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NCAA Basketball: 2018-19 Winners/losers of the week (version 1)

By Tristan Freeman

OMAHA, NE - MARCH 25: The Duke Blue Devils cheerleaders carry their schools flags on to the court prior to the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional against the Kansas Jayhawks at CenturyLink Center on March 25, 2018 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
OMAHA, NE - MARCH 25: The Duke Blue Devils cheerleaders carry their schools flags on to the court prior to the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional against the Kansas Jayhawks at CenturyLink Center on March 25, 2018 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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AMES, IA – FEBRUARY 10: An Iowa State Cyclones cheer on her team in the second half of play at Hilton Coliseum on February 10, 2018 in Ames, Iowa. The Iowa State Cyclones won 88-80 over the Oklahoma Sooners. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images)
AMES, IA – FEBRUARY 10: An Iowa State Cyclones cheer on her team in the second half of play at Hilton Coliseum on February 10, 2018 in Ames, Iowa. The Iowa State Cyclones won 88-80 over the Oklahoma Sooners. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images) /

No. 3 Winner – Iowa State’s transfers

The Cyclones were pegged by many to be a team that could jump from last place in the Big 12 back to the NCAA Tournament. Talented sophomore guard Lindell Wigginton returned along with triple-double threat Nick Weiler-Babb. However, there were concerns with injuries to key players Solomon Young and Zoran Talley Jr. along with the starting forward Cam Lard, who’s currently away from the team.

That should’ve made Iowa State vulnerable in the early part of the season. However, two new pieces have allowed the team to start out 2-0, including an impressive 76-59 win over Missouri. Marial Shayok and Michael Jacobson were mere rotation players at their former teams but have stepped into a starring role with the Cyclones. The duo is averaging 33 ppg and 11.5 ppg and has given the team a huge defensive boost.

It won’t be until conference play until Iowa State is fully together and they have a tough neutral site game against Arizona this upcoming week. But based on the early returns of the transfers, the Cyclones have enough to battle for a top half conference finish, as well as an NCAA Tournament invite.

Loser No. 3 – Charlie Moore’s minutes for Kansas

The reason why Kansas was picked as the No. 1 team was due to the absurd amount of depth. With a top-5 recruiting class combined with several key returning players and three high-profile transfers, the Jayhawks were loaded at every position. That showed with the impressive win over top-10 Michigan State.

Of course, not everyone can play, with someone essentially being left out. The two players who stood out were KJ Lawson (10 minutes) and Charlie Moore (11 minutes). And based on the rotations, Moore could end up being the odd man out.

Freshmen Quentin Grimes and Devon Dotson looked fantastic, combining for 37 points and seven assists while each playing over 30 minutes. Lagerald Vick, the surprising returnee to the team, played 32 minutes himself. That left both Moore and sophomore Marcus Garrett (14 minutes) fighting for minutes off the bench.

It’s hard to see how much Moore will play this year after averaging nearly 30 mpg as a freshman at Cal. He’s the third ball handler on the team and lacks the size to play the other guard positions. It’s certainly early but his fate may end up the same as another Pac-12 transfer in Sam Cunliffe, who left for Evansville this off-season. Ironically, it was the arrival of Moore himself that helped create the projected lack of playing time for him.

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