Five Stars of the Week: West Virginia Gaining Steam in the Big 12
While most people may have spent their weekend thinking about the Super Bowl, it was a jam-packed week of action in the men’s college basketball world. Fourteen ranked teams have lost at least one game since last Wednesday as teams battle for seeding heading into March. All that action leaves us with just two undefeated teams: Gonzaga and Baylor. Who other than those two powers earned some love this week? Sports Illustrated dives into that with our Five Stars of the Week.
West Virginia
The Mountaineers completed a perfect week Tuesday when they knocked off Texas Tech in Lubbock, 82–71. That followed an impressive 91–79 victory over Kansas on Saturday. In both games, there were strong finishes from WVU that carried it to the finish line, outscoring the Jayhawks by seven in the final 10 minutes and topping the Red Raiders by nine in that same period. Combine that with 51 points over the two games from star guard Miles “Deuce” McBride, and the Mountaineers are tough to beat.
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McBride and big man Derek Culver create one of the best guard-big duos in college basketball. However, other key rotation players stepping up keyed the two victories. Against Kansas, Taz Sherman nearly doubled his season average by pouring in 25 points and drilling four threes in the game. Tuesday in Lubbock, it was Sean McNeil who got hot, scoring a career-high 26 points in his first game back in the starting lineup in a month. It may not be the same player stepping up every night, but the emergence of a third scorer next to McBride and Culver has been a huge reason the Mountaineers now sit second in the Big 12.
Grant Sherfield, Nevada
Sherfield was absolutely superb in Nevada’s best weekend of the year, leading the Wolf Pack to two upset victories against Boise State. The Wichita State transfer opened the weekend with 20 points, 14 assists and one game-winning shot Friday.
He then followed up that performance with a career-high 29 points, six rebounds and eight assists on Super Bowl Sunday to lead the Pack to a 73–62 victory over one of the best teams in the Mountain West.
Sherfield was originally committed to play for current Nevada head coach Steve Alford at UCLA, but went to Wichita State after Alford was fired by the Bruins in late 2018. After a year with the Shockers, he entered the transfer portal and found a home in Nevada with a familiar face. The sophomore is certainly a candidate for all-conference honors in a loaded Mountain West and is one of just four players nationally averaging at least 18 points and six assists per game this season. With the Wolf Pack set to return every player averaging at least two points per game and to add a pair of former top-50 recruits in transfers Addison Patterson (Oregon) and Will Baker (Texas), Nevada figures to be one of the best mid-majors in the country next season.
Ayo Dosunmu, Illinois
Dosunmu continued an incredible junior campaign with his first career triple double Saturday in Illinois's 75–60 win over a ranked Wisconsin team. Dosunmu posted 21 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists, becoming the first high-major player to record a triple double against Division I competition this season. Dosunmu and big man Kofi Cockburn dominated the game for the Illini, getting whatever they wanted in the paint and helping Brad Underwood’s team out-rebound the Badgers 44–19.
A Chicago native, Dosunmu is averaging more than 21 points, six rebounds and five assists per game so far this season. No player in the last 15 years has put together that statline for an entire season. Dosunmu’s decision to return to Illinois for his junior season has paid off, as he has the Illini in position to compete for a national championship and has boosted his draft stock thanks to an improved three-point shot and more playmaking responsibilities. Underwood’s team now sits fourth nationally in KenPom and is just a game and a half off the pace for the Big Ten lead.
Ohio State
Chris Holtmann’s team may not be the best team in college basketball, but it has a strong argument to be the most accomplished team in the country. The Buckeyes added two more Quadrant 1 wins to their tally this week with road wins at Iowa and Maryland. OSU now has eight Q1 wins—that’s one more than Gonzaga, two more than Baylor and three more than any other team in college basketball. With the strength of the Big Ten, Ohio State will almost assuredly have four more Q1 opportunities before the end of the regular season to further strengthen its incredible résumé.
What makes the Buckeyes so good is their ability to win in a variety of ways. Thursday’s road win at Iowa was a shootout, and the Buckeyes went shot-for-shot with the best offense in college basketball by knocking down 14 threes and turning the ball over just six times. They then proved they can prevail in a grinder, winning a low-scoring game at Maryland after getting off to a slow start. It’s time to start talking about the Buckeyes as a legitimate national title contender.
USC
Is this the best USC team of the Andy Enfield era? It may not be the most talented team Enfield has had, but the Trojans are clicking right now and sit atop the Pac-12 after knocking off UCLA on Saturday. While it’s true the Bruins were shorthanded without key big men Cody Riley and Jalen Hill, the Trojans were suffocating on the defensive end and made nine threes to earn a big-time win over their crosstown rivals.
The centerpiece of this team is Evan Mobley, the fluid 7-footer who projects as one of the first players off the board in the NBA draft this summer. Mobley’s ability to defend the rim has made the Trojans one of the better defensive teams in college basketball, and his versatile offensive game makes USC hard to guard. Everyone else has bought into their roles: Evan’s brother Isaiah Mobley provides a physicality down low Evan lacks, Santa Clara transfer Tahj Eaddy has slotted in nicely as a playmaking combo guard and Rice import Drew Peterson does all the little things to help you win. The Trojans have lost just one game since the calendar turned to 2021 and have a very manageable remaining schedule. If they finish strong, a top-four seed in the NCAA tournament is more than possible.
