City of Basketball Love

Matt Trabold (@TrabsMatt)
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In his weekly Trabs Files, CoBL national analyst Matt Trabold takes a look around the national college landscape, both in the week that was and the week to come:

Tuesday, Wednesday, Wacky Days

This certainly has not been the most parity-filled season in men’s college basketball history when it comes to the teams in the national rankings. Week 6 of this season wildly saw no change in the top-eleven of the Associated Press Top-25 poll. Week 7 and Week 8 this time around did not see much more diversity in that poll with the top-six and top-five staying intact, respectively.

On top of that, the “bubble” for the 2017 NCAA Tournament field discussion could easily end up being the smallest in recent memory in the sport. The first half of this week saw plenty of parity hit the contents of the national rankings. And it hit them at full speed.

Tuesday night, many a ranked side unsurprisingly dispatched of their respective unranked opponent – like thirteenth-ranked Louisville handing Pittsburgh the second-worst defeat in that program’s history by downing the Panthers by a seemingly unfathomable 55 points. The top-four of the Associated Press Top-25 poll at the moment was not as lucky. Despite dismissing its third leading scorer in Detrick Mostella three weeks ago and having star freshman Grant Williams plagued by cramping problems throughout the second half, Tennessee upset fourth-ranked Kentucky.

Marquette’s victory over the seventh-ranked team in the country at the time in Creighton this most recent Saturday had an asterisk on it of it being the first game this year the Bluejays had to play without Maurice Watson Jr. The Golden Eagles’ win Tuesday night had no such thing as Steve Wojciechowski’s group came back from being down seventeen points to shock top-ranked Villanova. While eighteenth-ranked West Virginia was actually favored at home against second-ranked Kansas, it certainly was not by as much as the sixteen-point margin the Mountaineers ended up dominating the Jayhawks by. This was the first time since 1979 that the first-ranked, second-ranked and fourth-ranked teams in the country fell on the same night.

The top-four in the national rankings were obviously not back in action again on Wednesday night, but that did not mean heavy hitters could not fall that evening. In one of the tip-top most flabbergasting results of this season, overachieving Georgia Tech throttled sixth-ranked Florida State by 22 points behind 35 points and fourteen rebounds at 6-4 by freshman Josh Okogie. That was supposed to be the start of the easier part of the Atlantic Coast Conference schedule for the Seminoles following the gauntlet of seven games versus mostly ranked squads to start conference play.

Later in the night, eighth-ranked California, Los Angeles lost by eight points to a Southern California team that dropped three of its last five ballgames coming into the day after being ranked itself. Creighton’s skid without Watson Jr. continued two nights ago as well with the Bluejays getting thumped by twenty points by a Georgetown group with one conference victory before that.

Watch Your Back, Goliath (Upset Predictions)

Texas A&M at No. 18 West Virginia--Sat., Jan. 28, 12:00 PM ET

The Mountaineers are a hot commodity in the men’s college basketball world at the moment after running over second-ranked Kansas by sixteen points on Tuesday night. With that being said, West Virginia’s season has not been void of letdowns shortly after victories over top-two opponents. Around a couple of weeks ago, the Mountaineers dropped one against sub-.500 Oklahoma eight days after trouncing the top-ranked team in the country at the time in Baylor by 21 points. Despite being mired in a rough recent four-game stretch following reaching double figures in scoring in seven games out of an eight-game span stretching from the end of the non-conference slate and the start of Big 12 play, sophomore forward Esa Ahmad is the top scoring option for Bob Huggins and his staff this year. Last time out, Ahmad got back to his double-digit scoring ways with a vengeance with a career-high 27 points versus the Jayhawks.

A potential individual matchup to keep your eyes peeled for in this one is Ahmad against a very possible 2017 NBA Draft lottery pick in 6-9 freshman Robert Williams. Recently, Williams has been churning out more production than potential alone for the NBA scouts he draws to Texas A&M ballgames. The renowned rim protector is coming off the best two-game stretch of his still young men’s college basketball career after he combined for 33 points, 26 rebounds and three blocks versus Georgia and Mississippi. The most glaring issue with this Aggies’ roster is a lack of a true point guard after Alex Caruso and Anthony Collins ran out of eligibility following last season. Even with that, Texas A&M is top-thirty nationally in assists average in addition to being a very respectable – especially relative to those one spot deficiencies – top-eighty nationally in assist-turnover ratio. The Aggies need to stay along those lines to properly combat “Press Virginia” in the 2017 SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

