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:

Another Saturday in 2017, Another Record-Breaking Day in College Hoops

January 28, 2017 boasted a jaw-dropping five men’s college basketball games in which a team in the Associated Press Top-25 Poll at that time lost to an unranked foe as Florida State fell to Syracuse, North Carolina fell to Miami (FL), Oregon fell to Colorado, Butler fell to Georgetown and Notre Dame fell to Georgia Tech. This most recent Saturday slate in the sport actually managed to one-up its one-week predecessor despite having the same amount of upset victories by unranked squads over nationally ranked ones.

That heaping helping of men’s college basketball action marked the first time in the history of the Associated Press Top-25 Poll that two of the top-three clubs in it dropped a home game to an unranked opponent on the same day. On top of that, February 4, 2017 having six teams in the top-ten of the national rankings losing – two of the defeats were versus another ranked side – tied the record for most losses by members of the top-ten of the Associated Press Top-25 Poll on a single day.

Both of those defeats in the top-three of the national rankings involved the Big 12 Conference. Even though the second-ranked team in the country at the time in Baylor outscored Kansas State by thirteen points in the second half, the Bears were put away by the Wildcats as only one player for Scott Drew’s group in Johnathan Motley scored in double figures. The third-ranked team in the country at the time in Kansas outrebounded Iowa State by twenty rebounds, but the Cyclones still squeaked by the Jayhawks in overtime to snap the latter’s 51-game home winning streak.

The Big 12 Conference was not done flabbergasting men’s college basketball fans there. Oklahoma State controlled the second half behind Phil Forte III scoring all thirteen of his points in that second twenty-minute frame to shock the seventh-ranked team in the country at the time in West Virginia on the road. Rounding out the day’s upsets of top-ten teams in the national rankings by unranked foes was Syracuse narrowly surviving at home against the ninth-ranked team in the country at the time in Virginia even though the Orange trailed by sixteen points in the second half.

Four of Xavier’s five starters scored in double figures as the Musketeers beat the undermanned 22nd-ranked team in the country at the time in Creighton by a score of 82-80. Almost as wild as those upsets by unranked clubs was the manner in which top-ten teams at that point in Arizona and Kentucky fell in their matchups with other ranked groups. Arizona got pummeled by Oregon by 27 points, while the other collection of Wildcats suffered a 22-point loss versus Florida.

Watch Your Back, Goliath (Upset Predictions)

No. 15 Kentucky at Alabama--Sat., Feb. 11, 1:00 PM ET

Seeing a fifteen precede the Kentucky men’s basketball team in or on a television screen, a computer screen, the screen of a mobile device, the pages of a newspaper or the pages of a magazine is a vision that one does not expect to experience with John Calipari at the helm of the Wildcats. That is the ranking the program is dealing with at the moment after Calipari’s forces fell in three of their last five games, including against unranked Tennessee. The loss to Florida was one versus a fellow ranked side, but the margin of victory for the Gators in that one was a whopping 22 points. It looked like Kentucky had risen from its funk with 4:30 left in regulation against Louisiana State last time out, but its eighteen-point lead was whittled down to a seven-point victory when it was all said and done due to the currently 9-14 Tigers finishing the contest on a 19-8 run from that point on.

Bam Adebayo and the emerging Wenyen Gabriel are certainly menacing pieces for an opposing frontcourt to game plan for, but the front line for the Crimson Tide is not void of notable names. Do not let the stellar freshman season of Braxton Key and Donta Hall’s rise in the eyes of NBA scouts this year make you forget that this is the fourth campaign in a row that the senior big man duo of Shannon Hale and Jimmie Taylor has been relevant for Alabama. Like Malik Monk, Dazon Ingram is a very springy freshman – though of the redshirt variety – combo guard and legitimate NBA Draft prospect. The individual matchup between those two is arguably the top one of this ballgame. Players going to the boards in this one should have their head on a swivel because Kentucky and Alabama are truly two of the country’s top rebounding squads with the former fifteenth nationally on the glass and the latter seventeenth nationally on the glass.

