Takeaways from the Big 12/SEC Challenge 🏀

The Big 12 rolled, Creighton got another eye-popping win, and IU proved themselves as Big Ten contenders. Plus, WCC insight and Charleston's path forward.

Author

Riley Davis
January 30, 2023

Talk about a packed weekend. The SEC/Big 12 Challenge occupied TV screens on Saturday, Big East and Big Ten slates captivated audiences on Sunday afternoon, a wild Bengals-Chiefs matchup capped off the night, and Burger King provided the soundtrack for it all.

But as fun as football and advertising are, we'll stick to the basketball parts.

Let's get to the news.

1. Lessons from the SEC/Big 12 Challenge

You probably saw the biggest moments of the SEC/Big 12's 10-game marathon. But what can we discern from the showcase? Here are the three key takeaways:

Getting defensive

The SEC entered Saturday with six top-20 defenses, per KenPom. The Big 12 boasted four. Based on those statistics, it's no surprise that several games came down to big-time defensive plays — like the marquee matchup between Kansas and Kentucky.

The Jayhawks forced seven second-half turnovers to pull away from the Wildcats, handing them a 77-68 loss, their first since Jan. 10. Kevin McCullar showcased his terrific instincts, jumping passing lanes and frustrating Oscar Tshiebwe with timely double teams:

Beyond the forced turnovers, Kansas also shut down Kentucky's best shooters, CJ Fredrick and Antonio Reeves. Neither could connect from deep, as the 'Cats hit just 2 of their 13 triples. Their struggles looked most noticeably pronounced in the final three minutes — a stretch where the Jayhawks held them to just two points.

Elsewhere around the challenge, Kansas State and Florida squared off in a rock fight of epic proportions. And by that, I mean the Wildcats averaged an ugly .88 points per possession... but it wasn't as bad as the Gators' .68! In K-State's 64-50 win, Cam Carter and David N'Guessan were the game's only players to shoot over 50 percent from the field.

In a higher-quality defensive battle, Arkansas gave Baylor all it could handle in Waco. Maximizing their size advantage, the Hogs vexed the Bears and their small guards, strongarming them into tough jumpers (they shot just 14-of-41 from 2.) Ultimately, though, Baylor got enough stops of their own to secure the 67-64 win.

And finally, Tennessee flexed its defensive muscle, holding Texas under a point per possession in the first half before letting up down the stretch. Nonetheless, the Vols' excellence on that end of the floor is nothing new.

Comforts of home

Heading into the challenge, we might've underestimated the importance of homecourt advantage. Oklahoma, Missouri and Mississippi State all entered their contests as home dogs facing Top 15 teams.

Well, sometimes, the dogs get beat, and sometimes the dogs gotta eat

Let's look at the Sooners and the day's biggest shocker. In their 93-69 dismantling of Alabama, no one on the Tide could stay in front of Grant Sherfield (30 points, 11-of-20 from the field). Jalen Hill, meanwhile, chipped in 26 points and provided stingy defense on freshman sensation Brandon Miller.

So, what does it mean for the teams on the wrong side of the homestands? Honestly...not much.

Allow me to elaborate: Out of the 10 contests, only two visiting teams won (Kansas and Texas Tech). Factor in the disruption of league schedules and the unfamiliarity with the opponents, and the path to a road victory becomes even more harrowing. Coaches can use these games as learning examples — and they may slightly affect March Madness seeding — but for the good teams that got blown out (Alabama, Iowa State and Texas), their fans needn't panic too much.

Sometimes, talking points are talking points for a reason

"There are no bad teams in the Big 12." This statement has been uttered ad nauseam all season, yet it rang especially true this weekend as the Big 12 cruised to a 7-3 conquest. And Oklahoma wasn't the only under-500 team to make a statement.

West Virginia got a résumé-boosting win over No. 15 Auburn Now, we can debate the legitimacy of the Tigers' ranking 'til we're as red in the face as Bruce Pearl after a questionable block/charge call. However, all of the advanced metrics sites still peg Auburn as a top-30 team, so it's not like it's bad.

