Player of the Week:
Kam Jones, Marquette Golden Eagles
Jones was recently ranked number two in the power rankings for NPOY by Bleacher Report’s college basketball page, and he made a statement to prove them right against Wisconsin. The 6’5 senior was absolutely clinical in the second half of a huge win last Saturday in Marquette’s biggest game of the year thus far. Back-to-back top 15 matchups are never preferable before the turn of the new year, and Jones had his worst outting of the year against Iowa State before this game (see last week’s blog when he was in my “Who’s Not” category), but man, he sure did bounce back. 32 points on 57% from the field are great, but in all honesty, watching the second half would have you thinking he scored 50. His fingerprints were all over the game, especially in the last 10 minutes where Marquette was able to pull away to win the battle of the cheeseheads. A statement from Jones and Marquette, who open conference play on the 18th against Butler.
Who’s Hot
Villanova Wildcats
The longest win streak in the Big East belongs to the Wildcats right now, at 4 games in a row. The last time the Wildcats won 4 games in a row was January 3rd of this year, so it’s been a while for the former dynastic school. Eric Dixon continues to fly under the radar in NPOY conversations, and I think the team as a whole is being underrated. In fact, Dixon is so under the radar that last week I referred to him as a guard! Sorry Eric! He lit up Fairleigh Dickinson to get the Cats another good win on the year, and he’s led the team in scoring in every game he’s played in this year. Is Nova a top contender in the Big East? No, likely not, however with conference play on the horizon I see this team beating some of the big dogs a few times. They’re what I like to refer to as proprietors of parity, and they’re gonna make my power rankings very difficult this year. I can’t wait to see it, though.
Saint John’s Red Storm
Remember last week when I said my concern with this team is that their stats don’t correlate with their wins? And that this was a sign of inconsistency in my eyes? Well, these last two games have been a lot different for this squad. In a great win at home over K-State, the Storm amassed only 8 turnovers all game, then followed that up with only 13 against Bryant. Now, they aren’t playing any world-beaters but the consistency in handling the ball with care is going to be essential for this team to win every game this year, at least until they find consistency behind the arc. I have a lot of faith in Pitino, he’s going to be a hall of famer for a reason, and I enjoy the brand of basketball that the Storm play, so I’ll be keeping my eye on this team closely as the season goes on. You should too.
Who’s Not?
Butler Bulldogs
First, the Bulldogs got annihilated by Houston. Bad loss? No, not necessarily. Houston is always an elite roster, and playing in Houston after a long commute from the Northeast is a Goliathan task. But losing to North Dakota state on your home floor? Borderline inexcusable. What’s even more interesting is that Butler won the turnover battle by 7, and broke even on the glass. Very rarely do teams achieve both of these things and lose, especially on their home floor against a borderline D-2 opponent. The issue for Butler in both of these games? Putting the ball in the basket. They shot a combined 35% from the field over the course of these two games, just an atrocious mark for a team that just recently beat a ranked Mississippi State team by making half of their threes and scoring 87 points. The bad news for the Bulldogs is that it’s not getting any easier this next week. They play Wisconsin at home Saturday and at Marquette on Wednesday, then against UConn next Saturday. By this time next week I very well could be talking about a 4 game losing streak for this squad, with not a lot of hope of winning against the Huskies.
David Joplin, Marquette Golden Eagles
Joplin is averaging 15 points a game for one of the best teams in the country, so why is he here? Well, if you know me, I’m not one for advanced analytics. I am, however, a sucker for FG%. If you make a lot of shots, you’re good with me! Joplin is currently the least efficient player in the Big East out of all qualified players. Now, it’s early in the season, but shooting 41% from the field won’t cut it for a team vying to win it all. Joplin is a three-point specialist for the Eagles, he shoots 7 a game which makes up over half of his total attempts every game. Problem is, he’s only shooting 31% from downtown. His shooting slump hasn’t been fully detrimental to the team yet, but if you look at his stats and the games that Marquette has played, his numbers correlate very tightly with the wins and losses. He shot 3-13 in Marquette’s only loss to Iowa State. He shot 0-10 in an 8-point win over lowly Central Michigan. He shot 2-9 in a 4-point win over Maryland. Now, wins are wins, I know, but his numbers are bound to catch up with the team. Shaka Smart needs to get him going before his misses start making wins into losses.
Power Rankings
5. Xavier Musketeers
119 points in a game! No matter who you’re playing, that’s impressive. Big me the Musketeers over Cincinatti tomorrow.
4. Saint John’s Red Storm
In Pitino we trust.
3. Creighton Blue Jays
Creighton has three straight now, and their biggest win of the season, but that time is over. Their game against Alabama tomorrow is now the biggest win of the season.
2. UConn Huskies
The Huskies have also won 3 in a row now, are they back? We’ll see.
1. Marquette Golden Eagles
Despite some shooting woes, the Eagles still look dominant. A big game at Dayton tomorrow will tell us a lot about their ability to win on the road, they have a –7 +/- on the road thus far this season.