Week 1 Recap: The Good (Freshmen!), The Bad (Entire State of Texas + Villanova), and the Ospreys
Helloooooo my friends in college hoops,
Welcome back to the BracketBound Weekly Newsletter! We are just turning the page from Week 1 to Week 2, and I thought that was a pretty strong start to the season! We had a few Top 10 matchups, a few matchups of projected tournament teams, some upsets sprinkled throughout the week…not bad! We’ve gotta figure out a better way to start the season than playing the first good matchups after Monday Night Football, but that’s a minor problem and one to be solved another time. We’ve got several big games and storylines to cover, so let’s get right to it. Here are the 10 Most Important Things from Week 1 of college ball:
The state of Texas had a ROUGH start to the season. On Night 1 alone, the #19 Texas Longhorns fell 80-72 to unranked Ohio State, #13 Texas A&M (that ranking was always lunacy) lost a true road game 64-61 at unranked UCF, and #8 Baylor lost to #6 Gonzaga by THIRTY EIGHT (38) points. Then, #4 Houston fell 74-69 to #11 Auburn in a “neutral site” game in their own backyard. Yikes.
Freshmen did not have a rough start - on the contrary, they are indeed BACK. The top of the incoming freshman class was heavily hyped as one of the best in years, coming into this season. They’ve more than met expectations - a majority of the top 40-50 recruits have been good-to-impressive contributors thus far. Even some lesser-known freshmen are making names for themselves with big appearances. Allow me to share a list of impressive freshmen thus far:
Tre Johnson (Texas): averaging 28.5 pts on 55% shooting (overall and 3pt %)
Cooper Flagg (Duke): averaging 15.5 pts / 9 rebs / 4 asts / 1.5 blocks / 2.5 steals
Kon Knueppel (Duke): averaging 18.5 pts on 56.5% shooting (50% from 3)
Tahaad Pettiford (Auburn): scored 21 pts (5/8 from 3) to lift Auburn over Houston
Dylan Harper (Rutgers): scored 20 pts on 64% FG in season opener
Derik Queen (Maryland): had 22 pts and 20 rebs in season opener
Thomas Sorber (Georgetown): averaging 22.5 pts on 55% shooting and 11 rebs
Will Riley (Illinois): averaging 22.5 pts and 7 rebs on 60% shooting (73% from 3!)
Tomislav Ivisic (Illinois): averaging 16 pts and 10.5 rebs in 21.5 mins
Liam McNeeley (UCONN): averaging 14 pts (44% from 3) and 10.5 rebs
Asa Newell (Georgia): Averaging 20 pts on 56% shooting and 7.5 boards
Egor Demin (BYU): averaging 19 pts on 63% shooting and 9 (!) assists
Boogie Fland (Arkansas): averaging 17 pts and 5 assists
Robert Hinton (Harvard): averaging 24 pts on 59% shooting and 6 boards
Tyrone Riley IV (San Francisco): averaging 18 pts on 56% shooting
Other Notables: Flory Bidunga (Kansas), Kasparas Jakucionis (Illinois), Kanon Catchings (BYU), Robert Wright (Baylor), VJ Edgecombe (Baylor), Jalil Bethea (Miami), Labaron Philon (Alabama), Carter Bryant (Arizona), Jase Richardson (Michigan State), Khaman Maluach (Duke), Ian Jackson (UNC), Donnie Freeman (Syracuse)
Gonzaga SMOKED Baylor in a rematch of the 2021 National Championship, but Baylor bounced back on Saturday while Gonzaga struggled. One of the first plays of the game involved Gonzaga center Graham Ike getting an offensive rebound + putback over no fewer than 4 Baylor defenders, and that pretty much sums up how the game went. Gonzaga is a very big team, and Baylor is very much not. The Zags were able to get a lot of easy looks - they’re a great passing team, so they’d either find a mismatch on the block, or they would kick the ball out to the perimeter for an open look when Baylor tried to pack the lane against Gonzaga’s bigs. Few’s team shot 57% from the field, 42% from 3 (13/31) Baylor didn’t have that same luxury - while they went on some runs that kept the game somewhat close at times, they were never able to get comfortable offensively and had a tough time hitting shots. The Bears shot 37% from the field, and only 14% from 3 (3/21), which is alarmingly low considering that’s the basis of their offense. But we can’t anoint Gonzaga as elite and Baylor as bad quite yet - the former barely beat Arizona State by 8 over the weekend (which isn’t super impressive), while Baylor bounced back to beat Arkansas and looked much more like their normal selves.
