10 Eye-Popping Statistics from Early in the 2015-16 CBB Season
Things are coalescing in college basketball. With two months or so in the books, the trend lines are settling, and we can all see, by and large, what kind of hand we've been dealt here this season.
Emphasis on "by and large." This campaign is still young enough that a few statistical outliers remain. Or do they?
In some of the following 10 cases, it's true that conference play will bring them closer to the mean. In others, maybe we're in for a special year.
Who knows? But as we enter the holiday calm before the conference storm, these are the 10 most eye-popping statistics on the college basketball radar. They are ranked in order of eye-poppingness—otherwise known as the degree to which they are unusual when compared with their peers.
10. Louisville: 53.3 Points Allowed Per Game
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That's the number of points the Louisville Cardinals are allowing each game, good for second in the nation behind only Little Rock, per NCAA.com.
It's a huge part of the team's 8-1 start. Even in cupcake season, holding an opponent below 55 points on four separate occasions, as the Cardinals have, is something to crow about. Or tweet about. Whatever cardinals do.
9. Trevor Cooney: 38.2 Minutes Played Per Game
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College Basketball Reference has Syracuse senior guard Trevor Cooney logging 38.2 minutes played per game. That's second in the country.
I don't even understand the stat. When it's a low-major with a single standout, I get it. But this is a guard in a guard-heavy power-conference rotation.
And it's...it's just a high number. Do the coaches remove Cooney with less than a minute left in each half? Good breather. Why even bother at that point?
And it's not like the number is oddly skewed. Yes, he did play 43 minutes in Syracuse's lone overtime contest thus far (a loss to Wisconsin), but that doesn't explain it fully. His lowest total of the season is 35 minutes.
It's a testimony to the Orange's need for distribution. With so many shooters on the team, someone has to divvy up the touches. Cooney isn't amazing in that area with 3.3 dimes per game, but it is a career high, even as he keeps up his own scoring numbers; he's second on the team with an even 14 points per game.
8. Trae Anderson: 46.1 Usage Percentage
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Usage percentages can sometimes inflate in college basketball. When an otherwise barren team relies on one player for pretty much everything, it stands to reason the usage rate—basically the percentage of a team's plays in which a given player is involved—can blast skyward in that instance.
Even through that perspective, Eastern Illinois guard Trae Anderson is getting heavily used.
His 46.1 usage percentage not only tops the nation but is almost nine points ahead of second place (Howard's own one-man band James Daniel is next, and we're getting to him), College Basketball Reference shows. I mean, that's almost half the team's plays going through him in some way.
No big shocker, then, that Anderson leads the Panthers in scoring, rebounds, blocks and turnovers and ranks in the top three in pretty much everything else. And he does it all despite averaging a relatively paltry 21 minutes per game. Not an overly orthodox approach over there at Eastern Illinois, it seems.
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7. James Daniel: 29.4 Points Per Game
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Every college hoops season seems to bring us a mid-to-low-major breakout star. Often, it's an undersized guard from a small school without a huge basketball tradition. Guys like, oh, you know, that Stephen Curry dude.
James Daniel probably isn't Steph Curry, but the Howard guard is doing his best impression with nearly 30 points per game, according to NCAA.com. That's first in the country right now, and it's more than five points ahead of the next-closest competitor.
Even more so than Curry, the 5'11" guard from Hampton, Virginia, has the kind of slashing game reminiscent of another small Hampton guard—Mr. Allen Iverson.
6. Jakob Poeltl: 36.9 Player Efficiency Rating
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Utah big man Jakob Poeltl has a 36.9 player efficiency rating, according to College Basketball Reference.
If the season ended today, Poeltl would have the highest PER since College Basketball Reference started keeping PER stats seven seasons ago, putting him ahead of people such as Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins and Frank Kaminsky.
Sadly for Poeltl and his bank account, the season does not, in fact, end today. Still, what he's been able to do for the Utes is unexpected and a key driver of their 8-2 start.
5. Monte Morris: 5.07 Assist-Turnover Ratio
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If any stat could illustrate the importance of veteran leadership in college basketball, this one might be it.
