Texas forward Jericho Sims provided the Dunk of the Day, and a certified Dunk of the Year candidate, when he absolutely posterized D.J. Thorpe with a Blake Griffin-esque dunk.
Screengrab via ESPN
Walter McCarty dismissed as Evansville head coach
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Walter McCarty was fired as Evansville’s head coach on Tuesday night.
The school officially announced the decision after additional reports of alleged misconduct. On administrative leave since Dec. 26, McCarty was under investigation for Title IX violations.
Bennie Seltzer will remain interim head coach.
“While the investigation of potential Title IX violations will continue under University policies, UE has decided that, based on the facts uncovered thus far, it is necessary to terminate Mr. McCarty’s employment immediately,” the release said.
“There is no place at UE for any behavior by any University employee or student that jeopardizes the safety and security of others,”
The statement also said McCarty received “warnings last year regarding inappropriate off-court behavior with members of the campus community.”
The 45-year-old McCarty was in his second season with the Purple Aces. After an 11-21 finish in the first season, Evansville had a promising 9-4 start. Evansville made national news when the beat No. 1 Kentucky at Rupp Arena earlier this season.
Player of the Year Power Rankings: Powell vs. Pritchard vs. Howard vs. Toppin
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At this point, I do feel like we have reached a point where there is finally a top tier in the College Basketball Player of the Year race.
Myles Powell. Payton Pritchard. Markus Howard. Obi Toppin. That’s the order that I have it in, but there is a strong and legitimate argument for all four to be No. 1 on this list. I wouldn’t call any of them wrong.
This doesn’t mean that the players from outside those ranks cannot win the award — it is so wide open this year, anyone with a couple of big weeks will be in the mix — but as of this moment in time, those are the likely favorites.
Anyway, here is the definitive Player of the Year power rankings:
1. MYLES POWELL, Seton Hall
Stats: 22.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 2.3 apg, 34.9 3PT%
Powell had his best week of the season last week, averaging 29.0 points — including 21.0 points in the second half — as he led the Pirates to a pair of come-from-behind wins at Butler and at Saint John’s. It took Powell a while to get to this point, as he dealt with an ankle injury and a concussion, but there is no questioning the fact that he is the leader and the go-to guy for a Seton Hall team that is currently sitting at No. 10 in the AP poll and in sole possession of first place in the Big East.
And here’s the ironic part in all of this: It took a Powell injury for Seton Hall to really find themselves as a team. They made their leap on Dec. 19th, when the Pirates beat Maryland at home without Powell in the lineup. That’s when the supporting cast found their confidence. That’s when Seton Hall became a team, not just a bunch of guys playing next to Myles Powell.
2. PAYTON PRITCHARD, Oregon
Stats: 19.5 ppg, 5.7 apg, 4.4 rpg, 41.2 3PT%
No one in college basketball has had more, or bigger, moments this season. He scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half and overtime, including 15 in the final five minutes, in a win at Michigan. He had 16 points and six assists in a come-from-behind win against Seton Hall in the Battle 4 Atlantis. He hit a number of big shots late as Oregon knocked off Memphis in November, the only game against a quality opponent that James Wiseman played. Then there was Saturday’s game at Washington, when Pritchard hit a 30-footer to tie the game and force overtime then made a pair of big shots in the extra frame, including this ridiculous game-winner:
He has carried the Ducks this season. He’s the reason this team is a top ten team.
3. MARKUS HOWARD, Marquette
Stats: 28.2 ppg, 2.9 apg, 43.1% 3PT, 9.8 3PAs
The numbers themselves are ridiculous.
Howard is leading the nation in scoring at 28.2 points. He’s shooting better than 43 percent from three on nearly 10 threes attempted per game. He’s doing it while posting a significantly higher offensive rating than Myles Powell and a significantly higher usage rate than Payton Pritchard.
To put his season into context, there is one other high-major player since 1992 that has made better than 42 percent of his threes while shooting more than nine threes per game: J.J. Redick during his college basketball Player of the Year season in 2005-06. Stephen Curry did the same during the 2007-08 season, when he led Davidson to within one shot of the Final Four.
Markus Howard has been the most lethal offensive weapon in college basketball, and if Marquette was a title contender this season, he’s easily be No. 1 on this list.
4. OBI TOPPIN, Dayton
Stats: 19.6 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 35.3% 3PT
What Obi Toppin provides for Dayton cannot be overstated. He’s putting up massive numbers this season, and he’s doing it while being the piece that makes everything Anthony Grant wants to run work so well. The breakdown below explains it all:
The thing that’s tough about placing Toppin on this list is that he is not the go-to guy for Dayton. Jalen Crutcher is going to be the player that takes and makes all of the big shots. See: Kansas, when he forced overtime, and Saint Louis, when he won the game in overtime.
But the reason Dayton is in a position to do things like take Kansas to overtime, get ranked in the top ten and have a shot at winning a national title is because of what Toppin opens up for them every possession other than the final one.
