Ranking the Top 10 Most Memorable Performances of the 2023-24 Men's CBB Season so Far
Now that the NFL season is officially over, we take you live to your regularly scheduled men's college basketball season, already in progress.
If you're just now paying attention to the action on the hardwood, welcome to the party! But you've missed quite a few impressive individual performances.
Before we dive in, two important notes regarding the ranking process:
- Opponent matters, and it matters a lot. That doesn't mean we are exclusively considering games played against AP Top 25 foes, but you'll have to forgive us for not including Chicago State's Jahsean Corbett going for 27 points, 19 rebounds and 11 assists against whatever the heck East-West is.
- Did your team win? Though we fully appreciate there's only so much an individual player can control in this regard, a fantastic performance feels a bit 'all for naught' in defeat. For instance, Mark Sears going for 35 in the loss to Purdue pales in comparison to Boo Buie going for 31 in a win over the Boilermakers.
This is inherently a subjective ranking, but it basically boils down to: How unforgettable was the individual performance?
Honorable Mentions
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Hunter Dickinson (Kansas) vs. Kentucky, Nov. 14
27 points, 21 rebounds, 3 steals
Kevin McCullar Jr. (Kansas) vs. Kentucky, Nov. 14
12 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists
KenPom crowned Dickinson the MVP of this game, but a triple-double in one of the most highly anticipated games of the entire season sure feels noteworthy. It's only fitting that we can't decide which was more impressive, as we've spent the entire season struggling to decide which Jayhawk is more worthy of National Player of the Year consideration.
Kevin Cross (Tulane) vs. Furman, Dec. 14
25 points, 12 rebounds, 12 assists, 6 steals
Of this season's triple-doubles, this one was arguably most impressive, as Cross actually got a "triple-dozen" with six steals to boot. Playing 47 minutes in a double-overtime game didn't hurt his stat line, but Cross became just the fourth player in more than a decade to go for 12 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists in a game.
DaRon Holmes II (Dayton) at Cincinnati, Dec. 16
28 points, 7 rebounds, 5 blocks
Holmes has been spectacular all season in pacing Dayton to what might be its highest NCAA tournament seed ever. He's had a few higher-scoring games and definitely several better rebounding performances, but this was quite the stat line from the Flyers star in their biggest win of the year.
R.J. Davis (North Carolina) vs. Wake Forest, Jan. 22
36 points, four rebounds, two assists
Davis had already landed on the national radar in a big way before this game, including going for 27 points in the marquee win over Tennessee in late November. But this 36-point performance was where it started to feel like he was the clear choice for first-runner-up to Zach Edey for NPOY.
Sherif Gross-Bullock (Bryant) vs. UMBC, Jan. 6 and Feb. 1
Jan. 6: 41 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 assists
Feb. 1: 35 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 assists
Either game by itself would not have jumped off the page. Even two impressive performances by the same player but against different teams wouldn't have stood out. But Gross-Bullock twice beat up on UMBC, scoring more than half of his team's points in the first game and needing all of them in a narrow win in the rematch.
Sincere Parker (Saint Louis) at La Salle, Feb. 7
33 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal
You might be thinking, "33 points is nice, but, come on, what am I missing here?" Well, what's missing is the fact that Parker came off the bench and only played 18 minutes in this game. The only other player thus far this season to score at least 30 points while logging 22 minutes or fewer against a D-I school was Marquette's Kam Jones (31 points in 21 minutes) in a 91-57 demolition of Georgetown. Even lightning-in-a-bottle freshman Rob Dillingham has yet to score 30 off the bench for Kentucky. (Parker also went for 34 in his next game, albeit in 27 minutes.)
Myles Rice (Washington State) at Stanford, Jan. 18
35 points, 8 assists, 4 steals, 2 rebounds
This is the most honorable of the honorable mentions. What's perhaps most impressive is that Rice got to 35 points despite missing his only free-throw attempt of the game. Rice became one of just nine players in the past 14 seasons to tally at least 15 made field goals and eight assists in a single game—and one of only two on that list to do so in 35 minutes or fewer.
10. Tommy Bruner vs. South Dakota (Jan. 25)
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Stat Line: 49 points, 8 assists, 3 steals, 3 rebounds, 15-34 FG, 5-12 3P, 14-15 FT
For the most part, we're going to be talking about All-American candidates putting on a show against respectable competition, not some dude from Denver beating up on one of the worst defenses in the country.
However, that dude is Tommy Bruner, AKA the nation's leading scorer at 25.5 PPG.
And this wasn't some random "pad the stats in a blowout" performance. It was a back-and-forth, double-OT extravaganza that produced the two highest single-game point outputs of the season, with South Dakota's Kaleb Stewart also going for 44 points.
And how's this for bonkers? Bruner scored 10 points in the final 36 seconds of the first overtime, draining a trio of triples, including a four-point play to tie the game and force a second OT.
Bruner only scored two of his 49 points in that final frame, sadly falling just shy of a rare 50-burger. But he did have three assists and the steal that led to Isaiah Addo-Ankrah hitting the game-winning bucket with a fraction of a second left on the clock.
