The bevvy of early season tournaments is now in full swing, and we’re starting to get some real impressions of a few teams. The 2K Empire Classic is in the books, allowing us that a little more than the ones that still have some action to come.
And what an impression Iowa made, especially in coming away with a 91-72 blowout of UConn in the championship game, a game that was basically over a few minutes into the second half as they opened by making seven of their first nine field goals.
Iowa simply competed harder than the Huskies, holding a 43-31 advantage on the glass to overcome 18 turnovers. They shot just under 51 percent, but held UConn to 4-26 from long range a night after the Huskies went 12-21 from deep. They led by 16 at the break and did anything but sit on the lead, winning the early minutes of the second half to put the Huskies in a bad place.
In a Big Ten that had a well-documented down year last year, Iowa was just one game ahead of last-place Rutgers at 4-14, and got buried from a relevance standpoint. They bring back all five starters, led by tournament MVP Tyler Cook (26 points on 10-14 shooting to go with eight rebounds), so the thought coming in was that they would be better, but how much better would be in question. Coming to New York to get wins over Oregon and UConn tells you there’s been a nice leap this point. It’s anyone’s guess what that will translate into – Oregon is young and UConn has a new head coach because the Huskies have become irrelevant – but the start they are off to is solid. Among non-conference games, they have a very manageable slate remaining that includes their toughest game, arch-rival Iowa State, at home.
UConn and Oregon each went 1-1 in New York as the Ducks ran out to a 35-22 halftime lead and were never seriously threatened in an 80-65 win over Syracuse. Oregon might have the most talent of the four teams that played at Madison Square Garden, but the Hawkeyes beat them more convincingly than the eight-point margin suggests before they rebounded on Friday night. It was a good sign as the Ducks have great young talent that showed an ability to overcome adversity. The Ducks have just two seniors, both of them redshirt seniors, so this is team likely to have some growing pains but also among the Pac-12 favorites. The Ducks aren’t done being challenge in non-conference play, as they have to go to Houston, play a rare non-conference home and home with Boise State, and go to Baylor before Christmas.
UConn is showing some promise under Dan Hurley, as there is no questioning the Huskies’ effort thus far. If Alterique Gilbert can finally stay healthy, this team will have a chance as he and Jalen Adams can be a formidable backcourt. Thus far, the duo is combining for 31.8 points and nearly eight assists per game while shooting over 42 percent from long range. The Huskies have some land mines ahead in non-conference, as they host Arizona, go to New Jersey to play Florida State and New York to play Villanova, but in the immediate they will regroup with home games against Cornell, New Hampshire and UMass-Lowell.
Syracuse went 0-2 but may have the least to worry about in the big picture. The Orange are without Frank Howard due to a lower leg injury, and backup point guard Jalen Carey missed practice time due to a sprained ankle, so they look different now than they will later. Carey showed progress in New York, scoring 26 points on 9-14 shooting against UConn, but he also turned it over six times without an assist. He had 14 points in the second game. Tyus Battle is having to handle the ball a good deal, which is not what he naturally does, and it changes how he tries to score. Still, the 2-3 zone will continue to baffle opponents and give the Orange chances – at least, if they don’t shoot 35 percent, give the ball away 17 times and get out-rebounded by seven as they did on Friday night.
Side Dishes
The semifinals of the Charleston Classic were both blowouts, as Virginia Tech took over the game after falling behind 24-23 with a 23-2 run to end the half en route to an 88-60 blowout of Northeastern, then Purdue got 29 points from Carsen Edwards and broke away from Davidson in the second half for a 79-58 win. In the consolation bracket, Alabama downed Ball State 79-61 and Wichita State edged Appalachian State 82-76.
The championship is also set in the Myrtle Beach Invitational, and it might not be who many figured. UCF steadily pulled away from Saint Joseph’s 77-57, then in the nightcap, Western Kentucky saw West Virginia rally to tie the game with a late 6-0 run, then scored the game’s final six points for a 63-57 win. West Virginia is now 1-2, but neither loss is a bad loss although some will probably portray at least one as such. Instead, this is a quality win for Western Kentucky. The consolation round games on the day went to Wake Forest by a 66-59 margin over Cal State Fullerton and Valparaiso by a 64-53 margin over Monmouth.
