Royce Hamm and the Horns went into Mackey and picked up a big win for their resume.
Teams of the Week
Texas – Preseason prognostications are a lot of fun. Folks like me out here in the CBB world spend a lot of time analyzing rosters, schedules, staff changes, etc. But at the end of the offseason, it is just an educated guess at best. Exhibit A: The Texas Longhorns. Texas had a roster coming back that featured a rotation of the first seven players having experience and talent, if Andrew Jones somehow regained his health. To the delight of several folks, Andrew Jones was able to play in preseason and at a very high-level after recovering from Leukemia. It is easily one of the best stories of the year for the 2019-20 season. Another key change for Texas was adding the great defensive mind, Luke Yaklich, to be the new Associate Head Coach to HC Shaka Smart. The good fortune came to Texas after former Michigan HC John Beilein left to coach in the NBA. Preseason expectations were really were a mixed bag for the Horns. Here at Bracketeer, we had Texas as a tournament team in the 8-seed range, attributed to the positives mentioned but also to the track record at Texas the past few seasons. The season got off to a predictable start by beating Northern Colorado with ease, 69-45. Perhaps the key there, was allowing just 45 points total, an early sign that the Yaklich defensive impact may already be on display in Austin. Then came Saturday, a key visit to Purdue and great opportunity for a key road win. The Longhorns took full advantage of it, led by Matt Coleman’s 22 points and 7 assists – the Horns went into Mackey Arena and beat Purdue 70-66. Early on this season, this Texas team has a high ceiling and is clearly one to watch nationally. Purdue figures to have a tournament caliber club this season, only time will tell how big this win truly looks come March. For now, we are extremely impressed.
UC Riverside – Say what you want about Nebraska. This isn’t about Nebraska. This is about a UC Riverside program that was ranked #322 in KenPom last season, and has not finished higher ranked than #216 for the past decade. David Patrick is in his second season now at UCR, and it appears he has the Highlanders heading in the right direction. Patrick has a lot of experience as an assistant coach, including being at successful programs like St. Mary’s and most recently TCU. Prior to the season opener at Nebraska, we learned that UCR was going to be without their leading returning scorer Dikymbe Martin. Martin is only the 5th player ever for UCR that has over 1,000 point in his career, so this was a significant loss. Heading into a hyped Pinnacle Bank Arena for the Fred Hoiberg coaching debut at Nebraska, things looked bleak for UCR at best. But the Highlanders came to play. Patrick rolled with a 4-guard lineup, and 6’3 George Willborn had an incredible 18 rebound performance. The strategy worked to say the least. The UCR defense confused Nebraska and the Cornhuskers took a lot of bad shots (going 16-55). UCR was able to get out of Lincoln with a stunning 66-47 victory and make a big statement for the Big West Conference. The Highlanders capped off the week by beating Idaho, 58-51, again without Martin.
Ohio – The Jeff Boals era began with a bang last Tuesday night. It was an overlooked game by most nationally. Ohio with first year Head Coach and Ohio U. Alum, Jeff Boals, were not expected to do much this season, especially early on. St. Bonaventure came in with a darkhorse NCAA tournament level of expectations and brought back a good amount of experience. The Bobcats started a very interesting starting five. The experienced Seniors, Sylvester Ogbonda and Jordan Dartis, to go along with three Frosh: Jason Preston, Lunden McDay, Ben Vander Plas. Preston had himself an impressive debut to help lead the Bobcats, playing all 40 minutes and contributing 11 points, 13 assists, 7 steals, 6 rebounds – quite a performance! Dartis led all scorers with 19 and the Bobcats stunned the Bonnies on the road, 65-53. Ohio then came home and got a Non-D1 win over Heidelberg over the weekend. This could be a real sleeper team in the MAC.
San Diego State – The Aztecs missed the postseason in 2019 for just the second time in 14 seasons. It’s remarkable to look back at the amount of success they’ve had since 2006. However, heading into this season the jury was definitely out. Mixed projections for the 2019-20 season and virtually everyone picking Utah State (including us) to win the Mountain West. SDSU came into a very difficult place to win this past Saturday, the Marriott Center at BYU. BYU has distinct home court advantage, playing in altitude at 4700 feet. Paced by two transfer guards KJ Feagin (Santa Clara) and Malachi Flynn (Washington St.), the Aztecs came out on top after a great late rally. After trailing 52-43 at one point the Aztecs were able to play great basketball in the final minutes, winning 76-71 and collecting a quality win in Provo. Junior Jordan Schakel shined for SDSU, scoring 19 points including going 5-7 from downtown. Earlier in the week, SDSU manhandled Texas Southern 77-42. Heck of a start to the season.
