College Hoops Barometer: The Surgical Ward

College Hoops Barometer: The Surgical Ward

This article is part of our College Hoops Barometer series.

A topsy-turvy last week saw losses by several highly-ranked squads, including Villanova, Arizona State, North Carolina and Miami. Meanwhile, TCU is no longer undefeated after suffering a narrow loss at the hands of Oklahoma freshman sensation Trae Young. With that loss as well as Butler's defeat of the aforementioned Wildcats, all the undefeated teams in college basketball have now fallen by the wayside. Michigan State has assumed the position at the pinnacle of the rankings.

One of the more surprising starts to the season belongs to the Xavier Musketeers, who have reeled off 10 wins in a row. Led by senior Trevon Bluiett, who has improved each and every season, the 14-1 Musketeers have only lost to an extremely talented Arizona State squad that is also currently ranked in the top 5. A January 10th clash with 1-loss Villanova should be a terrific matchup and will go a long way towards determining whether or not the Musketeers are true contenders.

Let's take a look at some individual players making headlines in this week's edition of the College Hoops Barometer.

UPGRADE

Chandler Hutchison (G)

Hutchison is the chief reason for the 12-2 start for the Broncos, averaging 17.4 points and 8.5 rebounds per tilt. Hutchison has posted some mammoth outputs thus far during his senior campaign as well. He has six double-doubles this year, including a 19-point, 18-rebound effort against Illinois State in the middle of November. He even messed around and got a triple-double in an early December win over

A topsy-turvy last week saw losses by several highly-ranked squads, including Villanova, Arizona State, North Carolina and Miami. Meanwhile, TCU is no longer undefeated after suffering a narrow loss at the hands of Oklahoma freshman sensation Trae Young. With that loss as well as Butler's defeat of the aforementioned Wildcats, all the undefeated teams in college basketball have now fallen by the wayside. Michigan State has assumed the position at the pinnacle of the rankings.

One of the more surprising starts to the season belongs to the Xavier Musketeers, who have reeled off 10 wins in a row. Led by senior Trevon Bluiett, who has improved each and every season, the 14-1 Musketeers have only lost to an extremely talented Arizona State squad that is also currently ranked in the top 5. A January 10th clash with 1-loss Villanova should be a terrific matchup and will go a long way towards determining whether or not the Musketeers are true contenders.

Let's take a look at some individual players making headlines in this week's edition of the College Hoops Barometer.

UPGRADE

Chandler Hutchison (G)

Hutchison is the chief reason for the 12-2 start for the Broncos, averaging 17.4 points and 8.5 rebounds per tilt. Hutchison has posted some mammoth outputs thus far during his senior campaign as well. He has six double-doubles this year, including a 19-point, 18-rebound effort against Illinois State in the middle of November. He even messed around and got a triple-double in an early December win over Portland, collecting 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Most recently, he poured in a season-best 32 points to go along with 12 rebounds in a triumph at UNLV. This is the second season in a row that Hutchison has been a huge producer; perhaps he will finally gain some notoriety as a senior.

Nick Ward (F)

Ward has an incredible impact on the game despite his lack of minutes played, averaging 15.4 points and 7.5 rebounds over just 18.5 minutes per contest. He has been even better of late, posting two-straight double-doubles, and three in the last five outings. Ward has shown a deft touch around the basket, shooting an absurd 72.1-percent from the field as a sophomore. That percentage leads the Big Ten by a rather wide margin. In fact, he has missed just two shots in his last four contests, hitting an insane 32-of-34 from the floor. If Ward could find a way to see even five more minutes of action per game, he could become one of the top players in the country.

Kelan Martin (F)

The senior forward sparked the 101-93 upset over then-No.1 Villanova on Saturday, putting up 24 points and eight rebounds for the Bulldogs. Martin came back in the next contest and racked up 25 points, though Butler fell to another highly-ranked squad in the form of Xavier. Nevertheless, Martin has hit the 20-point plateau in five-straight games, averaging 23.2 points over that span. Martin is fifth in the Big East in scoring this season (19.3 points per game), also averaging career highs in terms of rebounding (6.9) and assists (1.9) thus far as a senior. As such, the always-productive Martin has taken his game to even greater heights this season.

Jaylen Barford (G)

The Hogs have an extremely talented trio of senior guards that includes Barford, Daryl Macon and Anton Beard. Barford has been the most versatile of the group, leading all scorers for Arkansas this year. Through 14 games, he's averaging 18.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.6 dimes per tilt. He also poured in a career-high 28 points in an overtime win over Tennessee on Saturday. Barford snagged seven-plus rebounds on multiple occasions this season, while also dishing out at least five assists four times. He's also vastly improved his three-point shooting from just a season ago, connecting on 40.3 percent of his attempts as a senior. Even with Tuesday's narrow loss to Mississippi State, the Hogs must feel good about their chances in the SEC with their guard triad, led by Barford.