No. 22 Maryland at Ohio State--Tues., Jan. 31, 7:00 PM ET

Don’t look now, but the Buckeyes have been turning heads left and right over the last couple of weeks after starting Big Ten play with four losses in a row – not to mention being beaten by currently 6-13 Florida Atlantic midway through their non-conference slate. Their four-game span starting on January 15 included victories over a pair of previously ranked sides in Michigan State and Minnesota on top of only falling by two points against a probable 2017 NCAA Tournament team in Northwestern. Plus, all of those results of note came without the services of injured top-notch junior inside-outside threat and second-leading returning scorer Keita Bates-Diop. Since the Big Ten competition part of the schedule started, seven-foot former Virginia Tech Hokie Trevor Thompson has continued to climb into the upper echelon of big men men’s college basketball has to offer this year. In Ohio State’s most recent contest, Thompson went for a double-double of a career-high nineteen points, ten rebounds and three blocks versus Minnesota.

It is not the easiest task in the world to find foibles in an 18-2 squad that has rattled off five straight wins and is at the top of the standings of a conference as mighty as the Big Ten, but some around the Maryland men’s basketball program probably are not elated the Terrapins were only up a bucket on the conference’s bottom-dweller in Rutgers at the 17:30-mark of the second half last time out. While Kevin Huerter had a very well-rounded night against the Scarlet Knights of eleven points, eight rebounds, six assists and just a single turnover, the other two members of Maryland’s star freshman trio in Anthony Cowan and Justin Jackson largely struggled in that one. Cowan went 1-of-7 from the field, while Jackson had as many turnovers as points. Also, Jackson went scoreless in 25 minutes of prior two games prior versus Illinois.

Stat Tease

Wofford at The Citadel: Three-Point Field Goal Percentage vs. Scoring Offense

This Southern Conference tussle this upcoming Thursday night could very well be a shootout of epic proportions. Wofford is eighth in the country in three-point field goal percentage. Eric Garcia came into men’s college basketball as a celebrated shooter, especially from the charity stripe, but arguably the most notable part of this senior campaign of his is how much of a leap he has taken as a distributor. Garcia is sixteenth nationally in assists average and third nationally in assist-turnover ratio. That does not mean he has forgotten how to be an imposing marksman though. In addition to being second in the country in free throw percentage, he is top-thirty in the country in three-point field goal percentage on an individual basis.

While The Citadel does not always score the basketball in the most efficient matter, the Bulldogs do lead the country in scoring offense currently after dropping 94.5 points an outing on their opponents thus far this season. A major reason for that accomplishment by Duggar Baucom’s club is that The Citadel is also first nationally in quantity of field goal attempts. The Bulldogs have taken a staggering 158 more shots than the team second nationally in that statistic in North Carolina.

Philadelphia Area Product Update

Charlie Brown--Fr., Saint Joseph’s (George Washington)

While Brown was a microcosm of the dreadful second half by the Hawks last time out – that allowed St. Bonaventure to come back from an eighteen-point deficit to win – by going scoreless in it after dropping thirteen points in the first half, he did post career-highs in scoring and rebounding in the game prior with nineteen points and nine rebounds against a Penn side that upset La Salle on Wednesday night.

Donte McGill--Sr., Florida International (Mont Clare Academy)

The top-sixty in the country scorer has returned swimmingly from a knee injury that cost him two games in the second week of this month. In his second game back to action for the Golden Panthers, McGill dropped 24 points on 10-of-11 shooting from the charity stripe in a pretty huge upset over Alabama at Birmingham. In Florida International’s most recent contest, he came away with seven steals versus Florida Atlantic.

Quincy McKnight--So., Sacred Heart (The Phelps School)

While the top-fifty in the country scorer struggled this most recent Saturday by only going for eight points in a foul trouble-plagued outing against Wagner, McKnight had one of this year’s best men’s college basketball scoring performances in all the land two games prior with 44 points on 4-of-6 shooting from downtown, nine rebounds at 6-3, six assists and four steals versus Bryant.

Tyere Marshall--Fr., Rider (Martin Luther King)

This most recent Saturday, Marshall pulled down a career-high thirteen rebounds to go with his nine points and a block in an eighteen-point victory for the Broncs over Marist. That ballgame versus the Red Foxes also included the 6-8 center posting a career-high for playing time in a single game with 26 minutes off the bench.