It’s the first weekend of the NCAA season, and therefore the perfect opportunity to take a first look at this first week of competition in the new 2022/23 fiscal year. Even if the serious things have not really started yet, there are still several interesting points to discuss, on the menu of this first weekly recap.
First, the start of the season for the “big guys”, the four historic “Blue Bloods” of the university championship: Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas and duke.
The four programs played two home games this week, all of which they won relatively easily, without much surprise, against modest teams in the first division college (Howard and Duquesne for Kentucky, Wilmington and Charleston for UNC, Omaha and North Dakota State for Kansas, and finally Jacksonville and USC Upstate for Duke). Average difference of these eight games, the four teams combined: 25.9 points.
The most contested game was North Carolina’s second, against Charleston last night. The Tar Heels, ranked first in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25, were indeed trailing after a meager first half (43-50), before passing the fifth speed after the break, under the impulse of the awakening of the pivot Armando Bacot, author of 27 of his 28 points in the second half. The leader Caleb Love also brought a substantial volume of play, with 25 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists (its highlights).
The Kenny Payne era got off to a bad start in Louisville…
The first official game of Kenny Payne’s first season on the bench Louisville ended in a defeat of a small point (66-67), against the neighboring college of Bellarmine.
The Cardinals had started the game well, however, taking advantage of their size advantage to get into the rhythm in attack. But their opponents, older and therefore more experienced, managed to play their game quietly throughout the first half, at the end of which they were at +11 (41-30).
At the very end of the match, when we thought they had been knocked out since they were trailing by 12 points (55-67) three minutes from the final buzzer, the Cardinals very nearly upset the outcome of the match with an 11-0 in a few minutes. possessions to come back to 66-67 at the start of the last minute! Unfortunately, the leader El Ellis (14 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists) missed a free throw to tie, then a siren shot to win.
” They deserved their victory. It’s a very well-coached team, which has played better than us. » said Kenny Payneafter his first bitter outing on the sound bench alma mater. ” They were the aggressors, cornered us. »
Gonzaga narrowly wins against Michigan State, on… an aircraft carrier!
For the third time in NCAA history, a regular season game was held on an aircraft carrier.
It was last night, late afternoon in the United States, between Gonzaga and michigan state, aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, currently in San Diego Bay, California. Naturally, the date was not insignificant: that of November 11, date of the armistice of 1918 and therefore of “Veterans Day” in the country of Uncle Sam, a public holiday as in France.
In “outdoor” conditions, therefore, which did not help the two teams to score behind the arc (4/18 for Gonzaga, 3/16 for Michigan State), it was Gonzaga who won the snatch, by the smallest possible gap (64-63). Led by 12 points at the start of the second period, the Bulldogs never gave up and completed their “comeback” at the end of the “money-time”, largely thanks to a very good Drew Timmeindefensible in the paint of the Spartans, and author of a solid double-double (22 points and 13 rebounds).
” Gonzaga is simply Gonzaga. They are very strong. But they are, because they have a ‘go-to-guy’. In the late game, this guy took matters into his own hands. It’s his job said a bitter Tom Izzo afterwards, helpless against Drew Timme’s dominance in hot moments. ” I want to remember the positive of this match, of the particular configuration, of the tribute to our veterans, but it is difficult to think of anything other than the defeat, after having led for almost 30 minutes. »
Emoni Bates resurfaced
More in the spotlight for legal than sporting reasons in recent weeks, Emoni Bates finally found its way back to the field, this week for the recovery.
Even better: he shone with a thousand lights, with an XXL performance last night for Eastern Michigan, against Michigan, in a match held in the Little Caesars Arena of the Pistons, in Detroit.
Indeed, despite his team’s narrow defeat against Juwan Howard’s Wolverines (88-83), whom he and his teammates admirably stood up to until “money-time”, Emoni Bates recalled the enormous scoring qualities that are his, and which made him a superstar on the high school circuit: 30 points at 12/19 on shots!
” There are a lot of positives to take from his game. [Michigan] had a plan for him, and he thwarted it by scoring 30 points » summed up his coach, Stan Heath, while former NBAer and Michigan resident Glen Rice, present in the stands, was full of praise for the young winger native of the State. ” wow! That’s my feeling. I wish this kid only success. »
