Reags Top-25 Roundup: Duke Became Ever Scarier, UNC Got Its Ass Kicked, Road Wins & More

I plan on doing these every so often, or really whenever there’s a million good games on a Saturday. It’s just an easy recap, for those that couldn’t sit around all night and watch games. I get it. It’s one of the downfalls of college hoops. You lose a portion of the season because you’re overshadowed by football and people just waiting for March. So with that in mind, this is what happened around the country and some thoughts that I had on each game/team and then some awards at the end. Note it will just focus on top-25 teams to make life easier. At the bottom we’ll have a preview for today’s games. 

No. 1 Duke 80, Florida State 78

Zion Williamson missed the entire second half after seeing double vision due to an eye poke. Here’s the thing. Duke got scarier because of this. What I mean by that? Cam Reddish finally looked the part of the No. 3 prospect. He hit the game-winner and played as the 1st and 2nd option with RJ Barrett. Getting a road win over a top-15 team with your best player sitting on the bench? That’s why Duke is the best team in the country. It’s a quick turn around for Duke now as it plays Syracuse on Monday. We’ll keep an eye on Zion’s eye.

No. 3 Tennessee 78, Florida 67

Tennessee deserved to gator chomp all over the Florida fans last night. This game was closer than what the score said, as Tennessee finished the game strong. It started with Grant Williams finding Admiral Schofield for a corner three. As for Florida, I simply don’t know. They last 1:30 of the game was extremely confusing. They settled for a quick three when they didn’t have to. Then KeVaughn Allen wasn’t in when they needed a three. They have been wildly frustrating this year.

No. 4 Virginia 63, Clemson 43
Virginia just continues to be great. That’s the only way to talk about them. I’ve said it so many times but they deserve to be talked about more. I’m not worried about the UMBC loss, but that’s what people will continue to talk about. This is one of Virginia’s best offensive teams under Bennett. They have guys that can just go get buckets.

No. 5 Gonzaga 96, San Francisco 83
Another game that was in doubt until the last 90 seconds. I feel bad for San Francisco. They look the part of a tournament team. They look like a top-50 team in the country. But, if they don’t win at Gonzaga or the WCC Tournament it’s going to be an uphill battle for them to be an at-large. They have a star in Frankie Ferrari. But, Gonzaga has Brandon Clarke, who is the best defensive player in the country this season.

No.7 Kansas 73, Baylor 68
Kansas just continues to get those wins when it needs to. That’s why they’ve won the Big 12 for the last 100 years in a row. This time it was Lagerald Vick finishing with 18 points and Dedric Lawson getting 5 steals and 5 blocks to go with 17 points. This new look from Kansas is only going to make them better, focusing on Lawson and running a 5-out.

No. 8 Texas Tech 68, Texas 62
Man, what’s going on with Shaka Smart down at Texas? He continues to bring in big time recruiting classes but has yet to really show anything with it. Texas is now 10-6 and 2-2 in conference play because Matt Mooney dropped 22 points. The lone bright spot for Texas is Jaxson Hayes, the freshman who looks like the next great big at Texas. He finished with 15.

No. 10 Nevada 74, Fresno State 64
This was an important win for Nevada. The Wolf Pack lost at New Mexico already and Fresno State is probably the 2nd best team in the MWC. Getting a road win just sort of reminds everyone that they are the clear favorite in the MWC while avoiding another road loss for seeding. Caleb Martin seems to have finally snapped out of his shooting slump.

No. 11 Auburn 93, Georgia 78
A bounce back game for Auburn after losing at Ole Miss. Similar to what I said about Nevada, this was an important win for Auburn. They couldn’t handle a loss to a team like Georgia – expected to finish at the bottom of the SEC. They shot 48% from three. This is an important stat. Auburn needs to make buckets in order to set up their trapping press. That’s when they are at their best.

Louisville 83, No. 12 UNC 62
This was the worst home loss under Roy Williams at UNC. More importantly from a UNC standpoint it opens up a whole bag of worms in terms of questions again. Just what is this team? I never bought into them as a top-5 team in the country like some. The thing is I think we knew who they were coming into the year. Luke Maye wasn’t going to get better or surprise people like last year. The loss of Theo Pinson was so important because while Joel Berry was the point guard, Pinson initiated the offense. They don’t have that this year. I think we just need to accept that UNC is going to be up and down this year from a top-12 team to a top-20ish team.

Ole Miss 81, No. 14 Mississippi State 77
Ole Miss, man. What a surprise the Rebels are under first year head coach Kermit Davis. They got a road win over rival Mississippi State and even came back from double digits. Terence Davis is a star and get to know the name Blake Hinson. Hinson finished with 26 on the road as a freshman. The dude can play. Ole Miss is now undefeated in conference play with wins over Auburn and Mississippi State.

No. 15 NC State 86, Pitt 80
This was a weird game for NC State. Markell Johnson was limited to 9 minutes and had to leave the game. Wyatt Walker was ejected. That said, they still held serve at home. Pitt is going to be better than at any point under Kevin Stallings. We saw them catch Louisville already and push NC State. The bench won this game for NC State as they scored 54 of the 86 points.

