Illinois students react to Cliff Alexander faking an Illinois decision before choosing Kansas instead
New Bracket Projection My first bracket projection of the regular season has been posted here. The most significant changes are at the tail end of the at-large portion of the field. In the end, I moved UMass and Minnesota in while dropping Boston College and Kansas State out. But you can make a good case for several other teams for those last few spots - Providence, Utah State, Georgia Tech, Missouri, St. Mary's and others. Within a few more weeks I'm sure we'll have more clarity.
The other team to move into the bracket is Wisconsin-Green Bay, who are back to being the Horizon League favorite over Wright State. They were actually my pick back in April, but I dropped them over the summer because of uncertainty over the abuse accusations around Brian Wardle. I have more about them further down this post.
Anyway, please check it out and feel encouraged to leave constructive criticism in the comments. I always enjoy the debate as long as it stays constructive.
Ohio State's Defense Dominates Marquette Too often we confuse bad offense with good defense. Ohio State's defense was just filthy here. And yes, Marquette struggled to shoot also (1-for-18 behind the arc), but they only hit 26% of their twos and finished with 20 turnovers. In all, Marquette had a 19.8 eFG% and scored 0.54 PPP. To put that in perspective, only two teams in Division I had worse shooting days than that last season, and only 18 had a worse scoring efficiency.
In the end, the truth is always somewhere in between this early in the season, and that's definitely true for Marquette. They were overrated preseason, and are a borderline Top 25 team at best. But at the same time, this game was just the worst of all possible worlds. They'll shoot better, most likely, every other game the rest of the season. There's no reason to panic. They're still a tourney team.
As for Ohio State, their defense is going to really, really good this season, but it was clear in the first half how much they missed DeShaun Thomas. They have some decent spot-up shooters, and Aaron Craft is a good point guard, but they lack an elite scorer. DeShaun Thomas was arguably the best scorer in the nation last season, even if he never got the credit. Buckeyes fans are going to miss him in a big way.
Wisconsin Wins Again, Though Green Bay Impresses If Wisconsin-Green Bay is as good as many expected them to be this season, they should have been able to give Wisconsin a tough time in the Resch Center. And they did. Wisconsin got everything they wanted here, escaping with a three point victory. The key was Alec Brown fouling out. Wisconsin was putting in a lot of effort to get him fouls all night, and it eventually paid off. That opened up the lane for Wisconsin to get key baskets late. The Badgers now have arguably the best set of wins in the country, with three victories over likely RPI Top 100 teams. They have flaws (particularly on the glass, due to their lack of height), but they look like they'll be in contention for a 3-4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
As for Green Bay, I really liked what I saw from them. This performance moved them into my newest bracket projection. Keifer Sykes and Alec Brown are one of the best inside-outside combos of any mid-major. Green Bay was, originally, my pick to win the Horizon League this season. The abuse allegations around Brian Wardle caused me to lose my nerve during the summer and I moved Wright State into the spot as favorite. But all of that looks to be behind them, and this Green Bay team looks awfully impressive. Not only are they the Horizon favorite, but they have the potential to be a scary 12 or 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Best Game: Mercer 77, Seton Hall 74, 2OT Late in regulation and overtime, this game turned into a fantastic duel between Langston Hall and Fuquan Edwin. Hall scored 21 of his 24 points in the final four minutes of regulation and overtime. Edwin led all scorers with 35 points, including several spectacular dribble drives and scores to keep Seton Hall in this game. In the end, though, Mercer escaped with the three point victory. This season continues to be a struggle for Seton Hall, while Mercer looks strong in the Atlantic Sun. This win comes off a three point loss road loss at Texas. The Atlantic Sun has been really feisty so far this season, with several strong contenders, but Mercer remains my pick.
Creighton Looks like Last Year All Over Again Creighton had a fun 83-79 win at St. Joseph's. Their defense is a mess, and particularly with the graduation of Gregory Echenique they struggle to stop opponents in the paint. But at the same time, they have a fantastic set of shooters. Doug McDermott might be the best scorer in the country, Ethan Wragge is a three-point machine, and they have several other sharpshooters. So far they're hitting 47.3% behind the arc. A slow tempo is the only thing that is going to keep them from leading the nation in scoring.
After leading for much of the game, this will go down as a tough loss for St. Joe's. They have the weapons to make a run at an at-large bid, and an early season victory for Creighton would have been really nice for their resume. They won't have to wait long to redeem themselves, however, as they head off to the Old Spice Classic Thanksgiving week.
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