College basketball began on Monday, picking up right where it left off last season with upsets and close games. Teams lost buy games, which in the words of Jon Rothstein, is the “epitome of brutality.”
With the first week of college basketball underway, and most teams playing games already, this edition of Sam’s Section will highlight some of the overreactions in college basketball from opening night.
Kam Jones will be the nation’s leading scorer
For the past three seasons, I have loved what Jones brings to Marquette’s starting backcourt. In the Golden Eagles’ season-opener against Stony Brook, the Memphis, Tenn. native put up a 32-point performance while shooting 14 of 16 from the floor. This is a player who averaged 15.1 points per game as a sophomore when Tyler Kolek won Big East Player of the Year and averaged 17.2 points per game last year, leading the team in points for the last two seasons. In addition to Kolek being gone, big man Oso Ighodaro has departed after averaging 13.4 points last season.
Gonzaga might be the best team in the nation
In a late-night top 10 battle in Spokane, Wash., No. 6 Gonzaga crushed No. 8 Baylor 101-63. Leading the way for the Zags were Nolan Hickman and Graham Ike, scoring 17 and 15 points, respectively. While former Creighton guard Ryan Nembhard did not live up to his expectations scoring-wise, he dished out 11 assists. My favorite player in Monday night’s rout was Braden Huff, who came off the bench to score 14 points on 7-11 shooting. The Bulldogs shot 57.1% from the floor and made 13 three-pointers. They outrebounded the Bears by 13 and played more like a team offensively with 25 assists total. It is early, but my hot take is that Gonzaga should be the No. 1 team in the country when the AP Poll rankings come out on Monday.
Cooper Flagg may be the star, but watch out for Duke’s other freshmen
Flagg rightfully has the spotlight put on him. He is coming in as the No. 1 freshman in the country and has held his own against the NBA’s best on the USA Select Team. However, Duke is more than just him, as demonstrated on Monday night against Maine. Kon Knueppel, a 6-foot-7 freshman guard, scored 22 points on 8-14 shooting. Despite only playing 18 minutes, there is a lot to like about Khaman Maluach, who went a perfect 3-3 from the floor and brought down six boards. In addition to that, the South Sudan native had three blocks.
Wade Taylor IV has been crucial for Texas A&M’s offense, but his percentages are scaringly low
Taylor was one of the best scorers in the SEC last season, averaging 19.1 points per game. However, his shooting percentages are still a problem. In Texas A&M’s upset loss at UCF, the Texas native shot just 4-15 from the floor, with 11 attempts and all four made shots coming from behind the arc. While I loved how he dished out the ball, finishing the game with seven assists, the Aggies will go nowhere if he is shooting 26.7% from the field.
Texas was severely overrated and Ohio State was severely underrated
In Las Vegas, Nev. on Monday night, Ohio State went wire-to-wire to upset No. 19 Texas. Leading the way was junior guard Bruce Thornton, who scored 20 points on 70% shooting, including three three-pointers, along with five assists. Also matching his assist total in the win was senior guard Micah Parrish, who scored 17 points on 5-11 shooting. Key reserves Devin Royal and John Mobley Jr. scored 16 and 14 points, respectively. Texas, on the other hand, did not live up to the hype. The only player who did was five-star Tre Johnson, who scored 29 points on 10 of 20 shooting, including five 3-pointers. He was excellent and showed why he will be selected in the 2025 NBA Draft. The other Longhorns did not step up, and I expected more out of a talented roster. Texas shot just 36.8% from the field and 25% from long-range. Arthur Kaluma, who had a major impact in his two years at Creighton and last year at Kansas State, underwhelmed in his Longhorns debut. Even though he scored 10 points, I would have expected him to be more of an offensive presence. He turned the ball over three times and did not produce much on either end of the court in the 30 minutes he played. Maybe Ohio State will end up being one of the top teams in the country, but that does not look like the case when the Buckeyes have turned the ball over 15 times.
Braden Smith may be the next Tyler Kolek
Remember when Kolek led the nation in assists during his final two years at Marquette? Smith might accomplish that feat in his junior season at Purdue. In the 17-point win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, which was surprisingly close, Smith scored 12 points and handed out a whopping 15 assists. He also grabbed eight rebounds, two short of the second triple-double in program history (Joe Barry Carroll, Dec. 10, 1977). The Westfield, Ind. native was a great passer for the Boilermakers last season, averaging 7.5 assists per game. Expect the scoring to jump up this season, but Smith might be a first-team All-American if he can continue to dish the ball like he did on Monday night.