CBB: Who's Hot & Who's Not
Hot: Kentucky (17-3, 6-1): The Wildcats started off the year with a blowout loss to Duke, and it seemed like people started to forget about them. But since their January 5th loss on the road against Alabama, Kentucky has won seven straight games, including victories over 14th ranked Auburn (82-80), 22nd ranked Mississippi State (76-55), and 9th ranked Kansas (71-63). Kentucky seems to be more comfortable playing with one another and now they're looking more and more like a two-seed come NCAA Tournament time. Ever since Ashton Hagans took over as the full-time point guard when Quade Green transferred, the Wildcats have taken off. Hagans is averaging a team-high 4.3 assists and spreads the ball around to guys like Keldon Johnson (14.4 points) and P.J. Washington (13.4), and Tyler Herro.
Not: Kansas (16-5, 5-3): The Jayhawks, who just lost to Kentucky on January 26th, are going in the opposite direction. The team that opened the year as the top ranked team in the country, has now lost two games in a row and three of their last four. Kansas is just 7-3 in their last 10 games, which isn't terrible, but it's far from what we expect from Bill Self's team. The Jayhawks are no longer in first place in the Big 12, trailing both Baylor and Kansas State. The reason is because the offense has been struggling mightily. When Dedric Lawson isn't rolling like last night against Texas, then the offense becomes completely stagnant. Lawson is a combined 16/44 in their three most recent losses, which is just 36.3 percent. Kansas goes as he goes, and that wont' always work. Someone else needs to step up.
Hot: Washington (16-4, 7-0): The Huskies began the season just 7-4 with losses to Auburn, Minnesota, Gonzaga, and Virginia Tech, and we started to wonder if this team was even going to make the tournament. Since then? Washington has won nine straight games and are sitting in first place in the Pac-12 with a 7-0 record. In those nine games, they have scored 70+ points six times and the offense is flowing to perfection. With that said, they haven't faced any ranked opponents since the December 15th loss to the Hokies so we'll see if they can sustain this level of success when the schedule hits a rough patch, but for the time being, Washington looks like the best team in the conference. They're led by Jaylen Nowell (17.0 points, 3.3 assists) and Noah Dickerson (12.8 points, 6.5 rebounds).
Not: Nebraska (13-8, 3-7): The Huskers are struggling more than just about anyone else in the Power Five since the new year came. In the month of January, Nebraska is 2-6, including four consecutive losses. After going on the road and defeating 25th ranked Indiana, 66-51, on January 14th, it seemed like the Huskers might be turning the corner, but it just turns out that the Hoosiers are no good either. Nebraska has now lost a pair of home games in a row, both by 10+ points to Ohio State and Wisconsin. Not to mention that they also slipped up on the road against Rutgers, who has been playing better this year, but is still one of the worst teams in the conference. Sitting four games under .500 in the Big Ten, Nebraska is likely out of the tournament discussion unless they can find some rhythm in the next week.
Hot: Villanova (16-4, 7-0): The Wildcats were totally dismissed after their two straight losses against 18th ranked Michigan and Furman at home in mid-November. Sitting at just 2-2, people wondered if the defending champions were even going to make the Field of 64. Well, 16 games later and Villanova now sits at 16-4 and a perfect 7-0 in the Big East. Since their loss on the road to top ranked Kansas, the Wildcats have won eight straight and look like they may repeat as Big East champions. Villanova is led by senior shooting guard Phil Booth, who is averaging 18.7 points, 4.1 assists, and 3.6 rebounds per game. Eric Paschall has also stepped up after Omari Spellman departed for the NBA, and he's scoring 17.0 points. Villanova will try to extend their win streak to 10 with games versus Georgetown and Creighton.
Photo Credit: UK Athletics.
