The College Basketball season officially began Monday — with virtually all programs across the country tipping off ahead of what should be a scintillating 2024-25 regular season.
Four new entrants — UCLA, Washington, Oregon, and USC — joined the Big Ten Conference this season. Aside from Washington, the other three participants featured last night with their new conference affiliation. How did they do, you may ask?
Let us break it down.
Oregon
The Ducks got off to a strong start — beating UC Riverside by a score of 91-76. Dana Altman traditionally operates with a guard-heavy rotation. He’ll sacrifice size often for quickness, athleticism, and versatility. However, in the opener, Oregon used a big lineup. Villanova transfer TJ Bamba (6’5″) started at the two-spot next to rising sophomore star guard Jackson Shelstad. The frontcourt was comprised of Stanford transfer Brandon Angel (6’8″) and two former 5-star prospects in Kwame Evans Jr. (6’9″) and Nate Bittle (7’0″).
Without a doubt, this has the feel of one of the more talented starting groups in the Big Ten. Angel can space the floor with his excellent shooting from three-point land. Bittle is a fluid big man with terrific touch and strong shot-blocking skills. Evans can do a bit of everything, whether attack off the dribble or sky with his impressive athletic ability. Bamba is a battle-tested, tough guard who can operate as a secondary scoring option. Then there’s Shelstad — the Payton Pritchard clone destined to be an all-league player.
Supreme Cook, a guy who started every game for Georgetown last season, didn’t even play due to recovering from knee surgery. He averaged nearly a double-double for the Hoyas while shooting over 57-percent from the floor. Adding him to this team will give Altman even more flexibility. Four Ducks scored in double-figures — led by Evans with 23 points. Angel added 17, Bittle accrued a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Bamba chipped in with 12 points.
Altman probably didn’t love allowing 76 points. On the other hand, Oregon was in full control from the jump. It’s a team that will be able to go at least 10 deep if needed. Big Ten squads should not be sleeping on the Ducks.
USC
An entirely new USC team took on Chattanooga Monday evening in what was Eric Musselman’s debut in Los Angeles. The Trojans didn’t look back — taking a 10-point halftime lead and turning it until an eventual 77-51 victory.
The team’s depth was on full display. 12 scholarship players were featured in this contest. Michigan transfer Terrance Williams, projected to be a starter, didn’t play due to a back injury. Either way, the Trojans had a balanced offensive attack featuring seven guys scoring at least 8 points. Boise State transfer Chibuzo Agbo led the team with 14 points (4/9 from three). Yale transfer Matt Knowing played big minutes off the bench. He went a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor for 13 points.
USC overwhelmed Chattanooga defensively. The Trojans might not be an overly tall team. With that said, most of their players are long athletes ranging from 6’6″ to 6’8″. They can switch everything and demonstrated the ability to bother the opposition by forcing 16 turnovers and collecting nine steals.
Musselman has to be thrilled by the fact USC held Chattanooga to 17.6 percent shooting from three and 27.8 percent from the floor. It’s even more encouraging considering the fact Williams didn’t play, and the team got relatively quiet games from Josh Cohen, Saint Thomas, and Desmond Claude. This is another team that could surprise a lot of people based on the athleticism and depth it possesses. Remember, USC did recently beat Gonzaga in a scrimmage by a score of 96-93. That same Gonzaga team obliterated fellow top-10 team Baylor by nearly 40 in Spokane on Monday evening.
UCLA
UCLA has been predicted to finish as a top-three team in the Big Ten. There are those thinking that the Bruins might even be the best team of the bunch. Going out into the portal, Mick Cronin added six guys to the mix. He also brought in two freshmen guards from Southern California (one of which being McDonald’s All-American Trent Perry).
Unlike last year’s team, which was freshmen-laded and thin depth-wise, this year’s squad is deep with plenty of experience. We saw this on full display as the Bruins routed Rider by a score of 85-50. There were a few things right off the bat to take away from this performance. For one, this team shares the ball very well. Unlike in years past where there was a heavy isolation feel to Cronin’s offense, this team passed the ball almost unselfishly to a fault.
Starting guards Skyy Clark and Dylan Andrews combined for 13 assists and only three turnovers. As a team, UCLA only turned the ball over nine times. We knew the defense was going to be decent, as it’s Cronin’s main calling card. The Bruins held Rider to 31.7 percent from the floor and 25 percent from three. Much of that came from utilizing a roster that’s far more active than it was a year ago.
With Andrews, Kobe Johnson (USC), and Eric Dailey (Oklahoma State) on the court, you’ve got three plus-athletes who all defend at an all-conference level. Any college team will struggle to consistently score against this type of ability. The trio combined for 35 points on a solid 15-of-26 from the floor. Oregon State transfer Tyler Bilodeau led all scorers with 18 points. You saw how UCLA ran the offense through him — whether in the post or in transition. He can score in a myriad of ways and resembled a guy who could contend for all-conference honors.
The bench was also effective. Lazar Stefanovic and Sebastian Mack led the second unit — something fascinating considering each played heavy minutes as starters last year. Stefanovic hit two threes and played sound basketball. Mack also seemingly improved. He played with a sense of control and demonstrated some impressive vision when dishing for teammates. Being the team’s Sixth Man/scoring punch off the bench, he accrued 12 points in only 24 minutes. Big men Aday Mara and William Kyle III combined for six blocked shots in 21 minutes of floor time. Perry scored six points in 12 minutes and looked more than capable of playing spot minutes for this loaded team.
We’ll get a better sense of UCLA when they play a good New Mexico team this Friday in Henderson, Nev. UNM figures to be a tournament team. Cronin called off the proverbial dogs in the second half defensively, though versus the Lobos we could see more pressing. Without question, UCLA appears to be massively improved from a year ago.
