The Best Inside-Outside Duos in College Basketball in 2016-17
Double the big man and the perimeter scorer will kill you. Swarm the guard on the outside and he'll find a way to get it inside to the post. That's how college basketball's best inside-outside duos operate, and it's an absolute pain for opponents to deal with.
Take a look at the country's top teams and in most cases they won't be heavily reliant on just one player for offensive production. There are at least two guys doing major damage, preferably one who is capable of handling the inside game and another effective from the backcourt.
We've selected 10 such inside-outside combinations, ranking them based on their individual and combined numbers as well as how much they've made their teams better during the 2016-17 season.
Honorable Mention: Lauri Markkanen and Allonzo Trier, Arizona
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Before getting into the top 10 we must take time to point out a duo that has only been able to play together four times this season, not enough to warrant a ranking but enough to see just how good they work together.
Forward Lauri Markkanen, a 7-footer from Finland, has been one of the most impressive freshmen in the country this season. He's leading Arizona in scoring (16.4) and rebounding (7.7) as well as made three-pointers (55); his 50 percent accuracy is good enough for fourth-best in the country if he took a few more shots.
Most of that came before the Wildcats got their best returning player, 6'5" sophomore guard Allonzo Trier, back from a 19-game NCAA suspension for failing a drug test. Since his return he's averaged 14.8 points and 3.8 assists, and he's still getting up to game speed after missing so much time.
Had Trier been available all season this duo would no doubt have been on our list and near the top. By year's end, with more and more games played together, that pair could get Arizona to its first Final Four since 2001.
10. Bonzie Colson and Matt Farrell, Notre Dame
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Most of Notre Dame's teams under Mike Brey follow the same mold: four perimeter players of varying lengths, all of whom can shoot the three, and someone inside to crash the boards and pick up some points on putbacks. And the current version is no different with three perimeter guys each hitting more than 40 three-pointers and one guy in the paint averaging a double-double.
It's junior forward Bonzie Colson who's doing the latter, doing so with a very undersized 6'5", 226-pound frame. He's leading the team in scoring (15.6) and rebounding (10.6) while making 49.4 percent of his shots on a mix of layups, fallaways and mid-range jumpers.
Of the backcourt guys, Matt Farrell is the one who best complements Colson (and makes the rest of the perimeter players do better). The 6'0" junior dishes out 5.5 assists per game and also scores 13.9, with his 43.2 percent three-point rate second only to reserve Matt Ryan (43.5).
9. Marcus Marshall and Cameron Oliver, Nevada
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Looking for a mid-major team that might be able to make some noise in the NCAA tournament and, by design, help your office-pool bracket? Look no further than Nevada, which is tied with Boise State atop the Mountain West Conference and is 18-5 overall with wins over two Pac-12 schools along the way.
The Wolf Pack barely go past six deep on their rotation, but that small group is a good one led by a trio of standouts. Marcus Marshall stirs the drink from outside, a 6'3" senior guard averaging 20.3 points and 3.3 assists per game with 83 made three-pointers, while Jordan Caroline and Cameron Oliver do the dirty work in side.
Caroline and Oliver each average better than 14 points per game, with Caroline's 9.2 rebounds a hair above Oliver's 8.2. But it's Oliver who stands out more overall—and has the better NBA future, currently projected by Draft Express as the No. 41 pick in 2017, since his game will better translate to the pros. The 6'8" sophomore forward shoots 37.7 percent from three-point range but also blocks 2.8 shots per game.
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8. Jock Landale and Emmett Naar, Saint Mary's
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Saint Mary's is the country's most under-the-radar ranked team, playing almost entirely outside of the spotlight except for when it faces West Coast Conference rival Gonzaga. The first of those meetings happened in January, with the Gaels losing in Spokane, Washington; the next clash is set for Feb. 11 at home.
Those who haven't seen Saint Mary's play before would be wise to tune in for that game to see how it operates with tremendous efficiency on offense. And much of that is due to the play of 6'11" junior center Jock Landale and 6'1" junior guard Emmett Naar, two of the many Australians on the Gaels' roster.
