Player of the Week:
Javonte Brown (Jr., Rhode Island)
Brown had a huge game this week in the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic against Temple this week. Helping Rhode Island pick up a win in their only game with week against a good team with Temple. Brown was dominant inside the arc shooting 9/11 from the field and then also going 3/4 from the free throw line. Javonte finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds both are way over his season averages. Brown was the leading scorer for both teams in this game. The starting center has been great for this Rhode Island team helping them off to a great start to this season with a 11-1 record and will start games back up on 12/31 against Duquesne.
Who’s Hot:
Tyler McGhine (Sr., UC San Diego)
The starting guard Tyler McGhine has had a great start to the season shooting the ball behind the 3-point line shooting 42.4% from that part of the court. He continued that great showing in UC San Diego game this week where he went off for 27 points in the game against USD. Tyler shot 7-10 from the 3-point line in the game giving him 21 points from there. McGhine is averaging 18 points per game which is tied for 69th in the country.
Pjay Smith (Sr., Furman)
Furman has been off to a great start to the season with a 12-1 record which has been led by great guard play especially by Pjay Smith. He was the story of this weeks game in their win over Harvard. Smith finished with 25 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Pjay has been very efficient he is shooting over 50% from the field and from behind the 3-point line and that is followed up with shooting 82.1% from the free throw line.
Who’s Not:
Phillip Russell (Sr., VCU)
Not just this game but pretty much this whole season so far has been rough sledding for Phillip so far. All his shooting percentages have been down for the season compared to other seasons. In his past game against William & Mary he only had 8 points and 2 rebounds but did have 6 assists. He also only shot 25% from three and from the field in that game.
Jestin Porter (Sr., Middle Tennesse)
Although Middle Tennesse had a very tough matchup this week playing Tennessee and on top pf that the game was at Tennessee I think they wanted more out of Porter and not just this game but on the season. In 33 minutes in this game, he did not shoot the ball well at all. He finished with just 8 points and also only 3 rebounds. Jestin shot 22.2% from the 3-point line and then 23.1% from the field. He will look to hopefully get back on track against FIU on 1/2.
Top 5 teams outside the Power 5 Conferences
5. Liberty – CUSA
With a 12-1 record on the year with their only loss being a 3-point loss to FAU where they should have won, they are ranked 5th in my rankings of teams outside the Power 5 Conferences. Liberty has a pretty deep team with 8 guys playing at least 12 minutes a game then 5 more guys that play like 7 minutes a game. They are sitting at the top of their conference without conference play starting yet but it looks like it will be their conference to lose.
4. Utah State – Mountain West
Same with the team above Utah State is 11-1 on the season with a 2-point loss to UC San Diego where arguably they should have won that game also. Utah State is led by a deadly duo with Mason Falslev and Ian Martinez. They are followed by a really strong support system around them to make them a really good team. Utah State has a huge game 12/28 against 23 ranked San Diego State so we will see where they stand after that game.
3. Drake – MVC
A team that just keeps figuring it out and finding ways to win every game making them one of the hottest teams outside of the Power 5 conferences is Drake. They are 11-0 on the season so far with some good quality wins along the way like Miami and Kansas State. Bennett Stirtz is obviously the stud of this team, but he keeps doing what is necessary to keep his team going in the right direction. They are .5 games back in conference play due to Indiana State being 2-0 in conference play, but Drake will have time to win their conference.
2. San Diego St – Mountain West
Although San Deigo State is 8-2 on the season those losses came early in the season to two great teams with Gonzaga and Oregon. They have two huge wins over Creighton and Houston leading to the top 25 ranking that they have. Like I said earlier they have a big game against Utah State on 12/28.
1. Gonzaga – West Coast Conference
Gonzaga has a huge game against 22 ranked UCLA on 12/28 to show they are still at the top of not just outside the Power 5 conferences but also one of the top teams in the country. Gonzaga has some good wins on the season, but their losses outweigh those wins they need to prove they still belong here with a win over UCLA. This is one of their last chances to get a true quality win before their conference play starts, which also makes it that much more important for a win.