Analysis

Most of our Big East sources are taking a wait-and-see attitude with Butler, which welcomed back alum Ronald Nored to take over the program after the back-to-the-future episode with Thad Matta never left the tarmac, with Matta retiring rather than giving it another go after recording a 28-52 mark in four seasons of conference play. For Nored, this head coaching is new, having spent most of the last decade as an NBA assistant, and the recent heavy loss against Boise State suggests Nored might have a way to go on the coach’s learning curve. The presence of senior guard Jalen Jackson (17.7 ppg), who missed most of last season due to injury after starring for the previous two years at IPFW, has been an early-season plus for Nored, while newcomers with promise include Serbian import 6-8 F Asim Djuloic (already on 17.3 ppg) and Ole Miss transfer G Eduardo Klafke, clicking at 16 ppg. After letting Boise run wild last Sunday, however, defense looks an issue (obviously something that would stick in the craw of Nored, a noted defensive specialist in his playing days), and something Jeff Capel’s Pitt might exploit. Capel knows the stakes this season–Big Dance or bust, as he likely wouldn’t have survived last season’s 20-loss mess had it not been for a hefty buyout the Panther administrators decided they didn’t want to deal with in the spring. But Capel has broken from the gate at 3-0, and Charleston Southern transfer A’Lahn Sumler is looking like one of the steals of the portal after burning Penn State for 26 points in the Panthers’ win at the Palestra on Sunday. Meanwhile, 6-9 Georgia Tech transfer Baye Ndongo (16 ppg, 11.7 rpg) has made a smooth transition to his new ACC home. The Penn State result impresses, and suggests the Panthers are a bit closer to a finished product for Capel as opposed to the new regime just getting its feet on the ground at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Play Pittsburgh

Some in the Capital Region wonder if Maryland wishes for the days of the ACC, and for a night the Terps can go down memory lane against one of their heated rivals from the old days. The question now is if Buzz Williams really wants to face the Wahoos right now after his team laid a big egg last Saturday against Georgetown in DC. Three-point shooting, marked for improvement by Buzz this season after a subpar 31.7% last term, has been left in the blocks as the new season has begun, as Williams has to hope that his team missing 38 of 48 triples (just 20.8% success) across the first two games isn’t a harbinger of things to come. More minutes and looks for Boston U transfer G Mike McNair Jr, who hit 44% of his 3-balls last year for the Terriers, might not be a bad idea if the starters don’t start to pick up the baton. Moreover, Virginia looks like Buzz might want his Terps to become, as Ryan Odom was able to hold onto most of his key pieces from last year’s 30-win side. John Calipari’s Arkansas felt the sting last Sunday at Cap One Arena when the Cavs cruised 91-72, with five of those experienced parts scoring in double digits led by F Thijs De Ridder’s 16 points and 10 boards. Meanwhile, 6-7 wing Sam Lewis (15 ppg) now looks to be taking the next step up as a consistent scoring threat, while any questions about 5-10 soph Chance Mallory handling the PG role have abated after some solid early efforts, including 15 points and 6 assists vs. the Razorbacks.
Play Virginia

At Colonial Hall in White Sulphur Springs. West Virginia. We’re getting into the neutral-venue portion of the schedule, and there isn’t a more odd set-up than at Colonial Hall, effectively a very large ballroom at the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Yet the surroundings and venue aren’t any more odd for Mississippi State than they are for Xavier, and no reason to expect this clash to be decided by anything other than fundamentals. Which we suspect might favor the SEC rep simply because it has the best player on the floor in senior G Josh Hubbard, whose early 18 ppg are a bit of recent numbers but can be explained by playing barely half of the game in recent Auburn blowouts of Northwestern State and Jackson State. Bulldogs HC Chris Jans has some threats from long-range, too, aside from Hubbard already clicking at 56.3% beyond the arc; all-name 6-5 soph wing King Grace, with a smooth stroke befitting his name, is hitting better than 46% from deep in the early going and is scoring at nearly 14 ppg. Meanwhile, further artillery upgrades are coming from Seton Hall transfer G Tajuan Simpkings, hitting at better than 44% from deep. Facing MSU is definitely going to be an upgrade for Xavier after Richard Pitino opened the season by bullying some outmanned foes...which won’t be the case tonight. Pitino’s far-flung collection of portal adds have only had a few games to play together, all against outmanned opposition from the low-major ranks, so we’re not inclined to think the Musketeers' current 51.7% shooting pace will endure. The more-experienced look of MSU has a bit more appeal at this stage, even if the odd venue seems more like a place where five-course meals are served.
Play Mississippi State

