Court Vision: What's going on at Villanova, top performances from opening week and more

If you can name UT-Rio Grande Valleys mascot without looking it up, well, I dont believe you.

But the best part about college basketball? Any game can become quality, even seemingly out of nowhere.

Looking at you, UTRGV vs.

Creighton .

Now, wed love it if there werent as many snoozers this week no more 30-point spreads, please but that just makes the few superior games that much more enjoyable.

Advertisement Lets dig in.

1.

Ryan Kalkbrenner makes history No better place to start than that Creighton game.

Not because of the contest itself although, yikes, Creighton but because of Kalkbrenners historic performance .

The Bluejays 7-foot-1 center is typically known as a defense-first player, so of course he dropped a career-high 49 points (on only 22 shots!) in Week 1.

Its the most points any D-I player has had in a season opener since 2009.

There are other historic elements to Kalkbrenners big night.

It was the second-most points in a game in Creighton history.

Hes the first player since Bill Walton in the 1973 title game to make 20 shots while shooting at least 90 percent.

Bottom line: He looks like a budding All-American, as expected.

2.

Cause for concern at Creighton? If not for Kalkbrenner going full-on Hulk mode, Greg McDermotts team easily couldve lost to a team picked eighth in the Southland Conference.

I get that Texas Tech transfer Pop Isaacs was out with an undisclosed injury as if someone who took 30.4 percent of his teams shots last season wouldve let Kalk get off 20 attempts but its a little concerning that the team picked to finish second in the Big East looked so panicky.

McDermott has two weeks to correct things before Nebraska , CUs first top-100 opponent, comes to town.

My confidence in Creighton isnt quite as ironclad.

3.

Other eyebrow-raising results Creighton wasnt the only high-major to struggle in its opener.

North Carolina: The Tar Heels ultimately pulled away from Elon for a 90-76 win, but, uh, trailing with under seven minutes left, against a team picked 12th in the CAA? Not ideal.

UNC finished the game on a 19-5 run.

RJ Davis , who finished with a game-high 24 points, had eight during that stretch and the Heels got solid contributions from fellow guards Elliot Cadeau (17 points, eight assists) and Seth Trimble (15 points).

The bad news is that Hubert Davis frontcourt didnt exactly assuage preseason concerns, despite respectable counting stats.

Advertisement Kansas awaits Friday night at the Phog, where the Tar Heels trio of bigs Jalen Washington , JaeLyn Withers , and Ven-Allen Lubin will face off with Hunter Dickinson .

In my best Taken voice: Good luck.

Texas A&M: Another early-season letdown by a Buzz Williams-coached team? Say it aint so.

Now, a 64-61 road loss at UCF is not the same as a home defeat to KenPoms 232nd-ranked team like when the Aggies lost to Wofford in December 2022 but its the underlying trend thats more troublesome.

Though, credit where its due: Not many teams travel to another high-major on opening night.

For the Aggies , if star guard Wade Taylor IV , who shot 4-for-15 overall, isnt cooking, where does the offense come from? Williams must be wondering the same, after his team managed one point in the final four minutes.

UCF , meanwhile, rattled off 12 for the come-from-behind victory.

The loss snapped a 23-game A&M winning streak in season openers.

Baylor : Beating No.

6 Gonzaga in Spokane was never going to be easy, but a 38-point blowout loss ? The Bears might be further from a finished product than I thought.

Itll help when Scott Drew gets back Langston Love , the nations seventh-best 3-point shooter last season (47.9 percent).

Love is still recovering from ankle injuries that cost him 11 games in February and March, but it seems its going to take time for all of Drews new pieces to fit.

Former Duke guard Jeremy Roach mustered just nine points on 2-of-9 shooting, and star freshman wing VJ Edgecombe struggled even worse, going 2-for-11 overall although one of those baskets came in garbage time, when he absolutely destroyed Mark Fews poor son, Joe: Gonzaga Coach Mark Few puts his son, Joe, in the game for the final two minutes of the blowout win.

Then VJ Edgecombe did this to him...

pic.twitter.com/xY4nXcFQj5 Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) November 5, 2024 Better days are ahead for a team that should compete for the Big 12 title, but maybe not right away, since No.

16 Arkansas awaits on Saturday.

Still, that wasnt the worst opening week performance.

4.

Time for a change at Villanova ? Hoooooo, boy.

I never want to call for anyones job, but its really difficult to see much of a future on the Main Line for Kyle Neptune, who went 35-33 his first two seasons after replacing Jay Wright.

Villanova isnt a place where you can afford to miss the NCAA Tournament three years running, especially considering where Wright handed things off.

But after Columbia dropped 90 points on the Wildcats at their place, this might not be salvageable.

Neptune has now lost to five sub-100 KenPom teams in 70 games as Novas head coach.

I could go on, but CBS Sports Gary Parrish kind of nailed the larger context here: Jay Wright lost TWO games to sub-100 KenPom teams in his final NINE seasons at Villanova.

Kyle Neptune has lost SEVEN games to sub-100 KenPom teams in TWO seasons and TWO games.

Columbia entered 217th at KenPom.

The last time Jay lost to a sub-200 KenPom team was 2012.

https://t.co/H7EshcpxZJ Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) November 7, 2024 5.

The best opening week performances belong to ...

Gonzaga: Holy efficiency.

Fews team shredded the Bears to smithereens, finishing with more assists (25) than Baylor made baskets (23).

The ball movement was simply gorgeous.

And while Graham Ike and Ryan Nembhard were solid, as usual, the guy who impressed me most was reserve forward Braden Huff .

The 6-foot-10 sophomore had 14 points off the bench and appears to have taken classes at The Drew Timme School of Drop Steps.

