JBL | The Quadaily 25, 2029 Season (Day 13): Four Teams, One Column
Welp, we have to do it again.
We have to write about Duke.
(We aren't a fan of it, either.)
The Blue Devils are continuing to ride Jahmiah Rice to some quality wins; in this case, his 17 points and eight assists led Duke to a huge 80-75 win over former #2 Maryland.
Rice made two big free throws, with 22 seconds left, that gave Duke a 78-72 lead. That would be huge, because Sam McArdle responded with a three, cutting the lead in half.
RJ Keely's pair of free throws gave Duke the final margin of victory.
This was a game where turnovers were at a premium (each team had eight), and steals even more so (the two teams combined for seven). A game like that will favor Duke, who has trouble generating steals to begin with. Maryland not being able to put on he pressure allowed Duke to operate within its offense and shoot 50.9% from the field, and 50% (7-14) from three.
Maryland, by contrast, shot 44.6% from the field, and 36% (7-19) from 3.
RJ Keely, meanwhile, has been a revelation for the Blue Devils. The senior has stepped in for Nate Dorsey (who has found some success with the Houston Lightning with the JBL) and has far exceeded expectations. Keely, a sixth man two years ago, was forgotten last season, averaging just 4.9 mpg in 16 games.
So far this year, he's averaging 9.4 points (granted, on 381% shooting) and 6.6 rebounds a game. The points, even with the inefficient shooting, are huge for this team, as they hunt for guys who can take attention away from Rice.
In this game, Keely posted 12 needed points; the team only got seven from Nick van Bree.
For Maryland, this probably should not be considered a major loss; Duke is a good team, probably better than originally expected. They are still breaking in a freshman point guard in Luc Radtke (which isn't really an excuse, but this is a veteran team, so that could be more difficult). What is potentially concerning for Maryland, and something they'll have to address at some point, is the battle of Mason Hargrove and Chuck Featherston.
Featherston, a young freshman from Texas, is averaging 15.3 ppg so far, on 50% shooting. That's fine. But his offense is dipping into Hargrove's production; the Quad All-American is down from 20.0 ppg a year ago, to 14.3 ppg (and 8.0 rpg). He's shooting third-most on the team, while Featherston's twelve attempts a game lead the team.
We aren't rocket scientists, but any team with Mason Hargrove and Sam McArdle should not be led in attempts by a freshman. We don't want to sound compartmentalist, but you have two All-American talents on your team, and this is where you're funneling offense?
It does not make sense.
As Maryland tries to sort out its offensive gameplan, Indiana has been reminding peopple they are still the defending champs. The Hoosiers stormed back to defeat UConn in Storrs on Day 12, outscoring the Huskies 42-27 in the second half to win, 68-60.
Ballyhooed freshman Razul Vuko did the heavy lifting with Kevon Capel in this one, scoring 20 points on 8-17 shooting. He also went 3-8 from three, and added five rebounds. Capel put up 18 on 10 shots, went 4-7 from three, and played stellar defense on Alex Attia all night (82.7 DRtg).
True to form, Indiana won this game on two things: second chance points (13-7, favor of Indiana) and points off turnovers (22-5, favor of Indiana). They held UConn to a 89.6 ORtg, which is what Indiana does so well. Indiana is 16th in oPPG, and 13th in DRtg.
Obviously, the core from last year's team still has that defensive identity. If Vuko can continue to be a solid third option to Capel and August Shannon (18.4 ppg), and a valuable inside presence who can stretch the floor, this Indiana team may go a lot farther than we expected. Our preseason prediction has them mid-table in the Big Ten, and towards the latter end of the at-large bids in the CJBL Tournament.
For Connecticut, though, this is an alarming trend. The Huskies are 167th in offense, 239th in ORtg. They are 270th in defense, 195th in DRtg. To be perfectly honest, when we see the Connecticut Huskies, we are not looking at a tournament team. It's not even weird to say after five games...they simply are not there. They are UCLA for this year, and this will get much uglier than it gets better.
Huskies fans can blame their last two recruiting classes, which produced five players who were 1 or 2 stars, for that. The Huskies have been terrible at bringing players into their program; whether they are at fault for that depends on who you ask, but the point remains that the dearth of talent on this team is evident.
After the last three seasons of top-notch ball in Storrs, the Huskies figure to get nutmegged right out of the scene.
Quadaily 25, 2029 Season
Day 13
1. North Carolina (2-0, 1)
2. Ohio State (5-0, 3)
3. Georgetown (4-0, 4)
4. Maryland (2-1, 2)
5. Southern Cal (3-1, 5)
6. Kansas (2-1, 6)
7. Colorado (3-1, 8)
8. Utah (2-1, 9)
9. Syracuse (4-1, 10)
10. Cincinnati (3-0, 11)
11. Washington (3-1, 12)
12. UNLV (4-1, 7)
13. Arizona (4-0, 13)
14. Villanova (4-1, 14)
15. Duke (5-0, 17)
16. Michigan State (2-1, 15)
17. Kansas State (1-1, 16)
18. New Mexico (2-1, 18)
19. Wisconsin (4-0, 19)
20. LSU (3-2, 21)
21. Iowa State (4-0, 22)
22. Texas (4-1, 20)
23. Georgia Tech (2-1, 23)
24. Kentucky (3-0, 24)
25. UCLA (2-0, 25)
NEXT: Pittsburgh, Marquette, Indiana, Oregon, Alabama