Iowa State junior guard Monte Morris has a ratio of 5.07 assists to one turnover, per NCAA.com. That's tied for ninth in the nation—an impressive position given that he has dropped at least 20 more total dimes than anyone else in the top 10.
Having Georges Niang on his team certainly helps, but no matter how you slice it, 71 assists (good for fifth in the country) to only 14 giveaways is impressive stuff.
4. Oklahoma: 48.7 Team 3-Point Shooting Percentage
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As a team, the Sooners are shooting a collective 48.7 percent from behind the arc, per NCAA.com. That means they're making half their three-pointers.
That is eye-popping. And it's a true team effort. Of the six Sooners who have attempted more than five three-pointers this season—Buddy Hield, Jordan Woodard, Isaiah Cousins, Dinjiyl Walker, Ryan Spangler and Christian James—only Walker's average dips below 50 percent.
As Dick Vitale would say, that's big-time consistency when you're shooting the trifecter.
3. Ben Simmons: 14.4 Rebounds Per Game
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Super-frosh Ben Simmons is typically hailed for his point forward abilities. His 6'10" size and off-the-charts athleticism were great, but what really made him the top NBA prospect in the land, the narrative went, was his ball-handling ability, astoundingly deft for a big man.
"Simmons is best as a playmaking power forward who would thrive in a system where he's able to handle the ball and create for his teammates," said basketball analyst Mike Schmitz of DraftExpress.com.
But hold the phone. Granted, his court vision and playmaking are terrific, and he has proved his worth as a scorer and distributor. So far in his limited time as an LSU Tiger, though, he gets it done most emphatically in the less glamorous area of the game.
According to NCAA.com, Simmons leads the nation in rebounding average with 14.4 boards per game. The stat is noteworthy because it not only looks to be a major bonus over his flashier (dare I say more eye-popping) skills, but because it compares more than favorably with recent phenoms.
In his one season at Duke, Jahlil Okafor managed 8.5 rebounds per contest. Davis added 10.4 per game at Kentucky. And Simmons is almost a full rebound ahead of the second-leading rebounder in this campaign.
No, he won't play Gardner-Webb forever, but the Australian is still looking darn good—wait for it—Down Under. Awwwwwww yeah.
2. Evan Bradds: 74 Percent FG Percentage
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How do you make three-quarters of your shots at the D-I college level?
I don't know, but Belmont forward Evan Bradds is doing it.
OK, technically it's 73.9 percent, but still. In a world where shooting 45 percent from the floor is generally considered overachieving, knocking on the door of 75 percent is just freakish.
There are a lot of layups in the mix, sure, but that doesn't explain it all. And at 6'7", it's not like Bradds is simply towering over everybody.
It hasn't been Cupcake City, either. Marquette, Arizona State and BYU have been in the Bruins' mix.
Maybe I should let Belmont coach Rick Byrd explain.
"Some guys know where to be when their teammates are driving the basketball," Byrd told the Tennessean about Bradds. "They know how to slide in behind defenders; catch and score quickly. Evan does that as good as anybody we've had here."
1. Basically Everything The Citadel Does
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The Citadel Bulldogs score 94.1 points per game, according to NCAA.com. That's first in the country.
The Citadel Bulldogs allow 90.5 points per game, according to NCAA.com. That's last in the country.
Their game is pretty much what you might expect. It's a lot of running. And in addition to that, there is a fair amount of gunning.
The Bulldogs do a lot of their offensive damage from deep. They lead the nation in three-point attempts with 403 jacked up as a team to date.
Their defense? It seems like a minor inconvenience suffered just as long as it takes to get the ball back and return to the only end of the court that matters to them.
There are plenty of fun final scores on the Bulldogs ledger. They kicked off the season playing another group of Bulldogs—those of Butler, who defeated The Citadel by the hilarious final score of 144-71. Two games later, The Citadel gained some measure of redemption by hanging 132 on Mid-Atlantic Christian. Then Bob Jones University got 121 scored on them by the Bulldogs.
So, yes. If you want eye-popping, take in a Citadel game some time. This seems like a trend that might just play out over the course of the season.
All statistics are accurate as of December 17.
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