College Basketball Teams of the Week – Week 7 (January 4-10, 2021)
This past week saw some amazing finishes across College Basketball. Louisiana’s Cajun Dome turning the lights red with under five seconds to go on Little Rock’s final possession on Friday is an all-timer. But we also had some amazing buzzer beaters in the Youngstown State win at Wright State, Austin Peay’s game-winner against Eastern Illinois, and Xavier’s big shot to beat Providence yesterday. The back-to-back format in several leagues continues to intrigue. Cleveland State has seemingly mastered the concept, starting 8-0 with four sweeps over Horizon League competition. Meanwhile, Western Kentucky was fortunate to start 2-2 in their first two weekends playing under this format and San Diego State has had their own mixed results. On the bigger stage, elite teams are making moves. Gonzaga continues to put on clinics, and Baylor has been a steady force at the top. We do our best to cover the rest in this week’s column.
Freshman phenom Evan Mobley had 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead USC to a rare win at McHale.
USC - 1985. It was 36 years ago, and Trojans Assistant Coach Chris Capko was just a one-year old. This was the last time the USC Basketball program pulled off the rare desert sweep of the Arizona schools. If there were ever a year to do it, this was it. After all, Arizona had just placed themselves on a one-year postseason ban and Arizona State was dealing with multiple personnel issues due to Covid-19. Still, this is no easy task. Arizona was on a 4-game winning streak which included a win over Colorado and a sweep of the Washington schools on the road. USC was coming into the week off a home series split with the Mountain schools. In Tucson, the Trojans found themselves trailing early on until a 10-0 run sparked them to a narrow halftime lead. In the second half, USC was able to overwhelm the Wildcats with their length defensively. Despite Arizona’s Azuolas Tubelis having a career-high 31, USC held other Wildcat stars James Akinjo (0-9) Jermel Baker (1-7) to horrific shooting performances. The Trojan lead held steady between four and eight points most of the second half before finally pulling away for good, 87-73. Not only a key road win, but the first true road win of the year for USC. Isaiah White (22) and Evan Mobley (19) led the mostly balanced scoring effort. Then came part two of the desert duo, a game at Arizona State. ASU was coming in short-handed but played very competitively just days before against UCLA with the same roster condition in an overtime loss. USC did the best thing Trojan faithful could hope for, take control of the game early. Trojans rode an early 15-2 run to secure the halftime advantage, 36-32. However, the Sun Devils were in the midst of a 17-0 run to climb all the way back in it early in the second half. Impressive for a team without guards Remy Martin and Jaelen House as well as forwards Jalen Graham and Taeshon Cherry. Trojans trailed by 2 with just over 7 minutes remaining. A 15-3 run by USC put this one away late. Tahj Eddy, a transfer from Santa Clara, scored 12 of his 16 in the second half. Evan Mobley had another double-double (10/13), and his older brother Isaiah Mobley had his own double-double (13/10) en route to a 73-64 victory. The desert sweep puts the Trojans in great shape today for bracket forecasting. They now have two quality road wins to go along with a blowout win over BYU. The Trojans are now 3-1 in conference play with the Washington schools coming next week, where they will be heavily favored in each contest. Quite a week for USC, party like it’s 1985!
