The Champion’s Classic was played last night, with those two games dominating the media feed, and they were spectacular. But, they weren’t the only good games! There were many competitive matchups that went down, and some very impressive performances!

Best Games of the Night

The first matchup of the Champion’s Classic was Michigan State vs. #1 Kansas. In a game much closer than I expected, the Jayhawks took the win, 77-69. Leading the way for them was big man Hunter Dickinson (AKA “The most hated man in college basketball”), who scored 28 points with 12 rebounds and 3 steals. Zeke Mayo also had a large impact, despite a poor scoring effort. He only had 6 points, but his 10 rebounds and 7 assists were crucial for Kansas down the stretch. Also in double figures were guards Dajuan Harris Jr. and Rylan Griffen, who scored 11 and 10 points a piece. For the Spartans of MSU, Jaxson Kohler continued his impressive junior year, finishing with a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, although his 5/14 shooting is nothing to be wowed by. Omaha transfer Frankie Fidler led the team offensively, with 15 points and 8 boards, despite 3/12 from the field and 1/6 from three. Guards Jeremy Fears Jr. and Jase Richardson both impressed me, with Fears scoring 9 along with 6 assists, and Richardson scoring 8 with 2 assists, but looking like a big time player for them this year.

The second game of the Champion’s Classic was even better than the first, with a blue blood clash between #6 Duke and #19 Kentucky. Despite Duke leading most of the game, Kentucky’s physicality pushed them over the edge in the end, taking this one 77-72. The leaders for the Cats were Oklahoma transfer Otega Oweh and Wake Forest transfer Andrew Carr. Oweh was HUGE down the stretch, making multiple key hustle plays, and he finished with 15 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Carr’s shooting ability really opened things up for them in the second half, and led to him getting multiple drives off of a pump fake, leading to his totals of 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists, on 5/8 shooting. The two centers for Kentucky were also impactful, with Drexel transfer Amari Williams scoring 10, while also grabbing 8 boards and blocking 2 shots. Oklahoma State transfer Brandon Garrison had 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks in a smaller minutes share as well. For Duke, the freshman ran the show as usual. Cooper Flagg was spectacular, despite two costly turnovers and a missed blockout in the final minute. He had 26 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks. Despite carrying the Blue Devils offense, this was a definite learning experience for the freshman, with the pressure getting to him in crunch time. Despite cramping, Khaman Maluach was also very impactful in 22 minutes, scoring 10 points on 5/5 from the field while grabbing 7 rebounds and blocking 2 shots. The final freshman in double digits was Kon Knueppel, who scored 14 points, along with 5 rebounds and 2 steals. However, Kon was 5/20 from the field, so it was a learning experience for him as well, with many attacks of the rim looking for a foul, rather than trying to make the shot. The final player in double digits was junior guard Tyrese Proctor, who added 12 points for Duke. Whether he can finally break out, however, is still in doubt, at least for me. I’m not too concerned about Duke, as I think they will continue to improve throughout the year. However, this game makes me think Kentucky could be more legit than I thought, and the roster construction seems to be working out fairly well. They have some more tests coming up, which will confirm if they can really compete this season. I have the highlights of this game below. Trust me, it’s worth the watch. (V.C. ESPN)

In other games, one of my favorite teams this year, Oregon, struggled, beating Portland 80-70 in overtime, after being down most of the game. I’m not quite sure what the problem is for the Ducks, but Jackson Shelstad has to be apart of it. He was one of the consensus top sophomore breakout candidates, but hasn’t been spectacular thus far. He had 13 points, 10 boards, 5 assists, and 3 steals in this one, but shot 5/19 from the field, including 1/8 from three, which lessens the performance. The star for them in this one was Jadrian Tracey, who scored 19 points, along with collecting 5 rebounds and 4 steals, while shooting 8/11 from the field. Center Nate Bittle and guard Keeshawn Barthelemy scored 13 points a piece, including 9 rebounds for Bittle, and Villanova transfer TJ Bamba joined them all in double digits with 10. For Portland, forward Todd Jones had 10 points and 10 rebounds, along with snagging 2 steals, and guards Vukasin Masic and freshman Vincent Delano added on 12 points apiece. Forward Austin Rapp had 9 and 9, along with dishing out 5 assists, and guard Chris Austin was the final player in double digits, with 11 points in his 36 minutes of play.

I’m going to try something new, with a flash recap of three more games.

St. Joes upset Villanova 83-76, and it is safe to say that the Kyle Neptune experience should be over. Jahmir Brickus and Eric Dixon led the way for Nova, with 22 and 24 points, respectively, and St Joes was led by sophomore point guard Xzayvier Brown, who had 18 points and 13 assists in 37 minutes, and wing Rasheer Fleming added on 19 points on 7/9 from the field.

Syracuse barely surivived against Colgate, winning 74-72. Colorado transfer Eddie Lampkin Jr. scored the game winner, in a 15 point, 12 rebound, and 5 assist performance. Colgate was led by guard Jalen Cox, who scored 21 points on 9/20 from the field, and Chandler Baker, who scored 15 points on 4/9 from three in 19 minutes.

TCU pulled out a win over Texas State, 76-71, with Arizona State transfer Frankie Collins putting up 13 points and 6 assists, joined by Trazarien White with 16 points and Noah Reynolds with 17 and 5 assists.

Other Top Performances

• Josh Dix is a breakout candidate at Iowa, and put up a very impressive 23 points, 4 boards, and 5 assists, on 8/10 from the field and 5/6 from three. Iowa beat South Dakota 96-77.
• New Mexico stud Donovan Dent continued his strong campaign, with 25 points, 10 assists, and 2 steals while shooting 7/10 from the field in The Lobo’s win over Texas A&M CC 100-81.
• Virginia Tech transfer Sean Pedulla will have to be really good for Chris Beard and Ole Miss, and he did that, with 27 points, including 7/16 from long distance, in the Rebels 64-54 win against South Alabama
• VJ Edgecombe was finally efficient! He scored 13 with 10 boards and 7 assists, shooting 6/9 from the field. He added on 3 steals and a block on the defensive end as well in Baylor’s 104-67 whooping of Sam Houston State.
• Arizona transfer big Paulius Murauskas has been great for St. Marys, with his third straight double double in their win over Akron 87-68. He finished with 17 points, 15 boards, 6 assists, and 3 steals. Really did it all for the Gaels.

Sorry about another late post. Busiest week of the school year is this one… Going to skip the post for Wednesday, with no unbelievable results aside from North Texas beating Minnesota 54-51, and Central Michigan beating George Mason 70-69 on a ridiculous game winner.

(P.C. Oregon MBB) (Tracey’s layup to send it to overtime)