Arizona's already running hot

Happy Thanksgiving, readers! Just because it's turkey day doesn't stop us from providing you all with the things to know about college hoops, including a few jaw-dropping buzzer beaters, and what to know about the PK85.

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Let's get to the news.

1. Arizona shows out in Maui

The Maui Invitational title game featured two of the country's best offenses and would-be Final Four contenders in Arizona and Creighton. And it delivered.

They combined for 32 points before the first commercial break, and while the scoring tapered off, the overall level of basketball didn’t slow down in the Wildcats' 81-79 win.

Start with the man nicknamed “Baby Shaq”, Arizona forward Oumar Ballo. He looked the part with 30 and 13 against the elite defense of Creigton's 7-foot center, Ryan Kalkbrenner. Ballo's production put Arizona up double figures for most of the final 20 minutes, but once Azuolas Tubelis and Kerr Kriisa hit the bench with four fouls, Creighton found another gear.

The Blue Jays limited Arizona to two points in the final three minutes, and even had a chance to tie. But Kalkbrenner didn't have an open look, and Arizona fouled Ryan Nembhard before he could attempt a three. He deliberately missed the second shot and Arizona walked away as champs.

“I just kept looking at the score and the time and our timeouts. And I thought we had enough separation to kind of ride it out,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said.

"But you’re just hoping for a miss. You hate to say that, you need to make ‘em miss. But one of those shots bounces off, you know, and we rebound it, you know, the game could have been over a little bit earlier. But they didn’t. They went in.

“I think we had one or two maybe poor decisions, but we’ll learn from that. We practice situations a lot. So a lot of the situations came up there and I felt comfortable not calling a timeout,” he added.

Arizona takes the victory and cements themselves as a true title contender despite losing three NBA players (Bennedict Mathurin, Dalen Terry and Christian Koloko). The development of Tubelis, Ballo and Pelle Larsson, and addition of Courtney Ramey help make up for the three departed pros. This is a group that might very well boast the nation's best offense.

All in all, Creighton looked impressive in wins over Texas Tech and Arkansas, and even looked great despite losing Wednesday. An elite floor general with Nembhard, elite shooter in Baylor Scheierman, dominant interior players with Arthur Kaluma and Kalkbrenner and the chemistry is off the charts. The Big East runs through Omaha.

2. But wait, there are more title games!

Kansas State 61, LSU 59: Keyontae Johnson hit a game-winning floater to secure the comeback and claim the Cayman Islands Classic title. The ex-Florida Gator looks the part of an All-Big 12 player in his return since dealing with heart issues two years ago. The Wildcats (6-0) stay undefeated in the first six games of Jerome Tang's tenure. LSU (5-1) squandered the lead, but KJ Williams looked terrific once again, scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 boards.

Southern Miss (70), Fort Wayne (58): The Golden Eagles are one of the surprise stories of the season. They're 6-0 with impressive wins over Liberty, Vandy, Winthrop and Fort Wayne in the Cancun Classic championship game. Transfers Austin Crowley (Ole Miss) and Felipe Haase (Mercer) look like absolute steals for coach Jay Ladner.

3. More results to know from Feast Week

Let's talk about Binghamton pulling off an improbable comeback.

For those who might be in disbelief from that clip: The Bearcats threw a 60-foot inbounds pass with five seconds left, and Jacob Falko hit a three. No timeout, Columbia in-bounded the ball, but John McGriff stole it and drilled the corner triple and an 81-79 win over Columbia. Six points in 5.6 seconds. Incredible.

Arkansas 78, San Diego State 74, OT: One of the games of the night was the final game in Maui. Arkansas (5-1) stole one from San Diego State (4-2). The Razorbacks trailed the entire night, but chipped away enough to stay within reaching distance. On the last possession, Kamani Johnson cleaned up the Anthony Black miss and helped Arkansas get to overtime. In OT, the Razorbacks held on thanks to four more points from Johnson.

Wisconsin 43, Dayton 42: Certainly not the most aesthetically pleasing game of the day, but it fit Wisconsin basketball's brand. Even if it was their lowest-scoring game since a 36-33 loss to Penn State in 2011. However, the Badgers inability to score was noticeable and keeping teams to below 50 points won't happen regularly.

