College Basketball Weekend Takeaways 1/11-1/12

Baylor proved with their win over Kansas that they are a legitimate threat to win the national championship. The point guard play of Jared Butler has been sensational setting the tone for this Baylor team, as he averages 16.7 points a game. In addition, Mark Vital signifies what this Baylor team is about in knowing your role and maximizing it. Further, Freddie Gillespie has provided the frontcourt with stability and consistency. As well as, Davion Mitchell and MaCio Teague balancing the backcourt next to Jared Butler is terrific.

Things could not be going worse for North Carolina at this point being 8-8 and blowing a 10 point lead with two minutes to go against Clemson. This team lost five starters from last year’s Sweet 16 team and has lost their five-star point guard in Cole Anthony to injury. They also have not been getting the instant impact from graduate transfers Christian Keeling and Justin Pierce. As for the perimeter, Leaky Black, Brandon Robinson and Andrew Platek are just role players. The only real production is coming from Garrison Brooks and Armando Bacot. Roy Williams has his hands tied with an incomplete roster that was built around Cole Anthony. This season has been a failure for this North Carolina team.

This Seton Hall team is off to a terrific start in the Big East at 4-0. In addition, Myles Powell is back to being healthy and is setting the tone for this team as a score and leader. Seton Hall has gotten major production from Romaro Gill and Ike Obiagu the two seven-footers combine for 9.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 4.1 blocks per game. Continued, Myles Cale and Quincy McKnight still need to be more consistent scorers to help Powell out on the perimeter. The depth of Anthony Nelson and Tyrese Samuel has been key for Seton Hall. Now, a major key will be the return of Sandro Mamukelashvili who can stretch the defense with his versatility. Kevin Willard has a great opportunity to win the Big East and have the chance to advance far in the NCAA tournament.

The struggle for Ohio State has started to mount for them in the Big Ten. They have now dropped four straight games against West Virginia, Wisconsin, at Maryland, and at Indiana. These are all quality teams, but if Ohio State was supposed to be among the sport’s best, they haven’t delivered recently on that. Andre Wesson and Kaleb Wesson provide consistency for Ohio State. However, they need the backcourt of Duane Washington, D.J. Carton and CJ Walker to have major consistent games. Chris Holtmann must figure out the issues quickly as the Big Ten is as a tough as any league.

Williams has stepped up as of late for Purdue and is showing what he is capable of. He went for 36 points and 20 rebounds against Michigan and then followed it up with 16 points and 7 rebounds against Michigan State. He has become the focal point for the Purdue offense and will expose any team that doesn’t double down on him. Also, his ability to pass the basketball in the post is really impressive. He is emerging as a major force in the post for Purdue and is the driving for their offense.

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