Ohio State made BracketBound look pretty good in Las Vegas on Monday. The game was kind of messy overall, but Ohio State’s offense looked much better than Texas’. I thought they would be a good ball club this year, and after one game I’m sticking with my prediction - they’re a tough team. Their guards and wings played really well: Thornton had 20 pts on 7/10 shooting, Micah Parrish had 17 pts, Devin Royal had 16, and freshman John Mobley Jr. added 14 pts on 4/4 shooting from 3. My biggest takeaway was that John Mobley Jr. might be the most confident shooter in America - he was pulling up from the Hoover Dam and splashing everything from deep. It wasn’t a perfect game - the Buckeyes did have 15 turnovers and the frontcourt was concerningly underwhelming. Sean Stewart (Duke transfer) was in foul trouble all night and only played 13 mins - he had 2 pts on free throws and missed all 3 of his shots. Aaron Bradshaw (Kentucky transfer) was equally bad, with 2 pts on 1/5 shooting, 1 rebound, 1 block, and 4 fouls. Meechie Johnson didn’t play his best either. But, if Ohio State can beat a ranked Texas team and hit 14 threes on 50% shooting with 3 key players laying eggs, they may be alright…or the shooting might regress…we’ll see! Texas, on the other hand, was brutal offensively - they shot 37% frome the field and just 25% from 3. They only played 7 guys more than 5 mins, and only had 10 bench points - so depth didn’t look great. Tre Johnson kept the Longhorns in the game, but they need some of the veterans to step up and perform if they want to win any big games.
Kansas squeaked out a win at home in a rematch of the 2022 National Championship, and the offense looks dramatically improved. KU was leading by as many as 20 points late in the first half, before slowly allowing Carolina to chip away at the lead and eventually take a 4 point lead of their own with 3:30 to play. That means Kansas allowed 60 points in about 22 minutes…not great. Kansas couldn’t hit many shots for most of the second half, while Hubert Davis came out of the locker room at halftime with the usual plan to beat Hunter Dickinson - drag him out to the perimeter and make him defend the pick-and-roll. That’s going to be a problem for them all season, once again. Carolina’s execution was phenomenal for most of the half, before some costly turnovers allowed Kansas to regain a late lead. The game script was the opposite of the 2022 title game, but the result was the same: Carolina had a shot to tie the game on the last possession, but Cadeau’s three missed, and Kansas prevailed.
While the result is of course disappointing to Carolina fans - who have dropped 5 straight matchups against Kansas - I actually came away being higher on UNC, if anything. That’s a tough environment to stage a comeback of that magnitude, and they did it in a game where RJ Davis shot 3/15 from the field and Cadeau wasn’t much better (3/11, 0/3 from 3). Seth Trimble is every bit as good as we thought he might be after the Memphis scrimmage - he had 19 pts after a huge second half. Jae’Lyn Withers, Ven Allen-Lubin, and Ian Jackson all had really good showings. And Carolina actually outrebounded Kansas despite their frontcourt concerns! I think UNC will be just fine - the biggest bummer for them is Cade Tyson potentially being the biggest bust of this portal cycle - he played 1 min and was 0/1 from the field.
As for Kansas…after finishing last season with an offense ranked 59th by KenPom and 43rd by Bart Torvik, the Jayhawks are off to a much better start this year, ranking 6th and 2nd in those models, respectively. It’s still very early, but Kansas is shooting nearly 40% from 3 and 60% from 2, not to mention averaging almost 90 points per game (including a game against a Top 10 opponent). Lawrence native Zeke Mayo is the leading scorer, averaging 20 ppg, Flory Bidunga has been very solid as a backup for Hunter, AJ Storr seems to be coming along after a rocky start to his tenure at KU, and the familiar names - Dickinson, Adams, Harris - all seem to be thriving with a better supporting cast. The defense might be Kansas’ weakness now, especially if teams can exploit Dickinson the way UNC did in the second half. Something to keep an eye on for the #1 team…
Chaz Lanier and Tennessee look like they’re going to be competitive. The Volunteers were preseason ranked between #10 and #20 by most bloggers / podcasters / youtubers / media outlets - expected to be good, though probably not amazing - but they notched a convincing win in their first real test of the season. Tennessee beat Louisville 77-55 on the road, led by 19 point performances from both veteran point guard Zakai Zeigler and exciting newcomer Chaz Lanier. They more than doubled the Cards’ field goal percentages, overall and from deep: 56.6% FG and 52.6% 3FG vs. 26.7% FG and 25.6% FG. That defense is still cookin’, Zeigler is as good as ever, and Lanier is off to a hot start as the leading scorer of the team (18.5 ppg, 52% FG, 58% 3FG). Jordan Gainey has been really good for the Vols so far too, and the rest of the rotation - Milicic, Mashack, Phillips, Okpara, and Estrella - seems bought into Rick Barnes’ system. One notable development for Tennessee: high-profile transfer Darlinstone Dubar hasn’t played a game for the Vols yet, as he’s tending to a personal matter. It sounds like he’s going to return at some point…I don’t think he’s in trouble or anything like that, just a personal matter he has to tend to. Hope he’s okay - but if / when he returns, I expect him to make Tennessee even better offensively.
