College Basketball Teams of the Week – Week 8 (January 18-24, 2021)
Missouri - Regardless of Mizzou’s glowing resume heading into the week, there were skeptics everywhere about this team and how good they actually are. The Tigers are not a metrics darling, they were near 40th in KenPom a week ago, for example. Additionally, the Tigers were picked anywhere from ninth to thirteenth in the preseason SEC rankings, depending on your publication of choice (I had them tenth). Head Coach Cuonzo Martin, his staff and his players have no control over such things. They can only prep for the next opponent and be ready to deliver on gamedays. At 8-2 with wins over Illinois, Oregon, at Arkansas, and at Wichita State in hand, Mizzou’s resume was already great given where we are at this point in the season. Tigers had to feel a bit slighted by the pundits not ranking them high and perhaps some disrespect from my peers in Bracketology? Nevertheless, South Carolina was next on the schedule this past Tuesday evening. The Tigers built a double-digit lead early and never let go. Eventually built it to 16 points, en route to a 81-70 win. Big man Jeremiah Tilmon was highly efficient in the victory, scoring 19 (on 8-for-11 shooting) and grabbing 10 rebounds.
Up next was a highly anticpated trip to Tennessee. Another opportunity to really boost their resume and ideally improve some of the important metrics. One key player that was seeking a turnaround was Xavier Pinson. After all, Pinson was held to just two points against the Gamecocks and had five turnovers. Pinson also struggled against Texas A&M last week, scoring seven while committing four turnovers. So Pinson decided to spend extra time in the film room with Martin between games. One of the key takeaways for Pinson, was the subtle reminder that he is at his best when he is in attack mode. So, thats exactly what he did from the get-go at Tennessee. Pinson was agressive throughout, and Mizzou jumped all over the Vols in this one. They had a 20-7 lead after 10 minutes. About mid-way through the second half, Pinson help lead the Tigers to an insurmountable double-digit advantage. Mizzou would go on to win 73 to 64. For Pinson, he had one of the best games of his career, 27 points and a perfect 3-for-3 from distance. For the team, this sends a message to the SEC. It was only a few weeks ago when Tennessee destroyed Mizzou in Columbia. The confidence is here again for Pinson and the Tigers. And perhaps some new found confidence is on the way from the pundits.
Mizzou moved to 10-2, and in prime position for a #3 seed in Bracketeer’s Bracketology.
Oregon State - Daring to predict who the team of the week awards are going to be from one week to the next is an impossible endeavour. At one point this season, this Beaver program was 1-3 vs. D1 competition with losses to Wyoming and Portland at home. Their season quickly looked like a lost cause. The Beavers hung in there and won four of their next six, including a one-point nailbiter over Arizona State last week. Tuesday would bring a different type of test to Corvallis. The USC Trojans came in boasting a top 10 defense nationally and a really impressive resume, with road wins. The game was rescheduled from a December postponement, and was non-standard for the Pac-12’s typical weekend lineup. But nothing is standard in any conference this season. So the Beavers, building off the ASU win, came out with an effective gameplan and got off to a great 31-23 lead by Halftime. As the game went on, things tightened up. The game was tied, when Rodrigue Andela drained two foul shots to put Oregon State ahead, 58-56 with 1:49 to go. Incredibly, those would be the last points of the game as both teams struggled offensively down the stretch. Beavers did not make a field goal in the final 3:13 and USC did not score in the last 2:19. Winning ugly was perfectly fine with this bunch. It also snapped USC’s six-game win streak.
Next up was a trip down I-5 to Eugene and a Saturday night date with rival Oregon. Oregon brought with them a 28-game home winning streak, and Oregon State amazingly hadn’t won a road game over a Top 25 opponent since 1985! However, Oregon did not bring a few key guys with them. Both LJ Figueroa and Chris Duarte were both held out due to Covid Protocol and Will Richardson remained out with an injured wrist. Prime opportunity for these Beavers to compete and possibly win. Early in the second half, the game was tied at 34. That is when the Beavs broke out into an 8-0 run and never looked back. Ethan Thompson scored 19 points, Warith Alatishe had 14 points and 16 rebounds to provide Oregon State one of their most impressive performances in years. Beavers went on to win, 75-64. OSU hopes this will keep them in the top-half of the conference, they are now 4-3 in league play. They’ll need to bring it again next week as they once again face USC, then UCLA on the road.