And the 'Eers, losers of six of their past eight, looked ready to blow their opponent out before a late rally brought the Tigers back into the game. Nevertheless, the 80-77 win further underscored the Big 12's strength and depth. The SEC, meanwhile, has plenty of questions beyond its two elite squads, Alabama and Tennessee.

2. No hatin' on Creighton

I think I owe Greg McDermott an apology. When he fired off this tweet on Dec. 13, a day after Creighton's losing streak extended to five games, I had very much given up on the Jays.

Creighton is 7-2 since Dec. 16 and has risen to 11th on KenPom, 12th on Torvik and 13th on EvanMiya. McDermott knows his team.

Of course, its success in that nine-game stretch correlates with the presence of Ryan Kalkbrenner. Since returning from an illness that kept him out of three contests in December, the junior has played like an All-American. In particular, his two-way brilliance has distinguished him from competing bigs — even the great ones. Zach Edey, Drew Timme, Armando Bacot, Oscar Tshiebwe, Trayce Jackson-Davis — none are as consistently dominant on both ends of the court as Kalkbrenner.

Take Saturday's win over Xavier. Kalkbrenner'sd defensive set the tone, blocking a shot and notching a steal on his opponent's first possession. The rest of the game unfolded similarly — McDermott deployed him in drop coverage, and he erased easy looks at the basket, thanks to his alien-like rim protection. Consider this: the Musketeers shot just 54.5 percent at the rim against Creighton, over seven points lower than their season average, per Torvik.

Conversely, the Jays hit 76 percent of their attempts at the rim (23-of-30), a statistic in which Kalkbrenner played the preeminent role. He shines on the screen and roll, gobbles up offensive rebounds and has the mobility to make plays as a cutter:

Beyond Kalkbrenner, Creighton has also received a boost from its backcourt. Observe sophomore Trey Alexander, who has seen his efficiency skyrocket. After hitting just 18 trifectas as a freshman, he has already canned 32 triples in Year 2 and his 3-point percentage has jumped from 28.1 to 41.0.

Alexander, alongside Baylor Scheierman and Ryan Nembhard, gives the Bluejays one of the country's most potent perimeter trios. And it's unfolded that way in conference play. Creighton's offense ranks third in efficiency in the Big East — a pretty nice complement to its top-ranked defense. Maybe it will validate the preseason hype after all.

3. Indiana puts the pedal to the metal

Two weeks ago, we highlighted Indiana's triumph over Wisconsin as a potential turning point for its season. But no one outside of Bloomington would have predicted this turnaround.

With Saturday's 86-70 smackdown of Ohio State, the Hoosiers pushed their winning streak to five, notching yet another double-digit victory. Over that stretch, Trayce Jackson-Davis has emerged as a National Player of the Year candidate, averaging 24.5 points, 13.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 4.2 blocks. (Anecdotally, it feels like his stats get more absurd every game.)

As the assist numbers indicate, Jackson-Davis has improved by leaps and bounds as a passer out of double teams. And IU's shooters are capitalizing on open looks, knocking down 40.9 percent of their 3-pointers over the past five games.

But it's not only TJD. Jalen Hood-Schifino has looked the part of a lottery pick and has proven capable of running the team. His breakout has the AFTER DARK crew thinking that Indiana could win the Big Ten and make a postseason run.

Lastly, I gotta shout out to the Hoosiers for persevering through some adversity in Assembly Hall. It isn't every day that a stray metal beam falls from the ceiling. (IU released a statement yesterday that sort of gave confidence it won't happen again.)

4. West Coast Craziness

The WCC yet again delivered a few more compelling storylines heading into this week's Gonzaga-Saint Mary's showdown.

First, the Zags snapped out of their funk, pulling away late in an 82-67 win at Portland. Drew Timme took only seven shots and scored his lowest point total of the year — but it didn't matter because of Julian Strawther.

The junior wing went ballistic, dropping a 40-burger on the Pilots. His eight-made 3s marked a career-high, but as the above highlights show, he was dynamic from all over the court.

Gonzaga still has plenty of defensive issues — as evidenced by Portland hanging around until around the five-minute mark of the second half. Still, a double-digit win over a squad that, when healthy, played well in the nonconference can ease Zags fans' minds for the time being.

