It was another whirlwind December Saturday of hoops, as 14 of 25 ranked teams were in action, and plenty major conference programs challenged themselves. Here’s how it all transpired.

Headliner

Delon Wright Did What He Could But Utah Fell Just Short (USA Today Images)

Kansas 63, Utah 60

• The Game: This wasn’t your everyday, wire-to-wire battle. Kansas had seemingly left Utah in the dust with a 23-2 run toward the end of the first half that gave them a 39-21 halftime lead. But possession by possession, the Utes chipped away after the break, and reclaimed the lead with 4:39 to play. But Kansas didn’t miss a single shot – field goals or free throws – the rest of the way and escaped with the win in Kansas City.
• Kansas Verdict: After the 32-point beatdown at the hands of Kentucky in mid-November, Kansas was rather rudely shoved to the background of the national college basketball picture. But since, the Jayhawks have somewhat quietly strung together some really nice wins – first over Michigan State and Florida, then at Georgetown, and now this one Saturday. However, it’s not as if Kansas has cruised – rather, it has labored through all four, and on different days, could’ve lost any of the four. Obviously this team is young, but it’s far from complete, and guard play in particular is a worry. Frank Mason and Wayne Selden looked worryingly out of sync during Saturday’s second half. So while the wins will look nice on Kansas’ résumé, Bill Self still has a lot of work to do.
• Utah Verdict: Are the Utes legit? This game would seem to indicate they are. They are essentially a two-man team surrounded by role players, but those two men – Delon Wright and Jakob Poeltl – are really impressive. Wright is a true multi-faceted star no matter how you look at him, and Poeltl is a handful down low. And while Utah lacks some offensive punch – they scored 2 points in 10 late-first-half minutes – what stood out today was team defense. That’s what allowed them to mount their comeback. Over a 17-minute second half stretch, the Utes held Kansas to 11 points, and gradually, they climbed out of the 21-point hole with stop after stop. It wasn’t enough in the end, but a three-point loss is nothing to hang your head about – especially when you consider Utah was without Jordan Loveridge, arguably the team’s third best player, who should return in January.

Best of the Rest

• Kentucky 84, North Carolina 70. This was never really much of a game. North Carolina tries to beat teams with its length and athleticism, and it tried to do just that against Kentucky. But the Wildcats are even longer and more athletic than the Tar Heels, so that just simply wasn’t the necessary formula. To beat John Calipari’s team, you have to do a few things. First, you have to minimize possessions and play a slower game than perhaps you’re used to. That’s what Columbia did on Wednesday, but it’s not in Carolina’s DNA to do that. Roy Williams didn’t even try. You also have to take care of the ball. Kentucky poured in 24 points off UNC turnovers Saturday, which killed the Heels. And finally, you have to make outside shots, and there aren’t many teams who do that worse than Carolina. Their utter lack of offensive talent is alarming, especially with Marcus Paige unable to carve out space to operate. And for all the talk about Kentucky’s defense, Big Blue’s offense was even more impressive Saturday. Against a top-15 defense, UK’s effective field goal percentage was 65.6%, and, per KenPom, all nine Wildcat players had offensive ratings above 100.
• Iowa State 90, Iowa 75 (Friday). This was a statement win for Iowa State on the road in an in-state rivalry game. The Cyclones, even in the absence of Bryce Dejean-Jones, played with confidence and spunk, as they do when they’re at their best. After an early second-half run (26 points in 6 minutes!) that blew Iowa away, Georges Niang was blowing kisses to the crowd, and the result was never really in doubt. Niang himself actually struggled with Iowa’s length, but Fred Hoiberg’s backcourt of Monte Morris and Naz Long dominated on both ends. The game was also significant for the emergence of Abdel Nader, a transfer from Northern Illinois who in 2013, as a bench player for the Huskies, led the entire country in percentage of possessions used and percentage of shots taken when on the floor. Being a high volume shooter is okay when the shots are going in though, and Nader, a 6-6, 230-pound forward drained 4 of 6 3-pointers and totaled 19 points in 31 minutes after seeing no more than 16 minutes in any of Iowa State’s first seven games. Going forward, he could provide a much-needed boost off the bench for an ISU team that is not deep.
• VCU 93, Northern Iowa 87 (2OT). This probably wasn’t one of the three or four most-watched games of the day, but it was easily the best. In fact, it was one of the games of the season thus far. It promised to be a fascinating matchup coming in, with Northern Iowa, who plays at the eighth-slowest tempo in the country, trying to abstain from getting consumed by VCU’s havoc, and it didn’t disappoint. UNI looked strong and efficient in the half court, but VCU’s pressure and effective recklessness would occasionally incite mini-spurts that, after an even first half, gave them a comfortable second-half lead. But when that lead hit double digits, the Rams slowed down, and it cost them. They lost their edge, and Northern Iowa’s patience and persistence paid off. Panthers sharpshooter Matt Bohannon hit two ridiculous shots, one in overtime, while lefty guard Wes Washpun couldn’t be contained, even by VCU’s lightning-quick guards. However, VCU was its usual self – half of the time, they make you exclaim “Wow!”; the other half of the time, they make you scratch your head – and in the end, that was just barely enough. It’s a huge win for the Rams, but it should be no means be considered a bad loss, especially on the road, for the previously-undefeated Panthers. These are both Tournament teams – good ones.