Naar, who averages 10.1 points and 5.7 assists while hitting 47.3 percent of his three-pointers, has been performing like this for a while. But for Landale, who averages 17 points and 9.6 rebounds and is shooting 60.4 percent, his 2016-17 effort far exceeds what he did the previous two years. And that bump is also why Saint Mary's seems like a lock to get back to the NCAA tournament after a three-year absence.
7. Joel Berry II and Kennedy Meeks, North Carolina
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The best North Carolina teams during Roy Williams' tenure have featured a clutch shooter in the backcourt and a capable scorer in the paint. You need only look back to last season, when guard Marcus Paige and forward Brice Johnson were the catalysts of the Tar Heels' run to the national championship game by averaging 29.6 of their 82.8 points per game.
That pair graduated, opening the door for the next inside-outside duo to step up in the form of junior guard Joel Berry and senior forward Kennedy Meeks. They're averaging 27.6 of UNC's 88 points per game, a lower percentage because junior wing Justin Jackson leads the team at 18.7 per game, but it's when the Heels are getting the production from the other two that they're most effective.
The 6'0" Berry scores 15 points per game and is the assist leader at 3.9 per contest, with the 6'9" Meeks at 12.6 points and 9.5 rebounds. Berry is shooting 43 percent from three, and Meeks is making 51.9 percent of his shots, all two-pointers.
This pair would be higher if each didn't have some major stinkers on their resume for this season. Berry missed all eight of his shots and had just two points in a loss at Miami (Florida) last month, while Meeks was a combined 3-of-9 for 12 points in UNC's two ACC losses.
6. Przemek Karnowski and Nigel Williams-Goss, Gonzaga
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College basketball's lone unbeaten team seemingly has no weaknesses, though it's also overflowing with great player combinations, none more so than a pair who played a combined five games for the Bulldogs in 2015-16.
Senior center Przemek Karnowski was shut down after back surgery early last season, while junior guard Nigel Williams-Goss was sitting out per NCAA transfer rules after coming over from Washington. Despite their absence, Gonzaga made it to the Sweet 16, while with them available it has won its 23 games by an average of 23.2 points.
It's been a team affair, with six Bulldogs averaging nine points or better per game, with Williams-Goss and Karnowski the top producers. The 6'3" Williams-Goss is averaging 15.6 points and 4.8 assists per game on 50.6 percent shooting while the 7'1" Karnowski chips in 12.3 points per game on 61.3 percent shooting. Williams-Goss has made 87.7 percent of his foul shots, missing only five in West Coast Conference play.
5. Manu Lecomte and Johnathan Motley, Baylor
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Baylor might have lost at Kansas on Wednesday night in a battle for first in the Big 12, but the Jayhawks had no answer for the Bears' talented inside-outside duo of Manu Lecomte and Johnathan Motley. That pair combined for 32 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists on 13-of-22 shooting, making five of seven three-pointers. The rest of Baylor scored 35 points on 15-of-45 shooting and made only three of 15 threes.
It hasn't been that unbalanced this season or Baylor wouldn't be 20-2, though the play of Lecomte and Motley is a big reason why it has that many victories. Lecomte, a 5'11" junior, has been stellar in his first season in Waco after transferring from Miami (Florida) and has enabled 6'9" junior forward Motley to be even more effective.
Lecomte averages 12.5 points and 4.4 assists while hitting 42.6 percent from deep, while Motley is scoring 16.2 points with 9.6 rebounds and shoots 51.9 percent overall. They have accounted for all seven of Baylor's 20-point games this season, five coming from Motley.
4. Bam Adebayo and Malik Monk, Kentucky
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Despite a desire to be more balanced after having such a perimeter-based team last season, Kentucky is once again getting the bulk of its scoring three the backcourt. Guards Isaiah Briscoe, De'Aaron Fox and Malik Monk have provided 55.6 percent of the points, with Monk the most prolific of that group at 22.4 per night.
But the Wildcats are at their best when they get a big man contributing in a similar manner, with freshman forward Bam Adebayo the one most likely involved. And when it comes to his scoring, it's done in a way fitting of his nickname.
The 6'10" Adebayo averages 13.2 points per game and is shooting 61.7 percent because a good portion of his field goals are on dunks or putbacks. Of his 6.8 rebounds per game, 44 percent are of the offensive variety.