Louisville may come away from this game disappointed, but it was good to see some excited fans in the KFC Yum! Center once again. It’s still very early, but it seems like the Cards need to figure out how to get their offense to gel a bit more. Tennessee is a tough team to do that against in Game 2, so I’m not completely out on Pat Kelsey & company yet.
The North Florida Ospreys are 3-0 with wins over South Carolina and Georgia Tech?! That’s two Top 100 KenPom victories in just the first week of the season for what has to be the current ASUN favorite! They are not a good defensive team, but they sure can score the ball. They’re averaging almost 90 points per game so far, they’re shooting about 38% from 3 as a team, and they like to play FAST! Their two best players so far are sophomore Jasai Miles (16.7 ppg, 9 rpg) and freshman forward Josh Harris (16.3 ppg, 6 rpg). And they have 3 more players averaging double figures. The best part is, that their non-con schedule is just heating up. They play Georgia on Tuesday, then still have to play Nebraska and Florida. Keep an eye on those Ospreys…
Auburn might be turning the corner despite almost bringing a plane down. We here at BracketBound have been (fairly) critical of Auburn’s legitimacy as a Final Four / Title contender, based on their lack of success in big games last season. But the Tigers managed to upset #4 Houston IN the city of Houston (at the Toyota Center, not UH’s home arena), despite a wild pre-game distraction. The Auburn team was flying to Houston, when a fight broke out between 2 bench players - freshman Jahki Howard and senior Ja’Heim Hudson - shortly after takeoff. The altercation forced the pilots to turn around and ground the plane. The team took a replacement flight late Friday night, leaving behind the two players involved. Fortunately, the actual Auburn / Houston game itself was pretty good, even if it did involve a similar level of physicality to the plane ride. Most of the game looked like a loose fumble in football, or like a version of volleyball without a net where you’re allowed to cross the center line to attach the other team. The game opened up offensively in the second half, but the first half was a damn slog. These are two of the Top 5 most physical, fiercely defensive teams in the country, and it sure looked that way.
Auburn trailed for most of the game until the teams played a closer game with several lead changes throughout the second half. Auburn’s bigs were really impressive on both ends - Johni Broome and Chaney Johnson are HUGE and move really well. Dylan Cardwell is a massive presence on the block, as well - for some reason, Pearl is starting him alongside Johni Broome, which plugs up the lane on defense but can’t be good for them offensively. Anyway, they shut Houston down in the lane until Roberts got going in the second half. Broome finished with 20 pts and 9 rebs - he was the best player on the floor. I was really disappointed with Auburn’s guards, with one exception: freshman Tahaad Pettiford who was the leading scorer for the game with 21 pts on 7/12 shooting from the field (5/8 from 3). This kid is so, so quick, and he’s a really confident shooter. He didn’t have a single point in the first game against Vermont, and he looked like a first round draft pick against the best defense in the country. He kept Auburn in this game, while the other guards/wings could barely get anything going. Baker-Mazara was in foul trouble for the entire game, but even he outscored Pegues (2), Jones (4), and Miles Kelly (5) with only 7 points. I like Auburn’s offense more than Houston’s overall, but it wasn’t the Tigers’ finest game on that end.