Florida State - Prior to January 13th, the Seminoles were enduring a 14-day program pause while not knowing for a while when they would get out there. When the green light came on, it really came on for this team. On January 13th, FSU would go on to light up NC State and break several shooting records in a 105-73 victory. Then they were able to keep it up by beating UNC at home. That led us into this week. A week in which FSU was tasked with traveling to Louisville and then looking to avenge a December loss against Clemson. The Seminoles took all the mystery out of the Louisville game and felt right at home out there, building a 42-28 lead by Halftime. Raiquan Gary is a player who has been bringing it since the layoff. Gary would end up scoring 17 points and grabbing eight boards at Louisville. This ultimately was a team effort overall, the team shot nearly 54% and 43% from deep. The offense was crisp with weapons all over the floor. Once again this is looking like the dangerous Florida State teams we’ve come to know under Leonard Hamilton. Noles ultimately finshed off the Cardinals, 78-65.
Saturday brought a Clemson team that had handed FSU a 10-point loss back on December 29th. However, now both programs are heading opposite directions. Clemson was in a funk coming in. Florida State had been waiting for this moment for several weeks, and the Seminoles more than made the most of it. The Seminoles avenged that loss in grand style on Saturday, opening up a commanding lead in the first half and rolling to an 80-61 victory. Here are the highlights:
FSU now sits at 20th in the NET rankings and has a road win against a team in the projected field. The resume is solidifying and more importantly, the Noles are poised to make another run at the ACC title over the next six weeks.
Sam Houston State - Jason Hooten’s Sam Houston State Bearkats were waiting in the wings for several weeks. After all, the Bearkats started 3-5 and hadn’t played a top 200 team since then. The 3-5 start makes it easy for a common fan to overlook this team. However, a closer look under the hood tells you that these losses came against SMU, Texas Tech, Boise State, LSU, and Texas - all tournament caliber clubs! Since the loss to Texas, all they’ve done is win eight in a row. The way the scheduled ultimately played out could be a blessing for Coach Hooten’s team. They were afforded the opportunity to learn invaluable lessons against stiff competition, iron out their rotations, and play a lot of basketball. The streak led to a 5-0 start in the Southland. But up until this past Wednesday, the Bearkats hadn’t faced one of the league favorites (Abilene Christian or Stephen F. Austin). On Wednesday, it was time. ACU was in Huntsville for a visit that must’ve been circled on several Bearkat calendars around town. ACU has made waves this season and we featured them here last month at Bracketeer.org and came into this clash with a four-game win streak of their own.
As the game got a flow, it was the SHSU Bearkats playing the lead role as they built as big as a 12-point first half lead and after a late 5-0 run, took a 39-28 lead to Halftime. The Bearkats were getting tremendous production from two key players, Demarkus Lampley and Zach Nutall all evening long. In the second half, ACU made their move. The Wildcats went on a 6-0 run to cut the SHSU lead down to 46-44. Then the Bearkats took over, going on an 11-2 run of their own to extend the lead back to 11. Despite committing 18 turnovers, Sam Houston State was the better team on this evening, winning 64-57. This was by far the Bearkats best win of the season, and puts them as the lead dog going forward in the Southland Conference race. Stephen F. Austin remains undefeated, however has requested to take a postseason ban this season instead of next. Thusly, Sam Houston State will be in our brackets this week. Congrats Bearkats!
Look for Sam Houston State in Bracketology this week.
Oklahoma - Let’s look at the past four Oklahoma season outcomes, shall we?
2017 - No tournament.
2018 - 10-seed, 1st round exit.
2019 - 9-seed, 2nd round exit.
2020 - projected 10-seed, season ended early.
I’m sensing a trend here. Lon Kruger’s Sooners are a consistent program, and he is an outstanding coach. But what were they going to do differently this year to take the next step up? How are they going to get off the bubble and play up to a much better seed, to have a shot at a deep tournament run? Or should we just get used to them occupying the 9-10 seed area again? Tons of questions coming in. And prior to this past week, it certainly felt like we were on our way to a similar year as 2018-20. But that started to change last week. An easy dismissal of Big 12 bottom-feeders Kansas State (76-50), setup a rematch with Kansas.
OU had played really well just two weeks ago in Lawrence, but fell short late. This time in Norman, would be different. The Sooners played remarkably well in an upset win over Kansas, a seven-point win. Dishing the Jayhawks their first three-game losing streak since 2012-13. OU was led by a scintillating performance out of Sophomore De’Vion Harmon. Harmon knocked down four treys and had 22 points to match his season-high output. The win leaves Oklahoma in a much better position, for both the resume and metrics. The Sooners are now 22nd in KenPom (at press time) and have moved into our “In Safely” tier on the Bracketology Big Board. Perhaps this is the year that breaks the trend and Kruger could have himself a second-weekend of the NCAA’s caliber season ahead. For now, enjoy the win gents.
STRONGLY CONSIDERED
HONORABLE MENTION
Michigan Wolverines got back on track this week by handling Maryland and winning at shorthanded Purdue on Friday.
