An historic night

Oh, you thought we were talking about LeBron? Let's fete TJD, who did something no Hoosier's done before. Plus, UConn may be back to its old self, Kentucky and UNC are in trouble, we talk with a Hofstra legend, and more.

Author

Greg Waddell
February 08, 2023

The beautiful thing about basketball is that any given moment could be history. In a moment, some 5-foot-9, 160-pound coach's son that you have never heard of becomes someone you tell your grandchildren about. The sport gets passed from generation to generation like hand-me-down clothes. I am a Michigan basketball fan because my father was. My daughter's first onesie might have a bedazzled "Burke 3" on the back. And while each basketball fan has their own special moment, on rare occasions, a legend of the game does something SO SPECIAL that it will be written in the history books for centuries to come.

That happened last night. LeBron James Trayce Jackson-Davis made history.

1. Trayce Jackson-Davis passes the 2K mark

It wasn't long ago that your favorite men's league catch-and-shoot threat/Field of 68 Daily newsletter author was a regular anti-Trayce Jackson-Davis propagandist.

Allow me to atone for my sins. TJD, arguably been the sport's best player over the last month and a half, officially joined the 2,000-point scoring club on Tuesday night in a 66-60 Indiana victory over No. 24 Rutgers.

As a Big Ten basketball fan, I regularly took Jackson-Davis for granted by connecting his teams' frequent middle-of-the-pack finishes in conference play with some lazy tropes that meant something about who TJD is as a player. But that was before I saw the light.

Meanwhile, Jackson-Davis himself just kept improving. He has added to every element of his game this season — resulting in career per-game highs in points (19.8), rebounds (11.3), assists (3.5) and blocks (3.0), while also shooting a career-best 70.6 percent from the foul line and fouling fewer times per game than he has in any of his previous three years at Indiana.

Coincidentally, this Indiana (17-7, 8-5 in Big Ten) team is also the best of the TJD era, and Hoosier fans may have hope for a March run, particularly after Saturday's win over No. 1 Purdue and last night's win over Rutgers (16-8, 8-5), who had occupied second place in the conference alone before Indiana rose and joined them.

Jackson-Davis passed the mark in style, with an offensive rebound turned self-alley-oop tip-slam, one of many remarkable TJD highlight reel dunks in the game. He finished with 20 points, 18 rebounds and six assists.

Two thousand points is an impressive feat for any college basketball player, but particularly one in this era. With more player movement than ever before, it is rare for a player as talented as Jackson-Davis to 1) be that talented in his first year in college, 2) stay in college for all four years and 3) stay at the same school for all four years.

Jackson-Davis is the first player in Indiana basketball history to record more than 2,000 points and more than 1,000 rebounds. It may have taken me longer than it should have to fully appreciate him, but I encourage other Big Ten fans, along with fans around the country, to sit back and enjoy Trayce Jackson-Davis for the one-of-a-kind, special player that he is for the rest of his career in candy stripes.

2. UCan believe in UConn again

The UConn question has been a divisive topic in the F68-osphere. Once the nation's most dominant team, it had been exactly one month since their last victory against a winning team.

Not anymore. Dan Hurley's Huskies ran Shaka Smart's Golden Eagles out of the gym, leading by as many as 20 points and shrugging off a mini-Marquette rally for an 87-72 win, hardly breaking a sweat. It took No. 10 Marquette (19-6, 11-3 in Big East) nearly 10 minutes to score 10 points.

This was a complete performance from No. 21 Connecticut (19-6, 8-6), who got stellar performances from each of their stars for the first time in a long time. Jordan Hawkins scored 20 points, making five of eight 3-pointers. Adama Sanogo dominated Marquette's frontcourt — posting 18 points and seven rebounds compared to the Ighodaro/Prosper duo's combined six points and six rebounds.

And the THIRD player mentioned is the guy who notched a triple-double. Tristan Newton (12-12-10) was superb, but that's why this UConn team can be so confounding; their collective A-game is as good as it gets.

Few teams in college basketball have a better collection of wins: The Huskies now have four victories over KenPom top-20 opponents. It may be too late to catch Xavier in the Big East race (ahhhh, who am I kidding, it most definitely is) but don't forget about this team come March.

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3. Bubble-bound BBN?

