College Basketball Teams of the Week – Week 5 (December 21-27, 2020)
The Holiday season came at us in full force last week. However that did not stop the Big Ten, the Horizon League, or Missouri Valley from pushing ahead with pivotal league play. In fact, the majority of College Basketball programs managed to get at least a game in last week, and that produced some worthy recpients of this week’s Teams of the Week Awards. In an interesting twist this year, the Big Ten decided to schedule a quadruple header on Christmas Day. It ended up providing four good games, capped off by an OT win by Minnesota over Iowa. More on that soon. Other programs decided to send their players home for the Holidays and take some time off. Just one of the several dilemmas programs face this year as they try to balance the pandemic challenges with attempting to perform at an NCAA Tournament caliber level. Not easy.
This past week brought to us more great stories as the 2020-21 campaign continues to unfold. We highlighted five programs again this week that had memorable weeks. Lets get to the Award winners.
Northwestern celebrates during a 74-67 victory inside Assembly Hall.
Northwestern - When Missouri won back-to-back TOTW Awards, we did our best to explain how rare that was. Perhaps it was a lie. Because we now have Northwestern shattering all previous historical norms for our weekly awards. The Wildcats left us no choice. There was no way to give top honors to anyone but Northwestern, after what we witnessed last week - a road upset win at Indiana, followed by a dramatic home win over Ohio State. Just unthinkable. How is this happening? Let us dive in. Northwestern plays really scrappy, and balanced basketball in a league full of superior talent. The ‘cats are attacking the rim, spacing well, moving the ball, playing aggressive while balanced, and have multiple players willing to take big shots late in games. All of this may make the Wildcats different enough to give them an edge. Regardless of what happens in the future, these team attributes and characteristics certainly showed in both wins last week. In the win at Indiana, Chase Audige made big shot after big shot in a variety of ways (pull ups, clear outs, knife cuts into the lane). We already knew Boo Buie could hit big shots based on the Michigan State-game masterpiece he had. The win over the Hoosiers gave Northwestern a very surprising 2-0 record with a shot at 3-0 when Ohio State visited Welsh-Ryan Arena over the weekend. The game flow was a bit different from the Indiana game, Northwestern was trailing or near tied most of the way. Junior Miller Kopp, the ‘cats leading scorer, had the hot hand and kept them close. He finished with 23 points. But it was Boo Buie who broke a 68-68 tie with about one minute left with stand-still type of three pointer that caught the Buckeyes defense off guard. It was enough for Northwestern to hang on for a 71-70 triumph and the unimaginable 3-0 Big Ten record. Incredible story evolving in Evanston.
Hofstra - Coming into a road game at Richmond, many of us were looking to determine if defending CAA Tournament champions, Hofstra, was really the team to beat still in the CAA or not? After all, we had seen the Pride take three early losses including a tough home loss against Iona. On the other side, was a Richmond team who has had several national headlines in the early season after beating Kentucky and other tournament caliber contenders like Loyola-Chicago. HC Joe Mihalich likes to let his spread the court style allow his shooters to take quality shots, hopefully open looks. Mihalich teams also tend to crash the glass and speed up opposing guards. It allows the Pride the opportunity to go on runs and lead to quick momentum shifts. It led Hofstra to get out of the gate with an 11-0 run against Richmond and an early 18-8 lead. The rest of the first half was mostly back and forth, and the Pride went into the Half with a 36-33 edge. Then it was the Spiders turn to go on a big run, a 14-0 burst to get out in front of Hofstra 55-46. At that moment, it looked like Richmond was out of trouble. Yet, Hofstra had much different plans and quickly recovered with an 11-1 run of their own to regain the advantage. Led by Jalen Ray and Isaac Kante put the Pride on their backs. Kante was a force inside and Ray was deadly from the perimeter. All told, Hofstra shot 70% from three-point range and 70% from the field in the second half and snatched the victory away from Richmond, 76-71. Ray finished with 23, while Kante had a double-double (16/10). It was a spectacular second half performance that really caught Richmond by surprise. This sends a message to the CAA, that Hofstra is still the team to beat and they’re hitting their stride right on the brink of conference play.