Purdue - In the Big 10 Conference you get more at-bats for big wins than anywhere else in America. For a team like Purdue this season, who figures to be fighting for an at-large all year long, what you do with said at-bats will ultimately determine your postseason destination. The Boilermakers entered the week with one game on the schedule after having their contest with Nebraska postponed. That game was a trip to the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan. A place where Purdue hadn’t won since 2016-17. Even more daunting was the fact that Michigan State seemingly was figuring things out finally. The Spartans had destroyed a really good Rutgers team in their previous game. So coming into the Purdue matchup, this appeared to be just as tall of an order for HC Matt Painter’s team as any other season. For most of the game, Purdue was outmatched by Michigan State. The Spartans built as much as a 17-point lead in this one and appeared to be cruising to another important home win. Purdue didn't back down with its backs against the wall. In a road game against a ranked opponent, the Boilermakers instead outscored Michigan State 39-23 in the second half, with Trevion Williams' second-half explosion (he scored 24 of his 26 points after halftime) exceeding MSU's scoring output in the second half as a team. That includes his game clinching jumper in the waning seconds of the game to seal the win. Purdue is now sitting at 8-5 overall with some big wins, they also beat Ohio State this year. They key for Purdue will be to stay a couple of games above .500 and they will be selected for the tournament, and likely seeded very well despite a middling overall record. Here is how it all went down at the Breslin Center:
Mississippi State - Time for us to come clean. We had the Bulldogs pegged 13th out of 14 in the SEC for our preseason predictions article. The Bulldogs were not on the initial Bracketology Big Board either. That turned out to be a mistake, and here is why. Three-point shooting, interior defense and second chance opportunities. MSU has excelled well beyond expectations and it is translating into wins. Last week the Bulldogs hosted a hot Missouri team that had the best resume in the SEC at the time. The game provided a key opportunity for this improving Bulldog team to get on the at-large bid map. The first half of the game however was a real struggle, the Tigers were controlling the pace of play and the scoreboard. The deficit at Halftime was 39-27. Things were looking pretty bleak in that moment. Bulldogs came into the contest with four losses including a double overtime heartbreaker against Kentucky the week before. In that Kentucky loss, they blew a 15-point lead. So they were in the complete opposite position on Tuesday night against Mizzou. However, the Bulldogs erupted in the second half. Iverson Mullinar and D.J. Stewart lit it up for the Bulldogs, contributing 22 points a piece. Defensively, MSU had no answers for Jeremiah Tilmon in the first half but made impressive adjustments to contain him in the second half. Overall the Bulldogs just shot the ball extremely well and got on a roll that Mizzou couldn’t solve. Bulldogs secured a 78-63 win and arrived in the periphery of our bracket watch. Before we could celebrate the week, MSU then had to go to Nashville to face an improving Vanderbilt team. Mississippi State got a real test in this one, but thanks to 61% shooting, the Bulldogs had just enough fire power to outlast the Commodores, 84-81. Head Coach Ben Howland went with a shorter bench, and defensively the Bulldogs allowed 15 triples to Vandy. It will be interesting to see how he manages that dilemma going forward, but we do know that this offense is potent and the Bulldogs are much better than the 13th best SEC team.
Northeastern - Bill Coen’s Northeastern program has been a staple in the CAA for well over a decade now. Coming into this year this Huskies was left with a young roster and had to deal with several offseason Covid issues. It nearly left them without a non-conference schedule, as was announced in mid-November by the school. As December rolled around, the Huskies were allowed to resume practice and were anxious to schedule games. They picked up a home & away with UMass, and marquee road games at Syracuse and West Virginia. In total, the Huskies packed five games into a 12-day span against real tough competition. Despite sitting at 1-5 heading into conference play, this team was growing together and Coach Coen was learning more about his team. In the long run, it may have been the best thing to happen for the program to succeed this year. An opening weekend sweep of Elon, set the tone for a showdown series with rival Hofstra. The two-game series was split between Hempstead on Friday and Boston on Saturday. The CAA does this with the travel partner teams when they face each other in the two-game format for this season only. By halftime of the game at Hofstra, it appeared that Northeastern wasn’t ready for this level of fight yet. After all, Hofstra led comfortably 46-29 and were executing their gameplan beautifully. But this Huskies’ squad was tough as nails in the second half and rallied all the way back to get the game into overtime. Outstanding adjustments by Coach Coen and staff really opened up better looks and put the clamps on the Pride defensively. In OT, Shaquille Walters hit a dagger three late to put Northeastern up by 5 help seal the 81-78 win. Back in Boston, Northeastern was ready for game two of the series. The Huskies came out firing often from distance. 37 three-point attempts resulted in 15 makes. More impotantly, the defensive adjustments from game one carried over to game two. Northeastern force 17 turnovers and held Hofstra to just five triples. It was enough to pull away for an 11-point win. Now sitting at 4-0 in CAA with a commanding first place lead, the Huskies are well-positioned to make a run at an unexpected CAA regular season title. Even more encouraging is the Huskies are getting better with each game they play.
