Buckeyes doiminated UNC in Chapel Hill, 74-49.
College Basketball Teams of the Week – Week 5 (December 2-8, 2019)
Ohio State – Three weeks ago I was in Columbus to see how the Buckeyes stacked up against Villanova. The result? Pretty darn well, the game was never in doubt and the Buckeyes steamrolled Nova that night by 25 points. That left us to wonder if Ohio State was really that good or if Villanova was in line for a rougher season than expected. The following week, Villanova got to the Championship Game in Myrtle Beach and lost a tight game against Baylor. That showed us that Villanova was mostly legit. Fast forward to last Wednesday night. By now, the Buckeyes are a comfortable 7-0 and getting ready to face a blue blood, North Carolina, on the road. This was going to tell us a lot about who the Buckeyes were, either a very good team or a potentially great team.
Ohio State went out and took it to North Carolina in the Dean Dome, no less – leading UNC 22-14 after the first 10 minutes. The Heels made a charge to close the half, but took a major blow when 6-10, 232-pound Freshman phenom Armando Bacot left with an injury and did not return. Ohio State proceeded to completely dominate the second half 45-22 to win the game 74-49. Despite the significant injury, holding a Roy Williams coached team to under 50 points is simply unheard of. The result also kept the Ohio State streak for holding every opponent to under 60 points alive and well. The bad news is, that streak would end at eight on Saturday against Penn State. The game took a different turn and was exceedingly fast-paced. The good news? Buckeyes still dominated, 106-74, and in the process showed everyone that they can win and win dominantly at this faster pace of play. Coach Holtmann has himself a great nucleus of veterans and young players at his disposal, plus he’s a pretty good coach too. Buckeyes are your Week 5 Team of the Week and tOSU currently sits at #1 overall on the Bracketology Big Board.
Georgetown – What a topsy-turvy week for the Hoyas. The week started with breaking news that Georgetown’s starting point guard James Akinjo and reserve big man Josh LeBlanc will no longer be members of the Hoyas' basketball team, head coach Patrick Ewing announced last Monday. As a result, both have entered the transfer portal. We later found out that LeBlanc, Myron Gardner, and Galen Alexander are accused for alleged burglary, according to civil complaints filed in November by two women. Gardner and Alexander were allowed to play on the two-game road trip last week. A lot of negative press and things were written about the program. Perhaps this was the best possible week imaginable for the Hoyas to get out of town. The team seemed to take an us against the world mentality, and flat out were on fire. Mac McClung carried the Hoyas to an impressive win over previously unbeaten Oklahoma State, by pouring in 33 points. The Hoyas really bolstered their resume with the 81-74 victory. When the Hoyas arrived in Dallas to take on another unbeaten team in SMU, they did not cool off. In fact, they shot the ball even better (over 50% FG as a team). Jahvon Blair came off the bench to score a game-high 21, and McClung had another 19. By the time Georgetown landed back in DC, they had two quality road wins in places far away from home. Impressive and surprising to most. Anxious to see where this journey goes throughout the season.
Charleston Southern – This week’s surprise team here, and it’s not even close. When last week started the Buccaneers from the Big South Conference were 1-5 against D1 schools and had lost their five games by an average of 34 PPG. KenPom had them ranked 313th out of 353 D1 programs. Bucs hit the road and traveled to Columbia, MO to face the Tigers of Missouri in a game that one would look at on paper and call a snoozer. Something came over the Bucs on this night, as they got out of the gate only allowing 3 points to Mizzou in the first ten minutes of the game. Mizzou would rally and take a five-point lead at halftime. Then in the second half, Mizzou built a 39-30 lead prompting a CSU timeout. After that the Bucs stunningly took over, outscoring the Tigers 38-21 down the stretch to secure one of the biggest upsets of the season, 68-60. One of the key plays came when the game was tied at 56. CSU’s Duncan LeXander hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 2:29 to go and the Bucs never relinquished the lead from there. Then on Saturday the Bucs returned home to host NC Central. After building a big first half lead, the Bucs found themselves in a tight contest late. Clutch free throw shooting helped CSU clinch the win and well-deserved place as a Team of the Week.
Duke – Blue Devils have a very difficult time qualifying for this weekly award. The expectations for Duke are usually astronomical and this space is reserved for teams who exceed expectations. What Duke did last week really must have stood out, and it sure did. The Blue Devils opened the week at Michigan State in the premier game of the ACC/B1G Challenge. Duke was trying to also recover from a shocking home loss against last week’s Team of the Week, Stephen F. Austin. Duke looked refocused in this one and prepared to handle a tough environment in East Lansing. Blue Devils built a 45-29 lead by Half. The second half was full of good decisions and holding the lead above ten. Vernon Carey had a big game going for 26 and 11 in the win to pace Duke. A win that certainly comes packed with a lot of weight for the resume. Next it was time for their ACC opener against upstart Virginia Tech. This Hokies team beat Michigan State themselves a couple of weeks ago in Maui, so this wasn’t a walk in the park for Duke. The Hokies came out strong behind a rowdy home crowd and took a 41-38 Halftime edge. In the second half, Duke showed great composure in producing quality possessions and converting them into buckets. It lead to V-Tech playing more erratic and secured a 77-63 Duke win. Quite the week two quality true road wins for Duke before January. Almost unheard of!
Wichita State – The Shockers had an uncharacteristic season last year under HC Greg Marshall. He had a whole roster to retool and they missed the NCAA’s, but the Shockers did make a nice NIT run to Madison Square Garden. Early here in the 2019-20 campaign, the Shockers are getting closer and closer to their brand of basketball, starting 6-0. A loss to West Virginia was a wake-up call that their was still a lot of work to do. This week opened with a 95-69 drubbing of inferior Central Arkansas. Then it was time for a game circled on the calendar, a trip to Stillwater to face Oklahoma State out of the Big 12. In what figured to be a good battle, the Shockers completely dominated in a 80-61 triumph. After building a seven-point halftime lead, Wichita State came out and utterly dominated the Cowboys to open the second half. Outscoring Oklahoma State, 29-13 in the first ten minutes of the half, effectively ending any hopes for the home team Pokes. Wichita now has a 8-1 record, a key resume win, and will get ready to face the other team from Oklahoma this Saturday.
Strongly Considered
UC Santa Barbara – Two key Road wins at Texas-Arlington and at CS-Bakersfield.
Butler – Took down two solid SEC programs. Winning down in Oxford at Ole Miss, and returned home to beat Florida over the weekend.
St. John’s – First team to beat West Virginia in emotional home win, also beat St. Peter’s.
Gonzaga – Picked up a quality road-win at rival Washington. Also took care of Texas Southern with ease.
Indiana State – Really impressive win at Wright State, also beat North Dakota State. Two teams in last year’s NCAA Tournament. Four-game winning streak now for the Sycamores and counting.
Enjoy the upcoming games in Week 6!
~Rocco