Kansas 80, N.C. State 74: The Gradey Dick show (six 3-pointers in the first half) went to the Bahamas as the Jayhawks (5-0) held off a fast Wolfpack backcourt of Terq Smith (19 points), Casey Morsell (21) and Jarkel Joiner (17).

Auburn 43, Northwestern 42: Um, yeah. Another not fun to watch basketball game, but Auburn (6-0) survived the push from Northwestern (5-1.) The game is part of the Cancun Challenge, which might be more aircraft carrier basketball based on the teams shooting a combined 7-45 from three.

College of Charleston (74), Kent State (72): The Golden Flashes (5-1) held the lead for much of the game, but CofC (6-1) stayed within arms reach the entire way — and the Cougars never relented, regardless of time and score. Charleston lone loss this season was in Chapel Hill. Don't sleep on the Cougars.

4. A PK85 primer

Nike Founder Phil Knight turns 85 today, but it's the rest of us who get a present with high level basketball in the next few days. We have two tournaments to discuss: The Phil Knight Invitational and Phil Knight Legacy .

Phil Knight Legacy

Contenders: Gonzaga and Duke

The obvious choices to meet in the title game of the tournament.

Gonzaga looked confident offensively against Kentucky on Sunday. The key was the emergence of Julian Strawther, a guy with NBA talent, but didn't always display during the Zags' first few games. It Strawther can provide a second option to Drew Timme, it may not matter if Gonzaga’s point guard play is sufficient. I think you can survive with *decent* point guard play if you have two bonafide star players like Timme and possibly Strawther.

The big difference is youth vs experience: Gonzaga starts three seniors, one junior and one sophomore, while Duke features a junior, three freshman, and one senior. Plus, Mark Few has coached in more consecutive Sweet 16s (7) than Jon Scheyer has coached games (5).

I’m still trying to figure out who Duke goes to late in games. Is it really Kyle Filipowski, who leads the team in scoring? Can it be Jeremy Roach? How about Dariq Whitehead? He's played 26 total minutes in two games coming off an injury. Duke isn't fully formed yet. The team has three or four potential first-round picks but Whitehead, Dereck Lively II and Tyrese Proctor aren’t lighting the world on fire yet. That concerns me about Duke’s chances of winning the PK85, but the talent is undeniable.

Sleeper team: Purdue. The emergence of freshman Braden Smith turned me into a believer. Smith is averaging 10.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists in Purdue’s first three games. And of course you can’t mention Purdue without talking about the physically imposing 7-foot-4 Zach Edey, who’s averaging 20 and 13 to start the season. When teams swarm Edey with double teams it will open up the perimeter for shooters like Fletcher Loyer, David Jenkins and Brandon Newman.

Players to watch

Drew Timme, Gonzaga. Timme's the current favorite to win national player of the year, according to most sports books. He’s doing more of the usual, leading the Zags with 21 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists.

Zach Edey, Purdue. The second-best player in the PK85 outside of Timme. He’s vulnerable defensively; teams can put him in ball screens where he’s forced to either switch onto quicker guards or play drop coverage. But he’s a shoo-in for 20 and 10.

Jorell Satterfield, Portland State. Portland State coach Jase Coburn learned key lessons from Mark Adams at Howard Community College — a strong focus on defense, and recruiting transfers wing transfers who are strong and, athletic. Satterfield fits the bill. The UTEP transfer has scored 15 or more points in four games this season.

Jordan Pope, Oregon State. The Beavers found a diamond in the rough with the freshman from Prolific Prep. He's averaging 15.5 points to start and is shooting 48 percent overall and 40 percent three.

Tre Mitchell, West Virginia. Mitchell isn’t the typical Bob Huggins big; a physical specimen who relentlessly attacks the glass or knocks dudes over on screens. He’s a floor-stretching five who could move keep Edey out of the paint in their first-round matchup. Let’s not forget Mitchell was a coveted player before struggling at Texas last season.

