What was supposed to be the marquee game of the first day of the 2024-25 men’s college basketball season was a mismatch from the opening tip. No. 6 Gonzaga looked in midseason form in a 101-63 shellacking of No. 8 Baylor on Monday night in Spokane.
Baylor opened the game switching ball screens and doubling the post, and Gonzaga carved up both approaches, sprinting out to a 49-30 halftime lead. When Baylor tried to adjust, Gonzaga still got whatever it wanted and just had too much size and experience for the Bears.
In what was an impressive day for some of the nation’s other top freshmen, it was a tough start for expected one-and-done lottery pick VJ Edgecombe, who struggled shooting the ball and drove into longer defenders to force difficult shots at the rim instead of looking for open teammates. Edgecombe finished with four points on 2-of-11 shooting and also had three turnovers. But Edgecombe wasn’t alone. Baylor looked like a team with guys trying to win by themselves, while Gonzaga played together and took great shots, finishing with 25 assists on 40 field goals and five players scoring in double figures — an unsurprisingly hot start for a team that returned six of its seven leading scorers from last season. Mark Few also added some firepower from the portal, and new starter Khalif Battle fit in well, knocking down four 3s.
The Bears have talent, but their lack of size inside — they have just two bigs in their rotation, and both start — could be a problem this year. It’s early, but Baylor looked far from ready to compete against a top-10 team, and it doesn’t get any easier with a game against No. 16 Arkansas on Saturday in Dallas.
Here’s what else you need to know from opening day.
This freshman class is pretty good, and it’s not just Cooper Flagg
Duke’s much-hyped freshman showed some flashes of why he’s viewed as one of the best prospects in the last decade, but if opening night was any indication, this could be a deep class. Flagg’s classmate Kon Knueppel was the star for the Blue Devils in the opener, leading Duke with 22 points in a 96-62 win against Maine. Flagg filled the stat sheet with 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. Other freshmen who impressed:
- Alabama coach Nate Oats told me this fall that point guard Labaron Philon, a former Kansas commit who flipped to Alabama in April, was better than he thought he’d be. Philon started the opener over both Aden Holloway and Latrell Wrightsell, and he justified the spot with a near double-double, going for 10 points and nine assists with three steals and two blocks on the defensive end. Alabama was my preseason No. 1 and looked the part in a 110-54 win over UNC Asheville, a team that won 22 games last season.
- Five-star center Flory Bidunga came off the bench and finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals in 17 minutes in top-ranked Kansas’ 87-57 win against Howard. Bill Self’s plan is to play veteran stars Hunter Dickinson, Dajuan Harris Jr. and KJ Adams fewer minutes this season, and it looks like he has the depth to make that happen. Self went 10-deep in the first half, and he’s still without Mississippi State transfer Shakeel Moore, who Self told me is his team’s best defender. Bidunga is going to benefit from playing with an excellent lob-thrower in Harris. Bidunga can flip his hips quickly and race to the rim, and then you can put it just about anywhere near the basket, and he’s going to go get it.
Head tap 😤#Payheed x @FBidunga pic.twitter.com/E0QOBb80hs
— Kansas Men’s Basketball (@KUHoops) November 5, 2024
- Texas star freshman Tre Johnson had 29 points and four assists in the Longhorns’ 80-72 loss to Ohio State in Las Vegas. Texas had a handful of veteran scorers transfer in this offseason, but Johnson could end up the go-to guy. Transfer guard Tramon Mark (formally of Houston and Arkansas) is out with an injury, and with so much turnover elsewhere, it’s still early to judge Rodney Terry’s team.
- Will Riley, who reclassified to join Illinois this year, came off the bench to score 31 points in a 112-67 win against Eastern Illinois. Lithuanian guard Kasparas Jakucionis, who has generated most of the preseason buzz from NBA scouts who’ve seen the Illini, also had a solid game, finishing with 11 points, seven assists and five rebounds.