Wisconsin - The jury on this Badgers team has been out since the day they were ranked as high as 4th in the preseason. The jury was out in full force after a tough loss at the buzzer at Marquette. Despite a blowout win over a short-handed Louisville squad, the jury was back for more after somewhat sluggish performance in the win over Nebraska early last week. This all set the stage for Christmas Day in East Lansing. The Badgers were tasked with giving up their Christmas Holiday, and playing in one of the toughest places to win in the nation against a hungry Michigan State team coming off a loss to Northwestern. For Badgers Sr. G D’Mitrik Trice it was a special day. He managed to get his family six tickets, including his brother Travis, who played at Michigan State between 2011-2015. Trice knew he was lucky as only a selected few people were able to attend. He clearly felt the Christmas love that afternoon, as he had a complete performance by scoring a season-high 29 points. Three other Badgers, Aleem Ford, Micah Potter, and Brad Davison also scored in double-figures, as the Badgers went on to score the most points in school history (85) over a ranked opponent in 85-76 victory over MSU. Credit the Badgers for really taking over the second half and showing they are currently a stronger team. This is the kind of win that could mean a lot come time for NCAA Tournament seeding. The win also cements Wisconsin as a top tier team for now. The ridiculous Big Ten makes placing the Badgers a moving target all season long, but they sit in great position to contend for the league championship.
Bryant - The Bulldogs might by the first NEC team to recieve a TOTW Award, and I hope they aren’t the last. Bryant is as entertaining of a team as you will find in College Basketball. They currently ranked 2nd in quickest tempo, 6th in shortest time of possession avg., and 9th in 3-point FG% per the Ken Pomeroy database. These Bulldogs get up and down the court at a rapid pace. They are giving teams fits. A 3-1 NEC start and a close call at Syracuse (1-point loss), has put most of the East Coast on notice now. This all set the stage for a non-conference tussle with UMass. UMass had some A-10 hype coming into the season, and they have a superstar in Tre Mitchell. So this game was circled for us here at Bracketeer.org. By halftime, it was a 48-40 lead for Bryant and extremely fun viewing. You can tell by the score alone, that Bryant was winning the tempo war. And they had several run out fast breaks, which is precisely what HC Jared Grasso wants. Speaking of Grasso, he is as unconventional as you will find in our sport. Not only does he teach and coach this fast break attacking tempo, but he is incredibly aggressive in recruiting transfer players and high school players. It’s a big shakeup for the NEC which has a bit of an old school blue-collar reputation. To call Grasso edgey, would be an understatement. To begin the second half, the Bulldogs opened up a 17-point lead after Michael Green III hit back-to-back threes. UMass would slowly pull closer, led by Carl Pierre’s 23 points. The Minutemen were able to climb all the way back into an 84-84 tie. That is when Green III sliced to the hoop and converted, then intercepted a UMass pass to help secure victory. Bryant left Amherst with a 93-88 win. Green III shattered his previous career high of 24, by putting up 33. Keep your eye on Bryant the rest of the way.
