The SEC/Big 12 Challenge was slightly disappointing, but still fun nonetheless. I enjoyed watching all these games, and I really love the inter-conference challenges. They give a lot of great matchups in the non-conference, and always provide some fun matchups and this was no exception. I'll goo through each game and look at how my predictions stacked up, and then give 3 winners and losers from the event. If you want to discuss the Challenge, hit me up on Twitter @ThreePointRange, and let me know your winners and losers.
Results
Iowa State @ Mississippi
Final Score: Iowa State 87-73 Mississippi
My Prediction: Iowa State 84-80 Mississippi
How I Did: I think I did alright here, although I missed on how good Iowa State is. I've been on board with this team ever since they beat Kansas, and ever since, I've been fully on board. I also think this was a step back for Mississippi's defense, and I'm slightly worried about the Rebels, although I still think they can be a top 25 team.
Alabama @ Baylor
Final Score: Baylor 73-68 Alabama
My Prediction: Alabama 73-67 Baylor
How I Did: I missed the winning team, but I basically got the score right, so that's good. I thought it would be very close, and that was proven right, but I thought John Petty and Alabama could exploit the Bears from the three point arc, but Petty went 0-5 from deep, and Baylor was able to get a really nice home win.
Florida @ TCU
Final Score: TCU 55-50 Florida
My Prediction: TCU 68-60 Florida
How I Did: The game looked to be tracking to the score I had, with a 32-20 score in favor of the Horned Frogs at the half, and then both teams struggled in the second half, leading to a much lower scoring game than I was anticipating. I want to give a quick shoutout to Kouat Noi from TCU, who was the game's leading scorer at 22 points and also had 6 rebounds, and I think he's an NBA prospect given his all-around game, with good defense and shooting from deep.
South Carolina @ Oklahoma State
Final Score: Oklahoma State 74-70 South Carolina
My Prediction: Oklahoma State 70-61 South Carolina
How I Did: I correctly predicted a Cowboy victory, and I feel really good about getting this one right. Thomas Dziagwa had a great game for Oklahoma State instead of Lindy Waters, going 5-9 from deep and leading the team with 19 points. Waters was by no means bad, and I'm continuing to say that Oklahoma State is a good team. As for South Carolina, I don't think they are as good as they have been playing, so I'm very interested to see how the Gamecocks do in upcoming weeks.
Texas @ Georgia
Final Score: Georgia 98-88 Texas
My Prediction: Texas 73-59 Georgia
How I Did: This is one of the games I missed on the most. I thought it would be a much more defensive game, but instead, both teams got hot from three, with Georgia going 12-17 from downtown, and Texas making 12 of their 28 shots from downtown. It's pretty shocking that the Bulldogs, who are a borderline top 100 offense in the country, were able to get 98 points on a pretty good Texas defense. Nic Claxton looked really good, and I think he can be a real star in the SEC for the next few years. I'll get into Texas later, but if they are shooting like this, they can be a real threat to every team in the country.
Kansas State @ Texas A&M
Final Score: Texas A&M 65-53 Kansas State
My Prediction: Kansas State 68-49 Texas A&M
How I Did: This was easily the game I was the farthest off on. I thought Kansas State would roll, but instead they got beaten by double digits against an objectively bad Aggies team. They have one of the worst offenses from a power five team, they actually shoot under 30% from deep, and Kansas State has an excellent defense, so it seemed open on shut, but instead Wendell Mitchell went off for 22 points and Kansas State, a bad shooting team, took more threes than twos and struggled offensively, which has been a problem for them all season. I certainly didn't see this coming, and it's made me worried about the Wildcats.
West Virginia @ Tennessee
Final Score: Tennessee 83-66 West Virginia
My Prediction: Tennessee 88-67 West Virginia
How I Did: Pretty open and shut here, with the Vols struggling early and then going on a big run and ultimately taking down the Mountaineers by a large margin. I thought it would be a bit of a larger margin, but Tennessee was the better team, and showed that over the course of the game.
Vanderbilt @ Oklahoma
Final Score: Oklahoma 86-55 Vanderbilt
My Prediction: Oklahoma 66-59 Vanderbilt
How I Did: This was an unexpected rout. I probably should have seen this coming, given that Vanderbilt hasn't won a game in SEC play and is winless in 2019, but they played South Carolina and Tennessee close, but both of those were at home, and on the road they really struggled against Oklahoma. This was the kind of big performance I was expecting from Christian James, who scored 21 points, and as a team they shot 69% from two. Their defense continued to be great, so I'm slowly getting back in on the Sooners.
