By Aidan Joly
The preseason talk is over, the season is underway.
The 2024-25 season for college basketball officially got underway on Monday night, with lots to talk about the next day.
Here are nine of my takeaways from the first night of the season.
Gonzaga’s beatdown of Baylor
No. 6 Gonzaga fired on all cylinders on opening night, beating No. 8 Baylor in a 101-63 drubbing in Spokane.
The Zags led the game by 19 at halftime thanks to great three-point shooting. Gonzaga had five players in double figures, led by 17 from Nolan Hickman and 15 from Graham Ike.
Off the bench Gonzaga got huge lifts from two sophomores in Braden Huff, who had 14 points in 16 minutes on 7-11 from the field, and Dusty Stromer, who scored 11 points on 4-6 shooting, including 3-5 from three. If the Zags can get sophomore leaps from even one of those players, they will be even more dangerous that originally thought.
On the other side of the ball, it limited Jeremy Roach to nine points on 2-9 from the field, and highly touted freshman VJ Edgecombe had just four points on 2-11 from the field in his collegiate debut.
According to ESPN stats and info, the 38-point win was the largest margin of victory in a season-opening game between top-10 opponents.
Ohio State may be better than we thought
Ohio State picked off No. 19 Texas with an 80-72 win in Las Vegas.
It was a wire-to-wire win, and an impressive one at that. Bruce Thornton was great for the Buckeyes, finishing with 20 points on 7-10 from the field and made three from behind the arc, while Micah Parrish had 17 points. OSU also got lifts off the bench from Devin Royal, who had 16 points in 24 minutes, and John Mobley Jr., who had 14 points in 13 minutes.
You would have liked to see more from South Carolina transfer Meechie Johnson, who had just six points on 2-11 from the field, but he is far too talented to have many more games like that.
There was some skepticism around Ohio State heading into the year and how well they would do after taking the interim tag off of Jake Diebler before last season even ended. But if they keep playing like this, it can compete in the Big Ten.
On the other side, shoutout to Tre Johnson, who had 29 points in a terrific college debut.
Memphis gets important win
It’s rare that you say that a season-opening win is an important one, but that’s how it felt for Memphis, who beat Missouri 83-75.
With all of the noise surrounding the program heading into the season and Penny Hardaway’s job status, it must have felt like a big weight off the shoulders for now to play well and win a game. It’ll probably end up being a Quad 2 win.
Tulsa transfer PJ Haggerty had 25 points in the win and played very well. Tyrese Hunter had to shake off the cobwebs a bit, but still finished with 14.
Now, Memphis needs to keep the momentum from this going and avoid a stretch of a bunch of losses in a short period of time. Monday was a good start.
Will Riley is the real deal
Illinois freshman Will Riley was amazing in his college debut, scoring a team-high 31 points on 10-13 shooting, made five three-pointers and grabbed seven rebounds in a 112-67 win against Eastern Illinois.
Oh yeah, and he did it in just 25 minutes off the bench.
The freshman totally stuffed the stat sheet and seemed like a guy who can be a star for the Illini all season. Out of all the top prospects making their debuts last night, he had the best one.
Cooper Flagg strong in debut, Kon Knueppel even better
Speaking of debuts, how about the one for the number one prospect in the sport? Cooper Flagg was strong in his debut for Duke, finishing with 18 points and seven rebounds in a 96-62 win against Maine. He went just 6-15 from the field, so there were some growing pains during the night, but that is acceptable for a debut.
However, it was fellow freshman Kon Knueppel who really stole the show, finishing with 22 points on 8-14 from the field and became the Blue Devils’ number one option on offense.
This is a loaded Duke team with lots of scoring options. Monday night showed that Flagg doesn’t always have to be the top option if he isn’t having this great shooting night. Jon Scheyer’s team has a ton of options.
Other strong debuts
Some other freshmen had strong nights in wins.
Maryland freshman Derik Queen, the No. 8 prospect in the ESPN top 100, had 22 points and an astounding 20 rebounds in the Terrapins’ 79-49 win against Manhattan. The seven-footer could be Maryland’s best freshman in a very long time.
Georgia’s Asa Newell, the No. 13 prospect, had 26 points and 11 rebounds in the Bulldogs’ 83-78 win against Tennessee Tech. Georgia doesn’t have a ton of talent around him, so he may have to be the main guy from the get-go.
Finally, Syracuse’s Donnie Freeman, the No. 6 prospect, had a solid night with 10 points in 11 rebounds as the Orange struggled but snuck away with an 86-82 win against Le Moyne.
UCF stuns Texas A&M
What’s opening night without a big upset? UCF stunned No. 13 Texas A&M in Orlando, beating the Aggies 64-61.
Darius Johnson had 24 points in the win, while UTSA transfer Jordan Ivy-Curry had 16 points and made a key free throw late. JJ Taylor was important in the final few minutes as well.
UCF struggled last season in its first year in the Big 12, going 7-11 and finishing 12th in the league. If the Knights can take a step in year two in the new league, it can be a team that raises some eyebrows as the year goes on.
Florida is loaded offensively
Staying in the state, No. 21 Florida scored 98 points in a win against South Florida in a neutral site game in Jacksonville.
The Gators showed that they are loaded on offense. Walter Clayton Jr. had 29 points on 10-15 from the field, Will Richard had 25 points on 10-17 shooting, Alijah Martin had 13 points in his debut with the Gators, and Alex Condon added 13 of his own.
Florida entered the season ranked and is a real team to take note of in the SEC. It made positive strides last year and showed promise, and now it feels ready to take that next step up and be one of the best teams in the SEC and a team that is nationally relevant.
It was a spirited effort from South Florida, who played with heavy hearts in its first game since the passing of coach Amir Abdur-Rahim on Oct. 24. The college basketball world is surely rooting for the Bulls this season.
Big East struggles
The Big East did go 8-0, but at one point during the night was staring down the barrel of multiple Quad 4 losses.
In the end though, Villanova beat Lafayette 75-63 after trailing at one point in the second half, Seton Hall beat Saint Peter’s 57-53 after being down by four with under eight minutes left, Providence beat Central Connecticut 59-55 after trailing by as many as seven in the second half, and DePaul needed overtime to beat Southern Indiana 80-78 after the Blue Demons tied the game on a Jacob Meyer three with two seconds left in regulation.
Yes, it did win all of the games, but it is surely something to monitor across the league over the next few weeks.
AJ Hoops 