On the latest episode of Fielding the 68, our in-house bracketology show where I get to talk to guys who are smarter than me for 45 minutes once a week, our experts agreed that Kentucky (16-8, 7-4 in SEC) was one of the last four teams "in" heading into this week.

They didn't help themselves on Tuesday night.

Arkansas (17-7, 6-5) went into Rupp Arena and stormed out with a decisive victory full of style points and stuffed stat sheets. Contrary to popular belief, the Hogs still play high-level basketball.

Ricky Council (20 points) and Anthony Black (19 points) led the way for the Razorbacks, who led by just one point at halftime before pulling away late. They opened the second half with an 11-3 run and never really looked back.

This result matters in a big way for Arkansas' tournament hopes as well after starting conference play with a whimper. They came into the game on our experts' 8-seed line and will likely rise in the next episode on Friday.

Kentucky, on the other hand, might be on the outside looking in. The Wildcats only have one game remaining against ranked teams (vs. Tennessee, who Kentucky beat earlier this season).

Still, you can never count a John Calipari team out until the final whistle sounds. Look no further than the 2014 'Cats, who made it to the championship game as an 8-seed. But betting on this team to turn things around might be too much, even for this gambler.

4. Other notable games

Call it a small, but impactful slate from Tuesday. A quick rundown.

Kansas State 82, TCU 61The No. 12 Cats (19-5, 7-4 in Big 12) pulled away from No. 17 TCU (17-7, 6-5) in a game that was more competitive than the final score indicates. TCU fought admirably without their superstar guard Mike Miles but could not keep up with Markquis Nowell (18 points) and Keyontae Johnson (14 points). This loss knocks TCU out of the top five in the Big 12 standings, handing them their fifth conference loss and pushing them a game behind Kansas, Kansas State and Baylor in the loss column.

Wake Forest 92, North Carolina 85The Deacs (16-9, 8-6 in ACC) took care of North Carolina (15-9, 7-6) in a relatively leisurely manner. They led by 22 points at halftime after pouring in 47 first-half points, before letting the Heels trim the lead to a respectable margin late. Tyree Appleby finished with a gaudy stat line of 35 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds, with efficiency numbers that the opposing Tar Heels' backcourt would be proud of (6-of-20 shooting). Nobody tell Jim Boeheim how good Wake Forest's transfer point guard is. Actually, I take that back — everybody PLEASE tell Jim Boeheim how good Wake Forest's transfer point guard is.

Pitt 91, Louisville 57Pitt (17-7, 10-3 in ACC) held serve to remain tied for first place (!) in the ACC with Clemson and Virginia by eviscerating Louisville (3-21, 1-12). Nine players scored for the Panthers, led by Nike Sibande's 15 points off the bench. Louisville shot just 27.6 percent from the floor and trailed by 20 points at halftime.

Virginia 63, NC State 50The Cavs (18-4, 10-3 in ACC) knocked off No. 22 NC State (19-6, 9-5) to keep pace atop the ACC standings. The Cavs bounced back nicely from the loss at Virginia Tech with a comfortable win over a dangerous Wolfpack team. Jayden Gardner led Virginia in scoring with 18 points. No. 8 Virginia hosts Duke on Saturday.

Texas A&M 83, Auburn 78A&M (17-7, 9-2 in SEC) added another quality win to their résumé by completing the season sweep of Auburn (17-7, 7-4). Julius Marble was impressive down the stretch, finishing with a career-high 20 points. A&M went to the free throw line 39 times and made 31, compared to Auburn's 9-14 showing from the stripe, which essentially iced the game.

Butler 68, St. John's 66The Bulldogs (12-13, 4-10 in Big East) rallied to beat St. Johns (14-11, 4-10) thanks to 19 points from Jayden Taylor. Manny Bates chipped in 15 points, six rebounds and four assists. It goes from bad to worse for the Johnnies, who earlier this season looked capable of becoming an NCAA Tournament team. Andre Curbelo finished with four points on 2-of-10 shooting off the bench.

Michigan State 63, Maryland 58Sparty (15-9, 7-6 in Big Ten) ground out a gritty win against Maryland (16-8, 7-6). They opened up a 15-0 lead before allowing Maryland to climb back and take a four-point lead of their own with less than 10 minutes remaining. Michigan State's veterans made the difference late in front of their home crowd, as Joey Hauser and Tyson Walker combined for 37 points, and AJ Hoggard approached a triple-double of his own, finishing with eight points, eight assists and 10 rebounds.

