3 scoring run over the course of two minutes and 38 seconds of game time. The game ended as a loss for the Wolfpack, 84-78. After the game, head coach Kevin Keatts said, “We didn’t defend… we didn’t lock in… we relaxed a little bit.”
Wednesday night, the Wolfpack would have to do the opposite of “relax” to beat the Virginia Cavaliers, arguably a top-10 team on the defensive side of the ball. Unfortunately for them, their sluggishness from the second half of Saturday’s game bled into the beginning of their matchup against Virginia.
NC State was outscored 27-15 in a very low-scoring first half. The tides turned coming out of the break, and the Wolfpack clawed their way back into the game. With 3:28 left, sixth man Michael O’Connell made a layup to take the lead, 43-42. O’Connell would come up big again with a putback layup to tie the game with just 8 seconds remaining, forcing overtime. However, he did not record a single statistic in the five-minute overtime period, and the Wolfpack lost the game, 59-53.
After that second straight loss, Coach Keatts said, “We’ll get back, we’ll shake it off, and we’ll prepare for our next game.”
The Wolfpack still have a lot to play for: ACC standings, rivalry games, and school spirit. However, unless their team’s performances drastically change, shaking off this week’s two disappointing losses will not erase the fact that NC State’s tournament odds are near zero.