Bears celebrate winning the Myrtle Beach Invitational.
Teams of the Week – Week 3 (November 18-24, 2019)
Baylor – The Bears arrived in Myrtle Beach, SC last week with a chip on their shoulder. This Bears team has lofty expectations and goals this season and this was the event for them to come and prove why. Baylor knew full well, that Villanova’s side of the bracket was the stronger side and Villanova’s brand was going to get most of the attention for the first two days of the event. The Bears somewhat quietly went about their business by taking care of both Ohio U. and the hosts’ Coastal Carolina. The CCU game was tight into the second half (Bears trailed by as many as six) until a bad injury occurred to CCU star Ebrima Dibba, when he went down with a knee injury. We later found out that Dibba tore his ACL and will miss the rest of the season. The fact that Baylor was tested in the CCU game, got them focused and even more prepared for a test. In what ended up being a seesaw battle back in forth, Baylor made some clutch plays late to pull away from Villanova and secure a big win for their NCAA Tournament resume, 87-78. Bears are your Myrtle Beach Invitational champions. Jared Butler led the way all tournament long, including 22 points in the Championship Game. Baylor now looks ahead to key non-league home games against Arizona and Butler before competing for a Big 12 title. Get used to hearing about this team.
Bowling Green – Coming into the season, we knew at least two things about Bowling Green. They had a strong core returning that would compete for a MAC title. The second was that their non-conference schedule only yielded a small amount of opportunities for quality wins. This placed enormous emphasis on the importance of the Paradise Jam success for the Falcons to have any hope of an At-Large berth come March. The Falcons also got placed in the much more difficult bottom half of the bracket facing C-USA favorites WKU and the winner likely to face Cincinnati. The Bowling Green battle against WKU was fantastic. Bowling Green was down very late in this one. The Falcons rallied in the final minute to stun the Hilltoppers 77-75. Star player Justin Turner had another great game with 27 points in 38 minutes. The reward was another opportunity at a big win vs. Cincinnati. Now facing the Bearcats, things were rough early. Falcons trailed by 12 at halftime. Then Turner went to the locker room and never returned. That’s when Dylan Frye really stepped up and got Bowling Green back in it. The game would end up going to overtime. And Frye helped put the Bearcats away at the foul line in securing a 91-84 win over Cincy. Monumental win for Bowling Green’s program in general and they’re very much in the early at-large candidate discussions now. One game remains for the Falcons, a meeting with Nevada in the final. Let’s see if they can finish the job, perhaps without Turner.
Hofstra – The Pride had a year to remember last season, winning the CAA and posting a 25-6 regular season record before falling in the CAA Tournament final to Northeastern. Justin Wright-Foreman was one of the best players in program history, but is now gone. Hofstra is still expected to be competitive in the CAA this season. But things started very ugly with a surprising home loss to traditional bottom feeder San Jose State. Then in their third game, Hofstra lost by 15 at Bucknell. Many lowered their expectations after that day. But nobody should be doubting a proven coach like Joe Mihalich. After a win over D2 NYIT, the Pride packed their bags for Los Angeles for meetings against UCLA and later down at Cal State Fullerton. Per usual, Mihalich had his team prepared. Ten minutes into the game at Pauley Pavilion, the Pride were down 23-14 as about expected. But then something changed, Desure Buie and Jalen Ray got hot. The entire Hofstra team ended up shooting 50% (12-24) from three-point land. Hofstra also got just enough done defensively to make the upset a reality, holding PG Tyger Campbell scoreless. Hofstra pulled off a stunner in Pauley Pavilion and handed Mick Cronin his first loss as UCLA Head Coach, 88-78. Later on the road trip, Hofstra kept playing good basketball by handily defeating CS-Fullerton, 79-57. Five players finished in double figures. This trip ends on Wednesday at San Diego, don’t be surprised if Hofstra finishes the California sweep.
Utah State – The Aggies have been playing without their star Center, Neemias Queta and getting by just fine. But we knew last week would really challenge the Aggies as they prepared to travel to Jamaica for a Friday night showdown with LSU. First, the Aggies dispatched UTSA 82-50 on Monday prior to the long trip. Now it was time to take on LSU, the type of power conference team that gave the Aggies problems last season. The first half against LSU was not pretty, USU trailed 44-28 at the intermission. Then down 54-35 with 16:32 remaining, Utah St. chipped away by making its first five 3-pointers of the second half. Alphonso Anderson’s 3 cut it to 71-67. Sam Merrill then made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 57 seconds left and Utah State overcame a 19-point deficit in the second half to beat LSU 80-78. An emotional Aggies celebration erupted when the final buzzer went off. They knew this was huge for their tournament aspirations. The Aggies wrapped up the week with their third victory, taking care of North Texas 68-59.
Florida – The Gators take home our fifth and final Team of the Week award after winning the Charleston Classic. The Gators came into the week playing pretty poorly. Losing at UConn the week before and previously had a lethargic home loss to in-state rival Florida State. The Gators needed adjustments and perhaps a getaway to try and solve their stagnant offense. That is exactly what Mike White’s Gators did this past week. Beating Saint Joseph’s, Miami, and then Xavier in the Final. The Xavier win demonstrated the type of ability that many predicted coming into the season and had to have been a relief for Gator fans. The Gators had four players in double figures and Kerry Blackshear had a double-double against a tough Xavier team. Congrats to the Charleston Classic champs Florida, a dangerous team that is now suddenly hot.
Strongly Considered
Sacramento State – Upset Pepperdine in Malibu after beating local rival UC Davis in the Golden One Center.
James Madison – Big upset at Old Dominion, plus beat New Hampshire.
Temple – Resume building road win at USC. Significant for the Owls.
Lafayette – Beat Penn (who has wins at Bama and Providence), also beat Farleigh Dickinson
Arkansas State – Picked near the bottom of the Sun Belt, pulled off upset at Colorado State.
HONORABLE MENTION:
