Villanova, the reigning national champ, got smoked this week at home by Michigan. Jay Wright's Wildcats were 6.5-point favorites that lost by 27. Crazy outcome. So Matt Norlander and I opened this episode of The Eye On College Basketball Podcast by discussing the Big East program.
After that, the conversation went like this:
- 14:01: Duke's Zion Wiliamson continues to be the story of college basketball. He finished with 21 points and nine rebounds in 21 minutes in Wednesday's win over Eastern Michigan. So now, on the season, the 6-foot-7 forward is averaging 25.3 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3.0 blocks and 2.7 assists in 25.3 minutes per game. He is 32-of-39 from the field through three contests -- which means he's blocked more shots (nine) that he's missed (seven). And his Player Efficiency Rating is 58.5 -- which is 29.7 points better than Steph Curry's PER and 30.9 points better than LeBron James' PER. Yes, I now have Williamson going No. 1 overall in my updated 2019 NBA Mock Draft.
- 24:20: Ohio State is 3-0 with wins at Cincinnati and Creighton. That's two road wins over top-45 KenPom teams. So Chris Holtmann is already proving his skeptics wrong again. Last season, the Buckeyes were picked 11th in the Big Ten and finished tied for second. This season they were picked ninth. And, right now, they're 19th in the CBS Sports Top 25 And 1.
- 30:58: The Big Ten, as a league, is 34-3 with wins over Villanova, Oregon, Marquette, Xavier, Creighton, Seton Hall and Utah. That's a terrific start to the season. And, for what it's worth, I now I have eight Big Ten programs in the Top 25 And 1.
- 38:05: UConn beat Syracuse -- and Buddy Boeheim's name was misspelled on his jersey. How does that happen? And how good is the clip of Dan Hurley celebrating, intensely, at the buzzer before calmly shaking hands with Jim Boeheim?
- 50:39: It had been more than two decades since a Division I player made 15 3-pointers in a game until Robert Morris' Josh Williams did it Wednesday night. Then, on Thursday night, Furman's Jordan Lyons did it too. Is this a sign of something or purely coincidental?
The latest Eye on College Basketball podcast is below. Give it a listen. And if you're not already subscribed, please subscribe to the podcast via iTunes. If you are already subscribed, thank you. And #ShoutsToDevanDowney.
