Monday was a slow night in the college basketball world, but there were still some notable happenings around the country.
Here are the three things that you need to know:
1. DEPAUL BLEW OUT IOWA IN IOWA
Paul Reed went for 25 points, 12 boards, four steals and two blocks and Jalen Coleman-Lands added 17 points and five assists as the Blue Demons went into Iowa City and absolutely blitzed the Hawkeyes. DePaul scored the first 10 points of the game, they were 19-2 and, with just under seven minutes left in the first half, held a 24 point lead.
And all of that happened in DePaul’s fourth game in seven days.
Iowa was supposed to be pretty good this season. They have some size and they have a pair of McCafferys that are on the roster and they have Jordan Bohannon back and playing, but they certainly did not look the part against Dave Leitao’s club. And while that is not a good look for Iowa, I do think that it says more about DePaul than it says about Iowa. Bohannon is their best player. I’m convinced that, at this point in the season, he’s not yet back to 100 percent after offseason hip surgery that was thought to be a season-ender for him.
The Blue Demons are talented. Reed is a legit All-Big East talent. Coleman-Lands can put up big numbers, and he may be the third-most talented guard on their roster. Blowing out Iowa, even on the road, is not exactly going to be a win that resonates on Selection Sunday, but it is a statement of intent.
We will see if this kind of play continues throughout the season.
2. SAINT MARY’S LOST A HOME GAME TO WINTHROP
The Gaels took their first loss of the season on Monday night, and it was not a good one.
Winthrop, the pride of the Big South, went into Moraga and more or less controlled this game from the jump. They led at the half, they pushed the lead to as many as eight points in the second half and the only reason that Saint Mary’s had a chance to tie this game in the final seconds was because the Eagles missed some would-be clinching free throws.
This is a worrying sign for Saint Mary’s, who only had five players score and who, in the preseason, had some hype as a team that could compete with Gonzaga at the top of the WCC.
That could still be something that comes to fruition this season, but the Gaels are going to have to find a way to make some changes.
“I think we have pretty good players and we are pretty good defensively,” Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett said. “We just have to figure out the right pieces to put together, trust each other and share the ball.”
3. CINCINNATI DOMINATES DRAKE
I thought that the Bulldogs were going to have the horses to run with Cincinnati, that their shooting and they weapons offensively would allow them to keep it close against a team that is turnover over so much in their program.
That didn’t happen.
Cincinnati jumped out to a 42-18 lead and cruised to a 22-point victory despite getting just 11 points from their All-American Jarron Cumberland. They shot 51.7 percent from the floor and hit 11 threes.
This is certainly a far cry from the performance that we saw out of the Bearcats on the opening night of the season, a 64-56 loss at Ohio State.