Plus, Dontaie Allen's breakout game for Kentucky, Colorado State's unreal comeback and more.
Conference play is in full swing in men's college basketball, and teams are jockeying for position among the nation’s elite. Which teams helped themselves the most this week? And which players are moving the needle? Sports Illustrated dives into that in our Five Stars of the Week.
Texas
Texas is back … at least on the basketball court. While Longhorn fans may have spent Saturday’s game refreshing Twitter looking for updates about their brief football coaching search, Shaka Smart’s team put together a dominant victory over Kansas. The Longhorns never trailed against the No. 3 Jayhawks and used a 14–2 run in the second half to pull away en route to a 25-point victory at Allen Fieldhouse. The Texas offense clicked on all cylinders, shooting 12 for 26 from beyond the arc and putting five players in double figures. On the other end of the floor, the Longhorns shut down Kansas’s offense, which has put up points in bunches at times this season, holding the Jayhawks to a season-low 0.8 points per possession per KenPom.
The victory gives Smart’s club the type of signature road win it needs to compete for a No. 1 seed come March. With wins over Indiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma State and now Kansas, Texas has proved it’s a legitimate top-10 team and Big 12 title contender. With an experienced floor general running the show in Matt Coleman and a pair of future NBA players in forwards Greg Brown and Kai Jones, Texas has the combination of talent and experience needed to make a big run in the NCAA tournament.
Alabama
The Tide earned their biggest win of the Nate Oats era Saturday, going on the road to knock off SEC favorite Tennessee, 71–63. It was the program’s first road victory over a top-10 team in 16 years. While Oats’s Alabama teams have been known for their fast-paced offenses, it was a stingy defensive effort that earned it a win over the No. 7 Vols. The Tide limited Tennessee to a season-worst 32% shooting from the field. Meanwhile, a big game from senior guard John Petty helped Alabama become the first team all season to score 70 on the Vols, who boast the top-ranked defense in the nation per KenPom.
A victory in Knoxville should go a long way toward an NCAA tournament berth for the Tide in 2021, giving them the type of win few other potential bubble teams will be able to match in the eyes of the selection committee. Earlier victories over Providence and Ole Miss should also help move the needle. With a deep stable of guards who can create offense and help push the pace, it’s clear that Oats has this program moving in the right direction.
Dontaie Allen, Kentucky
The road for Kentucky to get back into NCAA tournament contention is a long one, but the Wildcats may have finally found something in Saturday’s win over Mississippi State in redshirt freshman wing Dontaie Allen. An underrated recruit from the state of Kentucky on a team full of five-stars from across the country, Allen had struggled to crack the rotation since arriving in Lexington. But with star freshman Terrence Clarke out with an ankle injury, Allen finally got his shot and delivered. He scored 20 of his 23 points in the second half and overtime, providing a major spark with seven made threes to lift Kentucky to a thrilling win at Mississippi State to start SEC play.
What will Allen’s role be moving forward? It remains to be seen, but the Wildcats were one of the nation’s worst three-point shooting teams coming into the game, and it’s clear he could provide a significant lift in a bench scoring role. After playing just 19 minutes in the season’s first seven games, Allen played 32 minutes alone in the Mississippi State game. The only question left to ask: Why wasn’t Allen playing sooner?
Colorado State
The Rams capped a 3–0 week with one of the most thrilling comeback wins of the season, rallying from a 26-point deficit to win at San Diego State on Saturday. After scoring the game’s first bucket, CSU conceded a 33–5 run to trail 33–7 just over 10 minutes into the game. But three massive runs helped CSU roar back to claim an improbable victory over the conference favorite. First, a 19–0 run by the Rams got them back within single digits by halftime.
After the Aztecs regained some momentum and took back a 15-point edge, Niko Medved’s club rattled off 14 straight points to get back within a point. San Diego State responded well and looked positioned to close the game out with an eight-point lead as the clock ticked below two minutes. But then the Rams exploded, scoring the game’s final 11 points to steal a game they had at one point just a 0.8% chance of winning. The capper was this ridiculous four-point play from John Tonje to give CSU the lead:
Perhaps the wildest part? Tonje didn’t even get to San Diego until 11 p.m. the night before the game because he was attending his father’s wedding in Denver. Regardless of how it happened, it’s a huge win for Colorado State’s Mountain West title hopes. The Rams put five scorers in double figures in the game and proved they have the combination of talent and toughness necessary to win grind-it-out games against the top of the conference.
Hunter Dickinson, Michigan
Dickinson hasn’t earned the same national buzz that other top freshmen have, but the 7-footer is quietly leading the undefeated Wolverines in both scoring and rebounding as the calendar turns to January. It was another massive week for the Virginia native, putting up a dominant 26-point, 11-rebound performance on New Year’s Eve against Maryland on 10-for-11 shooting. Dickinson followed that game up with an efficient 19 points in a blowout win over Northwestern on Sunday. He is now one of just eight freshmen in the nation averaging more than 15 points per game and ranks in the top five nationally in field goal percentage at a blistering 72%.
The DeMatha Catholic (Md.) High School alum is an old-school big with great footwork in the post and tremendous touch around the basket. And while he can knock down a midrange jumper, he is the rare big man in this day and age who seeks out post touches rather than running around the three-point arc. Dickinson has also improved his mobility from his prep days, allowing him to stay in front of quicker bigs on the perimeter. He may not have the pro upside that other freshmen in his class has, but he is definitely one of the most productive young players in college basketball.