NCAA Basketball: Missouri, San Diego State rise in latest power rankings

The matchup with Virginia was canceled this week, leaving just the game against Western Michigan on last week’s slate. It was close for about 25 minutes but the Spartans were able to pull ahead to win 79-61, led by 24 points and 10 rebounds by Joey Hauser. The slate remains fairly light for Michigan State in the next couple of weeks, with just a game against in-state foe Oakland on Sunday.

The real conversation may be who finishes runner-up to Luka Garza in the National Player of the Year race. He’s averaging over 30 ppg this season and went for 34 points in just 17 minutes in their rivalry win over Iowa State this week.

And even when Garza doesn’t have his best game as in the case against North Carolina, the rest of the team can step up. The Hawkeyes made 17 three-pointers to beat the Tar Heels, 93-80. Few offenses in the country can compete with Iowa but Gonzaga is one of them. They’ll face off in a mega matchup this Saturday.

It was a collective effort for the Bears in the 83-52 win over Stephen F. Austin, with five players scoring in double figures. Unfortunately, it’ll be their last game for a while, with the program going on pause due to multiple cases of Covid. Their big matchup with Texas will go on later in the season.

The Bulldogs have been on pause after the West Virginia game, so there aren’t any games to judge them on. It’ll be interesting to see what the impact of Baylor going on pause does, as both teams have been waiting to reschedule their highly anticipated 1 vs 2 game. The good news is that their game with No. 3 Iowa in South Dakota is still set to go this Saturday.

The one bright note with the Bulldogs not playing is that it has allowed star freshman guard Jalen Suggs to fully heal from his ankle injury suffered against the Mountaineers. He should be ready to go on the 19th, where he’ll be needed to keep up with Garza and the Hawkeyes.