Kansas @ Kentucky
Final Score: Kentucky 71-63 Kansas
My Prediction: Kentucky 84-76 Kansas
How I Did: I get into the Wildcats a little bit later on, but I got the winner and margin of victory right even if I was off on the score. I really think this just comes down to the Wildcats matching up really well with the Jayhawks. Without Udoka Azubuike, Kentucky just had an overwhelming advantage on the interior, which really decided the game. They had 17 offensive rebounds, compared to Kansas just getting 27 defensive rebounds, and 32 defensive boards. Three players had double digit rebounds, so I think this was just a really good matchup and Kentucky exploited their advantage.
Arkansas @ Texas Tech
Final Score: Texas Tech 67-64 Arkansas
My Prediction: Texas Tech 71-58 Arkansas
How I Did: This one was a little bit closer than I thought it'd be, but Texas Tech got a huge win. They have been struggling on offense, but Davide Moretti scored a career high 21 points and led the Red Raiders to a much needed victory after losing their last three games. We also saw Jarrett Culver drain 4 of his 5 threes and remain super efficient overall. He's been struggling, so this was good to get him going. Speaking of efficiency, Arkansas' star Daniel Gafford scored 14 points on 6-6 shooting to pace the Razorbacks, and he cemented himself as the top center in this year's draft.
Biggest Winners
- Kentucky got a big statement win over Kansas in the headliner of the challenge. I wrote a few weeks ago about how these teams are moving in opposite directions, and I think that was proven with the Wildcats' victory. They started off the season slowly, notably getting blown out by Duke on opening night, and they took losses to Seton Hall and Alabama as well. Meanwhile, Kansas started the year 10-0, but has since dropped games at Arizona State, Iowa, West Virginia, and now Kentucky. This is not an indictment on the Jayhawks, who are still the Big 12 favorite in my mind, but more proof of John Calipari's abilities as a coach and the talent on the Wildcats' roster. They have continued to improve all year, and their immensely talented roster is playing up to its potential. Many had Kentucky as one of the best teams in the country in the preseason, and I think they have clearly established themselves in that upper echelon after this win.
- Baylor picked up a huge win over Alabama during the challenge. Not only are the Bears currently riding a four game winning streak, but it also improved their resume for the tournament. While they have been playing well in Big 12 play, Baylor struggled during the non-conference portion of their schedule, losing home games to Texas Southern and Stephen F Austin and falling on the road to Wichita State. They have since played much better, but they were lacking the quality wins. A victory over a fellow bubble team in Alabama will go a long way on Selection Sunday, both in knocking the Crimson Tide, and improving the Bears' odds of getting a bid.
- The Big 12 won the challenge 6 games to 4, and they showed why I think top to bottom, it is the best conference in the country. We saw one of the best teams in the conference in Iowa State beat a very good Mississippi team in Oxford, the mid-tier teams like Baylor and Oklahoma get nice wins, and even some of the worse teams like Oklahoma State get good wins. While Kansas lost in the primetime matchup, and Kansas State and Texas took tough losses, I still think the league performed well as a whole, so I'll chalk it up as a win for the conference.
Biggest Losers
- The SEC lost the challenge, but I think the biggest loser is the second tier of SEC teams behind Tennessee and Kentucky. Mississippi lost to Iowa State at home, and LSU, Auburn, and Mississippi State didn't participate, with the latter two playing each other. The performance of the league was skewed since some of these top teams didn't play, and they all missed out on opportunities to get nice non-conference wins. I think that we could be talking about this entire challenge very different had these teams been competing.
- Kansas State really made me doubt them once again. The Wildcats had won 5 straight Big 12 games with wins over Iowa State and Oklahoma on the road, and TCU and Texas Tech at home, largely on the back of their strong defense and the return of Dean Wade from injury really helping the offense. However, they then really dropped the ball against Texas A&M by 12. The Aggies have been dreadful all season, and the Kansas State failed to exploit one of the worst defenses in the SEC. They'd lost 6 of their last 7 games prior to this, including at home against Texas Southern. And yet, the Wildcats once again looked like a dreadful offensive team, only putting up 53 points in this game, and losing by 12 to a SEC bottom feeder. I really thought they could challenge Kansas at the top of the Big 12, but the performance against Tulsa earlier in the year, with Dean Wade, where they only scored 46 points made me worry, but they built themselves back up and had me believing again, but I'm once again out on K-State.
- Texas lost to Georgia by 10, and I think Shaka Smart's seat is heating up. He's 61-59 so far in his stint in Austin, and that isn't good enough in my opinion, especially given the talent he's been bringing in. Every one of his recruiting classes has been inside the top 20, and every one after his first one has been top 8. The main problem has been their lack of shooting, which is really frustrating to watch since it happens every single year. I'm more and more convinced that he isn't meant to be at a school as prestigious as Texas, since I think his pressing style at VCU hasn't translated to Texas, where it seems like the top recruits he's getting don't want to play that style, and I also think it hasn't translated as well as he would've hoped. I'd like to see him at a lower level high major program, where I think he can have a lot of success. There is still time to turn things around at Texas, but he'll need to do it soon.
