Ranking the 10 Best Performances from Opening Games of the 2014-15 CBB Season

This is where we all stand up and say, “We’re all reeeeeal impressed.” Several overachieving, high-flying players had, by any standard, a great opening weekend on the court.

Getting off to a fast start can’t be shortchanged. What it does is set the tone. Also, given that many of the Top 25 teams play such soft opponents, if anyone is worth their scholarship he better have a strong game against the junior varsity varietal.

All across the land, players put up 30, pulled down 16 or stole eight. Dozens of players had great opening weekends. Read on to see who made the list.

10. Missouri State's Marcus Marshall Scores 38

Tom Gannam/Associated Press

It wasn’t just the 38 points that junior Marcus Marshall scored, it was where he was before he nearly dropped 40 that makes it all the more impressive.

Marshall missed the last two months of his sophomore season after knee surgery and in his first game back against Eastern Illinois, he rallied his team on 12-of-16 shooting (6-of-7 from three and 8-of-8 at the free-throw line) to win, 64-53.

Marshall said in the Springfield News-Leader:

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It feels good to be back out there with the guys. I was just in a rhythm today. Guys kept me up. Guys were finding me. It was all a team effort. I didn't want to force the issue. I just wanted to let the game come to me and that's what I did.

"

It was the most points scored by a Missouri State player in a season opener since 1975.

9. Eastern Kentucky and Corey Walden's Thievery

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Eastern Kentucky aims to be one of the most disruptive teams in college basketball, and Corey Walden’s performance in his team’s opener was just that.

Walden pick-pocketed Savannah State for eight steals, but for anyone who follows the Colonels, stealing is what they do. They were sixth best in the country last season with 8.8 steals per game.

Jeff Neubauer, Eastern Kentucky’s coach, told the Lexington Herald-Leader:

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It requires a lot of aggression. It requires depth, which I do think we have quite a bit of. And our guys have really grabbed on to it. They've done a great job with it. To this point, it may have detracted a little bit from our half-court defense, but as a coaching staff that is something we will solve.

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And Walden fit the bill, as his team won 76-53 with 17 steals against Savannah State.

8. Jordan Threloff's Crazy Double-Double

Justin Hayworth/Associated Press

Threloff (right) pulled down 16 boards in his team's win over Aurora.

Jordan Threloff, hailing from Northern Illinois University, had one of the more emphatic double-doubles in a win over Aurora. The senior scored 17 points and ripped down 16 rebounds.

He even earned a nod as one of the best players of the week from Mid-American Conference:

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Threloff dominated the paint against the Spartans, going 6-of-8 from the field in just 21 minutes of action. Threloff grabbed 10 of his 16 rebounds on the defensive end while adding a half-dozen on the offensive end of the floor.

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Northern Illinois coach Mark Montgomery said, "A big key for us today was to pound the ball inside and I thought we did a great job of that." 

Through Monday, Threloff’s 16 boards were the best in the country.

7. Zaid Hearst Scores 34 in Double-Overtime Win

Bob Child/Associated Press

Tom Moore named Zaid Hearst a captain for a reason.

In a battle royale in the state of Connecticut, the Quinnipiac Bobcats needed double overtime to beat Yale, 88-85.

Leading the way for the Bobcats was senior Zaid Hearst, who scored 34 in the win and also added 11 boards and five assists.

Hearst, a senior guard, became the first captain head coach Tom Moore named in his time at Quinnipiac. He doesn’t exactly dole out captaincies like a blackjack dealer.

“I’ve named one captain in my seven years. I can’t say any more than that,” Moore said. “I hold him up on a pedestal and that’s why I named him, just him captain because I think he is just such a great role model for the younger kids to follow.

Not only that, but he was able to perform on the floor and will his team to an opening-night win.

6. Jahlil Okafor's Strong Debut

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Duke’s Jahlil Okafor didn’t have the most astronomical opening weekend, but for a freshman facing Tobacco Road pressure, he performed quite well.

Duke didn’t exactly open its weekend summiting Everest, but it did get a sense that Okafor will be a reliable presence in the middle for the Blue Devils. Okafor scored 19 in his first game against Presbyterian and 17 against Fairfield. Okafor ripped down 15 rebounds over the course of those two games in just 50 total minutes.