CHECK STATUS

Bruno Fernando (F)

The Terps' front line has been decimated by injuries. First, it was Justin Jackson who was diagnosed with a torn labrum in December, ending his campaign. The 6-7 sophomore was averaging 9.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per contest before the injury, played much bigger than his height due to his length and athleticism. Less than a week later, Jackson's backup, Ivan Bender, suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee, ending his 2017-18 season as well. As a result, the 6-foot-10 Fernando should be in line for a massive uptick in minutes. After battling an ankle injury of his own, Fernando is averaging 12 points and 9.3 rebounds over the last three contests. The freshman from Angola is likely to have some growing pains this season, and foul issues remain a concern. Nevertheless, his expanded workload in the injury-plagued Terps' frontcourt certainly warrants a mention.

Bryant McIntosh (G)

McIntosh appears to have avoided serious damage after injuring his left knee. While the long-term prognosis looks solid, McIntosh already missed Tuesday's dismal loss to Nebraska, and his status in the short term is murky. McIntosh -- the catalyst of the Wildcats' offense averaging 5.5 assists per contest -- will be difficult to replace. That output places him second in the entire Big Ten in dishing. McIntosh is also second in scoring as well as a dynamite free-throw shooter. Fellow senior Scottie Lindsay will be asked to pick up the slack while McIntosh is sidelined.

Saben Lee (G)

The versatile freshman poured in 23 points in Tuesday's 76-75 victory over Alabama. However, Lee has shown he is not a one-trick pony during his brief collegiate career. Lee collected eight rebounds in the second game of the season, also dishing out seven assists in the season opener. He posted perhaps his best game of the season in a 76-64 loss to highly-ranked Arizona State, accumulating a career-high 24 points along with five boards and six dimes. The development of a more consistent outside shot is next on the agenda for Lee, who looks to be the future of Commodore basketball.

Keyshawn Woods (G)

The second-leading scorer for the Demon Deacons, Woods played just three minutes Wednesday versus Syracuse before succumbing to a knee injury. He did not return to the 73-67 triumph over the Orange. The severity of the injury has yet to bubble to the surface, leaving his status and his 14.8 points per contest in question heading into Saturday's matchup against Boston College. Freshman Chaundee Brown could see more minutes if Woods remains sidelined, though Wake Forest will certainly rely on floor general Bryant Crawford as well as senior Mitchell Wilbekin if Woods misses extended action.

DOWNGRADE

Bonzie Colson (F)

Colson suffered a broken foot in practice and will miss the better part of the next two months for the Irish. Colson had been a double-double machine for Notre Dame prior to the injury, collecting five-straight such outputs. The leading scorer and rebounder for the Irish will be virtually impossible to replace, and it will take a committee to do so, though fellow senior Martinas Geben will be the most direct recipient of an uptick in minutes as a result of Colson's injury. The Irish are hopeful Colson will be able to return in time for the ACC Tournament. However, it remains to be seen how Notre Dame will fare during conference play with the second-leading scorer and third-leading rebounder in the ACC.

Keith Frazier (G)

The well-traveled Frazier has taken an indefinite leave of absence to tend to a personal matter. Prior to his departure, he was leading the Miners with 14.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per tilt. An athletic wing player who can score from anywhere, Frazier appeared to have fallen in love with the three-ball prior to taking the leaving of absence. He was hoisting up a career-high 7.2 treys per contest, nearly doubling his previous average of attempts from downtown. Freshman Trey Wade appears to be the chief beneficiary of Frazier's absence, compiling 16 points and seven rebounds in UTEP's first game without Frazier on Saturday.

Lindy Waters III (G)

Waters has been stuffing the stat sheet for the Cowboys as a sophomore. Seeing an additional 10 minutes per game on the floor as compared to his freshman campaign, Waters is managing 8.2 points, four rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 steals. Unfortunately, Waters recently suffered a concussion and sat out Tuesday's loss to Oklahoma (also known as "The Trae Young Experience"). Waters will have to clear concussion protocol before returning to the court. In his stead, Cameron McGriff got the start, played extended minutes and collecting six points and eight bounds.

B.J. Johnson (F)

The leading scorer and rebounder for the Explorers, Johnson was in the early running for Atlantic-10 Player of the Year before injuring his ankle. He has subsequently missed three games, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, La Salle dropped two of those three contests. Johnson formerly played at Syracuse, but played largely a bit role for two seasons before transferring to La Salle. He is still the leading scorer in the A-10, and is third in rebounding. The Explorers are extremely thin up front, but it will take a committee effort led by senior center Tony Washington and junior guard Pookie Powell to fill the void until Johnson can return. Powell in particular has upped his game of late, averaging 23.7 points and six rebounds per contest since Johnson went down.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jesse Siegel
Siegel covers college football, college basketball and minor league baseball for RotoWire. He was named College Sports Writer of the Year by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association.
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