9. Quincy Olivari at DePaul (Feb. 3)
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Stat Line: 43 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 0 turnovers, 12-20 FG, 12-12 FT
Calling DePaul a high-major program in its current state is the equivalent of calling a tomato a fruit. It may be technically true, but no one thinks of it that way.
All the same, Xavier's Quincy Olivari is the only high-major player to score at least 40 points in a game this season, as well as the only player to do so against a high-major foe.
In fact, Olivari became the first high-major player to score at least 43 points in a game against a high-major opponent since Luka Garza's 44-point special against Michigan in December 2019—which came one week after Markus Howard dropped 51 on USC.
That deserves a spot in the top 10, right?
This game was over before it started, but Olivari had 13 points within the first seven minutes before really pouring it on in the second half. Had he not scored a single point after the intermission, Xavier most likely still wins. But he scored 25 more, as the Musketeers handed the Blue Demons yet another blowout loss.
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8. Jamal Shead vs. Texas Tech (Jan. 17)
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Stat Line: 29 points, 10 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 12-16 FG, 3-3 FT
Texas Tech's defense under Grant McCasland is a far cry from what it was under Chris Beard.
But points-assists double-doubles against the Red Raiders don't exactly grow on trees.
In fact, in the past decade, it has only been done three times: Marcus Smart (16 points, 10 assists on Feb. 22, 2014), Trae Young (27 points, 10 assists on Jan. 9, 2018) and this gem from Jamal Shead last month.
Shead had 15 points and four assists by halftime and basically repeated it after the intermission. His seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th assists came on consecutive possessions as Houston turned a comfortable win into a relentless beatdown.
For Shead, it was this breakout party that really jump-started his case for first-team All-American consideration. He was already an elite defender, a great distributor and an all-around efficient leader of one of the best teams in the nation. But he was just barely averaging 10 points per game into mid-January.
It was around that same time last year that Marquette's Tyler Kolek realized, "You know what? I can just put this ball in the hoop by myself sometimes." Kolek went from 9.0 PPG in his first 18 games to 16.9 over his latter 18, and Shead seems to be on a similar trajectory.
Speaking of Kolek...
7. Tyler Kolek at Villanova (Jan. 30)
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Stat Line: 32 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 10-20 FG, 7-8 FT
Villanova sure would be thrilled if it doesn't need to run into Tyler Kolek for a third time in the Big East tournament. In addition to this one-man shellacking in Philadelphia, he also had 21 points and 11 assists in Marquette's first win over the Wildcats.
Kolek had 13 points and five assists within the first 15 minutes at Villanova, pacing the Golden Eagles to a 20-point advantage. Kind of seemed like they wouldn't much need him after that, and maybe he felt the same way, held scoreless for the next 13 minutes as Villanova stormed back to take the lead.
But then something snapped, and he went off again.
Marquette pushed back ahead by making three-pointers on five consecutive possessions, four by Kolek and one assisted by him. And when Villanova threatened to make things interesting again near the end of regulation, Kolek calmly stepped to the free-throw line and iced the game away en route to a career-high 32 points.
6. Jaedon LeDee vs. Washington (Nov. 19)
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Stat Line: 34 points, 17 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 1 steal, 10-20 FG, 14-18 FT
This game was the culmination of Jaedon LeDee's incredible early season breakout.
LeDee had scored 17 or more points just twice in his first four seasons, but he consecutively went for 27-21-27-25 in quickly becoming the main reason San Diego State could make it back to the Final Four for a second straight year.
With nothing else going on in college hoops late on a Sunday night in mid-November, it felt like everyone (who was still awake) was honed in on this Continental Tire Main Event championship game.
LeDee already had 24 points and 15 rebounds by the time overtime began, but he couldn't miss in the extra period. Literally. He went 2-for-2 from the field and 6-for-6 from the charity stripe in carrying the Aztecs to a three-point victory.
He did melt down late in regulation, missing two free throws, committing a turnover and committing the foul with one second left that could have given Washington the win if Paul Mulcahy had made both free throws. But he sure made up for it in his chance at redemption.
5. Dalton Knecht vs. Florida (Jan. 16)
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Stat Line: 39 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 10-23 FG, 9-9 FT
If you waited until after the college football national championship game to start watching college basketball, you might be convinced that Dalton Knecht is the runaway favorite for National Player of the Year.
Since Jan. 8, Tennessee's offensive dynamo is averaging 29.3 points per game, with this explosion against Florida the most absurd of the bunch.
The eight rebounds were a season-high for Knecht, while the 39 points was a career-high for the former Northern Colorado star. Nearly 13 minutes into the game, there was absolutely no indication it was coming.
Prior to the third media timeout of the first half, he had just two points and one rebound. But he scored 20 of Tennessee's final 22 points before the intermission, the lone exception coming via a pair of J.P. Estrella free throws.
Knecht also started slow in the second half, but scored 17 more points in the final 13 minutes of regulation.
