College Hoops Barometer: Monk Breaks the Silence

A basketball revival may be afoot in southern California. Both UCLA and USC are undefeated; the Bruins are 12-0 while the Trojans are 10-0. Lonzo Ball and the resurrection of the storied UCLA program has been arguably the top story to begin the season. Not to be outdone, the Trojans are flying under the radar with a star point guard of their own in Jordan McLaughlin. Sure, the Trojans haven't really played anybody of note yet. And yes, they put forth a rather pedestrian performance against my alma mater, the Cornell Big Red, whose hoops team has made the NCAA Tournament a total of three times in its existence. Nevertheless, despite the easy scheduling for USC, the Trojans have taken on all comers thus far. Circle January 25th and February 18th of 2017 on your calendar. That's when these two programs square off. The Trojans could regress by that time. The Bruins may lose their prominent spot in the spotlight. Or perhaps not, and the two rivals will play in high stakes matchups on the national stage.

Let's take a look at some recent notable names from the hardwood in this week's edition of the College Hoops Barometer.

UPGRADE

Malik Monk, G, Kentucky - Unless you've been living under a rock, by now you've heard about Monk's epic performance against North Carolina this past weekend. The freshman sensation poured in 47 points for the Wildcats, the fifth most points in a single game by a Kentucky player in school history. Monk had eight three-pointers en route to the monstrous output; the final trey with 18 seconds remaining gave Kentucky a lead it would not relinquish. Monk also obliterated the previous record for points in a game by a freshman, set by Terrence Jones and matched by Jamal Murray last season. In a surprise to no one, Monk has been sensational for the Wildcats, averaging 21.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

Semi Ojeleye, F, SMU - The Duke transfer has found a home at Southern Methodist. After playing sparingly for the Blue Devils over the first two years of his collegiate career, Ojeleye transferred to SMU and sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules. Now that he's seeing plenty of minutes for the Mustangs, Ojeleye's skill set has been on full display. The 6-foot-7 junior forward is averaging 18.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Ojeleye set a career high in points in his last game, pouring in 28 in the 71-53 win over Albany. Ojeleye has taken full advantage of his newfound playing time.

Marcus Foster, G, Creighton - Another transfer, Foster did play significant minutes while at Kansas State, but ultimately decided to come over to the Bluejays. He's taken his game to new heights at Creighton, and the big difference has been a vast improvement in his shooting stroke. Foster shot just over 40 percent from the field in two seasons with Kansas State. By contrast, through 12 games at Creighton, Foster is hitting 51.2 percent of his shots from the floor. Foster shot around 37 percent from the three-point range during his time with the Wildcats. By contrast, Foster is hitting 41 percent of his shots from long distance this year. This has resulted in a bump of almost seven points per game for Foster, who is the leading scorer for the undefeated Bluejays. Foster even tied a career high with 29 points in a win at Arizona State on Tuesday. Foster's improved shot is already paying dividends.

Naz Mitrou-Long, G, Iowa State - A hip injury sidelined Mitrou-Long for all but eight games last season, but he has been more than making up for lost time this year. The fifth-year senior is averaging career highs across the board for the Cyclones. Mitrou-Long is managing 15.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists per contest. He was scorching Saturday against Drake, toasting the Bulldogs for 37 points en route to a 96-80 triumph. Mitrou-Long connected on 14-of-18 shots from the floor, including 8-of-12 three-pointers. Mitrou-Long is more of a volume scorer and can fall in love with the three-point shot a bit too much at times. That being said, when he gets on a streak, he's difficult to stop. Over his last two games, Mitrou-Long has connected on 14-of-21 treys. The Cyclones are guard-heavy this season, but Mitrou-Long is currently the leading scorer, and he's no slouch in the rebounding or assist categories either.

CHECK STATUS

LJ Peak, F, Georgetown - Peak has been tremendous of late for the Hoyas, averaging 23 points per game over his last three contests. He also notched his first double-double of the season in Georgetown's last game, a 78-71 win over former Big East rival Syracuse. Peak tallied 23 points and 11 rebounds in the victory. It remains to be seen if this is a new trend for Peak, though, or he is simply on a hot streak. In the first eight games of the year, Peak averaged 14.8 points and 3.1 rebounds. In addition, he had just one double-double for his entire collegiate career prior to Saturday's triumph. Peak might finally be coming into his own as a scorer, or he may just eventually regress back to the mean for the Hoyas.