Houston’s offense kind of pisses me off. I mean, their whole style of play is kind of annoying to me - defend as physically as you possibly can and assume the refs can’t / won’t call everything, muck up the game - it’s just not much fun to watch. But the offense bothers me because I think it should and could be so much better than it is. The Coogs are one of the best teams in the country at taking care of the ball and offensive rebounding - things that should separate great teams from the rest - but they play so slow (308th in offensive possession length), they dribble a lot, and they don’t pass the ball much to create opportunities (304th in assists / FG). It’s so clunky, they just look for favorable 1:1 matchups and try to exploit those, which is not a good strategy against a big, defensively-capable team. Houston’s guards should be better than Auburn’s - they were better, but didn’t play their best game either. Uzan had a great first half (I liked him a lot more than I expected), Emanuel Sharp hit 3/6 from (but missed all his 2s), Cryer had a bit of an off night with 5/14 from the field and 1/4 from 3. And aside from Tugler, who had a good game off the bench, the rest of Houston’s reserves didn’t do much, which is concerning for them over the long term. Roberts had a decent game, but he had a tougher matchup than usual. Auburn’s defense is tenacious, and that probably played a big part in Houston’s offense looking pedestrian, but I did not come away from this game feeling good about Houston’s prospects as a National Championship contender. Sharp and Cryer have to play better than that, or Kelvin Sampson’s team may take a step back this year.
The Big East Player of the Year race is off to a HOT start. Two games into this season, Ryan Kalkbrenner has the most ridiculous statistical averages of any player, by a wide margin. He is averaging 36.5 points per game on NINETY POINT SIX (90.6)% shooting from the field, 100% from 3, 8.5 rebounds per game, and 3 blocks per game. All in just 29 minutes per game. WHAT THE HELL, THOSE AREN’T REAL NUMBERS. The man simply cannot be stopped. Granted, Creighton hasn’t really played anyone yet, but that will cease to be the case very soon. Creighton plays Nebraska next week, then they start The Players Era tournament with games against San Diego State and Texas A&M (and presumably another difficult game on the last day of the event), then Kansas, UNLV, and Alabama to close out non-conference play. Kalkbrenner’s numbers will slide back down to a more mortal average, but I’m interested to see if he’s still one of the most dominant players in the country, and a potential NPOY candidate. But he’s not the only Big East player balling out - Kam Jones of Marquette is averaging 28 points per game on 77% shooting from the field and 58% shooting from 3. He’s also recording 5.5 assists, 3 boards, and 2 steals per game. I expect these two to duke it out for the title of the conference’s best player throughout league play.
Wake Forest got a big, early win over Michigan, who isn’t quite back yet. Hunter Sallis and Tre’Von Spillers led Wake Forest with 18pts and 16 pts respectively, to claim a 72-70 victory in the “Inaugural Deacon vs. Wolverine Challenge”...give me a break with these game names, man. It was a pretty evenly matched game that could’ve gone either way. My biggest takeaways for Wake: Sallis didn’t shoot super well but still found ways to lead his team, Spillers shot 6/7 FG and appears to be their second best player, the roster seems pretty thin but Juke Harris is a solid 6th man, and they forced 9 steals. Big takeaways for Michigan: they play a lot of guys and have a pretty broad distribution of both minutes and points, they had 16 turnovers - 6 of which belonged to Danny Wolf (woof), and the team seems to go as the guards go.
Other Games & Off The Court Happenings:
UCF defeated Texas A&M, 64-61. The Aggies shot 36.5% from the floor and gave up 22 free throws before losing on a missed 3 at the end of regulation. Minnesota transfer forward Pharrell Payne led A&M with 15 pts, while Darius Johnson had 24 for UCF and freshman center Moustapha Thiam had 6 blocks.
New Mexico upset UCLA, 72-64. The Lobos were in control the whole game and looked much better offensively, while Cronin’s squad looked inept with the ball, much like they did at the beginning of last season. Donovan Dent had 17 pts and Nelly Junior Joseph had 16 pts and 12 boards for New Mexico; Oregon State transfer forward Tylor Bilodeau carried UCLA with 23 pts and 15 boards.
Memphis beat UNLV, 80-74. PJ Haggerty had 29 pts, and is averaging 27 ppg so far this season…
San Francisco handled Boise State at home, 84-73. Boise’s offense strugged mightily, shooting just 40% from the floor and 19% from 3, while the Dons shot 53% FG and 39% from 3. Degenhart carried the Broncos with 25 pts, while Malik Thomas had 22 and Marcus Williams had 20 for SF.