For the 6'3" Monk, his scoring comes from everywhere, as he shoots 49.6 percent overall and 41.2 percent from three while making 82.8 percent of his free throws. His 13 20-point games (and four with at least 30 points) have seen him hit at least a pair of threes in each, including eight during his 47-point outburst against North Carolina in December and seven on Tuesday in an overtime victory against Georgia when he scored 37.
3. Lonzo Ball and TJ Leaf, UCLA
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With six different players averaging double figures, there is no shortage of scoring combinations to pick from on UCLA, with many inside-outside duos thanks to those strong scorers, including four guards and two frontcourt players. We couldn't go wrong with any tandem, but the best of the lot is by far the newest Bruins on the roster.
Freshmen Lonzo Ball and TJ Leaf have transformed UCLA into an offensive juggernaut, one that averages 92.3 points per game while shooting 53.1 percent overall and 42.3 percent from three-point range. The 6'6" point guard and 6'10" forward have been hard to stop this season, combining to average 31.8 points, 14.7 rebounds and 10.7 assists per game.
Ball's 8.0 assists per game ranks second nationally, first if you remove injured Creighton guard Maurice Watson from the top spot. Because he's dishing it out so much, he's only scoring 14.8 per game but could get much more if he wanted thanks to shooting rates of 53.8 percent overall and 42.2 percent from deep. He has four 20-point games and six with 10 or more assists.
For Leaf, the scoring is mostly from inside the line. He has a a 63.7 percent two-point clip, though he has canned 21 of 44 triples, including three each in a pair of nonconference games.
2. Luke Kennard and Amile Jefferson, Duke
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So much was expected of Duke entering 2016-17 because of the arrival of a stellar recruiting class highlighted by forwards Marques Bolden, Harry Giles and Jayson Tatum. But when each of that trio began the season on the bench nursing injuries, the Blue Devils had to turn to their veterans to carry the load.
And it hasn't been Grayson Allen who's been part of that mix, at least on a consistent basis.
Instead it's been Allen's backcourt mate, sophomore Luke Kennard, who has assumed the mantle of Duke's go-to scorer and clutch shooter. And while he's been able to do it all himself, quite often the Blue Devils have been toughest to beat when there's also been an inside presence coming from senior forward Amile Jefferson.
The 6'9" Jefferson was off to a great start last year before going down with a season-ending foot injury, and he picked right back up this winter. He's averaging 11.9 points and 9.3 rebounds per game while shooting 61.1 percent, and in the two games he missed because of his foot, Duke lost at Florida State and Louisville and had no inside presence.
Kennard has been nearly unstoppable all season, averaging 20.2 per game while shooting 54 percent overall and 46.9 percent from three. The 6'5" guard has three 30-point games, most recently Jan. 28 at Wake Forest when he went for 34 points (including the game-winning shot) on 11-of-14 shooting with six threes in as many tries.
1. Ethan Happ and Bronson Koenig, Wisconsin
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On a team that features the preseason Big Ten player of the year in forward Nigel Hayes, the secret to Wisconsin's success to this point has been how others around him have performed. Most notably, the Badgers' only player who stays away from the three-point line and the one that spends nearly all his time out there.
Ethan Happ, a 6'8" redshirt sophomore forward, is leading Wisconsin in scoring at 14.5 points per game and is also its top rebounder, pulling down 9.2 per contest. He's shooting 61 percent from the field and is also the Badgers' second-leading assist man at 2.9 per game (to Hayes' 3.1).
Bronson Koenig would normally be dishing out more than 2.2 assists per game as the point guard, but Wisconsin's offense works differently than most in that everyone passes well. That enables the 6'4" senior to be able to hand the ball off to someone and then get free on the perimeter to knock down a three, which he's done at a 39.2 percent clip, including 47.3 percent in Big Ten play.
For the year Koenig is scoring 14.1 per game, slightly ahead of Hayes' 13.3.
All statistics courtesy of Sports-Reference.com, unless otherwise noted. All recruiting information courtesy of Scout.com, unless otherwise noted.
Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.
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