Forget the AP, here’s our take on the Top 25 teams in college hoops…
1. Kansas (16-0) – Sure Blake Griffin sat out the entirety of last night’s game with a knee injury, but Kansas still flat out embarrassed Oklahoma, 85-55. The Jayhawks have played the best basketball of the three remaining undefeated squads. And ever since we chose Mario Chalmers as the best Jayhawk, Brandon Rush has taken his game to a new level. In KU’s first two conference games, Rush is averaging 17.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2.5 steals. He’s also hit nine triples in these two games.
2. North Carolina (17-0) – The Tar Heels nearly ran NC State off the floor this weekend, busting out from a 9-9 game to a 41-11 lead by the time most people shook off their hangovers. Wayne Ellington had 13 points on 4-9 shooting, looking as smooth as ever. If you could take one shooting guard from college hoops, would he be the one?
3. Memphis (15-0) – The Tigers’ January schedule from here on out looks like this: at Rice, hosting Southern Miss, at Tulane and hosting Gonzaga. Without the ‘Zags’ 13-4 record, those opponents are a combined 25-25. Strength of schedule? Memphis’ smattering of ranked teams isn’t nearly as tough as playing in one of the five best conferences. They have a shot at the perfect regular season, but would they be sufficiently prepared to Dance?
4. UCLA (16-1) – Now that UCLA is mostly healthy (with the exception of Michael Roll), Russell Westbrook has moved to his natural position as the sparkplug sixth man. He’s come off the bench for the Bruins the last four games, in which he has only averaged 14 points per game, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.
5. Tennessee (14-1) – Tennessee’s only real weakness is on the glass. Though the Vols’ emerged on top after Tyler Smith’s powerful move to the tin, Mississippi out-boarded the UT 43-36. Bruce Pearl misses Duke Crews, who has been sidelined with a heart condition since early December. While Pearl figures out how to remedy his rebounding problems, here’s another interesting question: Would this team be better if Chris Lofton didn’t start? His scoring is down seven points per game, and his field goal percent has dropped from 47% to 34%. Ramar Smith could potentially do more with those minutes.
6. Duke (13-1) – The Dukies played uncharacteristically airtight defense in their 87-65 win over Virginia, forcing 19 turnovers – 12 of which came as steals. This Duke team also pulls from deep as much as any in recent memory. They took 31 attempts from three against Virginia, making 35.5% of those tries.
7. Washington State (14-1) – No longer unbeaten, the Cougars learned from their 81-74 loss to UCLA on Saturday how much they struggle with a talented post player (Kevin Love had 27 and 14). But they also proved a certain never-say-die spirit as they connected on SEVEN triples in the final three and a half minutes. “I’d never seen anything like that,” said Kevin Love. Darren Collison added, “Wow.”
8. Pittsburgh (15-2) – Keith Benjamin emerged at the absolute perfect time for Jamie Dixon. After seeing scant minutes for Pitt’s first eleven games, Benjamin has played over 30 minutes in their last six, and finished in double figures in his last five. He had 18 on 5-10 shooting, capitalizing on the Hoyas’ slow shift from doubling DeJuan Blair.
9. Indiana (14-1) – In the Gordon Bowl, the matchup between the two schools that Eric Gordon pitted against each other in a heated recruiting battle, his Hoosiers rallied back from a second-half deficit to defeat the Illini 62-58. D.J. White had 15 points and 10 boards, and will be tested again when IU travels to Minnesota by their big duo of Dan Coleman and Spencer Tollackson.
10. Texas A&M (15-1) – It’s a much different team from last year, but the Aggies once again are one of the most underrated teams in the nation. They shot just under 63% as a team in the 86-69 win over Colorado, netting 10-18 attempts from deep when they weren’t dominating the paint.
11. Georgetown (13-2) – The Hoyas looked better last night when Roy Hibbert was out of the lineup. Pittsburgh seemed a half-step quicker and not all that vulnerable to Georgetown’s back-door cuts. More than anything though, we watched the game and didn’t hear DaJuan Summers’ name called AT ALL. He finished 0-7 with 5 boards and ZERO points.
12. Dayton (14-1) – Brian Roberts scored 53 points in the Flyers’ two games this week, 30 of which came in an overtime win against Saint Louis on Saturday. Roberts netted seven of Dayton’s 13 points in the extra period. But this isn’t a one-man operation – the Flyers have outrebounded their last seven opponents.
13. Butler (16-1) – After scoring in double-figures in five of his first six games, Pete Campbell sat for three games with a sprained knee. He’s since played limited action (under 20 minutes per game). But in just 20 minutes, he found his lethal 3-point stroke and hit for 15 points against UW-Milwaukee, the most since a 26-point performance at Virginia Tech in late November.
14. Mississippi (14-1) The 85-83 loss to Tennessee last Wednesday stung the Rebels as their first blemish on an otherwise perfect record. But Mississippi should celebrate a two-point road loss to the Vols, especially one in which their two guards Chris Warren and Eniel Polynice combined for 44 points on 16-32 shooting against one of the nation’s best backcourts.
15. Vanderbilt (16-1) Hats off to Kentucky for holding on despite Vandy’s furious comeback from a 16-point deficit. The Wildcats nearly doubled the Commodores production on the glass, 45-23, as A.J. Ogilvy only pulled down 5 boards – a team high.
