Friar Basketball

A Look Around College Basketball: Nova Frosh Impresses, Porter-less Hoyas Win, MCW’s Big Night Highlight Second Half of Weekend

CJ_Fair

Notables from the weekend in college basketball…

  • South Florida has been pegged by many as a top half of the Big East club after making noise in last year’s NCAA Tournament, but they started slowly on Saturday afternoon, falling 74-56 to future Big East foe Central Florida.  The losses of big bodies Ron Anderson Jr and Gus Gilchrist may impact this group more than many thought.
  • On the PC schedule: Holy Cross fell to 1-1 on the year after losing to the University of Texas San Antonio, before beating Morgan State by a point on Sunday, while Fairfield snuck past Central Connecticut State Saturday, 64-63.  Brown topped Binghamton on Sunday, 58-49.
  • First Team All Big East forward Jack Cooley is off to a solid start for the Irish with 19 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks in an opening day win over Evansville.  The 19 points came on only seven field goal attempts.
  • Peyton Siva had a 10 point, 10 rebound double double in Louisville’s 79-51 trouncing of Manhattan.
  • A pair of NEPSAC prospects led the way for Syracuse in their 62-49 victory over #22 San Diego State.  CJ Fair (Brewster Academy) could well be primed for a break year.  The Baltimore native finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds in 37 minutes, while St. Andrew’s product Michael Carter-Williams’ fat state line included 17 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals. MCW played 32 minutes, while senior Brandon Triche logged 39.
  • In my preseason preview I had Villanova point guard Ryan Arcidiacono on the all-freshman team, and he got off to a terrific start leading Villanova with 25 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds in an 80-68 win over a good Marshall group.  Arcidiacono went 4-9 from three point range and 9-10 at the stripe.
  • Boston College may not be the pushover that many in Friartown were thinking when the Friars take to the Conte Forum in December, especially with the emergence of sophomore Ryan Anderson.  Anderson, the California native and former top 75 prospect, finished strong as a freshman and started stronger this year with 28 points and 17 rebounds in the Eagles’ opening day win over Florida International.  Freshman point guard Olivier Hanlon is one of the more under-appreciated newcomers this year.  His debut included 12 points and 5 rebounds in 31 minutes.  The Eagles haven’t had a lead guard with his creativity since Steve Donahue took over.
  • Otto Porter went down early against Duquesne on Sunday, but freshman scorer D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera came through for Georgetown in their narrow 61-55 win.

 

 

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