- Another freshman I’ve heard is better than expected is Michigan’s L.J. Cason, who originally committed to Florida Atlantic and followed coach Dusty May to Michigan. He had 14 points and three assists off the bench in Michigan’s 101-53 win over Cleveland State.
Another slow start from Texas A&M
Texas A&M has had to get hot during SEC play the past two seasons to earn an at-large bid after struggling in its nonconference schedule, and it could be the same story this year. UCF knocked off the No. 13 Aggies 64-61 and set off a court storm in Orlando. The Aggies were without transfer guard Zhuric Phelps, who is expected to be a starter, but UCF was also missing significant pieces: leading returning scorer Jaylin Sellers was sidelined with an injury and Memphis transfer Mikey Williams was in a walking boot.
The key to the Aggies’ late-season surge last season was the scoring of guard Manny Obaseki, who started the final eight games of the season and helped spur a five-game winning streak. Obaseki came off the bench and had just two points in the loss to UCF. The Aggies were the best offensive rebounding team in the country last year and kept up that trend with 16 offensive boards, but they just didn’t get enough from their guards. Credit to Buzz Williams for being willing to open the season with a true road game, but this is one you’d expect a ranked team with one of the oldest rosters in the country to win.
UCF storms the court after stunning No. 13 Texas A&M‼️ pic.twitter.com/7zfvr5fJrb
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 5, 2024
The Big East … meh
The Big East got only three teams into the NCAA Tournament last season, and it wasn’t a strong opening night for the prospects of improving on that number. All eight conference members in action won, but Seton Hall, Butler, Providence, Villanova and DePaul all trailed mid- or low-major opponents in the second half. DePaul needed overtime to beat Southern Indiana; Seton Hall won by four over Saint Peter’s; Providence just squeaked by Central Connecticut 59-55.
Marquette did take care of business, following a trend of teams with roster continuity looking sharper on opening day. The Golden Eagles rolled over Stony Brook 102-62, and Kam Jones had one of the most impressive performances of the day, finishing with 32 points on 14-of-16 shooting. Jones put up big numbers last year when Tyler Kolek was out, and he could be in for an All-America season with Kolek now on the New York Knicks.
The portal taketh from high-majors, too
It’s a frustrating time in college hoops for mid-majors because usually when they develop a star, he’s off to a high-major for a bigger paycheck. Well, sometimes it happens to high-majors, too.
This spring, South Carolina lost leading scorer Meechie Johnson when he returned to his original school, Ohio State, even though the Gamecocks made the NCAA Tournament and retained rising head coach Lamont Paris. The Gamecocks were one of last year’s big surprises, but they’re off to a bad start without Johnson. They were the lone high-major to be upset by a mid-major on opening day, losing 74-71 to North Florida.
Johnson was part of the Buckeyes’ big win on Monday, playing 30 minutes in the upset of No. 19 Texas.
Best game of the day
The best game I watched on Monday was Santa Clara’s 85-78 win over Saint Louis at the Sanford Pentagon in South Dakota. The Broncos have big talented wings, a skilled low-post scorer in German 7-footer Christoph Tilly and legit depth. Adama-Alpha Bal, who started his career at Arizona, led the Broncos with 24 points and looked like a pro. The Broncos have a solid nonconference schedule, with upcoming games against high-majors Arizona State (on Friday), Stanford and TCU. Saint Mary’s is usually the second-best team in the WCC behind Gonzaga, but don’t be surprised if Santa Clara is that team this year and competes for an at-large bid.
The Billikens should also be relevant, as Josh Schertz’s offense continues to be must-watch TV with Robbie Avila as his hub. Avila rolled his right ankle with 4:36 left in the game and returned to the bench with it wrapped in ice. Hopefully he’s not out for long. Both he and fellow Indiana State transfer Isaiah Swope, who had 24 points in his SLU debut, should be two of the best players in the Atlantic 10. This win should age well for Santa Clara, assuming Avila’s ankle injury isn’t significant, and it shouldn’t be a bad loss for the Billikens. Make it a point to watch both. They’re DVR-worthy.
(Photo: William Mancebo / Getty Images)
