By: William Smythe

With a slate that the basketball gods couldn’t even have dreamt of, eighteen top-25 teams took the court on Saturday in a jam-packed, wild day in the college landscape.

The Good: Jarace Walker, Tar Heel magic, UConn’s versatility

It’s nearly impossible to find three “goods” out of a pot of so many highlights: Brandon Miller’s 36-bomb in a loss to no. 15 Gonzaga and Zach Edey’s continued domination for no. 1 Purdue come to mind, obviously. However, let’s start with the unicorn freshman from no. 5 ranked Houston – forward Jarace Walker.

The nation slept on Kelvin Sampson’s Houston Redemption after the Cougars fell to ‘Bama last Saturday. With this result evidently on their minds, Houston looked like the team we all thought they were in a 69-61 win at no. 2 Virginia – a game that was arguably less competitive than the score suggests.

The key for the ‘Coogs? Walker. Playing all but one minute in Saturday’s contest, Walker made some shots that made everyone question his status as a freshman.

First of all, he’s a 6’8, 240-pound big who can slash to the cup. More worrisomely, Walker showed that he can make contested shots from deep – notching 17 points, cashing in two of three from behind the arc and completing some field goals that simply looked NBA-esque.

The freshman phenom imposed his will on the Cavaliers when guards Jamal Shead and Marcus Sasser struggled (that’s a relative term) and will only improve with Sampson’s guidance.

Man, I really thought the Tar Heels would fall to 7-5. The cardiac ‘Heels tasted the sweet elixir of luck in a season that has not been overly fortunate – having survived off of a buzzer-beating shot from Pete Nance. More encouraging for the North Carolina faithful is their team’s resolve – the ‘Heels trailed by as much as ten in the second half – and the return of Armando Bacot’s dominance (28 pts, 15 rebounds)

 Depth, you might ask? North Carolina has none. This will be the sore spot for Hubert Davis’ crew as the season progresses, yet they just secured their first ranked win to avoid cataclysmic implications before ACC play. To come back and steal victory away from a no. 23 ranked Ohio State in Madison Square Garden should be nothing short of encouraging for fans in Chapel Hill…but questions still remain.

I’m trying to find a weakness in no. 3 UConn’s game, but none come to mind. This might just be the best team assembled in Storrs, Connecticut since 2004’s National Championship team – that’s saying something considering the Huskies have two championships in the past decade alone.

When you have an NPOY candidate in center Adama Sanogo (19.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg) and a lineup that goes nine to ten players deep, you’ve got a juggernaut on your hands.

The Huskies just dismantled Big East opponent Butler by a score of 68-46. Five Huskies tallied at least six rebounds – freshman center Donovan Clingan secured eight in nine minutes – while Coach Dan Hurley leaned on Sanogo against Butler’s Manny Bates (14.1 ppg, 6.7 rpg). 

When Sanogo shines, there’s no reason for concern; furthermore, any of the other stars in Storrs – specifically Clingan and guards Jordan Hawkins and Andre Jackson – are more than happy to round out a dangerous, dangerous UConn offensive unit. And the defense? Held the Bulldogs to an abysmal 46. 

The Bad: Kentucky looks dazed and confused, Indiana drops two straight

John Calipari officially stinks as a coach. Sorry Big Blue Nation, these past few rosters haven’t even been close to your 2012-17 teams. The freshmen don’t carry nearly as heavy of a load anymore and the offense looks like a complete mess.

The no. 13 Wildcats have emphatically lost their two ranked games this season – by 16 to Gonzaga and ten to no. 16 UCLA on Saturday – and senior Oscar Tshiebwe’s rebounding prowess doesn’t always mean he’ll come up big offensively.

Do they practice offensive sets at the University of Kentucky, or is it just chaos? Pretty much everything went wrong against the Bruins besides freshman Chris Livingston’s 14-point effort – off the bench, no less. A six for 21 clip from three-point range isn’t exactly a recipe for success, but the question remains: will Calipari make any more adjustments, or will he let his Wildcats run themselves into the ground? A palpable lack of buzz has been detected in Lexington. 

No. 14 Indiana just went from packing Assembly Hall en route to a dominating win over North Carolina to squandering their last two in a big, big way. Wake up Indiana, that “statement” against the ‘Heels was five games ago, and you’ve lost three of your last four.

Outside of Assembly Hall, the Hoosiers have looked like a shell of themselves after brutal losses to Rutgers (by 15), no. 10 Arizona (by 15) and no. 8 Kansas (by 22). That marks a -36 point differential in their last four games. Ouch.

Something to monitor is the loss of guard Xavier Johnson in Saturday’s loss to Kansas. Seen wearing a walking boot, Johnson’s departure will likely eat into Big Ten play and will force Mike Woodson to look for his next facilitator – someone to lighten the load off of forward Trayce Jackson-Davis’ shoulders. When TJD falters – as he did against Kansas – the Hoosiers look hapless. 

The Ugly: Creighton, just Creighton. Oh, and the Terrapins.

There’s not much reasoning behind Creighton’s six-game skid other than center Ryan Kalkbrenner’s temporary absence. When the Bluejays fell in consecutive contests to ranked opponents in Arizona and Texas, it wasn’t a huge deal…after all, their starting five is the best in the nation, right?

Then came Nebraska, BYU, Arizona State and now, Marquette. Four teams outside of the top-25 have upended the Bluejays and firmly cemented their status far from the attention of AP Poll voters.

Suffice it to say that freshman center Fredrick King alone can’t account for the absence of Kalkbrenner – even after recording back-to-back double-doubles. With a team already suffering from depth, this is a nightmarish scenario for Greg McDermott as the ‘Jays approach conference play.

Three-point shooting has been abysmal in recent games (Creighton went four for 20 against Marquette), and sophomore guard Ryan Nembhard simply hasn’t done enough as the presumed catalyst for their offense early in the year. If Kalkbrenner returns from illness soon, hope may be restored in Omaha – but a hole this big may be impossible to cover up. 

A Big Ten program is sharing Creighton’s pain right now. The no. 20 ranked Maryland Terrapins just packed Xfinity Center (it will always be Cole Field House to me) in a white-out only to lose by 27 to UCLA. That makes three straight losses – first to Wisconsin, then to no. 7 Tennessee and followed by the recent drubbing against the Bruins.

Inefficient halves with prolonged dry spells have plagued the Terrapins in their past two games, even if they clawed back against the Volunteers in the second half last week. 

Kevin Willard’s team just doesn’t keep good care of the ball, and that kills. Sixteen turnovers – as compared to UCLA’s four – allowed the Bruins to feast off of the defensive press and race out to as much as a 38-point lead in College Park.

This is inevitably a team that will be challenged when Big Ten play comes around; we already had some questions about the roster’s makeup before the season, and Willard has done well with the pieces at his disposal. Eliminating dry spells, improving their physicality and taking care of the ball should be Maryland’s keys going forward.