No. 7 Wisconsin at Michigan--Thurs., Feb. 16, 7:00 PM ET

The manner in which the Wolverines accomplished their last two victories is reminding people that John Beilein’s bunch only has one really bad loss this season so far – that was against Illinois – on top of beating Southern Methodist, Marquette and Texas in a very successful non-conference slate. That pair of contests featured Michigan downing previously top-three in the country Indiana by thirty points and previously top-fifteen in the country Michigan State by 29 points on Tuesday night. At the forefront of this extra push by the Wolverines over the last two and a half weeks to get on the right side of the bubble conversation for the 2017 NCAA Tournament is senior starting point guard Derrick Walton Jr. He has scored at least twenty points in four games in a row, including an outing of twenty points, eight assists, two steals and just one turnover versus the Spartans in his most recent performance. On top of that, Walton Jr. has pulled down double-digit rebounds at 6-1 on a pair of occasions over Michigan’s last five ballgames.

That dominance of late by Walton Jr. has been even more vital to the Wolverines’ cause because of the rough stretch second-leading scorer Zak Irvin is experiencing at the moment. Irvin has combined for eight points on 3-of-23 shooting from the field and six turnovers over his last three outings. On Thursday night, Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ again threw his name in the hat to be considered the top defensive player in the country this men’s college basketball season. In the Badgers’ overtime road victory over upset-minded Nebraska, Happ made good on a risky but ultimately successful block attempt on Tai Webster with his team up only a single point with five seconds remaining in the extra session. Happ followed that up two seconds later by poking the ball free from Michael Jacobson’s grip from behind in what was still a one-point game. Something to watch for in this battle this upcoming Thursday night is how Happ does defending the red-hot Moritz Wagner. Despite standing 6-11, the sophomore German has been quite impressive of late dribbling the basketball and with his jump-shooting.

Stat Tease

Jacksonville at Kennesaw State: Three-Point Field Goal Percentage

There is a hearty chance that this contest features more made three-pointers than made two-pointers. Kennesaw State is currently tied with Weber State at the very top of the national three-point field goal percentage rankings. 6-6 junior guard Nick Masterson is seventh in the country in the statistic on an individual basis due to hitting 73 threeballs at a 51.8% clip up to this point. The little brother of former Villanova star and Boston Celtic Allan Ray in 6-2 sultan of spring Kendrick Ray is top-thirty nationally right now in number of three-point field goals made. His status for this one is unknown at this time though after he was sidelined by injury for Thursday night’s affair at Stetson.

Al Skinner’s bunch will be squaring off with the squad presently ranked tenth in the country in three-point field goal percentage this upcoming Thursday night. Despite going 2-of-12 from downtown over Jacksonville’s last two ballgames, freshman Tanner Rubio is still just 0.3% outside of the top-thirty nationally in the statistic on an individual basis. Around three weeks ago, Rubio shot 8-of-12 from behind the arc in a double-digit victory over Stetson. Rubio is one of four Dolphins with at least 42 makes from deep this season thus far.

Philadelphia Area Product Update

Amile Jefferson--Sr., Duke (Friends Central)

Saturday night in a close one against Pittsburgh, Jefferson had his best performance since returning from missing a pair of contests versus ranked opponents in early January due to a bone bruise. Jefferson went for fifteen points, nine rebounds, three assists, a season-high five blocks and just two turnovers against the Panthers in that one.

Ja'Quan Newton--Jr., Miami (FL) (Neumann-Goretti)

In an important and impressive victory over previously ranked Virginia Tech on Wednesday night, Newton recorded sixteen points. Newton has put together a double-digit scoring performance in all seven ballgames the Hurricanes have played this season so far versus teams that were ranked in the Associated Press Top-25 Poll for at least one week.

Sean Lloyd--So., Southern Illinois (Imhotep Charter)

In a two-game span from the start of last month to the beginning of this month, Lloyd combined for 27 points and five assists in wins for the Salukis over Bradley and Missouri State. Those were two of his six double-digit scoring outings in Missouri Valley competition this year up to this point. That is one of the reasons why his playing time is up 21.8 minutes an outing from his freshman campaign.

B.J. Johnson--Jr., La Salle (Lower Merion)

Even though he was a game-time decision for the Explorers’ meeting with Fordham on Wednesday night, Johnson exploded for 26 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field, 4-of-6 shooting from downtown and 8-of-9 shooting from the charity stripe on top of eight rebounds and three steals in it. In the last game he competed in before that one versus the Rams, Johnson recorded 28 points on 4-of-5 shooting from downtown and 10-of-10 shooting from the charity stripe on top of eleven rebounds.