The Maui Invitational might not have the best field this year – that honor might well go to the Battle 4 Atlantis, which begins in another day – but it certainly had quite the start on Monday afternoon. It had a coming-out party for one player and a reminder of what we’re going to see this college basketball season in another game.
The opener between Dayton and Georgia featured one of the top freshmen in the country in Georgia guard Anthony Edwards, but it was Dayton sophomore Obi Toppin who grabbed center stage. Not nearly as many people knew about him before the day, but Toppin was the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year last season and opened some eyes. There were some who had him on their list of breakout players this year, but in all he was not a household name.
Monday might very well change that. Toppin had 25 points on 9-11 shooting, looking like an All-American as he was unstoppable. He scored inside often, including when getting fouled, stepped out to go 2-3 from deep and was simply the best player on the floor in front of a number of NBA scouts who were there to see Edwards.
As for Edwards, he never got untracked, scoring just six points on 2-10 shooting, including 0-5 from long range. More importantly, Dayton handled the Bulldogs 80-61 in what was never really a ballgame. The lone bright spot for Georgia was reserve Tye Fagan, who had 11 points on 5-5 shooting off the bench and was the only Bulldog in double figures. Toppin got good help from Jalen Crutcher, who had 20 points and was 4-9 on three-pointers.
The second game had a result few surely saw coming, but given what we see in college basketball this year, isn’t all that shocking. New head coach Mike Young, who won a lot of games at Wofford before going to Blacksburg last spring after Buzz Williams left town, got easily his biggest win thus far as the Virginia Tech held off Michigan State 71-66.
After he got the job, Young had to cobble together a roster just to run practices as players bolted and got out of their commitment to go there. You wouldn’t know it from the box score, as five Hokies scored in double figures, including one off the bench. The star has been one player who stuck around, Landers Nolley II, who had to sit last year, and he starred again on Monday as he had 22 points on 4-6 shooting from deep and handed out five assists.
Virginia Tech held Cassius Winston to seven points on 2-8 shooting and forced him into three turnovers against just two assists. Michigan State turned the ball over 16 times, which helped negate their 43-27 edge on the glass.
In the end, scouts will get to watch Anthony Edwards in a game against Michigan State to see how he handles a defense like what Tom Izzo might put together. It will simply be an earlier game than most might have expected, after he was upstaged by Obi Toppin in the game that might launch Toppin into the consciousness of more college basketball fans.
Side Dishes
Tournament roundup:
- Also in Maui, Kansas rolled over host Chaminade 93-63 and BYU pulled away from UCLA 78-63.
- Quarterfinal action in the Gulf Coast Showcase saw South Alabama hold the nation’s leading scorer, Jordan Roland, to just nine points on 3-13 shooting en route to a 74-62 win over Northeastern in the opener. Then Miami (Ohio) beat Drake 67-59, Wright State handled Weber State 72-57 and La Salle made a big first half stand up in a 75-64 win over Murray State.
- In the semifinals of the Hall of Fame Classic, Butler handled Missouri 63-52, then Stanford scored the first 17 points en route to a 73-54 win over Oklahoma.
- The Legends Classic also had semifinal action, with Richmond holding Wisconsin to 34 percent shooting and pulling away for a 62-52 win, then Auburn blew out New Mexico 84-59.
- The Fort Myers Tip-Off had a contrast in games. First, Pittsburgh got a double-double from Eric Hamilton (13 points, 12 rebounds) to edge Kansas State 63-59, then Northwestern breezed past Bradley 78-61. Yes, in another sign of what happens in college basketball this year, the same Northwestern team that lost to Division I newcomer Merrimack and Radford blew out a Bradley team that should contend in the Missouri Valley. (They also beat Providence as well.)
- Nevada won the Paradise Jam by taking care of Bowling Green 77-62 in the championship game. Earlier, Cincinnati took third place with an 81-77 win over Valparaiso in overtime despite 32 points and nine rebounds from Valpo’s Javon Freeman-Liberty, Western Kentucky got 24 points and 12 rebounds from Charles Bassey and held off Fordham 69-64 for fifth place, and Grand Canyon opened the day by beating Illinois State 68-63 to take seventh place.
Other results of note: VCU moved to 6-0 for the first time in program history by handling Alabama State 78-62; Tennessee moved to 5-0 with a solid 58-46 win over Chattanooga; Ohio State handled Kent State 71-52 in the Buckeye Classic; and Arkansas went on the road for a hard-fought 62-61 win at Georgia Tech in overtime despite James Banks III posting a big double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Yellow Jackets.
Iowa suffered a blow with sophomore Jack Nunge being lost for the season due to a torn ACL in his right knee. The 6’11” forward redshirted two years ago, so he will need to seek a medical redshirt to get this year back. He suffered the injury on Sunday against Cal Poly, and it prematurely ends a promising season as he was contributing well in working for an expanded role.
In Memphis‘ win over Ole Miss on Saturday, Lester Quinones left the game early. It turns out, he broke two bones in his right hand, and that will sideline the freshman guard for about three weeks. The bones are the third and fourth metatarsal bones, and the injury will not require surgery. Quinones is averaging over ten points per game, so it is not a small loss for a team already without James Wiseman until January.
Tonight’s Menu
Another packed day of action is ahead as the tournaments and showcases continue, including a couple of championship games.
- Day two of the Gulf Coast Showcase begins with losers bracket matchups featuring Drake and Northeastern (11 a.m.) and Murray State and Weber State (1:30 p.m.), then semifinal action between Miami (Ohio) and South Alabama (5 p.m.) and Wright State and La Salle (7:30 p.m.)
- The Cayman Islands Classic has a couple of interesting matchups on its second day, with Colorado State taking on Loyola-Chicago (11 a.m.), New Mexico State taking on South Florida (1:30 p.m.), Old Dominion taking on Washington State (5 p.m.) and George Mason taking on Nebraska (7:30 p.m.)
- The second day of the Maui Invitational begins with consolation games between Georgia and Michigan State (2:30 p.m.) and UCLA and Chaminade (5 p.m.), then the evening session has semifinal action as Dayton takes on Virginia Tech (8 p.m.) and Kansas plays BYU (10:30 p.m.)
- In the Legends Classic, Wisconsin battles New Mexico for third place (5 p.m.) before Richmond and Auburn play for the championship (7 p.m.)
- The Hall of Fame Classic also closes out, with old Big 12 rivals Missouri and Oklahoma meeting for third place () before Stanford battles Butler for the championship
- The headline games in the Cancun Challenge come in the evening as Wichita State takes on South Carolina (6 p.m.), then Northern Iowa puts its undefeated mark on the line against West Virginia (8:30 p.m.)
- The MGM Resorts Main Event has a third place game between Wyoming and TCU (9 p.m.) before the championship game between Colorado and Clemson (11:30 p.m.)
- Outside of tournament action, games that stand out are Arizona State traveling to Princeton and NJIT heading down the highway to visit Rutgers at 7 p.m., Central Michigan visiting DePaul (8 p.m.) and Belmont visiting Eastern Washington in a Gotham Classic game (9:05 p.m.)