Dayton 62, VCU 58The Flyers (16-9, 8-4 in A-10) picked up a critical conference win over VCU (18-7, 9-3) without Malachi Smith. Toumani Camara was the star of the night, tallying 26 points, 15 rebounds and two assists. Sixteen of Camara's 26 came in the second half to keep Dayton in front for good. Ace Baldwin led the Rams with 14 points of his own.

Nevada 77, New Mexico 76Jarod Lucas scored 28 points as the Wolf Pack (19-6, 9-3 in MWC) earned their biggest road win of the year in dramatic fashion against New Mexico (19-5, 6-5).

Kenan Blackshear finished with 12 points, including that game-winner.

Drake 92, Murray State 68Tucker DeVries scored 32 points and Roman Penn added 18 as the Bulldogs (20-6, 11-4 in MVC) lead — for now — three other teams in the Missouri Valley race. Saturday could provide some separation when they host Southern Illinois.

Toledo 84, Akron 74The Rockets (18-6, 9-2) earned one of the more impressive wins of the night. The Zips (17-7, 9-2) hadn't lost in Akron all season, but Setric Miller Jr.'s 20 points helped Toledo extend its winning streak to eight games and knot up the top of the MAC.

Kent State 87, Bowling Green 64The Golden Flashes (19-5, 9-2 in MAC) kept pace atop the MAC thanks to a guard Malique Jacobs. My man knows how to stuff a stat sheet: He finished with 17 points, 7 steals, 7 assists and 6 rebounds.

UNC Greensboro 91, East Tennessee State 65The Spartans (17-9, 11-2 in Southern) are clicking on offense, scoring 1.3 points per possession against the overmatched Bucs (9-17, 5-8). They're up half a game on Furman and Samford in the conference standings; both of them play tonight.

5. The top 10 two guards

It's #AwardSeason, and college basketball is no exception. Yesterday we told you about the Bob Cousy Award's 10 finalists, and today we turn our attention to the top shooting guards in the country.

The Jerry West Award aims to crown the top shooting guard in college hoops. These are the ten finalists. Editor's note: No one from the offices of Jerry West has yet responded to my innumerable attempts to re-name the award 'The Nik Stauskas Award (for Greg Waddell's Favorite Shooting Guard),' likely because the fine print of my many e-mails accurately specified that I would give it to Nik Stauskas year after year after year.

The Baylor duo of Flagler and George remains the largest reason why I believe that Baylor can win a national championship this season. Although, where's the love for LJ Cryer? Cold world for the most efficient member of Baylor's three-headed shooting guard monster.

Sasser, Shannon, Wong and Smith each received a good amount of pre-season praise and it's great to see them delivering individually. Santiago Vescovi and Jordan Hawkins are both posting career-best seasons on great teams and are very worthy of nomination.

The two biggest "surprises" are Kansas freshman Gradey Dick and Marshall's Taevion Kinsey. That's no shade to the great Dick, who has stepped into the scoring burden vacated by Ochai Agbaji and will be a likely NBA lottery pick. Kinsey previously had been torching Conference USA defenders for four years before Marshall joined the Sun Belt this season. Now in his fifth year, he has the best statistical production of any player at his position in the country.

My money's on Sasser, who is the face of a likely No. 1 seed in Houston.

Bursting with Pride

It's peaking. A slow burn. Building toward March. No matter what you call it, Hofstra's got it.

The Pride are 17-8, and 10-2 in the Colonial Athletic. They've won nine of their last 10, including a showcase win at Charleston on Jan. 28, something no other team has done this season. They're tied atop the league standings and are in prime position for their first NCAA Tournament berth since back-to-back appearances in 2000 and 2001. (They won the CAA tourney in 2020, but COVID.)

Is it a coincidence that their coach, Speedy Claxton, was a star on that 2000 team? Or that their current star, guard Aaron Estrada, is posting an eerily similar stat line to Claxton's senior season: 22.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 6 apg? (Estrada's at 21.6, 5.5, 4.0.) Nah, this was always the plan. Claxton explained why when he talked to Mike Miller for our latest Four Questions.

Q: You're coming off a 21-point win against Stony Brook after two close, but impressive victories against Charleston and Towson. You're 9-1 in your last 10 games, all this calendar year. What have you learned most about your team this last month? Are you where you want to be?