Quick Hitters:

• Wichita State 77, Detroit 68 – Facing a double-digit second-half deficit, Wichita State remained composed and its veteran trio of Ron Baker, Darius Carter and Fred Van Vleet came up huge down the stretch to scrape out a good road win over an underrated Detroit team. This edition of the Shockers, especially the front court, is a shell of last year’s though.
• Saint Mary’s 71, Creighton 67 (OT) – It’s obviously still early, but if either of these teams wanted an at large bid, they probably had to have this game. Saint Mary’s got it. And Creighton, after surprise wins over Oklahoma and Nebraska, is regressing to what many thought the Bluejays would be post-McBuckets.
• Arkansas 69, Dayton 55 – This is a win Arkansas desperately needed after two straight losses, one to Clemson, and the Razorbacks took care of business.
• Xavier 74, Missouri 58 – Xavier is a top-15 offensive team nationally, and it showed in the second half here. A nice, even if unspectacular, road win.
• Arizona 80, Michigan 53 – Arizona romped. Michigan was pitiful after halftime in its third straight loss, and it even seemed like effort was lacking. Outside of Caris Levert, the Wolverines’ roster is full of supporting players being forced to play larger roles than they’re comfortable with.
• Oklahoma State 73, Memphis 55 – A solid road win for Oklahoma State, whose front line is powerful. Memphis isn’t nearly the same team as it was last year though, especially in the backcourt.
• Oregon 77, Illinois 70 – After a hot start that vaulted Illinois into the top-25, John Groce’s team has now lost three of four, and this was the worst loss of the three. It’s a much-needed victory for Oregon though six days after a loss at home to Ole Miss.
• Notre Dame 83, Florida State 63 – The Fighting Irish comfortably win an early ACC game over a Seminoles team that, despite success in the last decade, looks like it might be on its way toward the bottom third of the conference.
• Nebraska 56, Cincinnati 55 (2OT) – The Cornhuskers shot just 32.7 percent and turned the ball over 22 times in a game that coach Tim Miles described as a “rock fight,” but nonetheless, an important win after Wednesday’s debacle of a loss to Incarnate Word.
• Gonzaga 87, UCLA 74 – UCLA’s defense was absolutely pathetic and uninspired, and Gonzaga, even on the road, continues to look like a legitimate top-10 outfit.

Henry Bushnell (39 Posts)

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 14th, 2014 at 10:31 am by Henry Bushnell and is filed under rtc analysis. Tagged: feature, iowa, iowa state, kansas, kentucky, north carolina, northern iowa, Saturday Rewind, utah, vcu. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.