NCAA Basketball: Biggest takeaways from 2018 2K Classic

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Head coach Fran McCaffery of the Iowa Hawkeyes reacts in the first half against the Villanova Wildcats during the second round of the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center on March 20, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

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PITTSBURGH, PA – MARCH 17: Head coach Dan Hurley of the Rhode Island Rams reacts against the Duke Blue Devils during the first half in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at PPG PAINTS Arena on March 17, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

The Iowa Hawkeyes have been crowned the 2018 champions of the 2K Classic. What were the biggest takeaways from each NCAA Basketball team involved?

Coming into the 2018-19 NCAA Basketball season, the 2K Classic was a non-conference tournament to watch early on. That’s because of the four participants (Iowa, Syracuse, Oregon, and UConn) have intriguing individual storylines.

Each of them returned the vast majority of their production from the season prior and two of them were ranked (Syracuse and Oregon) in the preseason. All four have NCAA Tournament aspirations and were looking to use this event to build their respective resumes.

In the semifinals matchup, UConn and Syracuse faced off in an old Big East classic battle. It looked that way early with both teams trying to find a rhythm but the Huskies were able to shoot over the Orange’s zone in an 83-76 victory.

Iowa and Oregon was the second game, with the Hawkeyes getting out to a big lead early. They were able to score on Bol Bol and the Ducks early and often. Star guard Payton Pritchard was unable to get it going and it cost them in the 77-69 defeat.

Oregon was able to rebound in the third-place game, handling Syracuse’s zone and prevented them from initiating any kind of offense. The game was never close with the Ducks winning 80-65.

It also wasn’t close in the finals between UConn and Iowa. The shooting that gave the Huskies the edge in the semifinals haunted them a day later, allowing the Hawkeyes to capitalize. Dan Hurley’s team made some shots towards the end to make it somewhat respectable but Iowa was able to hoist the trophy with a 91-72 win.

Although most of the games weren’t close towards the end, there was plenty to take away from the last couple of days regarding all four teams. Here’s a look at the biggest one for each of them.

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