In the quarterfinals of the Islands of the Bahamas Showcase, only one game was decided by single digits, which was Pepperdine‘s 74-65 win over Towson. Montana, Miami (Ohio) and Georgia Southern all advanced.
The Paradise Jam had one of the day’s close calls, as Missouri barely got by Kennesaw State 55-52. Meanwhile, Penn is quietly off to a nice 4-0 start after beating Northern Iowa 78-71, getting 27 points from Devon Goodman, while Oregon State edged Old Dominion 61-56 behind another double-double from Tres Tinkle (13 points, 12 rebounds) and Kansas State ran away from Eastern Kentucky 95-68.
It was opening day at the Jamaica Classic at Montego Bay, and it began with a monster game from Austin Peay‘s Terry Taylor as he had 21 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Governors to an 80-78 win over Central Connecticut. Campbell rallied from being down by nine at the half to beat Florida A&M 66-59, South Florida pulled away from Ohio 73-46 and Loyola Marymount improved to 4-0 by knocking off Georgetown 65-52, outscoring the Hoyas 44-26 in the second half.
The Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic got going with Springfield Bracket semifinal action on Friday night. Holy Cross beat Stony Brook 84-70, then Siena edged Norfolk State 61-58.
It was a ho-hum day in games with ranked teams outside of tournament play, as only two games were decided by less than 15 points, with only one of the four teams being from outside the state of Louisiana. Kansas pulled away from Louisiana 89-76 and LSU held off Louisiana Tech 74-67 to go to 4-0 and hand the Bulldogs their first loss of the season.
Other notable games: St. John’s beat Rutgers 84-65 in the Gavitt Tipoff Games, Florida Gulf Coast won a nice mid-major matchup 84-78 over South Dakota State, Howard edged UMass 68-63 and Rhode Island got a late three-pointer to edge Harvard 76-74.
The wildfires in California continue to impact games, with three that were slated for Friday being postponed. Arizona State was slated to play at San Francisco, Cal Poly at Sacramento State and Wofford at Stanford. Wofford arrived on Wednesday, but Stanford canceled classes on Friday and also announced that the rivalry football game against Cal will be moved to December 1. Finding dates to make these games up later in the season will be a challenge, especially for Wofford and Stanford being on opposite coasts.
Tonight’s Menu
Several tournaments take a day off before the final day tomorrow, but a couple of others pick it up.
- At Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut, the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic has three games on tap, led by the Naismith Bracket semifinals with Michigan vs. George Washington (noon) followed by Providence taking on South Carolina (2:30 p.m.). In the Springfield Bracket in the evening is the third place game between Stony Brook and Norfolk State (8:30 p.m.)
- The Islands of the Bahamas continue with consolation games first: Incarnate word vs. North Dakota State (11 a.m.) and Florida Atlantic vs. Towson (2 p.m.) Semifinal games later will be Montana vs. Miami (Ohio) (5 p.m.) and Georgia Southern vs. Pepperdine (8 p.m.)
- The Paradise Jam continues with consolation games: Old Dominion vs. Kennesaw State (3 p.m.) followed by Northern Iowa vs. Eastern Kentucky (5 p.m.)
- Notre Dame tries to bounce back from its loss to Radford a few nights ago, this time hosting a dangerous William & Mary team (noon)
- In a nice mid-major matchup, Winthrop hosts East Tennessee State (2:30 p.m.)
- Northern Kentucky hosts a tournament that has semifinal action, starting with Coastal Carolina taking on UNC Asheville (4:30 p.m.) and ending with Manhattan taking on the host Norse (7 p.m.)
- South Alabama also hosts a tournament, starting with Chattanooga taking on Southeast Missouri State (5:05 p.m.) and ending with Jacksonville taking on the host Jaguars (8 p.m.)
- A great rivalry game on tap that is unfortunately not on national television is New Mexico hosting New Mexico State (6 p.m.)
- Yale has their first game in the country after winning their opener in China, this one a road date with Memphis (8 p.m.), while an intriguing matchup at the same time is Seton Hall hosting Saint Louis at the Prudential Center.