Cassius Winston, G, Michigan State - Winston has picked up the slack for the Spartans following the injury to freshman sensation Miles Bridges. In the four games since Bridges went down, Winston has seen an uptick in minutes en route to averages of 12.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 9.3 assists per contest. A freshman himself, Winston scored a career-best 21 points in MSU's last game, a stunning 81-73 loss to Northeastern. He also tallied 10 assists en route to the first double-double of his collegiate career. It is clearly going to be a struggle for the Spartans this season, but at least Winston has held up his end of the bargain thus far.

Chris Boucher, F, Oregon - Teammate Dillon Brooks received the pub prior to the season, but Boucher has been the leading scorer for the 11-2 Ducks. Of course, Brooks missed time to start the season due to offseason foot surgery, and has been brought along slowly by Oregon. Still, Boucher is averaging a team-high 14.1 points per contest, and is second on the squad with 7.8 bounds per tilt. He had a stupendous 23-point, 19-rebound effort against Montana on December 13th. However, the injury bug has bitten Boucher now as well, as he has been sidelined the last two games with an ankle injury. Though the injury is not considered serious, Boucher was seen in a walking boot. As such, the Ducks may choose to play it safe with the senior until Pac-12 play begins.

Harry Giles, F, Duke - Giles finally made his long-anticipated debut for the Blue Devils, but was predictably rusty. Giles played just four minutes in Monday's 65-55 win over Tennessee State. He attempted one shot, failed to score, and did not record any other statistics. Giles has ridiculous talent and athleticism, but a multitude of knee injuries have left him on the bench for long stretches over the last couple of seasons. In addition, the Blue Devils are unsurprisingly loaded with talent, meaning Coach K can let Giles work his way back to full health and game shape. Things should only get better for Giles during his freshman campaign, but it will likely take him some time to get back to his explosive ways.

DOWNGRADE

Jahmal McMurray, G, South Florida - The team notation is a bit deceiving actually, as McMurray has decided to transfer from South Florida after playing in just three games thus far this season. He was suspended for the first six games of the season due to an undisclosed violation of team rules. The sophomore guard didn't miss a beat upon his return, though, pouring in 20.3 points per contest over those subsequent three contests. McMurray connected on 10-of-20 shots from beyond the arc over that span. However, McMurray has decided to take his talents elsewhere, and should be a hot commodity on the transfer market. As a freshman last season, he posted averages of 15.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists.

John Egbunu, C, Florida - A defensive stalwart, Egbunu is averaging 2.4 blocks per game, along with 7.7 rebounds per contest. Unfortunately, his offensive game has been stunted as a junior. The 6-foot-11 Egbunu is shooting just 42.9 percent from the field. By contrast, he shot over 58 percent in each of his first two seasons with the Gators. The drop in efficiency from the field has predictably led to a drop in points, as Egbunu is averaging more than two fewer points per contest this year. Add in that Egbunu has been battling a hamstring injury recently and missed Saturday's game against Charlotte, and the big man's stock does not appear to be trending in the right direction.

Thomas Welsh, C, UCLA - Not much has gone wrong for the Bruins this season, but Welsh has missed three straight games with a knee injury. The junior center was averaging 11.1 points and 9.6 rebounds per tilt prior to the injury. Welsh had tallied five double-doubles in nine games for the Bruins. Freshman forward TJ Leaf has been terrific for the Bruins, both before and since the injury to Welsh. Leaf is averaging 17.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists per contest, while shooting a crisp 66.4 percent from the floor. The one thing the Bruins don't have a lot of is depth, as the current rotation has just seven players. In other words, Welsh's presence will be needed as the season progresses.

Sidy N'dir, G, New Mexico State - The sophomore guard had been one of the chief reasons for the fast start for the Aggies. N'dir was third on the team in scoring and dishing, managing 13.7 points and 2.1 dimes per game. However, N'dir suffered a foot injury in practice at the beginning of December, and it has now been determined that he will miss at least a month due to the ailment. Surprisingly, the Aggies are 4-0 since N'dir's injury, as they have been able to rely on superb guard play from senior Ian Baker and junior Braxton Huggins. With Jemerrio Jones and Eli Chuha providing strong play in the frontcourt, the 11-2 Aggies may not miss N'dir as much as initially expected, though clearly they would like N'dir back at full strength during WAC conference play as they churn towards a possible NCAA Tournament berth.