What Each Top 25 Team Should Be Worried About so Far in 2015-16
To be ranked at this point in the season means that a college basketball team has so far passed the eye test. But look closer and you'll be sure to find some blemishes.
Every team ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 has something that should pose a concern. It could be the play of a certain player, the way the team handles an aspect of the game or something more general like the competition faced (or yet to be faced).
We've identified one thing each ranked school should worry about as the 2015-16 regular season reaches its midpoint.
No. 25 Dayton
1 of 25
A weakened league
The Atlantic 10 got three teams into the NCAA tournament last season, but none was better than a seventh seed, the result of a league where the best teams couldn't separate themselves from the pack. This year Dayton looks to be the class of the conference, but as the only ranked team, it has to hope that some other teams stand out to beef up the league's overall reputation.
That's not happening. Instead, many perceived quality A-10 teams have lost games they should have won. That includes George Washington, whose win over Virginia is the best by any team in the league, falling Wednesday at Saint Louis.
Dayton (40) and VCU (43) are the only A-10 teams listed in the top 50 of the latest KenPom.com rankings.
No. 24 Pittsburgh
2 of 25
Keeping up the pace
Jamie Dixon's Pittsburgh teams haven't been known for explosive offense during his 13 seasons, usually averaging in the upper 60s or low 70s and trying to grind out possessions. The Panthers are still in the bottom half of the country in pace, but at 122.9 points per 100 possessions they were tied for fourth in Division I entering Wednesday.
Pitt then went out and shot 49.2 percent in an 89-84 home win over Georgia Tech, its 10th time in 14 games this season with at least 80 points. The Panthers are averaging 85.3 points per game, dramatically up from 67 per game a season ago.
Ironically, Pitt's only loss this season (against Purdue) came in a game when its opponent tried to slow down the pace. That could be a recipe that other teams try to take, and if Pitt can't continue to be as efficient, it could struggle.
No. 23 Connecticut
3 of 25
No replacement for Brimah
It will be several more weeks before Amida Brimah is able to return from a broken finger, an injury that required surgery and has kept him out for four games already. That includes Tuesday's home loss to Temple, the second straight that Connecticut was out-rebounded.
Before getting hurt, the 7'0” junior was averaging 7.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.0 blocks in 21.2 minutes per game. His presence in the post kept most teams from venturing in there too often, but without him UConn doesn't have someone else to command the same respect.
Junior Kentan Facey has started the last three games in Brimah's place but had only two points and five rebounds in the last two games.
.png?w=256 "NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Championship")
No. 22 South Carolina
4 of 25
Overconfidence
At 14-0, South Carolina is off to its best start in more than 80 years. As each victory gets added to the ledger, the Gamecocks move further away from a team that hasn't made the NCAA tournament since 2004 and more toward one that deserves to be watched.
So long as that's how we are feeling and not how the players themselves do.
Tuesday's 81-69 win at Auburn was South Carolina's most impressive yet, marking the first time in five years it has won its SEC opener. That came a few days after a solid home win over Memphis.
Coach Frank Martin is acknowledging a major rise in confidence, telling David Cloninger of the State that "when teams have made a push at us, our guys have settled down." The key will be keeping that from turning into cockiness.
As good as South Carolina has looked, though, it still has its toughest games ahead.
No. 21 Texas A&M
5 of 25
Playing on the road
Texas A&M was without Danuel House on Wednesday and nearly lost at Mississippi State, pulling out a 61-60 victory despite shooting 30.6 percent from the field. Not having the senior guard—whose absence has not been explained—likely contributed to the result, but there's also the issue of how the Aggies play away from home.
Compared to 46.5 percent overall for the season, in two true road games A&M is 38-of-123 from the field. It shot 31.1 percent in a 67-54 loss at Arizona State, the first time the Aggies' talented freshmen played in a hostile environment.
House is expected to be back for A&M's next game at Tennessee, per the team's Twitter account, and the team will need him. Two of the Aggies' next three games are on the road.
No. 20 Purdue
6 of 25
Point guard play
There's no denying Purdue's strength is in the frontcourt, where 7-footers Isaac Haas and A.J. Hammons and freshman power forward Caleb Swanigan have been stellar. The same can't be said for the guards, who aren't contributing on the offensive end and have struggled to take care of the ball.
Saturday's home loss to Iowa epitomized this, as the trio of senior Rapheal Davis and sophomores Dakota Mathias and P.J. Thompson combined for eight turnovers. The Boilermakers squandered a 19-point lead mostly because their guards could not handle the pressure Iowa put on them during the comeback.
That trio also went 4-of-19 from the field, with each of those baskets coming from three-point range.
No. 19 Iowa
7 of 25
Losing rhythm
Since blowing a 20-point lead at rival Iowa State, Iowa has been playing its best basketball. It's 3-0 in the Big Ten for the first time since 2002-03, with wins over previously unbeaten Michigan State and at Purdue on its resume.
