With the Champions Traditional per week later than ordinary this yr, the 2022-23 males’s faculty basketball season started Monday with out the headline matchups of previous campaigns. Based on ESPN Stats & Data, nevertheless, it was the primary time each single AP high 25 group was in motion on the identical day. In consequence, there was the distinctive alternative to get an early really feel for practically each single related group within the sport on day one of many season.
Which newcomers are going to make an even bigger influence than anticipated? Which returnees are able to take a giant soar? Which top-25 group seems to be prefer it might undergo some rising pains?
ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, Myron Medcalf and John Gasaway obtained early indications on every of these questions — and extra.
Who did not play earns the most important headlines
We’ll have to attend for the faculty debuts of not less than 5 potential NBA draft lottery picks: freshmen Arkansas’ Nick Smith Jr., Duke’s Dereck Energetic II and Dariq Whitehead, Villanova’s Cam Whitmore and UCLA’s Adem Bona. 4 of the 5 missed Monday’s video games as a result of damage, whereas Bona was held out due to an NCAA issue. (What’s extra, three of the above groups are within the midst of a transition, with Duke and Arkansas bringing in a ton of newcomers and the Blue Devils and Villanova each changing legendary coaches.)
That quintet of gamers was joined on the damage listing by reigning consensus nationwide participant of the yr Oscar Tshiebwe (proper leg) and his Kentucky teammate, All-SEC level guard Sahvir Wheeler (proper leg). The Wildcats nonetheless cruised previous Howard, after all. But it surely is perhaps just a few weeks earlier than we see a few of the sport’s greatest applications at full energy. — Borzello
2:25
Baylor has no points in its season opener, scoring over 100 in an enormous win over Mississippi Valley State.
Baylor units the tempo for offense
Positive, it was towards Mississippi Valley State, however it’s nonetheless time to overreact. In a 117-53 victory, Baylor recorded what’s more likely to be its most effective sport of offense in 2022-23. This was truly a 16-10 contest (in favor of the Bears) 10 minutes into the sport. Then Scott Drew’s group awakened and went into halftime up 61-21. Adam Flagler paced the Bears with 21 factors and 4 3s in 25 minutes. (Good factor I picked him for Large 12 POY. He has this within the bag!) When the ultimate horn sounded, Baylor had rung up 1.48 factors per possession. That qualifies formally as an Excessive Scoring Occasion (1.45-plus.) Nicely achieved, Bears! — Gasaway
3:02
Following a 95-63 season-opening win vs. the Bison, John Calipari praises the Wildcats for enjoying arduous protection and relentlessly grabbing rebounds.
Kentucky can truly shoot this season
This might change every little thing for a program coming off back-to-back surprising outcomes, with a 9-16 2020-21 marketing campaign adopted by a loss to Saint Peter’s Peacocks within the first spherical of final season’s NCAA event as a 2-seed.
Kentucky has shot under 35% from 3 for 3 consecutive seasons. However in Monday’s lopsided 95-63 win towards Howard, Illinois State switch Antonio Reeves (6-for-12) and CJ Fredrick (2-for-5), who sat out final season as a result of damage, helped the Wildcats end with a 46% clip from the 3-point line. Jacob Toppin continues to enhance, whereas five-star recruits Chris Livingston and Cason Wallace look able to contribute early. If Kentucky will get wholesome (it was with out Tshiebwe, Wheeler and Daimion Collins on Monday) and stays sizzling from past the arc, the Wildcats might evolve into America’s most difficult matchup.
“It is arduous to play us zone,” Kentucky coach John Calipari mentioned after Monday’s win. “When you’ve gotten an Oscar, he’ll go and seize these balls we’re not getting.” — Medcalf
Success on The Farm. 🌲
Michael Jones’ career-high 31 factors propel @StanfordMBB to a win of their season opener.#GoStanford | #Pac12MBB pic.twitter.com/qx99vigpzD
— Pac-12 Community (@Pac12Network) November 7, 2022
Stanford ought to contemplate having transfers extra usually than as soon as each 11 years
In his first sport in a Stanford uniform, Davidson switch Michael Jones went off for 31 factors within the Cardinal’s 88-78 victory towards Pacific. Jones represents a real rarity in Palo Alto, California. He’s the primary switch to take the ground for the Stanford males’s basketball group since one-time Santa Clara participant Andrew Zimmermann did so again in 2011-12. If his debut is any indication, Jones might give Jerod Haase’s program a lift because it seeks its first NCAA event bid since 2014. The 6-foot-5 senior was the image of versatility towards the Tigers, notching 12 factors contained in the arc, 9 outdoors of it and 10 on the line. — Gasaway
1:00
Jett Howard scores 22 factors, draining 5 3-pointers as Michigan rolls in opener 75-56.
When Howard scored 30 factors within the Wolverines’ exhibition win over Ferris State final week, I took it with a grain of salt. This was an exhibition sport, in any case. However he confirmed that efficiency was no fluke on Monday. The son of Michigan coach Juwan Howard recorded 21 factors, 5 3s and 5 assists, and he was one among solely two Wolverines in double figures. If Michigan goes to be an element within the Large Ten title race, it wants to seek out perimeter manufacturing (learn: capturing) to create area for Hunter Dickinson to function inside. This can be a group that ranked eleventh within the Large Ten in 3-point capturing final season. However Howard seemed like one of many nation’s greatest freshmen on Monday. If he can carry out persistently, the Wolverines will likely be much more harmful offensively than I anticipated. — Borzello
