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Otega Oweh comes up big defensively as #19 Kentucky takes down #6 Duke 77-72

College basketball continues to deliver, and of course the Champions Classic only magnified that fact. After somewhat of a snoozer of a first game between Michigan State and Kansas, the atmosphere inside State Farm Arena elevated for the second half of the night’s double-header. Kentucky’s offense under Mark Pope was highlighted as the strength of this new era, but the Wildcats made big play after big play late in the game defensively to secure the win.

Duke closed the first half on a 25-13 run after trailing by three at the 10:00 mark and the momentum felt as if it would be on the Blue Devils’ side out of the break. Duke would hold the lead for much of the early second half, but Kentucky continued to stick around, never trailing by more than nine. An Andrew Carr and-one split up by the under-four timeout finally brought the Wildcats all the way back, tying the game at 67-67 with 3:57 to play.

The final few minutes were the making of an instant classic, with Kentucky jumping in front on an Otega Oweh basket inside. A Cooper Flagg and-one put Duke back in front, only for a matter of seconds until Carr went back down the floor and returned the favor. Flagg would re-tie the game at 72-72 with just over a minute to play, but his following two possessions would be ones to forget. With 26 seconds left, Duke had the ball in the hands of Flagg, but with the clock approaching 10 seconds Flagg drove inside and was stripped by Oweh. Oweh converted both free throws and when Flagg went back down the court looking to redeem himself, he slipped in the corner and committed a second-straight turnover. Duke still had a chance after Lamont Butler missed a free throw to go up four with five seconds to play, but Oweh’s hustle showed up once again with a huge offensive rebound to seal the win.

This game changed for Kentucky when Mark Pope went with Carr at the five, and his ability to space the floor and draw the Duke bigs out of the paint contributed to nearly every late basket for the Wildcats. Defensively, Kentucky could then switch one through five, and Flagg couldn’t gain a mismatch with his speed versus any bigs. Flagg finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds and was the best player on the court for 39 minutes, but the efforts of Carr (17 points) and Oweh (15 points) for Kentucky is what gave the Wildcats the 77-72 win. If the rest of the season is anything like the first 10 days have been, every college basketball fan will be loving life for the next five months.

Hunter Dickinson’s huge night leads #1 Kansas past Michigan State

Hunter Dickinson may once again take the throne of “Most Hated” in college basketball, going for 28 points, 12 rebounds, and a handful of in-game gestures towards Michigan State players and the Spartan logo on the court in the Jayhawks’ Champions Classic victory. Dickinson started with the game’s first eight points and was the only Jayhawk to connect on a field goal in the first 12 minutes.

The first half was uglier than anyone could have imagined, with players from both teams struggling to adjust to the neutral court at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. With 4:29 left in the half, the game saw its first three, when none other than Dickinson knocked one down to put Kansas in front 21-18. Kansas would extend its lead to 10 in the closing seconds of the half, but a desperation and-one three-pointer from Michigan State freshman Jase Richardson made the score 30-24 Kansas at the break.

The offenses broke the seals in the second half and the Jayhawks never allowed Michigan State to overtake them on the scoreboard. After a Jaxon Kohler three tied the game at 52-52 with under nine minutes to play, Kansas went on a 6-0 run and held onto the lead for good. After 54 combined points in the first half, the teams combined for 92 in the second period. Michigan State kept things interesting by continually attacking the hoop and forcing AJ Storr, Flory Bidunga, and KJ Adams Jr. into foul trouble, but Dickinson had his way all night long on the other end.

Dickinson finished with 28 and 12 and will take all the credit for the Jayhawks’ win tonight, but Zeke Mayo affected this game in many ways even though he struggled from the field. Mayo finished the game 2-8 shooting the ball but grabbed 10 boards and dished out seven assists. It wasn’t a particularly great night for anyone in green and white, but Frankie Fidler led Michigan State in scoring with 15 points and Jaxon Kohler made a handful of big plays, finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

Kyle Neptune could be on his last straw as Villanova drops to 1-2 with loss at St. Joe’s

In just two and a half years, Villanova went from competing in a national championship game to being 2-2 with losses to Columbia and St. Joseph’s through the first 10 days of a season. I don’t think Kyle Neptune would be fired in the month of November, but things have to get a lot better in a short amount of time.

Tonight’s game for the Wildcats likely won’t even go down as a bad loss, falling on the road to a St. Joseph’s team that should be top 100 nationally and competing at the top of the Atlantic 10. The timing is what its awful, as Villanova was six days removed from a home loss to Columbia and St. Joseph’s was fresh off a home loss to Central Connecticut State.

Villanova played solid for portions of this one, even leading at the break, but a 19-7 run for the Hawks to open the second half sealed the Wildcats’ fate in this one. Eric Dixon had another big game, scoring 24 points and grabbing nine rebounds, while Jhamir Brickus had his first big game in a Villanova uniform scoring 22 points of his own. Defensively, the Wildcats held star guards Erik Reynolds II and Xzayvier Brown in check for most of the game, limiting the duo to 7-26 from the field.

Brown finished with 18 points, nine coming from free throws on the inefficient night, but his playmaking stood out, dishing out 13 assists. Rasheer Fleming finished as the leading scorer for St. Joe’s, scoring 19 points on 7-9 shooting. Fleming’s versatility and athleticism gave Nova all sorts of problems and proves he’s a name you can’t leave out when talking about the mid-major stars at St. Joseph’s.

Other Things to Note:

• Nick Martinelli’s hot start continues with 27 points in Northwestern’s win over UIC
• Collin Murray-Boyles goes for season-high 27 in South Carolina’s win over Towson
• North Florida’s surprise start ends with 90-77 loss at Georgia
• Syracuse survives Colgate in the final seconds of 74-72 win
• Donovan Dent’s 25-point, 10-assist night leads New Mexico to 100-81 win over Texas A&M CC