The Hawkeyes also won by 11 at home against Nebraska on Monday, when they could have understandably not been up for after the other league contests. And that's something they need to be concerned about going forward—to not overlook the teams at the bottom end of the Big Ten.
Iowa is ranked for the first time this season, having knocked off consecutive ranked opponents for the first time since 1987, per C.L. Brown of ESPN.com. But now it's in the middle of an odd nine-day hiatus before its next game, when it visits Michigan State on Jan. 14.
No. 18 Butler
8 of 25
Kellen Dunham's icy shooting
With four three-pointers in seven attempts on Tuesday, senior guard Kellen Dunham raised his percentage to 33.3 percent. That would be a career low for Butler's leading scorer, but compared to how he was shooting recently, it's a big jump.
Dunham went cold during a horrible stretch over five games when he was 2-of-32 from outside; those two makes came on 11 tries against Tennessee before he failed to can an outside jumper for four straight games. This cold shooting from deep has also affected his overall field-goal rate, which is at 39.5 percent even after going 8-of-14 Tuesday.
Benched for Saturday's loss at Xavier, Dunham made his first three three-pointers and then followed that up with Tuesday's performance.
ESPN's Jeff Goodman noted that Dunham is "way too good of a shooter not to snap out of brutal streak from deep."
No. 17 West Virginia
9 of 25
Foul trouble
West Virginia's frenetic style of play forces tons of turnovers and leads to plenty of fast-break points. It also results in quite a few fouls, more than 24 per game.
Thanks to a deep rotation that has nine players averaging nearly 15 minutes per game, the Mountaineers haven't been in a situation yet where they've needed to pull back from this approach. But the free points that opponents get as a result of going to the line so much are starting to add up.
Of the 63.6 points per game that West Virginia allows, more than 31 percent comes from foul shots. The Mountaineers have started 2-0 in Big 12 play with wins at Kansas State and TCU despite being outscored 63-46 at the line.
No. 16 Louisville
10 of 25
Lack of competition
Louisville has played one of the weakest schedules of any power-conference team, with its two losses (at Michigan State, at Kentucky) coming to its toughest opponents. Monday's home win over Wake Forest to open ACC play was its first against a team with an RPI better than 96, while it has five victories over teams rated 215th or below.
The Cardinals are ranked fourth in the country in field-goal defense (36.3 percent) and second in scoring defense (57.4), but those numbers have to be taken with a grain of salt because of the overall competition.
We will know more about Louisville in the upcoming weeks, starting with a two-game road trip that begins Thursday at North Carolina State and continues Sunday at Clemson. The Tigers are coming off an impressive overtime win at Syracuse on Tuesday.
No. 15 SMU
11 of 25
Lack of motivation
SMU is one of just two unbeaten teams left in Division I, sitting at 13-0 overall and 2-0 in the American Athletic Conference. The Mustangs are 14th in the latest KenPom.com rankings thanks to quality wins over Colorado and Michigan, and even with the recent departure of junior guard Keith Frazier, they look capable of running the table during the regular season.
And that's where things will come to an end. That's because SMU has been banned from postseason play for 2015-16 as part of NCAA sanctions on the program. Those penalties, stemming from its recruitment of Frazier in 2013, also included a nine-game suspension that coach Larry Brown served to start this season.
SMU has 17 games left, starting with a visit from Cincinnati on Thursday, and then it's done for the year. Knowing there's an endpoint, might the drive and desire wane as the season nears the end?
Bill Nichols of the Dallas Morning News reported Tuesday that Frazier has left the team, with his former high school coach saying he's been "struggling emotionally" with being blamed for the ban. That comes after freshman guard Sedrick Barefield left the team after five games and junior forward Semi Ojeleye (a Duke transfer) opted to redshirt.
No. 14 Duke
12 of 25
Another injury
Duke somehow beat Wake Forest by 15 points Wednesday despite seemingly being in foul trouble throughout. Guards Matt Jones and Grayson Allen played large stretches of the game with four fouls, pushing the Blue Devils' six-man rotation to its absolute limit.
This is how it's going to be for the Blue Devils until senior forward Amile Jefferson returns from a foot injury, which is a long way off. Four guards are splitting minutes in the backcourt, and the frontcourt is almost entirely up to senior Marshall Plumlee and freshman Brandon Ingram because the team can't count on reserves like Chase Jeter and Sean Obi.
Plumlee had a career-high 18 points against Wake, making all seven of his shots and going 4-of-4 at the line. Luke Kennard, the sixth man, had 23 points.
Another injury—Jones apparently tweaked an ankle during practice this week—could be devastating for Duke.
"We're literally on an edge all the time," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said, per Bret Strelow of the Fayetteville Observer.