Results
Iowa State @ Mississippi
Final Score: Iowa State 87-73 Mississippi
My Prediction: Iowa State 84-80 Mississippi
How I Did: I think I did alright here, although I missed on how good Iowa State is. I've been on board with this team ever since they beat Kansas, and ever since, I've been fully on board. I also think this was a step back for Mississippi's defense, and I'm slightly worried about the Rebels, although I still think they can be a top 25 team.
Alabama @ Baylor
Final Score: Baylor 73-68 Alabama
My Prediction: Alabama 73-67 Baylor
How I Did: I missed the winning team, but I basically got the score right, so that's good. I thought it would be very close, and that was proven right, but I thought John Petty and Alabama could exploit the Bears from the three point arc, but Petty went 0-5 from deep, and Baylor was able to get a really nice home win.
Final Score: TCU 55-50 Florida
My Prediction: TCU 68-60 Florida
How I Did: The game looked to be tracking to the score I had, with a 32-20 score in favor of the Horned Frogs at the half, and then both teams struggled in the second half, leading to a much lower scoring game than I was anticipating. I want to give a quick shoutout to Kouat Noi from TCU, who was the game's leading scorer at 22 points and also had 6 rebounds, and I think he's an NBA prospect given his all-around game, with good defense and shooting from deep.
Final Score: Oklahoma State 74-70 South Carolina
My Prediction: Oklahoma State 70-61 South Carolina
How I Did: I correctly predicted a Cowboy victory, and I feel really good about getting this one right. Thomas Dziagwa had a great game for Oklahoma State instead of Lindy Waters, going 5-9 from deep and leading the team with 19 points. Waters was by no means bad, and I'm continuing to say that Oklahoma State is a good team. As for South Carolina, I don't think they are as good as they have been playing, so I'm very interested to see how the Gamecocks do in upcoming weeks.
Final Score: Georgia 98-88 Texas
My Prediction: Texas 73-59 Georgia
How I Did: This is one of the games I missed on the most. I thought it would be a much more defensive game, but instead, both teams got hot from three, with Georgia going 12-17 from downtown, and Texas making 12 of their 28 shots from downtown. It's pretty shocking that the Bulldogs, who are a borderline top 100 offense in the country, were able to get 98 points on a pretty good Texas defense. Nic Claxton looked really good, and I think he can be a real star in the SEC for the next few years. I'll get into Texas later, but if they are shooting like this, they can be a real threat to every team in the country.
Final Score: Texas A&M 65-53 Kansas State
My Prediction: Kansas State 68-49 Texas A&M
How I Did: This was easily the game I was the farthest off on. I thought Kansas State would roll, but instead they got beaten by double digits against an objectively bad Aggies team. They have one of the worst offenses from a power five team, they actually shoot under 30% from deep, and Kansas State has an excellent defense, so it seemed open on shut, but instead Wendell Mitchell went off for 22 points and Kansas State, a bad shooting team, took more threes than twos and struggled offensively, which has been a problem for them all season. I certainly didn't see this coming, and it's made me worried about the Wildcats.
Final Score: Tennessee 83-66 West Virginia
My Prediction: Tennessee 88-67 West Virginia
How I Did: Pretty open and shut here, with the Vols struggling early and then going on a big run and ultimately taking down the Mountaineers by a large margin. I thought it would be a bit of a larger margin, but Tennessee was the better team, and showed that over the course of the game.
Final Score: Oklahoma 86-55 Vanderbilt
My Prediction: Oklahoma 66-59 Vanderbilt
How I Did: This was an unexpected rout. I probably should have seen this coming, given that Vanderbilt hasn't won a game in SEC play and is winless in 2019, but they played South Carolina and Tennessee close, but both of those were at home, and on the road they really struggled against Oklahoma. This was the kind of big performance I was expecting from Christian James, who scored 21 points, and as a team they shot 69% from two. Their defense continued to be great, so I'm slowly getting back in on the Sooners.
Final Score: Kentucky 71-63 Kansas
My Prediction: Kentucky 84-76 Kansas
How I Did: I get into the Wildcats a little bit later on, but I got the winner and margin of victory right even if I was off on the score. I really think this just comes down to the Wildcats matching up really well with the Jayhawks. Without Udoka Azubuike, Kentucky just had an overwhelming advantage on the interior, which really decided the game. They had 17 offensive rebounds, compared to Kansas just getting 27 defensive rebounds, and 32 defensive boards. Three players had double digit rebounds, so I think this was just a really good matchup and Kentucky exploited their advantage.
