Around The Top 25 (College Basketball): Week 5
It’s everyone’s favorite time of the year. Not only is it the season of Christmas, but the season of upsets.
So far, this year our top teams are a combination of predictable and unpredictable teams.
Houston is holding onto that one spot pretty tightly while everyone else is fighting for it.
We have a lot of action going on in the top 25 so let’s dive in.
Big Ten Unpredictability
On Saturday, the Hooisers took a trip to visit the Scarlet Knights in New Jersey.
Of course, this was a must watch game as these teams are Big Ten rivals.
However, with the way Indiana has been playing, no one was weren’t expecting the Hoosiers to fall to Rutgers so easily.
Indiana was able to keep up with Rutgers for some time as Miller Kopp was single handedly keeping the Indiana offense alive. Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana’s usual superstar, just wasn’t able to get on track like we are used to seeing him do.
Rutgers took the lead half way through the first half and Indiana never responded until five minutes into the second half when it went on a 9-0 run and took the lead.
Rutgers, however, was able to answer going on a 17-0 run, all thanks to freshman Derek Simpson who was on fire in the second half. He scored 11 points in a span of six minutes in the second half.
As time went on, the Hooisers just weren’t able to compete.
Rutgers closed out the game 63-48, handing Indiana its first loss of the season and the crowd was absolutely electric.
Rutgers scoring was more of an even spread and you can tell by watching this basketball program that they really have the ability to work together as a team.
Caleb McConnell led the scoring with 16 points and 10 rebounds, Derek Simpson added 14 points of his own (all in the second half) and Aundre Hyatt tallied on 11. Mawot Mag and Clifford Omoruyi also played their part, each having nine rebounds and scoring a total of 13 points.
As for Indiana, the only big contributors were Kopp and Jackson-Davis. Kopp led both teams with 21 points and Jackson-Davis had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
It is safe to say Indiana was not on the ball and the Hoosiers now sit at the No. 14 spot and at 7-1.
Rutgers however is 6-2 and looking to make some noise in the Big Ten.
Upset Alert
On Sunday, Nebraska took a trip to visit its in-state rival No. 7 Creighton and let’s just say I don’t think the Cornhuskers will be welcomed back anytime soon.
Nebraska handed Creighton its third straight loss sending them to the No. 21 spot.
Before falling to Nebraska, the Blue Jays were (6-2) after suffering two back-to-back losses to ranked Arizona and Texas.
Going into this game, Creighton led the series against Nebraska 29-26 and won 10 of the last 11 against its rivals.
The first half was pretty back and forth as both teams took turns taking the lead. The first half ended with Nebraska leading 25-23 and ever since then it felt like the Blue Jays were trying to play catch up.
To start the second half, Nebraska went on an 8-0 run extending their lead to 31-23.
As time went on, Creighton just wasn’t able to get back on top. The Bluejays had many opportunities to turn this game around but didn’t quite take advantage of them and because of that, fell to Nebraska 63-53.
Nebraska’s Derrick Walker led the way for both teams scoring a career-high 22 points and Sam Griesel added 18 of his own, 13 points in the second half.
Walker held his own against superstar Ryan Kalkbrenner holding him to 10 points. It seems as if the Blue Jays are in some sort of offensive funk. However, Francisco Farabello stepped up for Creighton on Sunday scoring 16 points and going 5-for-9 from three.
Now that Walker is back from injury, the Cornhuskers are proving they are no joke and fans are looking forward to seeing how this team will continue to improve.
As for Creighton, the Bluejays have their work cut out for them as they are 6-3 and sitting at No. 21. They’re going to have to keep fighting to stay alive in the top 25.
The Battle of the Iowas
On Thursday night, Iowa took care of business at home against No. 20 Iowa State blowing them out of the water, 75-56.
The Hawkeyes led the first half 40-20 and simply never looked back. The Cyclones outscored them in the second half 36-35, but it just wasn’t enough to pull off a win.
Now, both teams move to 7-2 on the season and Iowa is looking to sneak into the top 25 after this win.
Iowa has an elite team of players who have absolutely no problem getting to the net. Filip Rebraca led the way with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Patrick and Connor McCaffery added a total of 27 combined points.
Meanwhile, Iowa State’s leading scorer was Gabe Kalscheur with 12 points.
Hopefully Iowa State can figure themselves out, but for now, it’s Iowa’’s time to shine.
No. 17 Illinois Hands No. 2 Texas Its First Loss
On Tuesday, Texas and Illinois matched up in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden.
This game was back and forth all night as both teams were able to get to the rim and knock down threes.
Texas looked good to start, leading for most of the first half but Illinois was able to finish the first with a 37-34 lead. Just when it looked like Texas was breaking away in the second half with a 10 point lead and seven minutes left to play, the Fighting Illini were able to get themselves back into the game knocking down three after three.
Jayden Epps’ two free throws tied up the game 68-68 sending this game into overtime.
Illinois was able to get up by seven in overtime and it held onto the lead all the way until the end to defeat the Longhorns 85-78 in a huge upset.
Despite Illinois' absurd amount of turnovers and inability to make free throws, Texas mistakes outweighed Illinois as the Longhorns weren’t able to take full advantage.
Texas’ Timmy Allen scored 21 points along with Illinois’s Matthew Mayer who were both on fire throughout the night. Terrence Shannon Jr. was a big asset to this Illinois team scoring 12 of his 16 points in overtime and sealing the deal for Illinois.
Overall, Illinois simply just outplayed Texas shooting 43.5% from three and 45% from the field.
Let’s see what Illinois can do next against Penn State.
Gia Sabatino is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, please email gms6168@psu.edu.