Collin Castleton, Florida. The second-leading scorer in D-I through Wednesday. Castleton's racking up numbers (25.3 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 3.3 bpg) and could have a monster tourney.

Zach Freemantle, Xavier. The Musketeers' versatile forward leads them in rebounding (7.2 per game) and is second in scoring (15.5 ppg) and assists (5 apg), and will have plenty of opportunities to shine in their first-round matchup against Florida.

Phil Knight Invitational

Favorite: North Carolina

The clear favorite. Carolina is ranked No. 1, and boasts the best starting five in the field. They haven't been sharp thus far this season, but do get a favorable first-round matchup in Portland before facing the winner of Iowa State-Villanova. Can they capture their Final Four form from last year?

Sleeper: Alabama

More than half of Alabama's field-goal attempts are from beyond the arc. But they're more than just shooters with freshman Brandon Miller in the fold. He's posted 20.9 points and 9.3 rebounds, while going 15-for-29 (51 percent) from three in four games. Additionally, guard Jahvon Quinerly, who tore his ACL in March, is already back. He's only played 21 minutes in two games, but dropped eight dimes against Jacksonville State. If he plays 20 minutes a game, he could be the difference.

Players to watch

Brandon Miller, Alabama. Miller is a top-10 pick in this year's NBA draft. He's the best player in this field.

Caleb Love, North Carolina. It’s impossible to know what version of Caleb Love shows up. He's is shooting a ghastly 5-of-27 from three, and is just 42 percent overall. The Heels need him to get hot to win three straight.

Jaren Holmes, Iowa State. The ex-St Bonaventure standout has done more than expected so far, averaging 18.5 points for a surprising Iowa State squad.

Will Richardson, Oregon. The All-Pac-12 selection has struggled in four games, averaging 10 points, shooting 25 percent from three and turning the ball over 4.5 times per contest. If Oregon stands any chance at winning several games in a “home neutral” site, Richardson has to be better.

Tyler Robertson, Portland. The 6-6 junior hasn't been efficient scoring in the Pilots' last three games, but he's doing everything else well.

Adama Sanogo, UConn. An All-American caliber player, who averaging 21 and 10 in the first two weeks of the season, he's also trying to stretch defenses. He's hit 57 from deep through five games.

Caleb Daniels, Villanova. Daniels struggled in losses to Michigan State and Temple but has a scorers' mentality and could get back on track here.

5. Georgetown's historically rough stretch

Another day, another collapse from Georgetown.

The Hoyas are 3-3, but that's not the whole story. In the past four games against Northwestern, Loyola Marymount, La Salle and American, the Hoyas got outscored by 69 combined points and went 1-3 in those four games. American's 74-70 win was its first over Georgetown since 1982 (when Patrick Ewing was still playing) and the first time the Hoyas have lost to a sub-300 KenPom team since the site launched in 2002.

Sure, the argument of "Brandon Murray didn't play" could make the loss seem better, but American played without leading scorer Collin Smalls.

Ewing said this after the game: “If we want to win we need to be a more together team. We have to stop having these emotional outbursts and breakdowns as the game goes on. In every sport that you play you are going to have ups and downs and even when you have up ups, you can't get too high and when you have downs you can't get too low. You are going to make mistakes but it's all about what you do after these mistakes and that is something I keep trying to preach to them."

On the prowl

The Big Ten's superb start to the season — six teams are ranked in the AP Top 25 — might indicate that the league is juuuust a bit better than pundits thought. Included among the impressive teams? Penn State.

Coach Micah Shrewsberry, now in his second season, joined us to discuss his team's start, what's coming up, and what's on tap for Thanksgiving.

Q: Simply stated: Your offense is something to behold. You're making 42% of your 3-pointers (17th in D-I), but the approach is remarkable. Half of your field-goal attempts are 3s (only nine D-I teams boast a higher percentage) and almost half of your points (49%) have come on made threes, which is currently third among D-I teams. That seems unsustainable over an entire season, yet other power conference teams do something similar. (Alabama comes to mind). How do you envision the offense evolving from here?

