Mid-Major Dominance at Feast Week: Top Stories Recap
From Maui to Cancun, mid-majors made waves during Feast Week. Relive the best moments, upsets, and rising stars in college basketball.
Feast Week is always a gem in college basketball, with many comparing it to March Madness. While nothing will ever top the NCAA Tournament, Feast Week does scratch that itch that many college basketball fans have after the seven month gap since the tournament. This Feast Week in particular has been riveting across the board. The Maui Invitation has been one of the best in recent memory and many mid-majors are taking advantage of the opportunities. Let’s recap mid-major success so far.
On Tuesday, we had a massive slate of games. We saw San Diego State throttle No. 21 Creighton in a 71-53 bloodbath. BJ Davis had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Aztecs in what was a solid bounce back win after a lackluster performance against No. 3 Gonzaga the week prior. While Creighton has been struggling a bit in their last two games, this was a positive sign for Aztecs fans as they wait in anticipation for Reese Waters return. They are now up to #40 in the KenPom Rankings and have another great opportunity against Oregon at 3pm CDT today (#28 KenPom).
Memphis is on fire right now. First, the Tigers took down No. 2 UConn 99-97 in overtime on Monday, then they followed up with a 71-63 victory over Michigan State on Tuesday. Against Michigan State, they didn’t quite reach the same offensive levels as they did against the Huskies, shooting just 34.6% from deep, however, Tyrese Hunter has been huge in both games. Against UConn, Hunter posted 26 points and against Michigan State, 23 points, two assists, and one rebound. PJ Haggerty has also been a massive presence, posting 22 points, five assists, and three rebounds and 16 points, eight rebounds, and four assists in each game respectfully. The Tigers are going to shoot up in the AP Top 25 poll next week and currently sit at #27 in the KenPom rankings with yet another opportunity against No. 4 Auburn in the Maui Invitational Championship today at 4pm CDT.
Dayton fans have suffered some significant heartbreak in Maui this week. On Monday, the Flyers blew a 21 point lead against North Carolina, then against Iowa State, they once again blew their lead. The Flyers will now take on…UConn for seventh place in the Maui Invitational. If you are on social media at all, there has been a lot of discussions about the refs in both games, in which yes, there’s been some excessive calls, however, Zed Key committed a flagrant foul on Iowa State yesterday which was rather obvious and sealed the deal for Iowa State. The Flyers have now committed 50 fouls between both games. Regardless of what happens against UConn today, the Dayton Flyers have caught people’s attention as a team to watch this season with just a two point loss to No. 12 North Carolina and a five point loss to No. 5 Iowa State. Make sure to tune into their matchup against UConn at 11pm CDT.
San Francisco had a nice bounce-back win after a disappointing loss to Clemson. The Dons drilled Fordham 85-64 on Tuesday evening. Ndewedo Newbury had 21 points, three assists, one rebound, and one block. Marcus Williams had 19 points, five assists, two rebounds, and two steals. The Dons shot an incredible 61.2% from the floor and 55% from deep. Obviously, they won’t shoot over 60% in a game often, however, this is the offensive prowess that we all expected in the preseason that wasn’t flashed against Clemson. This win earned them 3rd place at the Sunshine Slam - Beach Division.
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Wyoming knocked off Tulane 64-63 in night two of the Cancun Challenge. Obi Agbim finished with 18 points, four rebounds, one assist, and one steal. It wasn’t the most impressive offensive performance in this one as the Cowboys shot just 4-22 from deep and just 18-26 from the free throw line, however, they outrebounded the Green Wave 44-34. They narrowly knocked off Southeast Louisiana 64-61 in the opening round of the Cancun Challenge, so they now will take on a Loyola Marymount team that’s on the rise in the Championship today at 7:30pm CDT.
Loyola Marymount handedly defeated a solid Belmont squad last night in the Cancun challenge. We spent quite a bit of time hyping up this Loyola Marymount squad in the offseason and they’ve been a bit disappointing so far. However, last night looked like the team that we expected. Will Johnston had 22 points, four rebounds, one assist, and three steals. Jevon Porter racked up another double-double with 16 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, and three blocks. The Lions shot just 5-12 from the free throw line, but they smothered Belmont defensively and held the Bruins to a measly 36.5% shooting from the floor.
Grand Canyon bounced back with a nice 78-71 win over Sanford who was undefeated coming into this one. The Lopes had five players finish with double-digit points in what was an all-around team performance. Collin Moore finished with 15 points, four rebounds, one assist, and two steals. Duke Brannan finished with 14 points and eight rebounds. They got to the free throw line 29 times and finished 23 of those while stepping up on the defensive end, holding Sanford to just 38% shooting. The Lopes moved to 4-2 and have a bit of a break until they take on Hawaii next week.
The Samford Bulldogs won one of the most wild games I’ve seen as of late (outside of the Memphis and UConn game) that was unfortunately overshadowed by the other incredible games that were occurring at the same time. Samford was down 14 points with less than three minutes to go. North Dakota State turned the ball over six times in that stretch, then sent Samford to the line with a chance to tie it. However, the Bulldogs missed both, got two offensive rebounds, and finally put it through the hoop to send the game to overtime. They would defeat North Dakota State in overtime 103-98. Mississippi State transfer Trey Fort finished with 24 points, while Collin Holloway had 24 points, 11 rebounds (six offensive), and four assists. They are now 5-2 on the season and will take on a solid Utah Valley squad that just knocked off Murray State next.
Boise State lost to Boston College 63-61 in the Cayman Islands Championship in a game that might come back to haunt their resume. Boston College was picked to finish dead last at #18 in the ACC this season, however, they are now 6-1 with this impressive win on their books. Boise State shot just 4-17 from deep, they missed some key free throws, and shot just 39% overall from the floor. Javan Buchanan tried to put the team on his back with a 24 point performance, however, just two other Broncos scored in double-digits. Boise State has to step it up moving forward as they barely beat South Dakota State and now lost to Boston College in back-to-back games. Fortunately, their win over Clemson last week continues to age well and will help overshadow this loss.
From last week, Bradley won the Myrtle Beach Invitational by taking down Texas State 82-68, Wright State 77-74, and Middle Tennessee State 80-69. The Braves might not have beat a power school, however, Wright State and Middle Tennessee are both very good mid-major teams that could go on to win their respective conferences. The Braves are now 6-1 on the season, with their only loss being to a tough Washington State team, with four players averaging 12 or more points per game. Darius Hannah was instrumental in this stretch of three games, averaging 14.3 points, nine rebounds, two steals, and 1.3 blocks.
Lastly, Drake caught the college basketball world’s eyes last week with their dominating sweep of the Charleston Classic. The Bulldogs took down Miami 80-69, Florida Atlantic 75-63, and Vanderbilt 81-70. Despite bringing in multiple division II players, the Bulldogs are proving that they are one of the best mid-major teams in the country as they remain undefeated. Bennett Stirtz averaged 18 points, 7.6 assists, five rebounds, and one steal during the Charleston Classic, while Mitch Mascari averaged 18 points, three rebounds, one assist, and 1.3 steals. Both players did not sit for a single minute in the tournament. Learn Ben McCollum’s name quickly because he’s going to become a well known name in the mid-major college basketball world.