These are the sorts of matchups that get our heart racing–style clashes deluxe. Will the hardscrabble style of Seton Hall slow down the Alabama express? Well, if any coach can jam the gearbox on the Crimson Tide and their 102 ppg offense, it’s Shaheen Holloway’s Pirates, who play at one of slowest tempos in the country and, while it’s still early, are allowing only 54.7 ppg, ranking again among the nation’s leaders. Which we can’t say is a fluke because the Hall was 11th nationally in scoring D (just 65.3 ppg) a year ago. As usual, the portal took a bite out of Holloway’s roster, but he’s proven adept at uncovering some nuggets in the transfer market and Big East sources think he might have done some of the same with ex-Xavier G Roddie Anderson III, scoring at a brisk 17 pg clip in the early going to pace a 3-0 break from the gate. There are no shortage of candidates to become second and third-scoring options as various newcomers look like they could fill the bill, but the important thing for the Hall is the buy-in to Holloway’s non-negotiable defensive intensity, which remains paramount. This will be a different experience for Alabama, which has blown away three mid-major foes that couldn’t properly slow the pace, Nate Oats also has regained the services of high-scoring G Aiden Holloway, who just completed a suspension for a marijuana arrest and scored 12 points in 21 minutes vs. Oakland. As usual, Oats has his bomb squad firing away, as the Tide leads the nation in 3-point attempts (42 pg), but don’t expect Alabama to be able to pull the trigger as often if the Hall can slow the pace. The tortoise can give the hare a real race here.
Play Seton Hall

First things first re: Arizona, as Clemson transfer F RJ Godfrey is still waiting on clarification of his eligibility status, with a decision likely coming next Tuesday in court. If and when Godfrey returns to active duty, the 'Cats might have one of the best best frontlines in the country, and even minus Godfrey seem to present some troubling fundamentals for Steven Pearl’s Auburn and its 4-G lineup. With its imposing 7-2 Motiejus Krivas (18 ppg) and the versatile 6-7 Ivan Kharchenkov (24.7 ppg), who is Tommy Lloyd’s Joker, with the ability to play wherever needed, Arizona is sufficiently loaded on the blocks even before Godfrey suits up (whenever that might be). The pressure, however, is on 6-5 frosh G Caleb Holt, scoring 15 pg in the early going but with some awfully big shoes to fill on the perimeter with last season’s stalwarts Brayden Burries (Bucks) and Jaden Bradley (Raptors) off to the NBA. Holt, unfortunately was made to look like a freshman in the opener vs. UCLA’s accomplished backcourt when scoring only 7 in the Cats’ 84-75 loss, and we’re not sure Arizona faces a much better perimeter than Auburn, even in the loaded Big 12. The backcourt is the wheelhouse for the Tigers, where guards Tahaad Pettiford (22 ppg) and Kevin Overton (50% triples) return from last spring’s NIT title winners. There’s also a matter of revenge here for Auburn after getting blown out 97-68 at Tuscon lest season, when all of the now-NBA Wildcats (Burries, Bradley, and current Suns wing Koa Peat) each scored 16 or more as Arizona would burn the nets with 61% FG shooting. Safe to say that’s going to be difficult to match, and after watching UCLA cause Arizona all sorts of fits last week in Las Vegas, the 'Cats could be looking at similar problems on the Plains tonight.
Play Auburn

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