He did miss a three-point attempt with under a minute remaining in a 20-point game. Kind of a rude/bold move to even have your star player on the floor at that point in a blowout, let alone hunting a 40-burger. But, hey, every point matters in the NET era of tournament resumes, right?
4. Max Rice at New Mexico (Jan. 31)
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Stat Line: 35 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist, 12-20 FG, 4-4 FT
Independent of any other information about this game, scoring 35 in a road win is simply impressive. Through Friday morning, it had only been done 19 times this season.
But Max Rice's 35-point explosion at New Mexico was the only one of the bunch to come against a team currently projected to make the NCAA tournament. That's a big feather in the Bronco's cap.
And 35 points by a visiting player at The Pit? That doesn't happen. It was just the third such individual performance since the beginning of 2010-11, and the first in more than seven calendar years.
For Rice to do it this year, no less—with New Mexico playing by far its best defense since at least 2015—is even more ridiculous.
It came in a crucial win, too. Boise State was very much a bubble team heading into that game at UNM, but Rice put the team—and perhaps the Broncos' entire season—on his back for an 86-78 road win that stands out in a big way on their tournament resume.
Rice scored 24 of those 35 points in the second half, consistently keeping the Lobos at bay. When they briefly pulled ahead 49-48, Rice came down and immediately drilled a trey. And when the Lobos tied it up again at 67, guess who hit the triple to put the Broncos ahead to stay?
All things considered, we've clearly reached the portion of the rankings where each performance has a case for the No. 1 spot.
3. Zach Edey at Iowa (Jan. 20)
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Stat Line: 30 points, 18 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 assists, 10-15 FG, 10-15 FT
Really, just close your eyes and point at Zach Edey's game log and you're probably going to land on a good candidate for this list. The reigning National Player of the Year has scored in double figures in every game, has a 100+ O-rating in every game and is up to 15 double-doubles for the season.
But this one stands out a little bit because Edey put Owen Freeman in a meat grinder.
Iowa's standout freshman was averaging nearly 14 points and nine rebounds in the seven games prior to hosting Purdue, starting to assert himself in a lineage of recently dominant Hawkeye big men that includes Luka Garza and the Murray twins.
However, neither Freeman nor the Hawkeyes ever had a prayer in this one. He managed just six points and two rebounds while Edey went for 30 and 18, respectively.
As an entire team, Iowa managed just 24 rebounds in this 84-70 home loss, meaning Edey almost beat them on the glass by himself. (This was also true one week earlier against Penn State, when Edey had 20 rebounds to the Nittany Lions' 24.)
2. Johnell Davis vs. Arizona (Dec. 23)
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Stat Line: 35 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 15-27 FG, 4-5 FT
Here's a fun little hypothetical question: If Florida Atlantic didn't win this double-overtime neutral-site game against a potential No. 1 seed, would the Owls even be projected to dance right now?
It was FAU's only win over a NET top 40 teams, and it has suffered four losses to teams definitely not in the mix for an at-large bid, so...probably not?
But it's a moot point, because Johnell Davis out-dueled Arizona's Caleb Love for one of the biggest wins any team has gotten in this entire season.
Florida Atlantic was down 19-5 early on in what certainly wasn't looking like an instant classic. And that's largely because Davis didn't get on the board until more than 12 minutes into the game.
Once he got rolling, the game got awesome. All three of his assists came early in the second half as the Owls stormed out to their first lead.
Davis then scored 15 of FAU's next 19 points before cooling off for the remainder of regulation. But he carried the Owls through the first overtime, scoring eight of their 11 points to put another five minutes on the clock. He added a couple more in the second extra period en route to 35 points—one shy of his career high set last January against UAB.
1. Boo Buie vs. Purdue (Dec. 1)
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Stat Line: 31 points, 9 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 0 turnovers, 10-20 FG, 9-10 FT
It's a shame that this season's biggest masterpiece happened on a Friday night in early December. Not only that, it came in a game that was supposed to take a major backseat to the Connecticut-Kansas showdown that tipped off at the same time.
But such is college basketball, where we are constantly reminded to expect the unexpected.
Unexpected like a 6'2" point guard outplaying a 7'4" reigning NPOY in a colossal overtime win against the No. 1 team in the nation.
No, Boo Buie wasn't actually defending Zach Edey. However, it sure felt like a title bout between two titans from substantially different weight classes.
Edey got his, going for 35 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks. But Buie made up for it with his 31 points, with his defense on Braden Smith and with his ability to keep getting Fletcher Loyer switched onto him before just plain embarrassing the sophomore guard time and again late in the game.
It was going to take a near miracle for Northwestern to overcome Purdue's 52-27 edge in rebounding, and Buie leading the Wildcats to a plus-14 edge in turnover margin was that exact near miracle.
Buie hit what could have been the game-winning dagger (over Edey) near the end of regulation, except Matt Painter was able to draw up a sidelines out of bounds play to get Edey the game-tying layup. And in OT, Buie had seven points, an assist and a steal to seal the deal.
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