But the schedule gets more demanding this week. A home contest against Brandin Podziemski and Santa Clara awaits Gonzaga on Tuesday, followed by the main event on Saturday: a date with Saint Mary's at the raucous McKeon Pavillion.

The Gaels are coming off a dramatic win, having edged BYU in Provo, thanks to Aidan Mahaney's clutch play.

Mahaney shook off an 0-of-4 start, and the Gaels weathered a 17-3 run from BYU in the first half to stay unbeaten in WCC play.

BYU bothered SMC with its athleticism, challenging it at the rim and outrebounding it 33-25. Gonzaga would be wise to emulate that formula, as it lacks the defensive prowess to contain the Gales as the Cougars did.

5. CofC's streak ends, and other notable games

It was a lousy day in the Lowcountry as Hofstra stormed into TD Arena and snapped Charleston's 20-game win streak. The Cougars built an eight-point advantage in the first half but couldn't push it any further. Meanwhile, Aaron Estrada's heroics brought the Pride to within two at the intermission.

After the break, Hofstra used a 13-4 run to pull ahead of CofC and never relinquished its lead. Buoyed by their scalding-hot shooting, the Pride toppled the Cougars, 85-81. The game marked the seventh time this season that Hofstra hit 10 or more triples (11-of-22.)

The loss means Charleston has almost zero margins for error if it wants an at-large bid. It could afford, at most, one more loss — but even that could put the Cougars in an auto-bid or bust scenario.

Purdue 77, Michigan State 61Zach "Shaq" Edey turned in yet another Herculean performance (38 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists) to propel the Boilermakers (21-1, 10-1 in Big Ten) past the Spartans (14-8, 6-5). Purdue will almost certainly be the unanimous No. 1 team when the poll drops later today.

Iowa 93, Rutgers 82Kris Murray paced the Hawkeyes (13-8, 5-5 in Big Ten) in scoring with 24 points, but the main story was Patrick McCaffery, who returned after stepping away for mental health reasons. The 6-9 forward contributed nine points off the bench. Rutgers couldn't overcome its 18 turnovers, falling to 14-7 (6-4) and allowing Northwestern to occupy sole possession of second place in the Big Ten.

Penn State 83, Michigan 61I'm just gonna leave this here:

Michigan's (11-10, 5-5 in Big Ten) path to the NCAA Tournament keeps getting rockier. It just can't find consistent backcourt production. Penn State (14-7, 5-5), meanwhile, put itself back on the bubble after a lopsided loss to Rutgers earlier in the week.

Providence 70, Villanova 65Justin Moore logged his first minutes since his Achilles tear in the Final Four, but it wasn't enough to push 'Nova (10-11, 4-6 in Big East) past the Friars (17-5, 9-2.) Providence used a late 3-point barrage to re-take the lead in the second half, spoiling Moore's return. Jared Bynum led the way with 19 points (3-of-4 from 3.)

Pitt 71, Miami 68Pain for the 'Canes. Miami (16-5, 7-4 in ACC) led for 19 minutes of the second half, but Blake Hinson's lights-out shooting and Jamarius Burton's dogged defense spurred Pitt's late comeback. The Panthers sit at 15-7 and 8-3 in the ACC — all alone in third place. For Miami (16-5, 7-4), it can't seem to close out games, as close losses (at NC State and Duke) have marred its past three Saturdays.

Illinois 61, Wisconsin 51The Illini (15-6, 6-4 in Big Ten) moved to 6-1 in their past seven behind Matthew Mayer's 26 points. The Baylor transfer is playing the best basketball of his career, averaging 2.6 made 3s a game at a 40 percent clip over Illinois' hot stretch. Wisconsin (12-8, 4-6), on the other hand, has tanked after a 3-0 start to conference play.

Temple 77, UCF 70 (OT)Temple (14-9, 8-2 in AAC) averted disaster after a nightmarish end-of-game sequence. But they delivered in the clutch, pulling away in overtime behind 26 points from Khalif Battle. Temple is 5-0 on the road in conference play for the first time since 1988. UCF (13-8, 4-5) has dropped four games in a row.