But his passing, especially when Baylor sent two defenders at him, like it did in the first half, is what stood out.

Huff had only two three-assist games in 34 appearances last season, but he hit that threshold on opening night against a top-10 opponent.

With his low-post scoring, 3-point potential especially as a trailing big and now his ability to make plays out of double-teams, Huff could emerge as one of the nations most-improved players.

Advertisement And for you gamblers out there: The Zags are still +1400 to cut down the nets this season.

Just saying.

Duke: bUt yOuRe bIaSeD! No, I simply know a good team when I see one.

Duke is gigantic I believe its the first high-major team in over a decade where every rotation player is at least 6 feet 5 but reading about that size and seeing it up close are totally different.

Its especially true in the frontcourt, where freshmen Cooper Flagg and Khaman Maluach both possess 7-foot-plus wingspans.

Its NBA size, which is unfair against most teams (not Jon Scheyers problem).

Maluach is an eraser, even while learning the ins and outs of pick-and-roll play, but his growth from pre- Olympics he played for South Sudan in Paris to now has been remarkable.

My overarching Duke take: This team has the defensive versatility of Scheyers first Duke team which featured current Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II , and BartTorviks ninth-best defense the last two months of the season and the scoring potency of last seasons Elite Eight squad, which was top-10 in adjusted offensive efficiency all season.

Scary proposition.

Auburn : Vermont has made five of the past eight NCAA Tournaments, and is consistently one of the toughest mid-major teams.

Auburns 94-43 win over the Catamounts on Wednesday is one of those scores that stopped me dead in my tracks.

Georgia Tech transfer Miles Kelly was the star of the night.

He tied his career-high with seven made 3s, including five straight at one point, but Bruce Pearls team never relies on just one player.

Depth is the name of the game: 10 guys played at least 15 minutes, and five scored in double figures.

That doesnt even include high-flying freshman Jakhi Howard , who single-handedly woke the Jungle with one transition slam.

FLYIN' HIGH KI pic.twitter.com/pgKS4XW7hI Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) November 7, 2024 6.

Fab freshmen The best freshman in America last season, Reed Sheppard , came off the bench for a team that couldnt beat Oakland in the NCAA Tournament.

And while 10 first-years ultimately went in the first round of Junes NBA Draft, that class has nothing on this seasons freshmen, many of whom not just Flagg made their presence known from the opening tip.

I could go long on all these guys and I did on another , Duke shooter Kon Knueppel but their debuts were too impressive not to mention: Egor Demin , BYU : The 6-foot-9 Russian freshman and potential lottery pick dropped 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including four made 3s but oh, my god his passing.

Demin had 11 assists in BYUs 38-point win, including one possession where he completed both a behind-the-back bounce pass and an alley-oop.

Three freshmen have led college basketball in assists.

I'd bet BYU's Egor Demin becomes the fourth.

Had 11 in his debut.

Every pass is on target and with touch.

Sees everything.

Controls the defense with his eyes.

Shot is pretty too.

Just an awesome talent.

pic.twitter.com/ygxuRlBRCz CJ Moore (@CJMooreHoops) November 6, 2024 Derik Queen , Maryland: The Terps first five-star since 2018 didnt disappoint, dropping 22 points and 20 rebounds (!!) in just 27 minutes vs.

Manhattan .

Hes the first D-I player to go for 20 and 20 in his debut since Michael Beasley back in 2007.

Thats the kind of company you want to be in.

Liam McNeeley , UConn : What does UConns five-star wing have in common with Klay Thompson? More than a headband.

McNeeley a one-time Indiana commit needed only two dribbles to score 18 points on Wednesday, not to mention adding 10 rebounds.

Hes Dan Hurleys latest off-ball, do-everything perimeter dude.

Advertisement Tre Johnson , Texas: Texas lost to Ohio State in its season opener, but not because of Johnson, who broke Kevin Durants program record for points in a freshman debut, scoring 29 including five made 3s to go along with five rebounds and four assists.

Hes a walking bucket and could easily lead the Longhorns in scoring their first SEC season.

Asa Newell , Georgia: The fourth five-star freshman from Montverde Academy joining Flagg, Queen, and McNeeley wouldnt be outdone by his high school teammates, contributing 26 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocks in Georgias narrow win over Tennessee Tech .

The Bulldogs might not be awesome, but Newell will be, and easily can be a first-rounder next June.

7.

Whats next? This weekend is stacked with more top-tier games, but three stand above.

No.

9 North Carolina at No.

1 Kansas ( 7 p.m.

ET, Friday, ESPN2): The Roy Williams Bowl! Not many faces are left from the last time these teams met in the 2022 national title game, but its still two blue bloods in prime time.

UNC probably doesnt have the manpower inside to deal with Dickinson, but does Kansas have anyone to match RJ Davis from deep? No.

12 Tennessee at Louisville (12 p.m.

ET, Saturday, ACC Network): This isnt the same sorry Louisville squad of the past two seasons.

The Cards took 36 3-pointers (and made 11) in their 48-point win over Morehead State but will that same strategy work against Rick Barnes typically stingy defense? Its unfair to say new Louisville coach Pat Kelsey needs a signature win, but this would count.

No.

11 Auburn at No.

4 Houston ( 9:30 p.m.

ET, Saturday, ESPNU): A top offense against a top defense, and both teams can go 10-deep? Yes, please.

Auburn struggled in these sorts of high-profile games a year ago, especially away from home.

Knocking off Houston KenPoms current No.

1 team, which won its opener by 57 would affirm the Tigers as one of this seasons best teams.

(Photo of Creightons Ryan Kalkbrenner: Steven Branscombe / Imagn Images).

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article.