Iowa 72, No. 16 Ohio State 62
Things continue to spiral out of control for Ohio State right now. Chris Holtmann is one of the best coaches in the country but Ohio State just doesn’t have a guy to rely on offensively. This is now three losses in a row, with the worst one coming to Rutgers. Yes, they have guys like CJ Jackson, Andre and Kaleb Wesson, who are all nice pieces, but they don’t have a guy like Bates-Diop or Tate, who could just go win you a game. Things don’t get easier as their next 4 games are against top-21 teams on KenPom.

No. 17 Houston 79, Wichita State 70
Wichita actually led this game at halftime on the road. It could have been a disaster for Houston if it lost at home to Wichita. Luckily the three guard look for Houston is pretty damn good. Corey Davis finished with 20 after getting the charge call at the buzzer against Temple. Galen Robinson finished with 11 assists. Armoni Brooks finished with 14. You give Kelvin Sampson quality guards, he’s going to be successful. We’re seeing that.

No. 18 Kentucky 56, Vanderbilt 47
It was another slow start out of the gate for Kentucky and there’s one reason. Reid Travis. I don’t want to bang on the guy too much because he is still a kid, but he’s been terrible during SEC play. He simply isn’t quick enough to switch on screens and he’s not a rim protector. The most blocks he’s ever had in a season is this year. He has 14 blocks. Kentucky is at its best with him on the bench. They need to either go small and play Immanuel Quickley (who needs to be playing more) or start Nick Richards and run a pressing trap with that 2-2-1/1-2-2- look they give. But, Reid Travis is a negative on the court right now. What is a positive? Ashton Hagans. The guy is making Kentucky go. He’s part of the reason as to why Kentucky’s defense is getting better and he’s looking to attack more offensively.

No. 19 Buffalo 88, Miami (OH) 64
Buffalo in the second half continues to be one of the best things in the country. Miami actually controlled the majority of the first half before Buffalo used a bit of a run late in the first half. Then in the second half, it was all Buffalo. This is what they do. They wear you down with the press and traps. They take advantage when you start to get a bit tired and turn turnovers into easy buckets. This team is so fun to watch.

Kansas State 58, No. 20 Iowa State 57
This was a terrible loss for Iowa State. It was at home, a place they rarely lose against a team they should beat. This time it was Barry Brown with about 5 seconds to go hitting a layup. It wasn’t great defense for a team that has been better defensively this year. There continues to be bad news too as Solomon Young is out for the year and Cameron Lard missed this game. Iowa State should be a favorite in the Big 12, but you can’t lose at home to Kansas State to do that.

No. 21 Marquette 70, Seton Hall 66
Markus Howard, man. The dude is probably second or third in NPOY race right now. He finished with 26 in this game in a battle against Myles Powell, another favorite for Big East Player of the Year. Powell finished with 21 and 9 and it was an awesome game late. This is an important win for Marquette. Not only because it was at home but because it was ugly. Marquette didn’t shoot the ball that well. Winning games like that will only help as the season goes on.

No. 23 Oklahoma 76, No. 25 TCU 74

Kristian Doolittle hit the game winner in the video above. These are two teams fighting to finish in the top half of the Big 12 and I’ll tell you what. Lon Kruger should be talked about as National Coach of the Year. This was another tough game for TCU who played without Jaylen Fisher. They need to get him back. The lead guard, who was the highest rated recruit in TCU history, has battled injuries during his career. Kuot Noi was awesome for TCU though as he finished with 30.

DePaul 79, No. 24 St. John’s 71
I know St. John’s didn’t play with Shamorie Ponds in this game, but you still have to win at home vs DePaul. You can’t lose this game if you’re St. John’s. Credit to DePaul though. They led pretty much the entire time. They were balanced offensively as four starters finished with double digit points. This hurts though in the Big East race if you’re St. John’s. Nova already has a home win over DePaul and Marquette will be favored over them as well.

Sunday’s Games

Can Penn State get the notable home win?
Every year in the Big 10, Penn State always gets a home win that makes no sense. They caught Virginia Tech already in the nonconference and get a chance today against Michigan State. Mike Watkins can bother Nick Ward and Josh Reaves could potentially be put on Cassius Winston.

Will Michigan stay undefeated?
Michigan is just one of two undefeated teams in the country left with Virginia. The Wolverines get Northwestern, who isn’t good, at home today. These two teams played in December and Northwestern actually took the lead in the second half. Zavier Simpson continues to be my favorite player in the country with his personality, the fact he’s a 6’0″ guard hitting sky hooks and is just an absolute menace defensively.

Villanova’s Big East dominance
Villanova is undefeated in the Big East, because of course it is. All this talk about Villanova’s demise and Marquette or St. John’s and we have Nova leading the way. They go to Creighton today – a place that is extremely tough to play and they lost last year. Creighton will be looking to bounce back after that disaster against Marquette. I’ll say this. A win by Nova here and you can pretty much hand them the Big East title.

Picks
Creighton PK
Penn State +8