NCAA Basketball: Purdue and Memphis among week’s biggest winners and losers

Purdue Boilermakers

The winners’ list for the week has to start with the new No. 1 team in the country, Purdue. The Boilermakers had themselves quite a week, beating Florida State handily and Iowa on the road to begin Big Ten play, those wins coupled with Duke’s loss to Ohio State vaulted Matt Painter’s team to the top of the polls.

Their week began on Tuesday hosting Florida State in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, not only did they win, they beat a good Seminoles team by 28 points. The Boilermakers led by 16 at the half and never looked back, scorching Florida State offensively, shooting 59% from the field and over 48% from deep, with Jaden Ivey, Isaiah Thompson, and Sasha Stefanovic shooting 9-15 from beyond the arc.

On Friday night Purdue began league play by holding off a late surge by Iowa who was playing without Keegan Murray and his nearly 25 points per game. The Boilermakers were once again led by Ivey with 19 points and held the Hawkeyes to just 40% from the field and 24% from three-point land in the 77-70 win.

Dereon Seaborn – North Carolina State

Another winner this week has to be North Carolina State sophomore guard Dereon Seaborn. The 6-7 second-year player not only leads the Wolfpack in points, rebounds, assists, and steals he had a game that turned national heads this week when N.C. State beat Nebraska in four overtimes 104-100. Seaborn had 39 points and 18 rebounds in the win, shooting 50% from the field, and shot almost as many free throws (20) as field goals (22).

On Saturday Seaborn’s effort came up just short against Louisville as the Wolfpack stormed back in the second half to take a lead but fell 73-68. Seaborn struggled from the field making four of his 13 attempts for 11 points and added nine rebounds in the loss. But it is his performance on Wednesday that will make him even more of a focal point of opposing defenses.