2/8 - College Hoops Week in Review: Malcolm Delaney and UNLV

What we learned this week: Could the Atlantic 10 actually get six teams into the NCAA Tournament? Right now, that looks like a very real possibility. Temple is in, and Xavier is all but a lock. Rhode Island, who has an excellent computer profile most likely a result of their 8-2 record on the road, is probably in if they can beat Richmond at home or Temple on the road. Richmond very well could have cemented their bid by beating Temple on Saturday, giving them the marquee victory they were missing. Dayton probably still has some work to do, but what better way to get started than by beating a conference rival and league-leader by 25 points?

The ironic part in all of this is that Charlotte, who is actually leading the A-10 in the standings, probably has the most work to do. They have the lowest RPI of the group and have played by far the weakest schedule. While a 22 point win at Louisville is nice, as is a win at Richmond, losing to Duke by 42 and Old Dominion by 33 might have made those wins a wash. They do own a marquee win, beating Temple at home, but 15 of their 18 wins have come against teams with RPI's in the triple digits. The 49ers will have a chance to rectify that, as they play Dayton (road), Xavier (home), URI (road) and Richmond (home) in their last seven games. Win two of those, and beat the teams they are supposed to beat, and Charlotte is dancing.


Conference USA, on the other hand, is fading. Right now, it looks like the only team with a real shot of getting an at-large berth is UAB, and even that is looking a bit iffy right now if the Blazers struggle down the stretch. The biggest problem for C-USA is simply a lack of quality wins. Between the four teams that are competing for the regular season title (UAB, UTEP, Memphis, Tulsa), they have a grand total of one top RPI 25 win and three other top 50 wins. C-USA is interesting because, like the A-10, the team leading the conference doesn't have the best chance of getting an at-large bid. UTEP, at 8-1, as a one game lead over UAB and Tulsa, and a game and a half lead over Memphis.

Memphis blew a great chance to really bolster their resume by losing at home on Saturday to a Gonzaga team that beat Portland on Thursday in Washington in a game that tipped at 11pm. That was far from a fresh Zags team, and the Tigers still lost late. Tulsa will also get a chance on the 25th as they travel to Cameron Indoor. They likely need a win there if they want to remain in the conversation.

Who, if anyone, gets an at-large bid from C-USA, and who wins the league title, will likely be determined on the last day of the regular season. Tulsa plays at Memphis and UAB plays at UTEP on March 6th.


Kansas has struggled a bit of late, needing overtime to beat Colorado and struggling to put away Nebraska, two Big XII cellar dwellers. As is customary given the time of year, questions have arisen over whether or not the Jayhawks really are as good as we think they should/could be. Its a fair question, as neither Sherron Collins or Cole Aldrich have put up the numbers they did last, which made them shoe-ins for the pre-season all-american team. Xavier Henry has faded after a hot start to the year. Tyshawn Taylor has yet to show up this season. But despite all those questions marks, Kansas is still undefeated at the mid point of the conference season, leading the best conference in the country by three games with eight to play.

To be fair, Kansas does have a bit of a backloaded schedule. They have to play at Texas, at Texas A&M, at Oklahoma State, and at Missouri, while also getting Kansas State and Oklahoma at home.

Speaking of Oklahoma, if they could only play every game in Norman, they would probably win a national title. They are 0-4 in the league on the road (including losses to Iowa State and Nebraska), they lost at VCU, at Gonzaga, and to UTEP, San Diego, and Houston on neutral courts. But they've beaten Texas, Missouri, and Oklahoma State at home.

Don't count out Oklahoma State just yet. Like the Sooners, they have struggled a bit on the road, losing to Tulsa, Rhode Island, Baylor, Texas Tech, and Texas A&M away from Gallagher-Iba. They have also now lost three games in a row, but two of those (at Missouri and at home to Texas) were without Ray Penn, and the third (at Tech) came with James Anderson in serious foul trouble. The Cowboys have a tough schedule down the stretch, but at least they are now at full strength.


