Category: Men’s college basketball

The offense has been a key for Kentucky’s strong 2024 start

Kentucky basketball is one of the nation’s best offense teams so far in 2024.

It’s no secret that the Kentucky Wildcats are off and flying to start their season. They’re 6-0 and up to a two seed in ESPN Bracketology expert Joe Lunardi’s latest prediction, but what’s gotten the Wildcats to this point?

Thus far it’s been Kentucky’s high-flying offense, which features as one of the best in the nation.

Kentucky currently has the top-ranked Power 4 scoring offense, putting up 95.3 points per game. They’re third overall in the country, only trailing Utah State (98.6) and UNC Wilmington (97.5).

So what’s gotten Kentucky to this point of offensive prowess? How about passing the rock.

Related: Kentucky offers the son of a former NBA great

The Wildcats are also fourth in total assists, racking up 125 (20.8 per game) through their first six contests. They trail only Utah (22.5), Utah State (21.2), and defending national champion UConn (21.0).

With that, the Wildcats haven’t turned the ball over. They’re seventh in the nation in assist to turnover ratio, assisting a basket over twice as much as they give the ball up. Kentucky holds a 2.02 ratio — turning the ball over only 62 times against those 125 assists.

They’re taking advantage of that ball movement and security — utilizing it to capitalize on it in the open court. Kentucky is second in the nation in fast break points (23.0), only trailing NC State (28.4).

In addition, the Wildcats have been strong overall shooting at 39.9% from beyond the arc and 50.2% from the field.

Several Wildcats have had incredibly strong starts shooting, including senior guard Koby Brea (64.6% from the field, 67.6% from three) and junior guard Otega Oweh (56.5%, 44.4%).

Kentucky basketball returns this Friday night for their next matchup, with the Wildcats slated to take on Georgia State (3-3) in Lexington at 7 p.m.

Ohio State basketball moves on up in Joe Lunardi’s updated Bracketology

Ohio State men’s basketball has just one loss on the season, and it has jumped a spot in Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology.

Ohio State men’s basketball has jumped up a spot in Joe Lunardi’s updated bracketology.

Lunardi has Ohio State as the No. 5 seed in the Midwest Region which will take place in Indianapolis, only a few hour drive from Columbus. He has the Buckeyes facing Grand Canyon in the first round.

Kansas is the No. 1 overall seed in this region, and Kentucky is slotted in at No. 2.

Should Ohio State win its first-round matchup against the 12th-seeded Antelopes, it would draw the Texas A&M Aggies, the 4th seed in the region. The Aggies are the only team to beat Ohio State this season.

The Buckeyes kicked off their season with a win over the then-No. 19 Texas Longhorns. They went 1-2 in their first three games and have rattled off their last three straight.

Ohio State will return to facing Power 4 opponents Friday as they welcome the Pittsburgh Panthers to Value City Arena.

Nebraska upsets No. 14 Creighton in Omaha 74-63

Nebraska will return home to face South Dakota on Wednesday night.

The Nebraska men’s basketball team visited Omaha for its first big test of the season, No. 14 Creighton. The Huskers delivered a fierce battle on the night, stunning the Blue Jays 74-63.

This is Nebraska’s second straight win on the road against Creighton, and the Huskers delivered a defensive front to halt the Blue Jays’ offense. The Huskers held Creighton to 17-of-52 from the field with 12 of the Blue Jays’ shots coming from beyond the arc.

Nebraska meanwhile shot 24-of-57 from the field and kept its lead over Creighton for nearly the entire game. Though the Blue Jays attempted to claw their way back into the fight, the Huskers never broke.

Brice Williams and Juwan Gary led the team in scoring, each dropping 16 points on the night. Williams earned half of his points from the free throw line, going a perfect 8-of-8. Gary hauled in seven rebounds along with his 16 points.

Connor Essegian finished directly behind the duo with 15 points, going 4-of-6 from the field and 6-of-9 from the free throw line. Berke Büyüktuncel scored 12 points, going 4-of-7 from the field, and hauled in a team-high nine rebounds. Rollie Worster rounded out Nebraska’s top-five scorers, landing 11 points on the night.

Nebraska improves to 4-1 on the season and will return home to face South Dakota on Wednesday night. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. on Big Ten Network.

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Jeremiah Fears stars for the Oklahoma Sooners in first career start

Oklahoma true freshman Jeremiah Fears leads Sooners in scoring in first collegiate start.