Final Score: Texas Tech 67-64 Arkansas
My Prediction: Texas Tech 71-58 Arkansas
How I Did: This one was a little bit closer than I thought it'd be, but Texas Tech got a huge win. They have been struggling on offense, but Davide Moretti scored a career high 21 points and led the Red Raiders to a much needed victory after losing their last three games. We also saw Jarrett Culver drain 4 of his 5 threes and remain super efficient overall. He's been struggling, so this was good to get him going. Speaking of efficiency, Arkansas' star Daniel Gafford scored 14 points on 6-6 shooting to pace the Razorbacks, and he cemented himself as the top center in this year's draft.
- Kentucky got a big statement win over Kansas in the headliner of the challenge. I wrote a few weeks ago about how these teams are moving in opposite directions, and I think that was proven with the Wildcats' victory. They started off the season slowly, notably getting blown out by Duke on opening night, and they took losses to Seton Hall and Alabama as well. Meanwhile, Kansas started the year 10-0, but has since dropped games at Arizona State, Iowa, West Virginia, and now Kentucky. This is not an indictment on the Jayhawks, who are still the Big 12 favorite in my mind, but more proof of John Calipari's abilities as a coach and the talent on the Wildcats' roster. They have continued to improve all year, and their immensely talented roster is playing up to its potential. Many had Kentucky as one of the best teams in the country in the preseason, and I think they have clearly established themselves in that upper echelon after this win.
- Baylor picked up a huge win over Alabama during the challenge. Not only are the Bears currently riding a four game winning streak, but it also improved their resume for the tournament. While they have been playing well in Big 12 play, Baylor struggled during the non-conference portion of their schedule, losing home games to Texas Southern and Stephen F Austin and falling on the road to Wichita State. They have since played much better, but they were lacking the quality wins. A victory over a fellow bubble team in Alabama will go a long way on Selection Sunday, both in knocking the Crimson Tide, and improving the Bears' odds of getting a bid.
- The Big 12 won the challenge 6 games to 4, and they showed why I think top to bottom, it is the best conference in the country. We saw one of the best teams in the conference in Iowa State beat a very good Mississippi team in Oxford, the mid-tier teams like Baylor and Oklahoma get nice wins, and even some of the worse teams like Oklahoma State get good wins. While Kansas lost in the primetime matchup, and Kansas State and Texas took tough losses, I still think the league performed well as a whole, so I'll chalk it up as a win for the conference.
Biggest Losers
- The SEC lost the challenge, but I think the biggest loser is the second tier of SEC teams behind Tennessee and Kentucky. Mississippi lost to Iowa State at home, and LSU, Auburn, and Mississippi State didn't participate, with the latter two playing each other. The performance of the league was skewed since some of these top teams didn't play, and they all missed out on opportunities to get nice non-conference wins. I think that we could be talking about this entire challenge very different had these teams been competing.
- Kansas State really made me doubt them once again. The Wildcats had won 5 straight Big 12 games with wins over Iowa State and Oklahoma on the road, and TCU and Texas Tech at home, largely on the back of their strong defense and the return of Dean Wade from injury really helping the offense. However, they then really dropped the ball against Texas A&M by 12. The Aggies have been dreadful all season, and the Kansas State failed to exploit one of the worst defenses in the SEC. They'd lost 6 of their last 7 games prior to this, including at home against Texas Southern. And yet, the Wildcats once again looked like a dreadful offensive team, only putting up 53 points in this game, and losing by 12 to a SEC bottom feeder. I really thought they could challenge Kansas at the top of the Big 12, but the performance against Tulsa earlier in the year, with Dean Wade, where they only scored 46 points made me worry, but they built themselves back up and had me believing again, but I'm once again out on K-State.
- Texas lost to Georgia by 10, and I think Shaka Smart's seat is heating up. He's 61-59 so far in his stint in Austin, and that isn't good enough in my opinion, especially given the talent he's been bringing in. Every one of his recruiting classes has been inside the top 20, and every one after his first one has been top 8. The main problem has been their lack of shooting, which is really frustrating to watch since it happens every single year. I'm more and more convinced that he isn't meant to be at a school as prestigious as Texas, since I think his pressing style at VCU hasn't translated to Texas, where it seems like the top recruits he's getting don't want to play that style, and I also think it hasn't translated as well as he would've hoped. I'd like to see him at a lower level high major program, where I think he can have a lot of success. There is still time to turn things around at Texas, but he'll need to do it soon.
Comments
Post a Comment