Washington Huskies were one of the worst power conference teams before this week, then a bunch of adjustments happened. The Dawgs went on to sweep Colorado and Utah, unthinkable.
Baylor Bears are beginning to play the tougher part of their schedule. Still passing tests though with realitive ease (at OK State and vs. KU).
Miami (OH) Quite a week for the Redhawks. Started with a 10-point win on Tuesday over Ball State. Then, the upset over Bowling Green (96-77) on Thursday. Topped off by a 85-63 road blowout over EMU.
Alabama Severely beat LSU in the Bayou, shot the lights out. Then hung on to beat Mississippi State over the weekend.
Appalachian State Mountaineers played wonderfully well in their sweep of conference kingpin's Georgia State. Star Guard Justin Forrest was the star in the opener (23 pts.) and James Lewis was the man in Game 2 (22/14 rebs.)
Saint Mary's Gaels picked up their first two road wins in amazingly their first two road games of the season. A 65-61 pressure-cooker win over LMU and beat local rivals San Francisco, 67-63.
Syracuse Orange got into serious tourney consideration by winning for the first time against a team (V-Tech) in the projected field. Syracuse also took care of Miami handily on Tuesday.
Jacksonville State JSU's first ever win at Murray State occurred on Thursday. Gamecocks kept the momentum going at Austin Peay on Saturday, defeating the Gov's 76-70.
Stanford Oscar Da Silva had a nifty backdoor cut to get free and catch an inbounds pass that allowed him to quickly make the game-winning shot to beat P12 leaders, UCLA.
Alabama A&M Bulldogs got to 4-0! And it took a win over one of the SWAC heavyweights, Southern U. AAMU was able to win going away, 68-58.
Penn State Nittany Lions snapped a 5-game win streak by beating Rutgers on Thursday. PSU followed that performance up by beating Northwestern.
North Alabama The Lions made some ASUN noise this weekend by sweeping Jacksonville. The sweep puts them in first at 5-1 in the ASUN.
Memphis Tigers made some lineup and defensive adjustments and it yielded great success thus far. A big 19-point home win over Wichita State and a road romp at ECU
Coppin State Golden Eagles were able to twice beat Norfolk State in an important MEAC series. Coppin State is now 5-1 in conference under Juan Dixon.
Loyola-Chicago Ramblers are tearing through the Valley. Two more blowout road wins, Wednesday at Valpo and Sunday at Bradley.
Villanova Returned to action after 26 days away. Picked up two quality home wins over Seton Hall and Providence to shake off any rust.
Green Bay The Phoenix played a fantastic two games against a previously hot Purdue Fort Wayne squad. Green Bay managed to sweep PFW with neither game being close.
Ole Miss Rebels are finally playing better basketball. A road win in basketball's version of the Egg Bowl helps (64-46) over MSU. Then on Saturday, Ole Miss took care of Texas A&M as well by 11.
Akron Stayed hot by beating Bowling Green on the road, coming off the Toledo upset. Then the Zips picked up two more wins in the week, over CMU and WMU.
Wyoming Pokes swept Nevada. Very impressive week for new Head Coach Jeff Linder and staff. This program was in the basement last season. Wyoming also won at Air Force on Monday.
American Swept Loyola-MD in an important early Patriot League series. Game 2 takes the cake here. Jamir Harris had nine 3-pointers including the game-winning buzzer beater!
Davidson Road win at Umass after a great second half surge to get control of the game on Sunday. Wildcats also beat Fordham on Wednesday.
Northern Kentucky Road sweep at Horizon League newcomers, Robert Morris. NKU needed OT in game two, but pulled it out. This sweep also snapped a 4-game losing streak.
Arizona Wildcats won at rival Arizona State with a game-winning basket by Azuolas Tubelis. The controversial ending sent Bobby Hurley into a frenzy. Rematch on Monday.
Longwood A surprise sweep of High Point got the Lancers up to 4-8 in Big South play. They won both games by double-digits and continue to play hard for HC Griff Aldrich.
Notre Dame Emphatic away win at Miami, 73-59 on Sunday. Prentiss Hubb (19), Juwan Durham (16) and Nate Laszewski (16) led the way for the Irish.
Jackson State After a 19-day program pause, the Tigers went to Grambling to win by 14. Impressive performance, and JSU is now 2-0 in SWAC play.
Valparaiso Road sweep at Illinois State came after a five straight blowout losses. Crusaders pulled it together nicely this past weekend.
Boston U. Bounced back after a tough start, by winning twice at Lafayette in the only scheduled meetings this year with the Leopards.
Enjoy the end of January games. Seven Sundays til’ Selection Sunday!
~Rocco Miller