Rush The Court

The 2013-14 college basketball season is off and running, and it was a really interesting week for the Big East conference, which saw a number of teams compete in big non-conference games.  Only half of the teams in the league remain unscathed, so there may be some shuffling in our power rankings this week.

Week One Power Rankings

• 10.) DePaul (2-1), Last Week (10): The Blue Demons very nearly knocked off a Southern Miss team that many expect to be among the top squads in Conference USA, falling to the Golden Eagles, 75-68.  Cleveland Melvin and Brandon Young are off to strong starts.
• 9.) Butler (2-0), LW (9):  After handling Lamar, the Bulldogs had a close call with Princeton, knocking off the Tigers, 70-67.  Butler is getting even scoring across the board, with five players averaging at least nine points per game.
• 8.) Seton Hall (2-1), LW (7): Things haven’t been easy for the Pirates.  After participating in the game that launched a thousand referenda on refereeing in 2013, Seton Hall edged by Kent State by two before dropping a game at Mercer in double overtime.  Fuquan Edwin and Sterling Gibbs look very good early, but with the Pirates sitting at 231st in the nation in assists at 11.7 per game, they need to do a better job of moving the ball.
• 7.) Xavier (3-0), LW (8): Unsurprisingly, Semaj Christon is good at scoring the basketball.  The Musketeers are glad to have Dee Davis back after missing two games—the junior guard had a well-rounded game against Morehead State, scoring seven points, grabbing five rebounds, and doling out nine assists in 35 minutes.
• 6.) Providence (3-0), LW (6): The Friars’ opening night win against Boston College doesn’t look quite as good with the Eagles going on to drop games to UMass and Toledo, but they’ll have chances to prove themselves with games against Vanderbilt and Kentucky rapidly approaching.  Providence has an array of scorers, headlined by the consistent Bryce Cotton, and as a team hits free throws at an 85 percent clip. Don’t foul these guys, America.
• 5.) St. John’s (1-1), LW (5): The young Red Storm nearly came away with a big win against Wisconsin in their first game.  D’Angelo Harrison and JaKarr Sampson look very good through two games, while Steve Lavin and company are still waiting for freshman point guard Rysheed Jordan to put everything together.

• 4.) Villanova (3-0), LW (4): The Wildcats have been cruising along, winning three games against Lafayette, Mount St. Mary’s and Towson by an average of 33 points.  James Bell seems to have taken a big leap this season, averaging 18.7 points and seven rebounds per game thus far.
• 3.) Georgetown (1-1), LW (2): Josh Smith was dominant in the Hoyas’ loss to Oregon (25 points on 10-of-13 shooting), not so much in 17 minutes against Wright State (six points, 2-of-6).  The Josh Smith that most often shows up for Georgetown may help determine how far the Hoyas can go this season.
• 2.) Marquette (2-1), LW (1):  The Golden Eagles are 2-0 in basketball games, and 0-1 in rock fights.  When Todd Mayo is your leading scorer despite shooting 3-of-15 from the field, you’re gonna have a hard time.
• 1.) Creighton (3-0), LW (3): There aren’t enough positive things to say about Doug McDermott‘s game, but it is the contributions of players like Ethan Wragge and Devin Brooks who can really push the Bluejays over the top in the Big East this year.

All-Conference Team of the Week