NCAA Basketball: Keegan Murray, UVA struggles among key takeaways

What better way to follow up the first week of NCAA basketball than by having another one? Except this week is even better for it began on Monday, providing one whole extra day of basketball. The second week started off early with Nicholls State traveling to the Ferrell Center for a 12 pm tip-off with Baylor. It also saw Michigan and UNLV tip-off at 1:01 am (ET).

Week 2 is always a great prequel to Thanksgiving ‘Feast Week’ in the NCAA basketball sphere as the games between tournament hopefuls and stalwarts alike is a welcome break from the swarm of ‘buy games’ and home in home commitments being honored from seasons past.

Week 2 saw the Big East get much more crowded as Villanova defeated Tennessee before losing a high-profiled game versus Purdue. Xavier defeated Ohio State 71-54, Seton Hall defeated Michigan 67-65 while Marquette got wins over Illinois and West Virginia before falling to St. Bonaventure. All the while, Connecticut, DePaul, and Providence have remained undefeated.

When week 2 was all said and done Gonzaga and Kansas remained as the best teams in the NCAA as Gonzaga defeated Alcorn State and Bellarmine and Kansas defeated Stony Brook. The UCLA Bruins maintain their own right to claim to be one of the nation’s best with easy victories over Long Beach State and North Florida. Purdue will make the jump to the top four after their victories over North Carolina and Villanova after starting the week off by defeating Wright State.