Sunday was nearly a big day for the Big Ten. They claimed one tournament title early in the day, and nearly claimed another late, but in all, it was a good day for the conference. It was also a good one for a team few would have imagined being favored in their conference, but who has indeed been picked to win.
Michigan took home the championship in the Naismith Bracket of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off in impressive fashion. A day after blowing out George Washington, the Wolverines took control against Providence with a 14-2 run late in the first half and rolled to a 66-47 win. Much has been expected of freshman Ignas Brazdeikis, and thus far he is impressing, scoring 20 points and hauling down seven rebounds on Sunday. The Wolverines are showing once again that they can defend, and offensively they have won on the perimeter and on Sunday won with great inside play, led by Jon Teske with 17 points as they had a 32-22 edge in points in the paint.
In the Charleston Classic, Purdue had a nice first half, but Virginia Tech closed in late in the half and got within 44-36 at the break. After Purdue extended the lead to 12, the Hokies continued to plug away, and once they took a 58-56 lead over seven minutes in, appeared to have the edge the rest of the way as it was Purdue having to rally. Virginia Tech never trailed the rest of the way and had the last run, for which Purdue didn’t have an answer, winning 89-83 to give the ACC five champions in the event’s history.
Virginia Tech is looking to reach the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year, and they’re off to a great start considering they also don’t have Chris Clarke and Landers Nolley. They were carried on Sunday largely by the trio of tournament MVP Nickeil Alexander-Walker (25 points on 10-17 shooting, Ahmed Hill (23 points on 8-14 shooting, including 4-7 from deep) and Justin Robinson (23 points on 7-10 shooting, six assists). Robinson is one of the most underrated point guards in America, one who would be talked about more seriously as an All-America candidate if he played at Duke or North Carolina.
Purdue, meanwhile, was carried by Carsen Edwards, whose 26 points helped him set a tournament record for points in the three-game event (80). The big question with this team – and it still is one now, though perhaps a bit less of one than before the season – is how the support cast will fill in alongside him. Graduate transfer Evan Boudreaux had a fine outing overall with 18 points on 7-11 shooting and seven rebounds, Ryan Cline added 14 and was 4-10 from deep, but Matt Haarms, who showed promise a year ago, was a non-factor in this game with no points and two rebounds in 16 minutes. In fact, he hasn’t played well enough to get a big minutes bump thus far over last year, so how much he can be part of the support cast is in question. Edwards, however, has the drive to take this team somewhere, and he’ll do all he can to carry them far.
Finally, the Myrtle Beach Invitational featured a championship game matchup that not many might have envisioned. Western Kentucky, fresh off a big win over West Virginia, took on UCF, the preseason favorite in the American Athletic Conference. UCF has long been viewed as a place of potential, but chances are not many thought they would ever be favored to win a conference that features the likes of Cincinnati, UConn and Memphis, and now has Wichita State as well.
The Knights got off to a slow start, but rallied to get within 32-28 at the half. The second half was all UCF, as the balanced attack of Aubrey Dawkins (21 points on 8-13 shooting, including 5-9 from long range, and four assists with no turnovers), B.J. Taylor and big man Tacko Fall (13 points each) got going and they outscored the Hilltoppers 50-30 for a 78-62 win to take home the championship.
The Knights have perimeter talent with Taylor, Dawkins and Terrell Allen, and Fall is a rim protector inside. They have recovered from the head-scratcher of losing to Florida Atlantic in the second game of the season, and look well-prepared for tougher non-conference tests like Alabama (home) and Missouri (road), as well as games that are tougher than many might think against Northern Kentucky, Georgia Southern and Illinois State (all at home).
Side Dishes
Elsewhere in tournament play:
- Davidson took third place in the Charleston Classic with a 71-59 win over Northeastern, taking over the game in the second half after the teams were tied at 28 at the half. Alabama took fifth place by holding off Markis McDuffie (26 points, eight rebounds) and Wichita State 90-86, and Ball State beat Appalachian State 94-86 in overtime.
- In the Myrtle Beach Invitational, West Virginia took third place with a 97-90 win over Saint Joseph’s in a game that was every bit the shootout that score – along with both teams shooting 50 percent from the field and better than that from long range – suggests it was. Wake Forest took fifth place with a 69-63 win over Valparaiso, and Cal State Fullerton got 40 points from Khalil Ahmad in an 87-63 romp over Monmouth.
