PC and How6rd's CBB Corner: Week 5

Dude…

Another week of college basketball has passed and there were multiple good games including the best non-conference rivalries in the country. Multiple unbeaten teams went down as were inching closer to conference play for the entirety of Division 1 basketball. Mid-major upsets went down once again, but this week it was more so two teams within that same tier taking other mid-major powerhouses down. Follow along below as PC and How6rd recap what went down in more college basketball chaos around the country!

PC’S CBB CORNER

Is Clemson a top 4 team in the ACC?- At the beginning of the season, I don’t think anyone thought Clemson would be this good. The Tigers have gotten off to a 9-0 start with big wins over Alabama and TCU. PJ Hall is playing out of his mind and looks like a candidate for the Karl Malone Award for the best power forward in college hoops. Hall is averaging 20 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists a game. Former Syracuse guard Joseph Girard III is playing incredibly well in his new system offense. Breakout big man Ian Schieffelin is coming down with rebound after rebound. The Clemson Tigers weren’t even supposed to be in consideration for the top spot in the ACC, however, this team continues to prove it’s doubters wrong. Brad Brownell (who always seems to be on the hot seat for no reason) has found himself a squad that should do some damage. This team wasn’t on anyone’s radar at the beginning of the season, they should be now.

Is Texas even good?- Yes, it’s Texas. Yes, they have a squad full of talent. Yes, they play well in the Big 12 every year. Yes, they will more than likely figure it out. As of right now, I don’t have any faith in Rodney Terry’s squad right now. They are still ranked at #19 in the nation, but who have they beat?? Louisville who is 4-5 and has looked awful in the last 2 years. Guess what, they only won by 1 point!!! ONE!! They beat an average Wyoming team. Other than that, their wins have been against no name teams. When they have faced teams of any caliber such as #5 UCONN and #8 Marquette, THEY’VE GOTTEN SMOKED!!! Absolutely annihilated. It hasn’t even been close. Now some fans would say “ThEY HavEn’T HiTten tHeiR StRide Yet”, ok so????? They have Max Abmas who has been lighting it up for Oral Roberts the last few years. They have Tyrese Hunter who doesn’t look like he knows how to play the game of basketball anymore. Dylan Disu would be great if he could get on the court. If I’m a Longhorn fan (thank god I’m not) I would be really worried about this team. The Big 12 was already supposed to be good and with teams like BYU, Oklahoma and TCU all playing way above what was expected of them, the Longhorns may be in for it during conference play. I’m not an expert, but from an average eye of a fan, the Longhorns don’t even look like a top 25 team.

Arizona vs. Purdue is set up to be a banger- Arizona and Purdue both faced quality opponents on Saturday. First, Arizona played Wisconsin, which is coming off of double-digit wins over Marquette and Michigan State. The Wildcats DOMINATED from start to finish. It wasn’t even close. Caleb Love had 20 points and it led the Wildcats to a double-digit win. Then, Purdue came and played Alabama. This game was much more competitive than the ladder but, the Boilermakers squeaked out a win thanks to their reigning Neismith Player of the Year in Zach Edey. Now, we set up for these two titans to clash at a neutral site. Oumar Ballo vs. Zach Edey. Brandon Loyer vs. Caleb Love. Tommy Lloyd vs. Matt Painter. Grab your popcorn, if you watch one game this week, it should be this one.

How6rd’s Big East/Mid-Major Roundup

UConn’s offensive firing squad is LETHAL-  Many people thought this team would be centered around the sophomore tower Donovan Clingan in a much different-looking Huskies team this year when in reality, this team has incredible playmakers around him (and truthfully  Clingan isn’t one of them himself). The most impressive player for this Huskies team is no question their highly skilled veteran guard Tristen Newton, as he currently leads the team in points per game, assists per game, rebounds per game, and steals per game all while looking like the best player on the court in every matchup he’s played this year. This past week UConn had an electric game in Madison Square Garden against blue-blood North Carolina, which has had a solid start themselves, as they had shooters all around the court going on multiple runs and had four players finishing in double-digit points with a victory. Following that game up with a 101 points scored against AR-Pine Bluff with another 50%+ shooting night this team has clearly shown that offense is not an issue and they’re clearly ready for whatever comes in their way for another quest at a National Championship repeat.

Xavier is very confusing, but no question that Quincy Olivari is elite-  Thinking about how a team can lose to Oakland and Delaware while also having a close game against a powerhouse in Houston and beating a now one-loss Cincinnati team is mind-blowing, but this is the exact case for the Xavier Musketeers just in the last three weeks. The common case in all of these games is whether it’s for the whole game or a good portion of the game the team’s defense is still lacking just as it was last year and the offense is really what it comes down to. In the first game they had last week they had one of their most disappointing home losses since… well Oakland just the week before… and gave up 87 points to the Delaware Blue Hens which made the Crosstown Shootout coming up look daunting. Fortunately, it looks to be Xavier that still is the predominant team in the city of Cincinnati as Quincy Olivari had 27 points with six made threes and beat the Bearcats for a fifth straight year telling their rivals it doesn’t matter that they moved to the Big 12. The problem in their other games has been far from Quincy Olivari as he’s looked like more and more of an impressive shooter as each game goes on with 61 total points in just his last two games. Even with the rest of the team’s overall performance outside of Olivari this year, the huge rivalry win at home was a major boost that coach Sean Miller’s squad needed between Abou Ousmane’s double-double and Dayvion McKnight’s first 20-point game at Xavier as they’re now one game away from conference play with a team that is riding a hot trail at the moment.

As last season’s Mid-Major muscles fall, new faces emerge- After seeing Princeton and San Diego State become so successful in last year’s NCAA Tournament they got off to a hot start at the beginning of this season with one loss combined between both teams. Meanwhile, this weekend they became a part of the many who had their hot starts come to an abrupt halt to fellow mid-major teams in Grand Canyon University and St. Joe’s continuing both of their hot streaks with huge statement victories. St. Joe’s continues to impress everyone across the country with yet another win against a talented squad as the Princeton Tigers and another Xavian Lee masterclass couldn’t outshine the red-hot SJU Hawks and Erik Reynolds II. In the case of GCU, their victory was a new happening for their school as it was the first time they pulled off a win against a top-25 team in school history and they looked stellar against the national championship runner-up San Diego State Aztecs. Tyon Grant-Foster looks like he can truthfully have a huge role in many of the high-major schools’ systems around the country as he has some of the most incredible passes and made baskets in the country that I’ve seen at the college level along with incredible defensive IQ. Both of these wins were big statements for these two schools who haven’t lost in nearly a month (which came at the hands of South Carolina and Kentucky) as it looks to be a similar story in impressive mid-major schools but potentially new talented squads emerging on the road to March Madness.