Arizona State beat Santa Clara, 81-74. BJ Freeman had 17 pts and Adam Miller added 16 pts for the Sun Devils.
Villanova lost to Columbia (yes, the Ivy League nerds), 90-80. Eric Dixon was phenomenal with 33 pts, while Wooga Poplar and Jordan Longino were the only other Wildcats who showed up to play. And they gave up 90 pts on 54% shooting…to a program who finished last season ranked 232nd in the KenPom standings. The Kyle Neptune experiment is over - his goose is cooked, and I doubt he makes it to February.
Seton Hall barely beat Holloway’s last team Saint Peter’s 57-53, and was upset by Fordham in a “buy game” 57-65. Not looking good for Shaheen’s team.
Florida’s school newspaper, The Independent Florida Alligator, reported on Friday that the Gators’ Head Coach Todd Golden had been accused by multiple women of sexual harassment and stalking (among other reportedly gross behavior). The university received a formal Title IX complaint. I’ll let you read the rest via the Alligator or other news stories, but it’s pretty disappointing stuff. Supposedly Golden is going to continue coaching for now, but I’d be very surprised if he’s still the coach by season’s end.
Purdue’s 7’3” freshman center Daniel Jacobsen is unfortunately out for the season after suffering a broken tibia. This is a huge bummer, particularly for him (obviously) and for Purdue fans - he was already looking pretty decent in limited reserve minutes for the Boilermakers.
Alright, those are the updates - let’s check in on our Top 40 Teams That Matter:
National Title Favorites
Kansas
Alabama
Gonzaga
Serious Final Four Contenders
Auburn
UCONN
Duke
Houston
Iowa State
North Carolina
Tennessee
Arizona
Could Make a Final Four (and Beat Most Teams on a Good Day)
Creighton
Marquette
Indiana
Kentucky
Baylor
Purdue
Ohio State
Florida
St. John’s
Texas Tech
Could Make an Elite Eight Run, but Probably Not Make a Final Four
Illinois
Xavier
Cincinnati
Arkansas
Wake Forest
New Mexico
Michigan State
Mississippi State
Should Make the Tournament, but Sweet Sixteen is the Ceiling
Oregon
Memphis
Maryland
Dayton
BYU
Texas
Rutgers
Clemson
Northwestern
UCLA
Texas A&M
Honorable Mention (No Order): Kansas State, UCF, North Florida (Ospreys!), VCU, Grand Canyon, San Francisco, Michigan, Saint Mary’s, Ole Miss, Pitt, and Not Villanova
Big Games This Week:
Tuesday is the Champions Classic, then it’s mostly quiet until Friday which has a JAM-PACKED lineup, Saturday has a couple good games but most are potential blow-outs, and Sunday is the Pitino Bowl so clear your calendar that day
Monday
McNeese @ Alabama
Yale @ Purdue
Tuesday
Michigan State vs. Kansas (Champions Classic)
North Florida @ Georgia
Duke vs. Kentucky (Champions Classic)
Wednesday
Cal @ Vanderbilt (this is pushing it)
Oakland @ Illinois (as is this)
Thursday
Grand Canyon @ Arizona State
LSU @ Kansas State
Friday
Virginia vs. Villanova (The “We Miss Our Old Coach” Bowl)
Florida @ Florida State
TCU @ Michigan
Alabama @ Purdue
Loyola Chicago @ Princeton
Vermont @ Iona
SMU @ Butler
Virginia Tech @ Penn State
Marquette @ Maryland
Georgia @ Georgia Tech
West Virginia @ Pitt (Backyard Brawl!)
Arizona @ Wisconsin
Ohio State @ Texas A&M
Saturday
Wake Forest @ Xavier
Notre Dame @ Georgetown
South Carolina @ Indiana
Colorado State @ Ole Miss
Santa Clara @ Nevada
Sunday
New Mexico @ St. John’s (PITINO BOWL!!!)
Saint Mary’s vs. Nebraska (Sanford Pentagon game!)
Clemson @ Boise State
Harvard @ Colorado
Utah @ Mississippi State
Cal @ USC (a classic ACC / Big Ten rivalry)
Thanks for reading this week! Hope everyone has a great Week 2 of the season - make sure to follow us on twitter and instagram, share this with anyone you know who may be interested, and we’ll catch up with you around this time next week.
Humbly Yours,
BracketBound