NCAA Basketball: Dominant LSU, Anthony’s return and more weekly takeaways

Here are the biggest takeaways from the past week in NCAA basketball, including a look at what Cole Anthony’s return means for UNC, LSU’s win streak, and more.

We’re now in the heart of the NCAA Basketball season as the calendar turns to February, which also means we’re only a month away from the best month of the year.

February is the time where teams make statements about how good they are, pick up resume-boosting wins that put them on the right side of the bubble (or just put them on the bubble), and just create general chaos across the national landscape.

Just on Saturday, more ranked teams fell to unranked foes than won, creating what is sure to be plenty of turnover in the AP poll. Auburn got their first marquee victory of the season over Kentucky while Wisconsin and Stanford were among the bubble teams that picked up key Quadrant 1 wins.

Despite all of that, the biggest story of the day was Cole Anthony‘s return for North Carolina, but it didn’t have the impact many were expecting it would. That is where we start this new Rauf Report, highlighting my biggest takeaways from the week of college hoops:

1) Cole Anthony’s return won’t carry UNC to the NCAA Tournament

Cole Anthony is a great player and will be a top-five pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. And it’s great he wanted to return to North Carolina when we’ve seen other top prospects leave school when they weren’t able to be on the court.

His presence certainly makes the Tar Heels better – but it doesn’t make them good.

All the problems that plagued North Carolina during his absence are still there. Anthony is the only one who can create his own offense. They lack athleticism, shooting, and are a below-average defensive team. The star freshman can mask some of that, but not all of it.

Remember, we started having questions about how good UNC was back in November before Anthony got hurt. They started the year with lackluster performances against Notre Dame, Gardner-Webb, and Elon before getting blown out by Michigan and Ohio State.

All their issues were on display in their loss to Boston College on Saturday. Anthony accounted for nearly 40 percent of their scoring as the Heels shot 36.1 percent from the floor while allowing the Eagles to shoot 46.4.

Again, Anthony makes North Carolina better, but he’s not a miracle worker. The Tar heels are a flawed team that will continue to be flawed.