The Oklahoma Sooners are 4-0 on the season after their 28-point win over East Texas A&M on Thursday night. The Sooners are relying on a number of transfer portal additions to supplement the play of Jalon Moore and Sam Godwin. The Sooners have had several standout performances to start the season.

The latest came from true freshman Jeremiah Fears, who made his first collegiate start on Thursday. Fears finished as Oklahoma’s leading scorer with 20 points on 7 of 10 shooting. He also added five assists and four rebounds in the win.

Fears is now averaging 15.5 points per game early in his college career.

“He did a lot of really good things,” Porter Moser told the media after the win. “He makes a lot happen with his speed. He can create for others and he makes a ton of good plays. There’s still a learning curve on other plays, situationally for him, but I thought he did a good job.”

Fears has shown a fearless attitude, driving the lane and attacking the basket. His speed has been difficult for opposing teams to handle, and he is a fantastic passer.

So far in his Sooners career, he’s shooting 51.2% from the field, including 64.3% on two-point attempts. He’s gotten thrown into the deep end with 27 minutes a game. Moser has given the former blue-chip prospect a lot of work in the early part of the season ahead of more challenging competition ahead.

Fears have rewarded Moser’s trust with good decision-making and aggressiveness to help supplement what Oklahoma’s getting from veterans like Moore, Godwin, Kobe Elvis, and Duke Miles.

The Sooners will take part in the Battle 4 Atlantis starting on Nov. 27 when they take on the Providence Friars.

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How Kentucky fared in Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology projections

Kentucky basketball is up to a three seed in Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi released his latest Bracketology prediction on Monday, featuring a surge upward from the Kentucky Wildcats.

Kentucky has moved up to a third seed, with Lunardi projecting the team as a  three seed. They’re set to play in the Midwest region, where they would face fourteen seed Vermont in the opening round.

The move can be directly attributed to the Wildcats’ 77-72 upset win over the Duke Blue Devils last week, with Kentucky showing off exactly the kind of winning basketball it takes to win major tournament games.

Related: Best photos of Kentucky’s win over Lipscomb

This is a sentiment Lunardi clearly agreed with, as he moved Mark Pope’s squad up in seeding.

“I might not always agree, but there’s a reason the NCAA men’s basketball selection committee insists November results mean just as much as late-season games. Let’s go back a week to the final media timeout of the Champions Classic. Kentucky had come from double digits down to tie Duke. The underdog Wildcats managed to win those last four minutes, not only notching the first major victory of the Mark Pope era but creating the kind of bracket disruption not normally seen this early in the season,” Lunardi said. “Former top-liner Duke drops all the way to a 3-seed in the shuffle, while Kentucky leaps three lines to join the Blue Devils.”

Lunardi’s next Bracketology will release next Tuesday, with the 4-0 Wildcats set to at least hold the line until that ensuing edition.

Ohio State men’s basketball get surprise seeding in Joe Lunardi’s bracket release

Ohio State basketball suffered its first loss against Texas A&M, but it is projected to be a single-digit seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Joe Lunardi is starting bracketology early this year and is already making predictions of who will end up in the field of 68.

Despite Ohio State suffering its first loss of the season to Texas A&M this past Friday evening, it is still a single-digit seed and among the highest-projected teams in the Big Ten.

The Buckeyes come in at No. 7 in Lunardi’s updated bracket and, in his model, will face the No. 10 Pittsburgh to open their first-round battle in Cleveland.

They are in the West region, one that has Gonzaga as the top seed and Tennessee No. 2. Oregon at No. 9 and Rutgers at No. 11 are the only two Big Ten teams in Ohio State’s region.

You can view the entire breakdown rundown here.

While getting in or sitting out is a critical part of Selection Sunday, there are a few teams that are especially concerned about their future. Here are those 16 teams that make up the last four byes, last four in, first four out and next four out.

While there’s still most of the season left, things are looking good for Ohio State hoops, and with an elite backcourt and solid three-point shooting, it would have the capability to do some damage should it find its way into the tournament.

Notre Dame guard Sir Mohammed out indefinitely with injury

Notre Dame loses a guard for an unknown amount of time.

Notre Dame freshman guard [autotag]Sir Mohammed[/autotag] will be out indefinitely with an injury.

Mohammed has played in two games this season, scoring 5 points and plucking 7 rebounds in just under 26 minutes of total playing time.

He’s had a left knee injury pestering him since the summer, and now he will be undergoing surgery for a “lower body injury.” This according to Tom Noie of the South Bend Tribune.