NC State 79, Wake Forest 77The Deacs (14-8, 6-5 in ACC) and the Pack (17-5, 7-4) engaged in a back-and-forth battle that brought out the best of the two offenses. NC State got a career-high 31 points out of Winthrop transfer DJ Burns, who made Wake pay, whether he was single-covered or double-teamed.

Washington State 75, Arizona State 58Time to temper expectations in Tempe. After looking like an NCAA Tournament hopeful two weeks ago, the Sun Devils (15-7, 6-5 in Pac-12) have dropped four in a row. Their defense, which looked impermeable early in the season, has given up over a point per possession in all but one of the games in the losing streak.

Clemson 82, Florida State 81Leonard Hamilton probably wants to forget about this season. The Seminoles (7-15, 5-6 in ACC) clawed back from a 14-point deficit and held a 3-point lead with under 30 seconds left. However, they couldn't close out the game from the charity stripe, and Chase Hunter (26 points) spurred the Tigers (18-4) to 10-1 in league play.

Florida Atlantic 70, Western Kentucky 63Move over Charleston; the nation's longest winning streak resides in Boca Raton. The Owls (21-1) moved to 11-0 in Conference USA behind a balanced attack from their nine-man rotation. WKU (11-11, 3-8) can't get any traction, despite a talented roster.

Colgate 69, Lafayette 57Colgate's (16-7) win pushed it to 10-0 in the Patriot League. The Raiders, Alabama, FAU, Eastern Washington, Oral Roberts and Saint Mary's are the last unbeaten teams in conference play.

Maryland Eastern Shore 94, Coppin State 75Look at the MEAC standings — the top isn't occupied by mainstays Norfolk State or NC Central. Instead, the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (12-8) are 5-1 and tied for first place with Howard. The record marks UMES' best start in league play since 1974. You can read more about its season here.

Siena 70, Iona 53The Saints (15-7, 8-2 in the MAAC) stomped the Gaels (13-7, 6-3) in Albany on Friday night (and beat Marist, 70-55, on Sunday to keep their stronghold on first place in the league.) But the biggest storyline had implications on and off the court.

What a special moment. Our prayers and condolences are with Baer and his family.

Team of the week: Creighton Bluejays

In addition to its shellacking of Xavier, Creighton also beat St. John's by a million earlier in the week (28 points, to be more accurate.) Looking at its shooting numbers this week (37.2 percent from 3), one might mistake this squad for an old-school McDermott team.

Player of the week: Aaron Estrada, Hofstra

Estrada's 25-point, seven-rebound, six-assist stat line at Charleston was wildly impressive. But just as eye-popping was his Thursday outing at Elon, where he rained eight triples en route to a career-high 40 points.

Weekend warrior: Dame Adelekun, Dartmouth

How about some love for the Ivy League? Adelekun posted 41 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in Saturday's 83-73 win over Columbia. He is the fourth player in D-I to log a 40-point double-double (and he also got on SportsCenter with this emphatic dunk.)

Everything's bigger on Big Monday

We hit on Baylor's narrow triumph over Arkansas earlier, which punctuated its six-game winning streak. But none of its past quests were as daunting as its journey to Austin tonight. The Longhorns will hope to bounce back from their loss to Tennessee, but they have a tall task slowing down the Bears' Keyonte George. The freshman phenom is averaging 19.9 points per game since the calendar turned to January. (9 pm ET, ESPN)

Other games to watch (all times ET)

  • Iowa State (15-5, 6-2 in Big 12), at Texas Tech (11-10, 0-8), 9 pm (ESPN2)

  • Virginia (16-3, 8-2 in ACC), at Syracuse (13-9, 6-5), 7 pm (ESPN)

  • North Carolina Central (10-10, 3-3 in MEAC), at Norfolk State (14-7, 4-2), 7 pm (ESPNU)

No Bama blues

The Crimson Tide rolled through most of January. so maybe it shouldn't be surprise that they finally got swamped on Saturday. Matt McCall explains why Alabama shouldn't be too worried about the loss.

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