16. Michigan State (14-2) – The Spartans scored a whopping 36 points, 18 in each half, in a 43-36 loss to Iowa. Drew Neitzel went 4-14 for 10 points and 6 assists in the loss. He’s shooting 27.3% from the field during conference play. “Subconsciously, he’s thinking, ‘If I’m going to show I can play at the next level, I’ve got to show that I can pass the ball,’” said Coach Izzo. “That’s great, but he was put on this planet to be a scorer. He still has to do those things this year. He has to be a little more selfish and get his mojo back. Thank God he doesn’t have a girlfriend, so they don’t have to blame her.”
17. Marquette (13-2) The Golden Eagles bounced back from a 15-point defeat to WVU by destroying Notre Dame 92-66 on Saturday. It was the most lopsided game in the history of this rivalry. That’s 88 years.
18. Wisconsin (13-2) – Trevon Hughes looked lost at the start of Big Ten play, making 4-13 shots for 11 points in the Badgers’ wins over Michigan and Iowa. But something clicked against the much tougher Illini – Hughes was 8-13 for 22 points, to go with 6 steals and 5 assists.
19. Texas (13-3) – There is only one rule in conference play: Anything can happen in conference play. D.J. Augustin and A.J. Abrams combined to shoot 5-18 from deep against Missouri. Texas assistant coach Ken McDonald noted that the Tigers’ guards worked tirelessly to challenge jumpshots. “McDonald said he was impressed with the defense Missouri’s guards played against Abrams and Augustin. He said the biggest factor was the Tigers’ ability to avoid screens and force Augustin and Abrams into difficult shots.”
20. West Virginia (12-4) – The Mountaineers live and die by the three-pointer. They shot 20% from deep in a loss to Notre Dame, then 50% in a win over Marquette, back to 23.5% when they dropped to Louisville and finally up to 38% in a twenty-point win over Syracuse.
21. Xavier (14-3) – The Musketeers held Fordham scoreless for seven straight minutes at one point during their 68-50 win on Saturday. On the other side of the court, B.J. Raymond has been red-hot, scoring 18, 21 and 20 points in his last three games. He’s hit at least four triples in each of his last four games, too.
22. Arizona State (13-2) – The Sun Devils are 3-0 in the Pac-10, awaiting a trip to Cal on Thursday before they visit Stanford on Saturday. The only concern for James Harden & co. is how the Sun Devils will deal with the size of their upcoming competition. And in the 64-59 win over Arizona, 6-10 Jordan Hill’s 18-point, 14-board night is a troubling sign.
23. Miami (FL) (14-1) – The ‘Canes have a great chance to establish some momentum at the outset of conference play. They downed Georgia Tech 78-68 on Saturday. They’ll travel to Boston College who lost to Robert Morris last week, and then will take the show to NC State before hosting UNC on the 23rd.
24. Baylor (13-2) – How well will the Bears fare in Big 12 play? Even though it was only Iowa State, Baylor weathered a 33-point (8-10 3FG) storm from 6-10 freshman Craig Brackins and still sailed to victory. Can they withstand similar outbursts from Michael Beasley, Blake Griffin or Stefhon Hannah?
25. Villanova (11-3) – The Wildcats are something like the river card in poker. You never know what is coming at the end. Dante Cunningham hit late free throws to beat Pittsburgh on the 6th, 64-63. Nearly a week later, the Wildcats were stunned by Cincinnati 69-66 despite Scottie Reynolds’ season-high 32 points.
Related posts:
January 15th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
GEE ...I am the 4th Don says:
Yea G-Town got done up and I have to give props. The zoo was rocking and them boys came to play. Blair did his thing and so did the pg.
G-Town played with a lot of maturity but they can’t expect their system to just automatically bring them back.
They were getting D’ed up from get go and were taking to many three’s. Once you see the three is not falling you need to start going to something else. V-Mack was impressive and probably should have gotten even more tick!
Ewing Jr’s dunk though….v i c i o u s!
January 15th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Desrat says:
UCLA had some mean D this weekend. They play like that they are going to be a monster come March.
January 15th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Myrie says:
Conference USA sux! So expect Memphis to go undefeated.
January 15th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Andrew says:
Gee - you think that Pitt is a better team than Georgetown? I’m not sure what to think - it just doesn’t seem that Pitt is a good matchup for the Hoyas at all. DeJuan Blair might be wayy shorter than Hibbert, but his strength and athleticism actually makes HIM the mismatch, not Hibbert.
January 15th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
GEE ...I am the 4th Don says:
I don’t think they are a better team. If you just want gut feeling I would say it was homecourt got them boys amped up.
Yet in looking at the matter, I would say they were very well coached and well prepared for Georgetown’s system, and Georgetown was not hitting shots. Entirely to many three’s attempted and missed and also Pitt was locking down that backdoor which Georgetown can live and die on from time to time.
I agree on Dejuan Blair because he is the type of player who lives to show a big man like Hibbert up. Last night he just got off.
I mean on one play he was clearly boxed out by like two Hoyas and when the ball comes down dude (not even over the back mind you) out jumps both of the Hoyas and then re-shoots the ball and hits and gets the foul. I was hurtin.
Big East Tourney will be a different story though I think Thompson will go to his smaller match up earlier with Mackey hitting and then bring in Hibbert to impose his will and finish them off or at least keep them at bay.
Props to Pitt though.