Cayden Boozer, VCU's guards part of latest A-10/ACC Basketball Weekly Update

Feast Week is upon us, and we are about to find out alot about many of the college basketball teams that still feel like mysteries. WIth that in mind, this week's Three category is three major questions that have arisen out of the first few weeks of the season.

Atlantic Ten - Three Major Questions

Is the mushy middle becoming the muscular middle?

The A-10 as a whole is off to a good start to the season, including three undefeated teams (George Mason, Richmond, Davidson), who are cleaning up against weaker competition and haven't really proven themselves yet. St. Bonaventure is unbeaten as well, with the season-opening win over MVC favorite Bradley. A signature game against UNC coming next. Duquesne may have been most impressive in their 10-point loss to Villanova, when foul trouble to all three key big men (Hugley, Necas, Dixon) sank the Dukes late in the 1st half in a game they may have won had Hugley gotten a normal minutes load.

Rhode Island played disgracefully in a 17 point loss to Tulsa, but the Rams dominant 46-31 2nd half to upset a top 100 Yale team on the road has added them to this group. Over the next few weeks, we will learn which of these teams is truly top 100 caliber themselves. For sake of those at the top hoping for an at-large bid chance, they probably need 3 of the 6 to get there to strength the league.

Can VCU's inexperienced guards take a leap in time?

The Rams senior frontcourt of Barry Evans (18 points), Jadrien Tracey (16 points, 7 assists) and Lazar Djokovic (13 points on 5-7 fg) led the way in their near upset of NC State. It was a different story for the key backcourt youngsters Nyk Lewis, Brandon Jennings, and Terrance Hill Jr, none of whom found a rhythm against the Wolfpack's menacing perimeter defenders. It's a long season (with a lot of weaker defenses), but one of that trio will need to find their comfort zone as an attacker and distributor to be a floor general that VCU can rely on in the biggest March moments.

Can a mid-major manipulate the NET?

It sounds harsh, but if the power conference teams are doing it AND getting good scheduling opportunities, than George Washington and Saint Louis need to do at least what they can to juice their metrics. The Revolutionaries are certainly doing their part so far, winning their home games by an average margin of 28.2 points, moving from #81 to #53 in KenPom despite beating only 1 team in the top 250. Saint Louis hasn't made a big jump, but has been absolutely dominant in a key stat for the efficiency metrics that fuel these rankings, sitting at #10 nationally in offensive effective fg% % and at #12 on the defensive side.

Game Of The Week: Dayton 77, Marquette 71 (OT)

What a roller coaster. At 8:53 PM EST, Javon Bennett couldn't put any weight on his left leg and it looked like Dayton's season was over. Not long after, Jacob Conner was forced into the fourth string point guard role and held the lead long enough for Bennett's cramps to loosen. Marquette went 4-8 from three over the final 8:18 to comeback and force overtime, but Dayton held the Golden Eagles to 3 points in the entire extra period, thanks especially to a pair of highlight takeaways from Keonte Jones, while Jones and Conner each made a three, which proved to be enough.

Statline Of The Week: Ian Platteeuw (Davidson): 8 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals, 19 minutes (collegiate debut) in over Bowling green (91-87)

Weekend? Game To Watch: Boston College vs Davidson in Charleston, Friday at 3:30 on ESPN2

Davidson profiles as a pretty even matchup to the ACC's basement dweller in their Charleston Classic opener. All-ACC guard Donald Hand Jr will have a chance to expose or reinforce the Wildcats' perimeter defense that has surprisingly been excellent over the first two weeks. For enjoyment purposes, the battle of the backup centers should be a treat, with the aforementioned Platteeuw taking on the Eagles out of nowhere double-digit scorer Boden Kapke.

Sickos Game To Watch: Furman vs Richmond in Orlando, Thursday at 11:00 am on ESPN2

The opener to the AAA version of the ESPN Events tournament comes at sensational time before the best Thanksgiving Day college basketball schedule ever gets rolling and before those pesky family obligations kick in. It's been a tough start for a normally quality Paladins' offense, but their lone strength (two point shooting), is also the weakness of Richmond's defense. Furman's key perimeter players rarely foul, an interesting challenge for Aiden Argabright and AJ Lopez, who are both top 50 nationally in drawing fouls.