No. 13 Iowa State
13 of 25
Overall depth
The arrival of Deonte Burton has been a godsend for Iowa State, who before getting the Marquette transfer eligible in late December was down to only six main contributors. Losing guard Nazareth Mitrou-Long to ailing hips exposed the Cyclones' lack of depth, which remains an issue and nearly cost them a home game Wednesday.
“Iowa State's kryptonite is their depth,” ESPN's Fran Fraschilla tweeted not long after senior forward Georges Niang picked up his third foul.
The Cyclones pulled out the 76-79 win over Texas Tech, but foul trouble to Niang and forward Abdel Nader severely hampered their game plan. Iowa State tends to play a style that minimizes the amount of fouls it commits, but when the whistles happen, it poses problems.
No. 12 Miami (Florida)
14 of 25
Angel Rodriguez's turnovers
Miami is 12-1 and riding a seven-game win streak, so far managing to avoid the up-and-down play that kept it out of the NCAA tournament last season. Rodriguez has been integral to the Hurricanes' performance, with 11.8 points and 3.9 assists per game, though he's been sloppy with the ball of late.
The senior guard has turned the ball over 14 times in his last four games, including five in a sluggish 64-51 win over Syracuse Saturday. Rodriguez's turnover rate is 20 percent, which means he loses the ball on one of every five plays.
Miami doesn't play again until Saturday, hosting a Florida State team that forces 14.6 turnovers per game.
No. 11 Villanova
15 of 25
Three-point shooting
Villanova's worry at this point is the same it's been all season long: If the three-point shots aren't falling, there's going to be a problem.
The Wildcats were 4-of-22 from outside in Wednesday's 72-63 home win over Seton Hall, a game that might have gone the other way had senior forward Daniel Ochefu not erupted for 20 points and 18 rebounds. As a team they were shooting 32.4 percent from three-point range before the game, which ranked 252nd in the country.
It's been feast or famine throughout the year for Villanova from deep. In last week's Big East opener against Xavier, it made 13 of 25 threes, winning going away, but in five other games it has failed to hit 30 percent from outside.
That included a dreadful 4-of-32 performance in a 20-point loss to Oklahoma in Hawaii last month.
No. 10 Xavier
16 of 25
Edmond Sumner's health
It was a scary scene on New Year's Eve in Philadelphia when Sumner collided with a Villanova player and then crashed head-first onto the court. The freshman guard lay motionless on his back for several minutes and was eventually carted off on a stretcher and taken to a hospital.
He ended up flying home that night; however, despite not being diagnosed with a concussion, he has not returned to action. He missed his second straight game Wednesday, when Xavier won at St. John's, and coach Chris Mack said only that Sumner would be back “sooner rather than later,” per Shannon Russell of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Sumner is averaging 11 points and 3.1 assists while shooting 40.6 percent from three-point range.
No. 9 Kentucky
17 of 25
Interior toughness
Among the many things that made the 2014-15 Kentucky team so impressive was its dominance in the paint. Offensively, defensively and with sheer effort, the Wildcats' frontcourt players carried that team and often helped make up for inconsistent play from the guards.
Kentucky's backcourt has far more upside this season, but in exchange it's dealing with a major lack of presence down low.
Skal Labissiere hasn't come close to meeting expectations, getting often outplayed by less heralded freshman center Isaac Humphries. Junior Marcus Lee is good one game and bad the next, such as in Tuesday's loss to LSU when he was scoreless and fouled out in six minutes. And while senior Alex Poythress is finally healthy, that hasn't translated into the kind of consistent play needed from a veteran on this young team.
"He's been too nice for much of his career," Yahoo Sports' Pat Forde said of Poythress on Twitter.
No. 8 Providence
18 of 25
Wild performance swings
Tuesday's home loss to Marquette was disappointing enough from an overall standpoint, as it ended an eight-game win streak and a run of nine straight wins at home. But within the setback was also the recurrence of the Friars going back and forth from looking great to looking sloppy.
Providence fell behind 7-0 and was down six at the half. It trailed by eight early in the second half before going on a 16-4 run and leading by as many as eight. The Friars then proceeded to allow eight consecutive points and didn't score in the final 1:27.
The Friars trailed at the half in several games this season, including the win over Arizona during the Wooden Legacy, and they were up four on Michigan State with 6:37 left but ended up losing by 13.
No. 7 Arizona
19 of 25
Rim protection
Senior center Kaleb Tarczewski returned from a foot injury Sunday and played 15 minutes in the 94-82 win at Arizona State. The team has missed his presence down low, particularly on the defensive end, as Arizona ranks second-to-last in the country when it comes to field-goal defense at the rim.
According to Hoop-Math.com, opponents are making 70.6 percent of their point-blank shots. Overall, Arizona is 93rd nationally in field-goal defense at 40.7 percent and is 27th in scoring defense at 63.3 points allowed per game.