It’s unclear when he’ll return as the Fighting Irish attempt to continue an ongoing rebuild.

Notre Dame guard Sir Mohammed looks for a teammate to pass too during a college basketball game against Stonehill College at Purcell Pavilion on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in South Bend.

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Ohio State basketball has impressive defensive metrics through two games

Ohio State basketball became ranked this week after back-to-back wins, and it has had success because of lockdown defensive performances.

Aaron Craft would be proud of these Ohio State Buckeyes. Ohio State has played two games this season, and it is 2-0.

While the Buckeyes seem to be figuring it out on the offensive end and clearly scored enough to come out on top, it has been their defense has spearheaded these victories.

They are the top Power Four program in opponent’s effective field goal percentage. Their foes are shooting an effective 34.6% from the field. That’s what has propelled these victories.

The biggest performance Ohio State has had was its opening-season 80-72 neutral-court victory over the Texas Longhorns, who were ranked No. 19 at the time of the match. Texas shot just 36.8% from the field and were 7-of-28 from deep.

Of note, it allowed just six assists to Youngstown State in its second game of the season as well. The Buckeyes have stuffed opponents, and they’ve had a few big-time showings from key players as well.

Ohio State received a surprise performances from freshman John Mobley Jr. against Texas. He has been a star on both sides of the court and dropped 14 on Texas.

This Buckeyes team is doing it all, and with the No. 23 Texas A&M Aggies on the horizon Friday, let’s hope they continue this stifling defense and see more impressive players from freshman Mobley Jr.

USC men’s basketball needs to quit playing with its food

USC is going to get burned one of these days if it keeps playing with fire. The Trojans have to set the bar higher and not let inferior teams hang around.

For the second consecutive game, USC men’s basketball narrowly scraped by an inferior opponent. On Wednesday night, the Trojans held off UT Arlington 98-95 to improve to 3-0 on the 2024-2025 season. This comes less than a week after the USC struggled against Idaho State, prevailing by a score of 75-69 in a game which was neck and neck with two minutes left.

The good news for the Trojans is that they continue to win games. But given the level of competition, their play is not exactly inspiring a lot of confidence right now.

Plain and simple, Idaho State and UT Arlington are teams the Trojans should be blowing out. (Maybe not by the same margin that the women’s team destroyed Cal State Northridge, but they should still be winning handily.) The fact that these games have been as close as they have is definitely a cause for concern.

Right now, the Trojans are playing with their food. If they continue to do so, they will eventually choke.

USC still has five more games against mid-major opponents. If the Trojans continue to play like they have in the past two, losing at least one of them feels inevitable, and that will put a dent in their March Madness aspirations.

Given the difficulty of playing a Big Ten schedule, it is crucial that the Trojans beat the teams they are supposed to in these early-season buy games if they want to be a serious NCAA Tournament contender. If USC continues to mess around as it ha the past two games, that will not happen.

We saw this under Andy Enfield. The Trojans could get by on sheer talent at times, but that was not sustainable. Eric Musselman has to get his players to defend a lot better than they have. Winning can’t lead to overconfidence; these close shaves must translate into more urgency and greater attention to detail.

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The big loser in USC football’s quarterback change? Eric Musselman

Eric Musselman and USC are 2-0, but the football team was still the big story of the week due to its QB change. It’s a reminder about what gets the headlines.

Monday night at USC basketball was supposed to be all about Eric Musselman. Coaching his first game in charge of the USC men’s basketball program, the “Muss Bus” impressed in his debut. The Trojans dominated UT Chattanooga in a wire-to-wire 77-51 victory. Unfortunately for Musselman, however, he only had the spotlight for barely an hour after the game ended. That was because around 10 p.m. local time on Monday night in Los Angeles, it was reported that the football team was making a change at quarterback, and turning to Jayden Maiava to start against Nebraska.

Suddenly, Musselman and the basketball team were pushed to the back page. With the attention of USC fans naturally turning toward the big football news, they quickly forgot about the impressive performance from Musselman’s team in a game they had just watched.

Oh, and to top it all off, there was an election the next day — that was kind of important.

Fortunately for Musselman, Monday was only the first game of a long season. He and his team will have plenty of other opportunities to play their way back into the spotlight. USC beat Idaho State on Thursday in a game which was not on national television. It’s just as well: USC didn’t play particularly well. Yet, the Trojans are 2-0 and are trying to build something special under Musselman.

For the time being, however, being pushed aside by football in the news cycle must have been at least a little bit frustrating for the new head coach.

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