He may not have the moments we all remember, but Dayton is as good as they because of him. That matters.
5. LUKA GARZA, Iowa
Stats: 22.9 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 1.6 bpg
Garza has been relentless this season, and he is absolutely one of the most improved players in the country. The reason that he’s just outside the top four, for me, is because of the defensive side of the ball. I talk through that more in this piece.
6. CASSIUS WINSTON, Michigan State
Stats: 18.1 ppg, 6.1 apg, 2.4 rpg
Winston has been really, really good this year. He has not been quite as good as expected — he was the consensus preseason college basketball player of the year — and neither has Michigan State, which hurts him a bit. I think he’ll be back in the mix by the time the season ends, particularly if the Spartans play their way back into being one of the nation’s elite teams.
7. JARED BUTLER, Baylor
Stats: 16.1 ppg, 3.1 apg, 1.5 spg, 38.1% 3PT
It’s getting harder and harder to ignore the fact that the sophomore point guard is the best player on the best team in college basketball. That’s worth something in the Player of the Year race.
8. JORDAN NWORA, Louisville
Stats: 19.6 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 42.7% 3PT
On the plus side, Louisville once again looks like a team that can win the ACC, get to a Final Four and win a national title now that David Johnson has taken the point guard reins, and Nwora is unquestionably the best player on the roster. On the down side, he really hasn’t shown up in Louisville’s biggest games. That’s a delicate balance.
9. VERNON CAREY, Duke
Stats: 17.3 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 1.8 bpg
Carey looked like a much bigger player in this race before Duke lost two games last week in large part due to the ability to Miami and Louisville to expose Carey on the defensive end of the floor. Coach K has fixed issues like this before. We’ll see what he has up his sleeve this year.
10. MALACHI FLYNN, San Diego State
Stats: 16.5 ppg, 5.0 apg, 3.6 rpg, 40.4% 3PT
Malachi Flynn is the best player, the leader, of the only team in college basketball that remains undefeated. And the reason they are still undefeated is because of him: It was his three that allowed the Aztecs to avoid defeat at the hands of San Jose State back in December.
Three Things To Know: Shaka’s seat heats up, Baylor survives, Virginia doesn’t
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It was a slow night for college hoops on Monday, but there is still plenty to talk about after some weird results.
Here are the three things you need to know:
1. SHAKA’S SEAT IS HEATING UP
The Shaka Smart era at Texas feels like it has hit an inflection point.
On Monday night, the Longhorns went into Morgantown, W.V., and found themselves wishing Country Roads would take them home before the first half came to a close. No. 14 West Virginia, coming off of blowout loss at Kansas State on Saturday, used a 28-2 run over a 10 minute stretch in the first half to turn a 15-13 lead into a 43-15 blowout. They would go on to win 97-59.
The loss dropped Texas to 12-6 on the season and 2-4 in the Big 12. The Longhorns certainly are not out of it just yet — three of their four Big 12 losses came against teams that currently rank in the top six at KenPom — but it’s getting harder and harder to defend the situation that’s brewing in Austin. Texas has now lost four of their last six and five of their last eight. They are in danger of missing the NCAA tournament for the second straight season and for the third time in four years.
But perhaps the biggest concern is that the Longhorns just don’t seem to be growing as a program. Last year, while Texas ended up missing the tournament, they finished as a top 25 team on KenPom and made a run all the way to the NIT title. It’s worth noting that before the tournament started, they were already a top 30 team on KenPom; their ranking wasn’t skewed by getting hot for three weeks in a tournament no one cares about.
The problem this season is that there has been no progression. Texas has been a program under Shaka that has hung their hat on defense, but this is the worst defensive team he has had in his tenure. That becomes even more of an issue when you factor in that they cannot score. They’re 111th nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency, which is what happens when your offense is, essentially, a spread ball-screen into a contested three.
KenPom has Texas favored to win just three more games the rest of the season. They’re projected to finish 17-14 overall and 7-11 in the Big 12.
That’s not good.
2. NO. 1 BAYLOR SURVIVES
It looked like Baylor was going to cruise to a pretty easy win at home against Oklahoma, but the Sooners had other ideas. They hung around long enough in the second half to make things interesting late. Oklahoma hit back-to-back threes in a 40 second span to cut a 59-51 lead to 59-57 with 41 seconds left, and after Baylor couldn’t find a way to score on their next possession, Austin Reaves cut off a 3-on-1 break to flare to the corner and fire up a wide-open, go-ahead three with less than five seconds left.
He missed.
Baylor won.
And No. 1 lived to fight another day.
3. VIRGINIA LOSES AGAIN
The reigning national champions lost for the fourth time in their last five games on Monday night, this time falling at home against N.C. State, 53-51.
Like Oklahoma, Virginia had a shot to win the game at the buzzer, as N.C. State fouled up three and then missed free throws of their own at the other end. But Virginia is the 346th-best three-point shooting team in the country for a reason, and Casey Morsell missed the game-winner as time expired.