The 7'0” Tarczewski only has 85 blocked shots in 115 career games, including one against ASU, but his presence in the paint disrupts plenty of other shots.
No. 6 North Carolina
20 of 25
Perimeter defense
With the number of offensive weapons at its disposal, North Carolina doesn't need to concern itself much when teams aren't shooting the lights out from three-point range. And if you believe that, we have some beachfront property in Arizona to sell you.
The Tar Heels have won seven in a row since a two-point loss to Texas, and in that span they've averaged 91.9 points and shot 50.7 percent from the field. And that's been without senior center Kennedy Meeks, who is out with a knee injury.
Meeks' absence, though, has had little to do with how UNC defends the three-point line. Florida State was 10-of-20 from outside on Monday, the eighth team to shoot at least 45 percent against North Carolina, and for the year UNC ranks 339th out of 351 Division I teams in three-point field-goal defense.
No. 5 Michigan State
21 of 25
Finding its old spark
Denzel Valentine is working toward a return to the court on Sunday, roughly three weeks after having minor knee surgery. He's missed three games so far, during which Michigan State lost for the first time and struggled to beat mid-major Oakland and Big Ten bottom feeder Minnesota.
The Spartans' performance without Valentine has been understandably different, though it's enabled supporting players like guards Bryn Forbes and Eron Harris to take on bigger roles. That duo combined for 59 points in the overtime win against Oakland, but each has since had an off performance.
Getting Valentine back should fix everything, right? But what if it doesn't? Valentine might not initially be able to play at the level he was before getting hurt, when he was averaging 18.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game, and if others revert back to their previous forms, this could lead to some rough outings.
No. 4 Virginia
22 of 25
Slow starts
Virginia is scoring nearly 10 points more per game this season than a year ago, when it won a second consecutive ACC regular-season title. The Cavaliers are also efficient on offense, going from 32nd in the country in offensive rating in 2014-15 to 10th this year.
If only it could find a way to make this happen for all 40 minutes, and not just the ones after halftime.
Virginia averages 32.7 points in the first half and 41.6 in the second half. In Monday's 70-68 loss at Virginia Tech, the Cavs trailed 26-21 at the half but then opened the second half on an 11-3 run and shot 59.3 percent over the final 20 minutes. Unfortunately, they allowed Tech to shoot 57.7 percent.
No. 3 Maryland
23 of 25
Melo Trimble's hamstring
In what ended up being a 25-point home win over Rutgers, Maryland was in no danger of having Trimble's absence be an issue. But if the injury causes him to miss additional time, the Terrapins will have to do some shuffling.
The sophomore guard played a career-low 14 minutes and finished with four points, all on free throws, along with two assists. He did not see action in the second half.
"I'm pretty confident that our trainers and everything will get him right and he'll be back in no time," Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said, per Daniel Martin of CSNMidAtlantic.com.
Trimble is averaging a team-best 14.4 points and 5.7 assists per game.
No. 2 Oklahoma
24 of 25
A suddenly cold Isaiah Cousins
Isaiah Cousins joined the 1,000-point club for his Oklahoma career during the Christmas trip to Hawaii, but during that Diamond Head Classic win over Harvard, the senior seemed to have left something behind: his shooting touch.
The 6'4” guard was 2-of-11 from the field and 0-of-5 from three-point range in that game, and he has followed that up with a 7-of-28 start in two Big 12 games. He failed to make a field goal in the first half of either the win over Iowa State or the triple-overtime loss to Kansas, though against ISU he caught fire after halftime and scored 15 points.
Cousins is shooting 40 percent from the field but has made just 13 of his last 50. He's remained active in the offense with 18 assists in the last four games, and his 4.8 assists per game are more than double last season's, but Oklahoma needs him to hit more shots.
No. 1 Kansas
25 of 25
A consistent performer at the 5
Kansas is quite solid at all three guard positions and at the 4, with the quartet of starters combining for more than 56 points per game. But when it comes to finding someone to handle the 5 spot, that's where the problems have arisen.
Senior Hunter Mickelson has started the last seven games, yet he's only averaged 12.7 minutes in those starts and 10.6 per game for the season. Senior Jamari Traylor plays 14.8 minutes, sophomore Svi Mykhailiuk plays 13.4, junior Landen Lucas plays 13.3, and freshmen Carlton Bragg and Cheick Diallo log 11 and 9.6 minutes per game, respectively.
According to Rustin Dodd of the Wichita Eagle, all six of those big men played during the first 12 minutes of Monday's triple-overtime win over Oklahoma. They combined to play 63 minutes, scoring 20 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks.
All statistics courtesy of Sports-Reference.com, unless otherwise noted.
Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.
.png?w=480 "NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Championship")
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
