The three games north of the border on Saturday brought on a lot of action and good basketball, with Buffalo beating Harvard 88-76, Tennessee beating Washington 75-62 and St. Bonaventure grabbing an 80-74 win over Rutgers. Here is one major observation I had for each squad.
Buffalo can rely on different guys
The Bulls had four guys in double figures, including three with 18 or more, headlined by a career-high 21 points for sophomore Ronaldo Segu off the bench. Antwain Johnson had 19 as well, and arguably their best player in Jayvon Graves had 18, including a buzzer-beating three at the end of the first half, giving Jim Whitesell’s squad a two-point lead at the break and seemed to be a momentum-shifter after a slow start on the defensive end. They really turned it on in the second half, scoring 48 points with a number of players. Davonta Jordan was no slouch either, with eight points to go along with seven assists. Jeenathan Williams had 10 points and eight rebounds. The MAC won’t be as easy for them with a few more talented teams, most notably Bowling Green, but they can easily make a run to try to get to their third straight NCAA Tournament.
Harvard’s size will define them
All five of Harvard’s starters are at least 6’5″, and three of them are 6’7″ or taller. The tallest of the bunch is the 6’9″ Chris Lewis, who scored 11 points and had eight rebounds, one of three Crimson to have eight or more. They have a balanced scoring attack and their size allows them to force the ball inside, but have deep threats in Bryce Aiken, Justin Bassey and Luka Sakota. Their size is not seen too much in the Ivy League and really helps them. They are a team that has a real shot to win the Ivy and get to their first NCAA Tournament since 2015. This is the last shot for a senior class that has seven players, including Aiken and Bassey, who have never been in the tournament.
Tennessee is very legit
The Vols had a run to the Sweet 16 last year, a run that was ended by Carsen Edwards and Purdue. They lost Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield and a lot of people said they would take a step back. However, the win over Washington was very convincing, a win in which they shot the ball extremely well, including having a well-above average mid-range game that really picked apart Mike Hopkins’ 2-3 zone at times. Jordan Bowden played very well, as did Yves Pons and John Fulkerson, and Lamonte Turner did a great job at drawing fouls and was rewarded, shooting 11 free throws and making nine of them, finishing the game with 16 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, but did have six turnovers. With their balance and excellent fundamental play, they can be a top-three team in the SEC.
Washington still has work to do
Like I said before, Tennessee picked apart Washington’s 2-3 zone during significant portions of the game. The 2-3 zone is one that I believe has grown out of style and doesn’t work in college basketball all too well today, especially against high-level teams. They need to improve their defensive structure, but whether that will happen remains to be seen. On offense, they looked good at certain moments, but at others they didn’t really gel and they struggled because of that by trying to get too fancy. Hameir Wright didn’t score in his 20 minutes, and Jaden McDaniels struggled shooting. Nahziah Carter did do well, as did Isaiah Stewart. However, chemistry will come in time, as they start two freshmen, and non-conference play is a good time to work out the kinks.
St. Bonaventure will be fine
An 0-3 start got a lot of people in Olean panicking. They lost home games to Ohio and Vermont and then lost by 13 to Siena on the road. Saturday allowed Bonnie fans to take a deep breath and look at the team in a more positive note. The freshman pairing of Alejandro Vazquez and Justin Winston was terrific, scoring 20 and 19 points respectively. Despite being a very young team relying on some sophomores in Kyle Lofton and Dominick Welch, they play like an experienced team. Will losing Osun Osunniyi for an extended period hurt? Of course. However, they have a lot of talent to rely on, and Mark Schmidt always has his teams prepared, so they will be alright.
Rutgers is too young to really compete in the Big 10
Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: Rutgers can’t compete in the Big 10 right now. Starting four sophomores doesn’t help with that. However, all four of the sophomores, most notably Ron Harper, Jr. and Montez Mathis have a lot of potential to be stars, but just not yet. Steve Pikiell is definitely in the second half of rebuilding a program that hasn’t made a tournament appearance since 1991 and has a conference record of 13-43 in the Pikiell era. They did take a step up last year, winning seven conference games, the first time they had done that since the 2005-06 season and another step up, maybe an NIT appearance, can be realistic if they do so. It’ll still be a struggle for them to compete in the top tier of the Big 10 this year, but give it two years. They have potential.
AJ Hoops 