The Rauf Report breaks down the top takeaways from the college basketball weekend, headlined by Missouri’s poor start.
College basketball’s Feast Week really gets going on Monday with the start of the Maui Invitational. Over the next week, we will have virtually 14 hours of game time pretty much every single day. It’s a great time to be a fan — and also a great opportunity for teams to make statements that resonate across the sport’s landscape.
This is the time of year when the cream of the crop starts to rise above the rest of the country. UConn and Purdue were the teams that took advantage last season.
We’ll see what happens this week, but some teams are already starting to make those statements — a bad one, in Missouri’s case. We’re going to start this Rauf Report with a look at why the Tigers are struggling, followed by a look at three players who have impressed, including a dark horse National Player of the Year candidate.
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Missouri’s start is concerning
Dennis Gates’ first season at Missouri was something of a dream. With virtually no expectations, he led the Tigers to a 25-10 record and the second round of the NCAA Tournament. That raised expectations for Year 2, and so far, things have not worked out the same.
Mizzou was dismantled by Memphis in the second half of its loss last week, but that was easily chalked up as a cold shooting night. Then the Tigers had to pull off a 20-point second-half comeback to beat a bad Minnesota team. Then they blew a late lead at home and lost to Jackson State on Sunday.
Gates blamed a lack of effort, but he also pointed to turnover issues that have plagued Missouri through the first two weeks.
“It’s not uncharacteristic,” he told reporters postgame about the turnovers. “Jackson State forced us into 18 turnovers. I’m not going to take anything away from that program and what they were able to force us to do.”
Turnovers are certainly part of the issue. Missouri currently ranks 158th nationally in turnover rate, per KenPom, after ranking just 38th a season ago. That highlights an overall lack of individual creativity in this offense.
have the tigers lost their stripes?
Kobe Brown did a ton for last year’s team with his ability to score off the bounce and create his own shots. Both he and sharpshooter D’Moi Hodge were top 50 nationally in offensive rating and top 55 in effective field goal percentage. This season’s team doesn’t have the same kind of individual playmakers.
The hope was that transfers like Caleb Grill and John Tonje could develop into those players, but so far, both have been far too inconsistent and flat-out unproductive to play consistent minutes.
With the offense struggling, it would help to get out in transition as often as possible. However, Missouri is playing at a considerably slower pace than it was in Gates’ first season. Part of that is because the Tigers were great at forcing turnovers in 2022-23, ranking in the top 10 nationally. They’re outside the top 100 so far this year.
We’ve learned that this Missouri team is limited. The hopes of being able to compete with the top tier of the SEC are probably dashed given those offensive concerns. Still, there’s time to steady the ship in hopes of making the NCAA Tournament — even if this Jackson State loss is an anchor on its resume.
Reed Sheppard’s historic start
Sheppard was far from the crown jewel of Kentucky’s top-ranked recruiting class. In fact, despite his legendary career at North Laurel High School, many viewed him as a throw-in in that star-studded class. Some assumed he was included because his father played for the Wildcats.
Well, two weeks into the season, he has arguably been Kentucky’s best player.
Sheppard has been dominant on both ends of the court. He shoots the ball with incredible efficiency and shows a knack for both disrupting opponents and coming up with steals on the other end. The 6-3, 187-pounder used Friday’s game against Stonehill to showcase the entire repertoire: He scored 25 points on 9-of-10 shooting (7-of-8 from deep) with seven assists, three steals and two blocks. That performance put him in rarefied air.
However, Sheppard is far from a one-hit wonder. He had 13 points (on five shots) and four steals against Kansas. He started the season with a 12-point, five-rebound outing against New Mexico State. Per T-Rank, Sheppard staying on his current trajectory would make him the only player since 2008 to post the following numbers:
- Offensive rating over 163.0
- Usage rate over 16.0 percent
- Effective field goal percentage over 92.0
- True shooting percentage over 93.0
Now, it is virtually impossible to maintain this pace. (That’s why no one in Bart Torvik’s database has done it before.) But Sheppard has logged this start against elite competition. He may not be this efficient forever, but he has solidified himself as a damn good player who heavily contributes to winning. His shooting and his ability to force turnovers have been key for Kentucky and will continue to be.
Is Jaedon LeDee having an NPOY-type season?
Admittedly, it’s still a little early to start the National Player of the Year conversations. However, Feast Week is right around when that discourse starts, so let’s dig in.
Surely, those conversations will start with Purdue’s Zach Edey. He won the award last year, and he’s still the most unstoppable force in the sport. But there haven’t been many legitimate contenders emerging to challenge him, other than Kansas big man Hunter Dickinson.
Enter San Diego State’s Jaedon LeDee.
The 6-9, 240-pounder showcased immense potential at both Ohio State and TCU, but he failed to find any sort of consistent production. That remained the case throughout much of last season with the Aztecs, too, but he hit his stride down the stretch and in the NCAA Tournament.
LeDee entered this season with a much bigger role given SDSU’s losses in the frontcourt. So far, his production has gone beyond even the most optimistic of expectations. Through his first four games, he was doing things that only Obi Toppin — who won the NPOY award — has done this decade:
In his fifth game, LeDee went for 34 points and 17 rebounds in a 100-97 victory over Washington to win the Continental Tire Main Event. That performance brought his season averages up to 26.8 points and 10.6 rebounds.
At San Diego State, LeDee has developed a reliable post game, a solid mid-range jumper, and an understanding of how to use that length and athleticism to attack off the bounce.
It’s clear the Aztecs are going to feature LeDee and play through him as much as they can. If he maintains his level of play and San Diego State is atop the Mountain West, he could be another Obi Toppin-like NPOY candidate. His numbers and impact are simply too much to ignore right now.
Liberty’s new star
Liberty developed something of a cult following over the last few seasons thanks to Darius McGhee, the diminutive sniper who was one of the best scorers in all of college basketball. With him gone, there was almost an expectation that the Flames would take a step back, especially with the program’s jump from the A-Sun to C-USA.
That hasn’t been the case. In fact, it’s reasonable to think this Liberty team may be better than last year’s group. The overall depth of quality play has increased, and this group has found a star in Kyle Rode.
The 6-7 senior played a vital role in Liberty’s championship in the Myrtle Beach Invitational, headlined by a 31-point, five-rebound, four-assist outing in an 83-66 win over Wichita State.
Rode has been flourishing in the expanded role in his fifth season, averaging 18.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists. However, more importantly for Liberty’s perimeter-oriented offense, he’s already made 18 3-pointers.
Liberty has solidified itself as a solid favorite in C-USA this week with wins over Furman, Vermont and Wichita State while in Myrtle. A matchup with Florida Atlantic looms on November 30, and Liberty needs Rode to continue being its go-to guy if it’s going to continue this run.
The NCAA Tournament is going to be absolutely insane
Think about all the absurd results that have happened this weekend, let alone the last two weeks. Heck, we led this Rauf Report with Missouri’s issues, which came to the forefront because of a loss to Jackson State!
Two teams ranked in the top 15 nationally (FAU and Arkansas) were both defeated by unranked mid-major foes. Those are just two of the seven instances in which a ranked team has lost to an unranked foe through two weeks, which certainly feels like a lot.
Meanwhile, many of the top teams have looked solid, certainly — but a lot have also shown flaws! And not the kind of flaws that can be fully credited to sloppy early-season play. We’re talking full-fledged structural limitations and weaknesses. There are no truly untouchable teams like the 2020-21 Baylor and Gonzaga squads.
This is going to make for a very fun season and an incredibly fun NCAA Tournament.