The SEC West may actually be as bad as the Pac-10. Unless Ole Miss can do something to turn their season around, that division may not be getting an at-large bid. The Rebels are 36th in the RPI, but they have just one top 50 win. It just so happens that the one top 50 win is over Kansas State, which is what is keeping them in the conversation. But, as I mentioned, Ole Miss has been struggling of late, losing two in a row before having to make a 23 point second half comeback against Alabama.

Mississippi State has lost four of their last five games, dropping their record to 16-7. They have just two losses worth anything -- Old Dominion and at Ole Miss -- and are currently sitting in third place in SEC West. The leader? Arkansas. That should tell you something.


Both the Big East and the ACC is a mess in the middle of the league. Duke looks to be the best team in the ACC, but they struggle on the road and seem to once again be lacking a real low post scoring presence. In the Big East, Villanova, West Virginia, Syracuse, and Georgetown have asserted themselves as the favorites in the league, with Pitt not all that far behind. But past those teams, no one is asserting themselves. There are 14 teams, seven in each league, that are floating somewhere around the bubble. There is a lot of work to be done by teams in both leagues, and a lot of games with bubble significance. While the end of the season and the conference tournaments always make or break the tournament destiny for a couple of teams, there is going to be a lot of moving and shaking in both the Big East and the ACC in the next month.


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech

If you follow Delaney on twitter, than you know that he believes that his Hokies' team is as good as anyone in the ACC. I'm not going to lie, I doubted Tech for a while. I was one of the people being vocal about the fact that Tech has not played a tough schedule and hasn't beaten anyone.

Malcolm Delaney is carrying the Hokies.
(photo credit: Collegiate Times)

And while I still have my doubts about the Hokies, the reason I'm starting to believe is Delaney. He led Tech to a 2-0 week, beating both UNC and Clemson, while averaging 25.5 ppg and 4.0 apg. Overall, Va Tech has won four of five in the ACC, and is now just a game back of Duke and Maryland in the loss column. Perhaps more impressive is that Virginia Tech is now on the verge of earning an at-large bid. They still have tough road games at Duke and at Georgia Tech, but their other six games are very winnable. If Virginia Tech gets to 10-6 in the ACC, are they going dancing?

Delaney, who made 27 of his 30 free throws on the week, is the ACC's leading scorer and a favorite for conference player of the year.

They were good too

• Greivis Vasquez, Maryland: Are the Terps the second best team in the ACC? They very well may be after going 2-0 this week. Vasquez was the best player on the court both nights, averaged 24.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg, and 9.0 apg.
  
• Tre'Von Willis, UNLV: The Rebels had a 2-0 week, including a big win over BYU, and Willis was the star. He averaged 24.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg, and 6.0 apg for the week, but it was his 33 points, 8 assists, and 0 turnovers against BYU that impressed.
• Darington Hobson, New Mexico: Hobson led the Lobos to a 2-0 week, averaging 24.0 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 6.0 apg, and 4.0 spg. With UNLV beating BYU, New Mexico is now in a three-way tie for first in the MWC.
  
• Demetri McCamey, Illinois: McCamey led Illinois to a 2-0 week, averaging 18.5 ppg, 9.0 apg, and 4.5 rpg. But the most important performance was the 22 points and 11 dimes he had in Illinois's win over Michigan State. The win kept the Illini within a game of first in the Big Ten, and also game Illinois a marquee win.
• Courtney Fortson, Arkansas: Fortson averaged 25.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, and 5.5 apg to lead the Razorbacks to a 2-0 week as they moved into first place in the SEC West.
  
• Landry Fields, Stanford: The Cardinal may have been swept on the road this weekend, but Fields was as good as he's been all season. In the two games, he averaged 31.0 ppg and 10.5 rpg.
  
• Wesley Witherspoon, Memphis: You think NBA scouts noticed Witherspoon this week? Against some of the best competition Memphis has faced all season, Witherspoon had his two best games of the season, averaging 27.5 ppg as the Tiger's split against UAB and Gonzaga.
• Omar Samhan, St. Mary's: The Gaels won two games this week, keeping pace with Gonzaga atop the WCC standings, and Samhan was absolutely dominating, averaging 23.0 ppg, 11.0 rpg, and 7.5 bpg.
  