Bleacher Report's Joseph Zucker wrote, “Numbers alone don't tell the story of Okafor's night. He simply imposed his will on the Blue Hose inside, which is exactly what you'd expect from the best center in the Class of 2014.”

He did what he was supposed to do, and he didn’t disappoint.

5. Brett Comer's Creation

Nati Harnik/Associated Press

Through two games, Florida Gulf Coast University’s Brett Comer is averaging a double-double: 19.5 points and 11 assists per game.

If he’s not scoring, he’s creating opportunities. Not bad.

He scored 28 in an overtime win against UC Santa Barbara in the second game of the season.

“It was kind of the situation of the game," said Comer, in The News-Press. "They didn't really hedge the ball screen, and the big fella was in foul trouble. It gave me an area to attack, so I just kept attacking.”

In two games he has two double-doubles. Most double-double machines score and rebound, yet Comer is scoring and helps others score.

He’s reminiscent of Syracuse’s Gerry McNamara, a scrappy, rough-around-the-edges guard who’s as good at dishing the ball as he is at scoring.

4. Bryce Alford Scores and Dishes

Julie Jacobson/Associated Press

Bryce Alford had a great opening two games dishing out 12 assists and scoring 18 points in UCLA’s debut against Montana State.

Alford also has the added pressure of being the son of the head coach, that being Steve Alford. There’s no room or time for favoritism or nepotism in athletics, especially at a school with such a storied history.

“I've liked that some people think I only play because my dad's the coach," Bryce told the Los Angeles Times. "That comment alone fuels me 10 times more to work on my game and to prove to people that I belong.”

Bryce followed up his Game 1 double-double with 17 points, seven assists and two steals.

3. Ryan Boatright's Well-Rounded Game

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Connecticut’s title defense began on a victorious note with a 66-53 win over Bryant, and Ryan Boatright played a huge role in that win.

Boatright scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half and also threw in eight rebounds, five dimes and four steals. It was one of the most dynamic opening efforts of the entire weekend.

“Once I got a few picks and a few dunks, everybody's intensity picked up and the game just went our way," Boatright said, via ESPN.com.

With the departure of uber-guard Shabazz Napier, Boatright will have to be the leader. His opening effort was a positive indicator that he can shoulder the pressure for the Huskies.

2. Montrezl Harrell Opens with 30

Timothy D. Easley/Associated Press

Montrezl Harrell wasn't the most comfortable shooter from the free-throw line last season. He made 46 percent of his shots. Another more depressing way of looking at that is he missed 54 percent of his free throws. One-and-one? More like one-and-none.

On top of that, he was just 2-of-3 on three-pointers all year. 

He may have addressed that quip. After Louisville's 81-68 win over Minnesota, Harrell drained 90 percent of his free throws and sunk 3-of-4 three-pointers en route to scoring 30. 

Marcus R. Fuller of the Lexington Herald-Leader wrote:

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Harrell could have turned pro last season, but he showed off an improved jump shot with 17 points in the first half on 5 for 6 shooting, including a 3-pointer to make it 29-16 with 6:38 left. The Gophers cut to a nine-point deficit, but Harrell dazzled the crowd with an emphatic alley-oop dunk during another Cardinals rally to take a 43-30 halftime lead.

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Harrell followed up that opening-night effort going 0-of-3 from beyond the arc with just 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting. All in all, he had a great opening weekend.

1. Chris Horton's Triple-Double

USA TODAY Sports

Austin Peay’s Chris Horton is averaging seven blocks through two games. He stuffed four shots in the opener against Western Kentucky and then repelled 10 in a 68-63 win over Berea College.

Ten!

Not only that, but in that game against Berea, Horton recorded a rare triple-double with 15 points and 13 boards to go with the 10 blocks (!). Oh, yeah, and he did it in 28 minutes. Say what?

Horton told The Leaf-Chronicle:

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I got off to a sluggish start; we all did as a team. The game was much closer than we would have liked, but we came through in the second half and did what we had to do.

Helping out, that is my nature to help on the defensive side. I have always been a shot-blocker and coming over to help out my teammates when they need me. That's what I am here for. I am glad I got a chance to do that tonight.

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Triple-doubles are rare in college. It's even more rare that he did it in regulation and rarer still that one of the categories was blocks (10!).