ACC - Three Major Questions:

Is NC State too small?

In the first competitive game of the Will Wade era, backup center Musa Sagnia logged 27 minutes in the win over VCU, a necessity after the Rams secured four offensive rebounds before the first commercial break. The move worked and NC State wound up winning the battle on the boards over a team with ACC-level size, but not the skill and speed that future opponents (UNC, Virginia, and Miami specifically) will be happy to have against a dual-center lineup. Players like Darrion Williams, Qadir Copeland, and Tre Holloman look bigger than their size on the defensive side, but they aren't close enough to 7 feet; only Sagnia is.

Is Cayden Boozer ready?

One of the most debated freshman projections in many years, Boozer's expectations ranged from 2nd-team All-ACC to end-of-the-rotation spare point guard. So far, he's been a fantastic sparkplug off the bench, with a triple nickel against Western Carolina and 19 assists in 5 games. But in the Kansas win, the smaller Boozer twin was giving the keys to Duke's 2nd half offense, and his back-to-back baskets with 10 minutes left halted the Jayhawks' best comeback swing (lead had been cut to 5). He even stayed on the court for crunch time, over Caleb Foster, who still hasn't made the leap offensively. Continued improvement from Boozer may just be what turns Duke into a final four team again, harkening back to Tyrese Proctor's in-season improvement a year ago.

Is Virginia Tech rope-a-doping us or trying to tell us something?

Save for an absolute shellacking of St. Joe's and the 21-point offensive explosion in overtime versus Providence, Virginia Tech has looked very, shall we say, underwhelming. In home games against Charleston Southern, Charlotte, and Bryant, the Hokies led by less than five at some point in the 2nd half of all of them. Maybe Virginia Tech is bored by their lesser opponents (and wanted revenge on St. Joe's for last season's blowout loss). Maybe Providence is a subpar team, and Neoklis Avdalis' starring performance hypnotized us into thinking more of the Hokies than we should. A strong Battle 4 Atlantis field will give us some answers this week.

Game Of The Week: SMU 87, Butler 85

Andy Enfield finally got the signature non-conference win that eluded him in his first season at the helm for SMU, riding his four stars for a fantastic offensive performance inside the arc (Miller/Pierre/Edwards/Yigitoglu 26-40 from two). The Mustangs nearly blew a 7 point lead over the final 1:42, but Jaron Pierre Jr delivered his first (of likely many) signature moments in Dallas with an improbable twisting layup to finish off the win in regulation.

Statline Of The Week: Cameron Boozer (Duke): 35 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks in win over Indiana State (100-62)

I cheated to include this one, since this article came out on Saturday last week, but technically, that game wasn't over until after I finished writing that edition.

Weekend Game To Watch: Louisville at Cincinnati, Friday at 6:30 on ESPN2

A top 50 "technically" neutral site (in downtown CIncy) matchup that calls back to 21st century Big East, features the Kenpom #2 offense (Louisville) facing the #2 defense (Cincinnati). Baba Miller and Moustapha Thiam will make the Cardinals feel small for the first time all season, but if Bearcats allow their own top 25 pace to help fuel Louisville to get out and running, their mediocre offense probably can't keep up. But in Cincinnati's first big game of the season, they held Dayton to a historically low 2-28 from three. Can they slow down Mikal Brown Jr, Ryan Conwell and company in this one?

Sickos Game To Watch: Quinnipiac at Pitt, Sunday at 5:00 on ACCNX

A bizarre Pitt revenge game against Quinnipiac forward Amarri Monroe, the MAAC Player of the Year, who briefly committed to the Panthers in April. The wound really stings when you realize that Monroe is exactly who the Pitt starting lineup is most desperately missing, although he has struggled in the Bobcats two bigger games (vs St. John's and Yale). Fun stat for this one, Quinnipiac's only offensive strength is that they are #111 in the nation in offensive rebounding rate. Pitt is #111 in the nation in defensive rebounding rate.