At this point, it’s getting harder to see how Virginia is going to find a way to play their way into the NCAA tournament.
Chris Mack: David Johnson’s shoulder ‘is fine’
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The biggest concern coming out of Louisville’s win at Duke on Saturday evening was the status of David Johnson’s shoulder.
Johnson was the best player on the floor for Louisville, finishing with 19 points, seven assists, four boards, three steals and two blocks as the Cardinals landed a much-needed win in Cameron. But with three minutes left in the game, he landed on his surgically-repaired left shoulder and had to leave the game. He returned to the bench, but he did not return to the game.
Head coach Chris Mack did not seem overly concerned about the injury after the game, and he confirmed as much in a conference call on Monday.
“The shoulder is fine,” Mack said. “He’s just a little sore, but he’ll practice the next couple of days and we fully expect him to play on Wednesday.”
Bracketology: Welcome to the top line, San Diego State
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Here is the latest NCAA tournament bracketology projection.
Welcome to the top line, San Diego State. The Aztecs join Baylor, Gonzaga, and Kansas as No. 1 seeds in our latest bracket update. SDSU remains the only unbeaten team in college hoops, buoyed by wins over tournament teams Iowa, Creighton and BYU.
The West-leaning geographical slate of top seeds means someone has to go East. As SDSU is the fourth overall seed, that adventure belongs to them. Several additional power conference teams are pushing for the top line, too – including Florida State, Michigan State and surging Seton Hall. And let’s not forget about Louisville, a preseason top seed. The Cardinals put together an impressive road win at Duke on Saturday.
The latest look at where our NCAA tournament bracketology projection stands …
UPDATED: January 20, 2020
| FIRST FOUR – DAYTON |
|
| EAST REGION | Virginia Tech vs. Georgetown |
| WEST REGION | NC State vs. VCU |
| SOUTH REGION | PR VIEW-AM vs. NORFOLK ST |
| WEST REGION | MONMOUTH vs. ST. FRANCIS (PA) |
| SOUTH – Houston | WEST – Los Angeles | |
| Omaha | Spokane | |
| 1) BAYLOR | 1) GONZAGA | |
| 16) PV-AM / NORFOLK ST | 16) MONMOUTH / ST. FRANCIS (PA) | |
| 8) Arkansas | 8) Illinois | |
| 9) Memphis | 9) HOUSTON | |
| Tampa | Sacramento | |
| 5) Colorado | 5) Arizona | |
| 12) EAST TENNESSEE ST | 12) NC State / VCU | |
| 4) Maryland | 4) Iowa | |
| 13) S.F. AUSTIN | 13) NEW MEXICO ST | |
| St. Louis | Greensboro | |
| 6) Marquette | 6) Michigan | |
| 11) NORTHERN IOWA | 11) Saint Mary’s | |
| 3) LOUISVILLE | 3) Duke | |
| 14) NORTH TEXAS | 14) LITTLE ROCK | |
| Albany | Spokane | |
| 7) Wisconsin | 7) LSU | |
| 10) USC | 10) Oklahoma | |
| 2) SETON HALL | 2) Oregon | |
| 15) WILLIAM-MARY | 15) UC-IRVINE | |
| EAST – New York | MIDWEST – Indianapolis | |
| Sacramento | Omaha | |
| 1) SAN DIEGO STATE | 1) Kansas | |
| 16) RADFORD | 16) MONTANA | |
| 8) Rutgers | 8) Indiana | |
| 9) STANFORD | 9) Florida | |
| Albany | Cleveland | |
| 5) Kentucky | 5) Creighton | |
| 12) LIBERTY | 12) YALE | |
| 4) Villanova | 4) DAYTON | |
| 13) AKRON | 13) VERMONT | |
| Greensboro | St. Louis | |
| 6) Penn State | 6) Auburn | |
| 11) Virginia Tech / Georgetown | 11) BYU | |
| 3) West Virginia | 3) Butler | |
| 14) COLGATE | 14) WRIGHT STATE | |
| Tampa | Cleveland | |
| 7) Ohio State | 7) Wichita State | |
| 10) DePaul | 10) Texas Tech | |
| 2) Florida State | 2) MICHIGAN STATE | |
| 15) AUSTIN PEAY | 15) NORTH DAKOTA ST |
| BUBBLE NOTES |
|||
| Last 4 Byes | Last 4 IN | First 4 OUT | Next 4 OUT |
| USC | Virginia Tech | Purdue | Washington |
| DePaul | NC State | Minnesota | Saint Louis |
| Saint Mary’s | Georgetown | Arizona State | St. John’s |
| BYU | VCU | Xavier | Richmond |
Top Seed Line
Baylor, Gonzaga, Kansas, San Diego State
Seed List
Breakdown by Conference …
Big Ten (10)
Big East (7)
ACC (5)
SEC (5)
Big 12 (5)
Pac 12 (5)
American (3)
West Coast (3)
Atlantic 10 (2)
Mountain West (1)