The last week in college basketball was highlighted by Monday night’s epic heavyweight showdown between #1 Kansas and #2 Oklahoma, a game that had a little bit of everything. Kansas held a big first half lead that it relinquished; Oklahoma held a big second half lead that it relinquished; NPOY candidate Buddy Hield scored 46 points on 23 shots. After the final buzzer sounded, the Jayhawks had emerged with a rewarding 109-106 triple-overtime victory. Kansas got the job done with a balanced effort from starters Frank Mason, Devonte Graham, Wayne Selden, and Perry Ellis all scoring 15 or more points. This early Big 12 showdown showcased all that we love about college basketball: two longtime rivals playing a hotly-contested battle in one of the country’s best home court environments. We will be very lucky if the remainder of the season rewards us with anything as amazing as last Monday night’s game. This week’s Quick N’ Dirty after the jump.

Quick N’ Dirty Thoughts.

• Kansas is now the unanimous #1. The Jayhawks earned what was probably the best win of the season last Monday with its triple overtime triumph over Oklahoma. Bill Self’s group suffered a bit of a predictable hangover on Saturday in Lubbock, but it used a second half surge to finally top Texas Tech, 69-59. Kansas will have to be road warriors again on Tuesday night, as the team travels to face a mighty tough test at #13 West Virginia. If the Jayhawks are still the unanimous top team next week, you will know that they have earned it.
• Virginia and Arizona tumble. Following an early season loss to George Washington, it appeared that #11 Virginia was again cruising to another impressive campaign. That trend changed last week as the Cavaliers experienced the perils of road life in the ACC. First, they fell at rival Virginia Tech on Monday night before dropping another contest on Saturday at Georgia Tech. It is probably too early for Virginia fans to panic, but with #9 Miami (FL) visiting Charlottesville Tuesday, the Cavaliers need to get back on the right track soon. #18 Arizona had its own road struggles last week. The Wildcats suffered a terribly unsuccessful trip to Los Angeles, falling to UCLA on Thursday before USC outlasted them on Saturday in a four-overtime marathon. To make matters worse, news broke yesterday that Arizona will be without freshman guard Allonzo Trier for the next four to six weeks after suffering a broken hand in Saturday’s loss. Without Trier in the lineup, the Wildcats will look to right the ship by hosting Washington on Thursday and Washington State on Saturday.
• Miami (FL) shoots up to the Top 10. The Hurricanes check in at #9 this week after winning their eighth consecutive game. Jim Larranaga’s squad is one of the best stories of this year’s campaign — its only loss this season was a one-point setback to Northeastern in late November. The terrain will get a bit tougher for Miami this week as it heads to #11 Virginia on Tuesday and travels to much-improved Clemson on Saturday. If the Hurricanes win both of those games, expect their level of national attention to reach new heights.

Game of the Week. #1 Kansas vs. #13 West Virginia. The Jayhawks will face another tough test on Tuesday when they travel to Morgantown to battle West Virginia. Kansas is second in the country in points per game, averaging 88.4 per contest. The Mountaineers are known for their hard-nosed defense and ability to turn over the opposition. Something has to give. A key match-up in this battle will be between the two veteran post players. Kansas forward Perry Ellis and West Virginia forward Devin Williams will each look to establish an inside presence early, and whoever gets the better of it will likely win the game. This is another marquee Big 12 battle that you will not want to miss.

Keep Tabs On. #9 Miami (FL) vs. #11 Virginia; #4 Maryland vs. Michigan; #3 Michigan State vs. #13 Iowa; #21 Pittsburgh vs. #23 Louisville; #2 Oklahoma vs. #13 West Virginia.

Conference Call: ACC (6), Big 12 (5), Big Ten (5), Big East (4), SEC (3), Pac-12 (1), AAC (1).

WCarey (318 Posts)

This entry was posted on Monday, January 11th, 2016 at 1:11 pm by Walker Carey and is filed under blogpoll, feature, Regular Features. Tagged: arizona, feature, kansas, miami (fl), oklahoma, rtc25, virginia, west virginia. 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.