- Georgia Southern won the Islands of the Bahamas Showcase by nipping Montana 80-77, putting the Eagles at 5-0 and looking every bit a Sun Belt contender with their great backcourt of Tookie Brown and Ike Smith. Pepperdine took third place by edging Miami (Ohio) 86-80, Florida Atlantic took fifth place with a 71-68 win over Incarnate Word, and North Dakota State took home seventh place with a 76-51 rout of Towson.
- Holy Cross won the Springfield Bracket in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off with a 57-45 win over Siena, getting a career-high 24 points from Jacob Grandison. In the consolation game in the Naismith Bracket, South Carolina blew out George Washington 90-55 behind 20 points and 10 rebounds from Chris Silva. The Colonials lost their two games in Connecticut by a combined 68 points.
- In semifinal action in the Paradise Jam, Missouri held off Oregon State 69-63, then Kansas State held Penn below 31 percent from the field and forced 19 Quaker turnovers in a 64-48 win.
In the Jamaica Classic at Montego Bay, Georgetown needed overtime to eke out a 76-73 win over South Florida, handing the Bulls their first loss of the season. Later, Chris Clemons had 34 points to lead Campbell past Austin Peay 78-72 and Loyola Marymount moved to 5-0 with a 65-56 win over Ohio University.
In the Hardwood Showcase in Fayetteville, Arkansas got 27 points and 12 rebounds from Daniel Gafford as they edged Indiana 73-72. Gafford looked every bit the All-SEC and All-America candidate he’s been thought to be coming off his promising freshman season, and the Razorbacks got a late free throw after a tough foul call in the closing seconds.
Later in the day, the TCL Vancouver Showcase got underway. Washington took care of Santa Clara 82-68 behind 32 points from Jaylen Nowell to get things going. The second game started out with Minnesota in control, but Texas A&M rallied and eventually took the lead 64-63, but the Aggies appeared to run out of gas and Minnesota closed them out with the game’s last six points in a 69-64 win. Texas A&M is now 1-3 in a season where many figured they might be rebuilding
One score from a non-tournament game that jumped right off the page: Michigan State 101, Tennessee Tech 33 in a campus game in the Las Vegas Invitational. Michigan State scored 42 points in just the first half.
An individual stat line that will jump out at you: in UNCW‘s 113-74 romp over Allen, a non-Division I school, Devontae Cacok had 22 points and hauled down 26 rebounds.
Tonight’s Menu
A great week of college basketball gets going today with more tournament action, including one that’s annually the best, or close to it.
- The Maui Invitational begins with quarterfinal action as Auburn takes on Xavier (2:30 p.m.) and Duke takes on San Diego State (4:30 p.m.) in the afternoon session. In the evening, Arizona battles Iowa State (9 p.m.), then Gonzaga takes on Illinois (11:30 p.m.)
- The Cayman Islands Classic gets underway with Akron taking on Clemson (11 a.m.), then Illinois State takes on Georgia (1:30 p.m.) in the back half of the early session. Later, St. Bonaventure takes on Georgia State (5 p.m.), then the day concludes with Boise State against Creighton (7:30 p.m.)
- It’s the last day at the Paradise Jam, which begins with the seventh place game between Eastern Kentucky and Kennesaw State (1 p.m.), then Old Dominion and Northern Iowa battle for fifth place (3 p.m.), Penn and Oregon State meet for third place (5:30 p.m.) and old Big 12 rivals Kansas State and Missouri meet for the championship (7:30 p.m.)
- The Gulf Coast Showcase starts off with South Dakota State battling Tulane (11 a.m.), then UTSA takes on UC Irvine (1:30 p.m.), Colorado State plays Louisiana (5 p.m.) and Florida Gulf Coast takes on Toledo (7:30 p.m.)
- A full day of action is on tap at the MGM Resorts Main Event in Las Vegas, starting with Hartford and Utah Valley (2 p.m.), then Long Beach State takes on Iona in a nice mid-major matchup (5 p.m.) In the evening, Saint Mary’s and Utah State hook up (8:30 p.m.) and Mississippi State and Arizona State close out the day (11 p.m.)
- The Hall of Fame Classic has semifinal action in Kansas City with Missouri State and Nebraska in the opener (7 p.m.), followed by USC and Texas Tech (9:30 p.m.)
- In the Legends Classic, St. John’s and California meet in the first semifinal (7 p.m.), then Temple plays VCU (9:30 p.m.)
- The Fort Myers Tip-Off has Loyola-Chicago taking on Richmond (6:30 p.m.), then Wyoming plays Boston College (9 p.m.) in the nightcap.