Micah Shrewsberry: We’re a really good shooting team and that’s the obvious strength of our team. We want to continue looking for the best shot for our team, which up to this point, has been threes. But we have guys that do more than just shoot threes. If the opponent takes that way, then our ability to attack the rim should open up because people are more worried about defending the three.

Q: You're at Clemson for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge next week, then open Big Ten conference play with Michigan State and at Illinois. That's seven Quad 1 or Quad 2 opponents in your first 10 games. Is that the preferred SOS balance for your program, given the rigors that come with playing in the Big Ten?

Micah Shrewsberry: You want to challenge yourself as a program. We have an older team, so we’re able to handle playing games like this earlier in the season because of the experience that we have on the court. When you play these types of games, it let’s you know where you stand early on and where you need to get better instead of masking your deficiencies by playing teams that aren’t as good.

Q: Speaking of the Big Ten, media types -- including The Field of 68 -- probably regret predicting a "down year" for the conference, which has had an incredible start to the season. As you enter your second year in the Big Ten as a head coach (and sixth overall after four years as a Purdue assistant), what misconceptions should be put to rest about the league? So much is made in some circles about not winning an NCAA Tournament.

Micah Shrewsberry: People make misconceptions about our league, but every year new people continue to step up to become really good players. I think the development in each program is something that doesn’t get talked about as much as it should. Right now, transfers are the thing, and people are putting a lot of emphasis on that instead of putting emphasis on the continued growth. The strongest Big Ten teams from year-to-year are teams that have older guys that have grown together and gotten better and better together year-in and year-out, which helps the league stay strong. The strength of the conference continues to be ranked high every year because of how well we do in the non-conference. It’s started out that way so far this year in head-to-head matchups against other leagues. We root for each other when we’re not playing each other so we can continue to build up the strength of our league.

Q: Penn State hosts Lafayette on Friday, your only game this week. Is that the preferred approach for the holidays? How will you be spending your Thanksgiving?

Micah Shrewsberry: We’ve played a lot of games early in the season, so just having one game this week allows us to focus on ourselves throughout the week before getting to Lafayette later in the week. It also allows us to rest a little bit as well. We’re going to spend Thanksgiving at my house with the whole team, our families, and any families that are around, so that our players get a home-cooked meal instead of doing something in a hotel, in a ballroom or at a restaurant. Even though they’re not home, they get the feel of home this Thanksgiving here in Happy Valley.

Penn State and Lafayette play at 7 pm ET.

The latest test for Michigan State

The Spartans (3-1) have already played Gonzaga, Kentucky and Villanova to start the season. So what's another elite team in Alabama? We know Tom Izzo's guards are ready thanks to their early gauntlet, but they better be ready to score against Alabama. The Tide can score i bunches. (10:30 pm ET, ESPN)

Other games to watch (All times ET)

• Kansas (5-0) vs. Wisconsin (4-0), 11 am (ESPN)

• Florida (3-1) vs. Xavier (3-1), 5:30 pm (ESPN2)

• Memphis (2-1) vs. Seton Hall (3-1), 7:30 pm (ESPN News)

• UConn (5-0) vs. Oregon (2-2), 8 pm ET (ESPN2)

• Purdue (3-0) vs. West Virginia (4-0), 10 pm (ESPN2)

Frank Martin, unplugged

Few college hoops coaches can match Frank Martin's combo of candor and accomplishments. He thrived at Kansas State and took South Carolina to its only Final Four. But he's just as impressive when it comes to honest conversations.

He sat down with Jeff Goodman and Rob Dauster about his terrific start at UMass, and about things beyond the game, like uprooting his family just before his daughter was set to begin her senior year of high school. It's a wonderful conversation on this week's Atlantic 10 Insider podcast.

Subscribe to The Field of 68 on YouTube and click here subscribe to the Atlantic 10 Insider podcast.

Links as you convince the family that watching basketball counts as "family time."

• Illinois is working out the kinks on its defensive switches.

• Baylor expects its recent trip to Vegas to pay dividends later on.

• Here's what NCAA refs are focusing on calling this season.

• Phil Knight is not a fan of realignment, among other things ($).

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