TEAM OF THE WEEK: UNLV Rebels

UNLV all but locked up a spot in the tournament with a 2-0 week. They knocked off Wyoming on the road on Wednesday, but it was their performance against BYU on Saturday in Vegas that earned them the Team of the Week honor. UNLV torched BYU, taking a lead as big as 29 in the first half. With the win, UNLV moves into a three-way first place tie in the competitive MWC race with BYU and New Mexico. The Rebels have split with BYU and beat New Mexico in their first meeting.

Tre'Von Willis scored 33 points against BYU.
(photo credit: WaPo)

UNLV already had a couple nice wins over Louisville and Arizona, and also won at the Pit in New Mexico, which is not an easy thing to do. With this win over BYU, the Rebels essentially ensured the MWC will be a three-bid league. The scary part? UNLV is still playing without Derrick Jasper.

They were good too

• Texas A&M Aggies: The Aggies had a very important week, and just missed getting the nod over UNLV. In two games, they won at Missouri, which is not an easy thing to do, and then knocked off a good Baylor team at home. The win over Missouri was especially important for A&M, as it was their first true road win of the year. The Aggies are tied for second in the Big XII with the wins.
  
• Maryland Terrapins: Are the Terps now the second best team in the ACC? That's not certain yet, as they still don't have a signature victory. But what is for sure is that the Terps are currently in second place in the league, and that the Terps won at Florida State and then blew out UNC this week.
• Illinois Fighting Illini: The Illini picked up a huge win this week by beating Michigan State. Despite having a nice record in the Big Ten, this win was their first against a team with a winning record in the conference. Regardless of whether Kalin Lucas was in uniform, Illinois still has five ranked teams to play in their final seven games, and this is a great way to start the end of their season.
• Wisconsin Badgers: Wisconsin swept the Michigan schools this week, moving within a game of the Spartans at the top of the Big Ten. Both wins were by 18 points despite playing without Jon Leuer.
  
• Richmond Spiders: The Spiders picked up a huge win over Temple on Saturday, giving them the marquee win they have been missing. Richmond still has to play Dayton, Xavier, URI, and Charlotte, and will still need to do a little bit of work to get into the tournament. But after beating Temple, they shold feel pretty good about where they are.
• Dayton Flyers: Dayton also picked up a huge win, beating Xavier by 25 points to move to 5-3 in the A-10.

MATCH-UPS IN THE A-10

• 2/8 - 7:00 pm: Villanova @ West Virginia
• 2/8 - 9:00 pm: Kansas @ Texas
• 2/9 - 7:00 pm: Tennessee @ Vanderbilt
  
• 2/9 - 7:00 pm: Illinois @ Wisconsin
• 2/9 - 9:00 pm: Purdue @ Michigan State
• 2/10 - 7:00 pm: Richmond @ Rhode Island
  
• 2/10 - 9:00 pm: Duke @ UNC
• 2/10 - 11:00 pm: New Mexico @ UNLV
• 2/11 - 9:00 pm: Mississippi @ Mississippi State
• 2/11 - 11:00 pm: St. Mary's @ Gonzaga
  
• 2/12 - 9:00 pm: West Virginia @ Pitt
• 2/13 - 1:00 pm: Maryland @ Duke
• 2/13 - 1:45 pm: Missouri @ Baylor
• 2/13 - 4:00 pm: Rhode Island @ Temple
• 2/13 - 6:00 pm: Florida @ Xavier
• 2/13 - 7:00 pm: Memphis @ Tulsa
• 2/13 - 8:00 pm: Georgia Tech @ Wake Forest
• 2/13 - 8:00 pm: Virginia @ Virginia Tech
• 2/13 - 9:00 pm: Tennessee @ Kentucky
• 2/14 - 1:00 pm: Ohio State @ Illinois