Tonight is perfect for celebrating college basketball
Just in case you need an extra reason to go watch the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Southern Conference home opener against Mercer tonight, the Mocs are No. 39 in the latest NCAA Ratings Power Index.
That’s better than all but four Southeastern Conference programs — Kentucky, Florida, Texas A&M and undefeated South Carolina — and all but five Atlantic Coast Conference schools: Virginia, Duke, Miami, North Carolina and Louisville.
But if that’s not enough to get you out of your La-Z-Boy and out the door to McKenzie Arena for the 7 p.m. tip, how about this bit of trivia: The last team to win an NCAA tournament game against defending national champion Duke was Mercer, which shocked the Dookies in the opening round of the 2014 NCAA tourney before Tennessee blasted the Bears in the round of 32.
And if you don’t do anything more than support the mighty Mocs tonight as they seek to improve to 13-2 for the season and 2-0 in the SoCon, that’s OK. That’s the way it used to be around here when Ron Shumate, then Murray Arnold, then Mack McCarthy were commanding the UTC sideline, sending team after team after team to postseason glory, including a Division II national title (Shumate) and an NCAA Division Sweet 16 (McCarthy).
In fact, from this point forward, shame on the Scenic City if a crowd of fewer than 4,000 — a pittance, by the way, in the heydays of Murray and Mack — shows up to support the best Mocs team since that 1997 Sweet 16 bunch.
However, just in case you haven’t satisfied your Basketball Jones following the UTC-Mercer game, you should hurry home to catch No. 9 Kentucky’s visit to LSU on ESPN at 9 p.m.
This was originally slated to showcase two guys who were projected to go first and second in this summer’s NBA draft: LSU freshman Ben Simmons and UK rookie Skal Labissiere. Not quite halfway through the season, Simmons has lived up to that billing and then some. Labissiere, on the other hand, has struggled under Big Blue’s bright lights and lofty expectations.
But that’s OK. Simmons is worth your time all by his lonesome. For proof, just check out this line from the Bayou Bengals’ Saturday night road win at Vanderbilt: 36 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and 16-of-19 at the foul line in 34 minutes of action.
Said Commodores coach Kevin Stallings during Monday’s SEC teleconference when asked about the 6-foot-10 native of Australia: “He’s an elite player because he has the ability to make the players around him a lot better. He allows people around him to get easy baskets because of his skill set.”
Just what is that skill set? For anyone old enough to remember Magic Johnson during his two seasons at Michigan State, that’s Simmons. He’s a point guard in a power forward’s body. And he’s getting better every game. His stat line for the year now reads
20.5 points, 13.1 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.4 blocks a game.
Said North Florida coach Matthew Driscoll after watching Simmons score 43 in a 119108 loss to LSU a few weeks ago: “I’ve coached against ( Kevin) Durant. Durant is the best talent I’ve ever seen. Ever. I’ve never seen a more talented dude than Durant, but this dude (Simmons) guards. This dude rebounds. This guy gets steals and his IQ is off the roof. I’ve never seen a more complete package than this particular person. His overall game and his overall talent is as great as I’ve ever seen. Durant was the best offensive player. Not even close. But I’m talking about the overall talent (for Simmons). Wow.”
And all this about a player who’s somewhat limited as a shooter, which caused television analyst Joe Dean Jr. to tell the Lexington Herald- Leader: “He’s the most intelligent 18-year-old player I’ve seen in a long, long time. (If Simmons were a good shooter) we’d have to rule him ineligible.”
Of course, LSU has had these stunning individual talents before. In fact, for all that Kentucky has long dominated the SEC in team honors and championships, a pretty strong case could be made for the Bayou Bengals producing the top individual talent.
Or do you think any school in the league, including UK, can top LSU products Bob Pettit, Pete Maravich, Chris Jackson, Shaquille O’Neal and Simmons? Almost no school in the country except perhaps UCLA, North Carolina and Duke — and possibly a Kentucky five of Ralph Beard, Louie Dampier, Jamal Mashburn, Dan Issel and Anthony Davis — could produce a top five capable of keeping up with those Tigers.
But this winter is all about the talent the Tigers have now, the talent that Dick Vitale recently said is “like the Magic man” with “the body of LeBron.”
So what do you say, Chattanooga? Mocs- Mercer inside McKenzie followed by a quick trip home to catch the manchild Simmons against UK’s Cats. College hoops just doesn’t get any better than that on a cold Tuesday night in early January. Or pretty much any other night of the season until March.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.