Southern Illinois - Prior to last week, several College Basketball pundits were overlooking SIU’s 5-0 record. After all the Saluki’s had only left Carbondale once, and that was an unsexy opening win at SE Missouri State in overtime. For SIU, this issue was nothing that a little TV boost and road game at a Big East foe couldn’t solve. The Salukis were faced with a road game in Hinkle Fieldhouse against a Butler program holding the nation’s longest non-conference home court winning streak. SIU and second year HC Bryan Mullins has a trio of contributing sophomores. Led by the reigning MVC Frosh of the Year,Marcus Domansk, as well as guards Lance Jones and Trent Brown. The Salukis are also getting outstanding production from Frosh Dalton Banks, a 2-time All-state HS player from Wisconsin. So on paper this SIU team clearly has talent, but perhaps a little premature to think big for this season? Time will tell. At Hinkle, the Salukis let the bright lights hit them early on and stumbled to a 16-9 deficit. That is when some outstanding Saluki defense kicked into high gear, completely breaking down Butler. Butler went on an eight-minute scoring drought, resulting in a 26-2 SIU run. The Salukis would take a commanding 37-24 lead into the break. The second half saw SIU lead by as many as 18, but Butler made a furious rally that almost forced overtime. Brown had the play of the game with 2:40 remaining, converting a rare 4-point play to extend the lead back up to 8. After some late missed free throws by SIU, Butler managed to get the Saluki lead down to 3 and got one final shot after a late turnover. Butler’s 3-point attempt missed, and SIU survived. A valuable game for several reasons, definitely some learning lessons all while getting a program changing win at a Big East venue. Later in the week, SIU opened up MVC play with a 63-57 win over Evansville. Heck of a week for this Saluki Basketball program.
Who was close to receiving top honors?
Honorable Mention:
Norfolk State - Came back from 17-points down to stun George Mason. Spartans are 4-3 now with local bragging right wins over GMU and JMU.
Louisville - Cardinals took care of Pitt on the road and won the Bluegrass State showdown over a hungry Kentucky team. UL close to full strength now, and an ACC contender.
Tulsa - The Golden Hurricane defense was too much for Memphis in a 56-49 rock fight. For Tulsa, it was their first win at Memphis since 2014-15.
Colorado State - Rams became the first team to knock off Santa Clara this season, and did so on the road in a mild upset, 70-57.
Austin Peay - The Gov's exacted revenge on conference rivals Murray State. APSU lost to Murray by 30 earlier in December, came back to Clarksville and got a 74-70 victory.
UC Irvine - Anteaters took down perhaps the Big West favorites, UC Santa Barbara, in the conference opener - 75-56. UCI with an ealry statement.
Illinois - Illini got on track last week by winning by 17 at Penn State and taking care of Indiana at home.
Hampton - Road sweep at Charleston Southern, gets the Pirates to 2-0 in Big South play. Sweeps are tough to find in the 2-game format leagues, especially for road teams.
Gonzaga - Passed another test with ease by beating UVA in Fort Worth, TX. Corey Kispert put on a show with 9 treys and scored 32 in a 98-75 rout.
UNC Wilmington - Seahawks won twice last week and are playing much better. A 19-point win at Campbell and a 24-point cakewalk show that. Having Joe Pridgen eligible is paying big dividends early for UNCW.
Texas Tech - Red Raiders picked up a quality road win at Oklahoma. Terrance Shannon had 21 points before fouling out to lead Tech.
Morgan State - Bears got an impressive 65-59 road win at Delaware last week. Morgan State has also won at Iona this year, and look to be a MEAC contender.
San Diego State - Bounced back from the BYU loss in a major way by blowing out Saint Mary's, 74-49, in a neutral site game.
Wichita State - Shockers went into Tampa and got a key road win in OT against South Florida. Shockers are quietly 2-0 in AAC play after a rocky offseason.
Sam Houston State - Bearkats picked up a road win at UTRGV. SHSU is starting to hit their stride afer a rough start to the year.
Houston - Cougars passed a road test against a hot UCF team, 63-54 and beat Temple earlier in the week.
Portland - Pilots beat Montana State last week, giving the program an amazing 6-2 record. Another game that UP was not expected to win, but they gutted it out.
Oakland - Grizzlies had a brutal schedule and started 0-9. Last week they knocked off rivals Detroit Mercy twice on the road, to pull to 2-2 in conference.
Idaho State - Split series at Northern Colorado. Bengals played well in both games, winning the second game by 15 points was eye opening.
Sacred Heart - Double OT win at Wagner came the day after getting beat by 28. Pioneers showed a lot of poise in the second game.
Enjoy Week 6 everyone!
~Rocco MIller