14 Jan20 - Shown Down

Volume XVIII, No. 12 - 14 Jan20 - [] Top 25 Ballot

Shown Down

With four losses in the preseason (albeit all against top-quality opponents) and with the depth of the overall league as high as its been in years, Kansas looked to be vulnerable in this year's campaign to keep its conference title streak alive (nine and counting). Guess again. The Jayhawks' size hampered talented Iowa State on both ends of the floor in a solid 77-@70 road win (outrebounding the Cyclones 53-36 as ISU shot 4-for-25 on three-pointers). Then, after putting Oklahoma State down 47-30 at the half, KU had to hold on as the Cowboys came all the way back before Kansas won @80-78 to take control of the BIG 12 race. Athletic 7' cJoel Embiid (13 blocks in two games) may turn out to be the best freshman in Lawrence ahead of pre-hyped tAndrew Wiggins after all is said and done.

    
Previously unbeaten Wisconsin dropped two straight, 72-@75 (as gYogi Ferrell had 25 points), and fell at home, @70-77 to resurgent Michigan. Iowa State dropped its third in a row, 76-@86 to upstart Texas. Baylor fell twice, 72-@82 at lowly Texas Tech, and @64-66 at home to rising Oklahoma. Illinois lost two more (four straight and counting), @58-66 vs Purdue and @62-78 vs Michigan State.

Young Arkansas upset Kentucky, @87-85(OT) on bMichael Qualls' follow slam at the buzzer (but dropped an OT result at lowly Georgia, 61-@66[OT]). UCLA dumped depleted Colorado, 69-@56 (but fell at surprising Utah, 69-@74, despite 28p7a7r5to from tKyle Anderson). Connecticut looked on its way back into the AMERICAN race with a 83-@73 road win at Memphis as xDeAndre Daniels has 23p11r (but gave it back, falling at home, @64-76, despite 30p1a from gShabazz Napier, as Louisville finally got its first quality win of the season). Virginia fell, 65-@69 at Duke as resurrected gRasheed Sulaimon had 21p (but rebounded to handle Florida State, @78-66). Creighton dropped a 68-@81 decision at Providence (but stayed in control of the BIG EAST race). Still unbeaten Syracuse and Pittsburgh moved their showdown from the old Mega-BIG EAST to the new Mega-ACC as the Orange held on for a @59-54 win to secure first place.

    
Minnesota handed Ohio State its third straight loss, @63-53 (but was routed at solid Iowa, 73-@94). George Washington slowed down VCU, @76-66 (as pPatricio Garino has 25p7r). Kansas State scrapped its way to a home win vs Oklahoma, @72-66. Still undefeated Arizona posted seven players in double-figures in a @91-68 rout of state-rival Arizona State. UNLV knocked off New Mexico on the road, 76-@73 despite 27p6r from fCameron Bairstow (but only managed 5 assists at San Diego State, falling 52-@63).

Still undefeated Wichita State blew out Indiana State, @68-48, to take control of the MISSOURI VALLEY. (The Sycamores need a solid win in the rematch for any chance for the league to go from 1BC/Anti-Spoiler to multi-bid Mid-Major status.)

    
bR.J. Hunter's game-winner helped Georgia State edge Arkansas State, @73-72; the Panthers are 5-0 in the SUN BELT, already with a two-game gap.

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Michigan has the tougher appetizer (Wednesday, vs Iowa) than Michigan State (Tuesday, vs Indiana) before those two square off in East Lansing (Saturday) with the BIG 10 lead on the line. Kansas State has it rough this week (at Texas, Tuesday; at Iowa State, Saturday) trying to stay close to Kansas (vs Baylor, Monday). California has the tougher task (at UCLA, Saturday) keeping pace with Arizona (vs Utah, Saturday) this week. Duke gets to experience the "Oakland Zoo" when it visits Pittsburgh (Monday week). It's the Game Of The Year (Part I) in the mini-BIG EAST when Creighton visits Villanova (Monday).

    
Stony Brook hosts Vermont (Friday) in the first round of the AMERICA EAST showdown. Mercer hosts last year's darling Florida Gulf Coast (Thursday) with the ATLANTIC-SUN lead on the line.

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

@Villanova-Creighton, @Kansas-Baylor, @Virginia-NCarolina, @Hampton-MorganSt,

Tuesday:

@MichiganSt-Indiana, @Texas-KansasSt, @LSU-Missouri, @FloridaSt-NotreDame, @NewMexico-BoiseSt, @WrightSt-Milwaukee,

Wednesday:

WichitaSt-@IllinoisSt, @Michigan-Iowa, Wisconsin-@Minnesota, @Dayton-VCU,

Thursday:

@Arizona-Colorado, @OhioSt-Illinois, @UCLA-Stanford(CA), @ArizonaSt-Utah, @LouisianaTech-Charlotte, @OldDominion-SoMississippi, @Belmont-MoreheadSt, @OralRoberts-StephenFAustin, @Louisiana-GeorgiaSt, @Bryant-LongIsland, @Mercer-FLGulfCoast, @Chattanooga-Elon, @WeCarolina-Davidson(NC),

Friday:

@Manhattan-Rider, @Iona-Quinnipiac, @StonyBrook-Vermont,

Saturday:

@MichiganSt-Michigan(MI), Villanova-@Marquette, KansasSt-@IowaSt, @Kentucky-Georgia, @Gonzaga-BYU, @Duke-FloridaSt, Texas-@Baylor, @ArizonaSt-Colorado, @LaSalle-VCU, @IndianaSt-IllinoisSt, @SDState-NDState, @Belmont-EaKentucky, @Louisiana-WeKentucky,

Sunday:

@Arizona-Utah, California-@UCLA(CA), @Indiana-Illinois, @Toledo-KentSt(OH), @Manhattan-Quinnipiac,

- - - - - -

Monday week:

@Oklahoma-OklahomaSt(OK), @Pittsburgh-Duke, @SavannahSt-NorfolkSt, @MorganSt-NCCentral.

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Top 25 - 14 Jan20 - [] Column

1. Arizona (18-0)
   
2. Michigan State (17-1)
   
3. Syracuse (18-0)
   
4. San Diego State (14-1)
   
5. Villanova (16-1)
   
6. Florida (15-2)
   
7. Kansas (13-4)
   
8. Wichita State (18-0)
   
9. Cincinnati (16-2)
   
10. Michigan (12-4)
    
11. Wisconsin (16-2)
    
12. Iowa (13-3)
    
13. California (14-4)
    
14. Kansas State (14-4)
    
15. Iowa State (14-3)
    
16. Kentucky(12-4)
    
17. St. Louis (16-2)
    
18. Gonzaga (15-3)
    
19. Creighton (15-3)
    
20. Oklahoma State (15-3)
    
21. Pittsburgh (16-2)
    
22. Massachusetts (16-1)
    
23. Louisville (16-3)
    
24. Duke (14-4)
    
25. Texas (14-4)
    

Honorable Mention:

Indiana (12-6), Oklahoma (14-4), Texas Tech (10-8), Arkansas (12-5), UCLA (14-4), Connecticut (14-4), Providence (13-5), Georgia State (10-6).