Speedy Claxton: I'm feeling good. We're getting better each time out, which is great at this point in the year. That's exactly what you want going into March. The team believes in themselves and they believe in each other. This was a tough, tough six-game stretch for us. Going into it I thought if we went 4-2, I'd take that, but we ended up going 5-1. And the only game we lost, we played great, we just didn't shoot the ball well.

We're just looking for some consistency now. Our guys know what's at stake. We'll take it game-by-game, but these guys know if we take care of business, and handle each game the right way, they will come out on top. And they know that, so we'll just focus on what's ahead.

Q: Aaron Estrada has rightfully earned a lot of plaudits this season, but when you pair a go-to guy with overall balance, ball control, and shooting that's a potent mix and the hallmark of a good offense. How would you describe how this roster mix has made it work?

Speedy Claxton: You want your young guys to learn from your older guys, and you want your older guys to show the young guys what's expected and what's the standard of the program. That's everything from working hard to getting in extra shots. That's the kind of culture that we've built here.

And we can beat you in a number of ways. If you try to take Estrada out the game, we have other guys that can step up, kinda like we did against Stony Brook when Estrada was out. We can throw it down low to our big fella, Warren Williams. Tyler Thomas, he's been great all freaking year. He's stepped up the biggest in Aaron's absence. We're a balanced team. It's not a one-man show. People might think that, but once they play us, they realize pretty soon that multiple guys can beat you.

Q: I think a lot of programs would shy away from your non-conference schedule. This year alone, you played at Princeton, vs. Iona, George Washington, at Saint Mary's, at George Mason, at Purdue. Seems akin to something Tom Izzo would do to prepare a team for conference play. Has this been one of the key aspects of that season progression?

Speedy Claxton: (laughs) Yeah, we had an extremely, extremely tough schedule. I mean, looking at it before the season. I was like "Oh my God, we could lose every freaking game." That was a real possibility. Even the home games that we had, it was against Iona and George Washington, probably the best MAAC team and an A-10 school. But to these kids' credit man, they believed and they they they showed up. Really, the only rough spot we had was when Estrada went down with an injury and we lost a couple in a row. And honestly, I think if we had him, we win some of those games.

Q: You're in your second year as a head coach after eight years as an assistant. You were born in Hempstead. You played at Hofstra for four years. Has it always felt like this was where you'd be?

Speedy Claxton: I knew I always wanted to come back. That was the plan. When I knew my basketball playing career was winding down, I knew I wanted to get into coaching. When I was with the Warriors [in 2005], Don Nelson asked if I ever thought about coaching. It was on my mind, but then once he said it and told me "I think you'd make a really good coach." Once he said that, I knew this might be my next path. My knees were giving me some issues, and I knew I had to start the next phase of my life.

Hofstra plays at Northeastern tonight at 6 pm on CBS Sports Network.

Read more from our Four Questions series here.

Red-hot Bluejays take on desperate Pirates

Is anyone playing better than Creighton right now? According to barttorvik.com, the Bluejays have been the 4th best team in college basketball since the start of 2023. Good health has gone a long way for Creighton, as they have now won six consecutive games heading into Wednesday night's showdown with Seton Hall. Shaheen Holloway's Pirates need a big win to jolt their NCAA tournament hopes back into life, but they have proven capable at home, where they beat UConn last month.

  • Iowa State (16-6) at West Virginia (14-9), 7 pm ET (ESPN2)

  • Florida (13-10) at Alabama (20-3), 9 pm ET (ESPN2)

  • Oklahoma (12-11) at Baylor (17-6), 9 pm ET (ESPNU)

  • San Diego State (18-5) at Utah State (19-5), 10 pm ET (CBSSN)

Will the Big Ten matter in March?

Everyone remembers last year when the Big Ten fizzled out on the brightest stage, with no team advancing past the Sweet 16. This happened despite the league's multiple National Player of the Year candidates and Top 10 squads. This year? It's Purdue ... and not much else. There are eight (8!) teams with five or six losses in conference play. You could tell me that none of them will make the tournament, and I'd believe you. You could tell me that all will make the tournament, and I'd believe you. But how many actually will? The guys broke that down for us on the latest episode of the DTF Podcast.

Subscribe to The Field of 68 on YouTube here and subscribe here to the DTF podcast.

Links as you click through the reactions to LeBron breaking the NBA scoring record:

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