Pittsburgh - This Panthers season has already been a rollercoaster. Several pundits wrote this team off early when they lost at home to a local NEC program, Saint Francis. That game resembled a lot of the struggles Pitt Basketball has endured over the past few seasons under both Kevin Stallings and current HC Jeff Capel. Since that rough opener, these Panthers have done all they can to try and right the ship. They ripped off five straight wins including road wins at Northwestern and Miami. The Northwestern win began as an after thought, but gained legs as the Wildcats started having significant Big 10 success. A 10-point loss at Louisville snapped the Pitt win-streak though and left the Panthers as somewhat of an after thought still in the ACC. That led to Wednesday’s game at Syracuse. They were facing the Orange only because Florida State went on activity pause due to Covid-19 related issues and the schedules were adjusted by the conference. Pitt had their own challenges with Covid, they were forced to practice in three groups. Making it increasingly difficult to prepare. Needless to say, the first half wasn’t pretty. Pitt trailed by 14 at the Half and only had 18 total points in the game. It looked like a “get your legs back” type of game. Especially considering only nine scholarship players available. John Hugley, Nike Sibande and Noah Collier were all left home under covid-19 restrictions and Justin Champagnie, the team’s top player and the ACC’s leading rebounder, was out with a knee injury. With seven minutes left, Pitt found themselves down by 12 still. A massive turnaround came next. Pitt managed to rally all the way back and beat the Orange, 63-60. Xavier Johnson said after the game, that Syracuse slipped up and the Panthers wanted it more. They certainly proved that on the glass, outrebounding Syracuse 49-33. The win vaults Pitt into the NCAA at-large conversation. They now have some significant road win pedigree on the resume. Also, the chemistry has to be pretty strong after an experience like this was. Interestingly enough, we will get a rematch this coming Saturday in Pittsburgh. Another key test for the Panthers.
Pitt’s bench rises to their feet as they smell upset inside of Syracuse’s Carrier Dome.
Strongly Considered for Top Honors
Honorable Mention
Kentucky - ‘Cats had their best week of the season by far. Escaped over Vandy by 3, then went down to Gainesville and took down the Gators in a blow out (76-58).
Radford - Highlanders played four games this week and won them all! Two sweeps over Hampton and Charleston Southern to improve to 7-1 in Big South action.
Purdue Fort Wayne - UIC came into Fort Wayne with a 2-0 Horizon League record and a good amount of momentum. The Mastadons gave the Flames a rude awakening by sweeping them in an OT win and a blowout win.
Indiana State - In lone game of the week, Sycamores rallied to upset Loyola-Chicago 76-71. Tyreke Key was magnificient, 31 pts and 10 rebs.
The Citadel - Hayden Brown missed most of last season with a leg injury, but has come back stronger than ever. A brilliant 37-point game stunned Chattanooga and gave the Bulldogs a big win in their SoCon opener.
Alabama - Tide kept on rollin this week by winning the Iron Bowl of Hoops in Auburn, 94-90 and an impressive 15-point victory over Florida on Tuesday.
Montana State - A road sweep for the Bobcats this weekend over Northern Colorado. Montana St. played fantastic in a 12-point opening win, and grinded out a tough OT win to complete the sweep.
Stanford - Cardinal got three wins this week. At Oregon State and a sweep of the Washington schools. They did it all without Senior leader Daejon Davis.
