NCAA Basketball: 10 things to like and not like from week 1 of 2021-22 season

Jeenathan Williams impressive season-opening performance against Michigan

Williams has improved in each of his seasons at Buffalo, and the 6-foot-5 wing developed into a quality scorer last year. He showed off that prowess in the Bulls season-opening loss to No. 6 Michigan. Williams, who can score from various spots on the floor and several different ways, was 14 of 22 from the field and  2 of 5 from beyond the arc as he put up a career-high 32 points.

Williams is a borderline NBA second draft pick due to his shooting ability. But he does need to do a better job at getting to the foul line, which will help him continue putting up numbers when he struggles as he did on Monday versus North Texas. Williams made just 6 of 17 shots for 14 points against the Mean Green, although he hit a clutch 3-pointer that put the Bulls up for good (64-63) with 3:21 left.

Sahvir Wheeler’s Playmaking

If Kentucky is to make its first Final Four appearance since 2014-15, Sahvir Wheeler may be the reason. The Wildcats are always one of the most talented teams in the nation, but they generally lack leadership, and that is where the 5-foot-10 Georgia transfer fits in. Wheeler, who led the SEC last year with 7.4 assists, has an NCAA-best 22 assists through the first two games. He doled out 10 assists and 7 turnovers in UK’s loss to Duke, but came back against Robert Morris and contributed 12 dimes along with no turnovers.

The Wildcats have not had anyone average double-digits in assists for an entire season (at least since 1983-84). Tyler Ulis (2015-16) tops the Wildcats’ leaderboard in assists per game (7.0), while Davion Mintz had a team-high 3.1 assists last year.