Dartmouth – Congrats to the Big Green for being named as one of the five TOTW this week for the first time. Coach David McLaughlin has been steadily building this program, now in his fourth year. Dartmouth has improved in each year. Last year was promising at points, the Big Green was 11-11 with wins over Harvard and at Albany, but went on to lose eight straight games and finish 11-19. Dartmouth wasn’t an easy win for teams though, and there was noticeable progress. The season opener last Friday night was at Buffalo. A program that has won NCAA tournament games in each of the past two seasons. Despite losing HC Nate Oats over the offseason, the expectations were still there for Buffalo to compete for another MAC title. Dartmouth arrived at Buffalo’s Alumni Arena with different ideas. This game had several runs but Dartmouth had just enough to pull it out in the end 68-63 to stun the Bulls in their home opener. Taurus Samuels and Chris Knight, who had a combined 34 points, and a strong defensive effort (Bulls shot 10-35 from deep, 28.6%) proved to be enough to get one of the biggest road wins in the past decade for this program.
Strongly Considered
Delaware – Swept through the Sunshine Slam. Getting wins over Oakland, Southern Illinois, and UTSA. The only thing holding back the Blue Hens from being part of the top 5 was this level of competition not being exaclty clear yet.
Georgia Tech – In only game, won at NC State in an upset. Great start for Josh Pastner’s club.
Washington – Stunned Baylor after trailing most of the game. Big win for the resume.
Saint Mary’s – Opened the season with OT win over Wisconsin on a neutral court. Big for the At Large hopes.
Southern Utah – Also stunned Nebraska (like UCR). SUU looks like a Big Sky contender.
Honorable Mention
Nicholls State (Stunning win at Pittsburgh and also took Illinois to OT on the road), Boston College (Impressive win at South Florida, also beat Wake Forest in ACC opener), Virginia Tech (Surprising win at Clemson, also beat Coppin State), Furman (Won at Gardner-Webb and pounded Loyola-Chicago at home), Northeastern (Knocked off heavily hyped Harvard and beat cross-town rival Boston U.) Illinois State (comeback win over Belmont, and beat a tough Little Rock team), Vermont (Two road wins. At Bonnies and at Bucknell), Oregon State (Key win over Iowa State and beat CSUN), Campbell (surprising win at Coastal Carolina), Kentucky (Beat Michigan State and EKU), Utah (Impressive road win at Nevada and beat MVSU by 94), South Dakota (won at Hawaii and beat Pacific in Hawaii), California (Won Mark Fox’s coaching debut against Pepperdine), Colorado (Took care of Arizona State handily in China), UT Arlington (Beat Tulsa by 14), La Salle (Held on to beat Iona, nice win for Ashley Howard’s program), Morehead State (beat SoCon darkhorse Samford in Double OT).
Weekly Notes
· South Dakota State survived a thrilling Double OT road game against CSUB, 93-91. The game had 16 lead changes and several big plays. Douglas Wilson had a big day with 26 points and 13 rebounds, but eventually fouled out. His Jackrabbit teammates were able to pick up the slack.
· Christian Lutete of UMass-Lowell, was unconscious against Long Island, scoring 51 points in the victory. Lutete was incredibly efficient as well going 16-25 from the field, including seven treys and only had two turnovers. Ohio State must have done their homework, the Buckeyes managed to hold Lutete to 9 points just two nights later in Columbus.
· Jordan Roland of Northeastern takes the cake for all individuals in Week one. Roland was simply sensational in both the opener against Boston U. and against Harvard on Friday night. Roland scored 39 and 42 points respectively in the two contests. He was near perfect from the FT line and shot at a high percentage clip, proving he can be scoring machine this year for Northeastern. The Huskies won both games and got off to an excellent start for the 2019-20 campaign.