Toledo - Rockets continued to get it done this week. Toledo beat Kent State on the road in a tight battle and cruised past Ohio at home.
LSU - Tigers notched their first road win of the year in convincing fashion. Downing Ole Miss, 75-61. LSU also escaped a scare from Georgia in OT on Wednesday.
Long Island - Important sweep for the Sharks this past week over St. Francis (PA). Eral Penn and Ty Flowers paced LIU, and the Sharks moved to 3-1 in NEC play.
USC Upstate - For these Spartans things looked bleak during their 0-9 start to the season. But a great sweep over Longwood and an overall 3-game win streak have got them back to .500 in league play.
Tennessee - Vols took care of business this week by beating a tough Arkansas team, then getting a road victory at Texas A&M on Saturday.
St. Francis (NY) - Terriers played at a high level in the sweep of Mount St. Mary's this week. SFNY got it done on the defensive end, limiting the Mountaineers to 55 points in each game.
Missouri State - This feels like a weekly tradition for the Bears. A road sweep in the Valley is incredibly valuable and Missouri State did exactly that in Valparaiso this weekend.
Cleveland State - Vikings continued to roll by sweeping Northern Kentucky. An incredible 8-0 record now in Horizon League action, Cleveland State will be on the next Bracketology Big Board.
Tulsa - Golden Hurricane remain hot. A 61-51 road win at South Florida gets Tulsa up to 4-1 in the AAC. Three of the four wins on road wins too.
Sam Houston State - Bearkats have been putting it all together lately and getting it done on the road. Now with four straight road wins after beating SE Louisiana and Central Arkansas this week.
Loyola Marymount - After a 22-day layoff due to Holidays and Covid-related issues, the Lions showed up for a key WCC win over San Francisco on Sunday evening.
South Dakota - Coyotes grinded out two tough wins at Kansas City. South Dakota is now 4-0 in Summit League play after the key road sweep.
Iowa - Hawkeyes avenged their only B1G loss on Sunday, by beating Minnesota handily. Iowa also added a good road win at Maryland by 22 on Thursday.
Lipscomb - Bison had to play twice at D1 newcomer and darkhorse program, Bellarmine. Lipscomb managed to escape with two narrow victories. At 3-1, Bison still in the hunt for the ASUN title.
North Carolina - Heels got a much needed road win at Miami. Leaky Black led the way with 16 points and 9 boards.
Utah Valley - Mark "Mad Dog" Madsen's bunch came ready to host Cal Baptist. The Wolverines played great in a sweep over the Lancers, winning by 27 in the first game and held on for a 4-point win on Saturday.
Michigan - Wolverines passed another test this week with flying colors by beating Minnesota 82-57. Michigan is now 10-0 and threatening to be a top-seed in Bracket projections.
Charleston - Cougars came into the week 3-6 and behind Drexel in most metrics. But Charleston put it together nicely this weekend to sweep the Dragons and improve to 3-1 in the CAA.
Fordham - Rams get a special shout-out this week for an improbable win over Dayton on Tuesday. Fordham carried out a strong week by taking Davidson down to the wire as well, losing by just 3.
Austin Peay - Star player, Terry Taylor, hit an NBA-ranged bank shot to stun Eastern Illinois, 74-71, in their building. Key road win for the Gov's in dramatic fashion.
Louisville - Cardinals had another test at home, this time with Virginia Tech. Cards were able to pull off a 73-71 victory in a see-saw battle. Another good one for the UL resume.
Colgate - In two rematched of last year's Patriot League Title Game, the Raiders went into Boston University and got a dominant sweep. Colgate won game two by 44 points.
UMBC - Retrievers got another America East sweep at New Hampshire. Quality campaign in the works right now for Ryan Odom's team.
Morehead State - Two more home wins for the Eagles, most impressively beating a hot Jacksonville State team. Also took care of Tennessee Tech.
Check tomorrow for a new Bracketology Big Board and Games of the Week.
~Rocco Miller