Mikal Bridges throws down with a big slam and follows it by rejecting Josh Perkins at the other end. (0:40)

TUCSON, Ariz. -- With a few seconds remaining in the first half of Arizona's 88-82 win over Alabama on Saturday, Collin Sexton made a futile attempt to direct a play, urging teammate John Petty to take the last shot.

Then he decided to become the play.

Idling at the top of the key, with Parker Jackson-Cartwright hoping to anticipate his next move, Sexton dribbled right and then left before he nailed a line-drive 3-pointer that banked off the glass. He then fell to the ground and admired the shot that gave Alabama a halftime lead and punctuated a run that erased an 11-point deficit.

The lottery-bound guard recorded 30 points -- he finished 3-for-6 from the 3-point line -- and put on a performance that impressed NBA execs and fans.

"They competed, and that's really all you can ask for," Sean Miller said of his team's defense against Sexton. "The way Collin Sexton scores, it's against the team. ... All you want from a guy covering him is great effort and concentration, and they had that."

Arizona's Deandre Ayton, right, and Alabama's Collin Sexton, left, will be turning heads all season. Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Sexton is one of the most exciting players in America, a must-see talent. And that's what the game needs.

We'll debate the Wooden Award and the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft all season, but we've already identified the athletes who should compel us to set our DVRs and scour Twitter for highlights each night.

On Saturday, Sexton only confirmed the hype about his likely one-and-done campaign. A spin move in the first half made the opposing crowd gasp. He hit 3-pointers. He dribbled around his back and between his legs with ease.

Those who missed his 40-point effort in the epic "3-on-5" 89-84 loss to Minnesota last month in Brooklyn wonder how Sexton kept Alabama alive with just he and two of his teammates available in the final 10 minutes of the game. Well, late in that wild matchup, he hit a 3-pointer from the corner over three Gophers.

He's just special. And exciting.

But he isn't alone. Here's a list of college basketball's most exciting players.

Deandre Ayton, Arizona Wildcats

Find a replay of Saturday's game. Ayton scored 29 points and grabbed 18 rebounds against Alabama in the most dominant performance of his career so far. He's 7-foot-1 and 250 pounds of muscle. He's explosive with excellent timing and offensive instincts.

His tip-dunk with his left hand in the first half of Saturday's game was stunning. We haven't witnessed a rising big man with this power since a young Dwight Howard was tearing rims down in Orlando a decade ago. But Howard didn't have Ayton's versatility then. With the game on the line, Ayton hit a pair of 15-footers to seal the win Saturday. He's the greatest force in college basketball right now.

"His ability as a player, in my mind, is unmatched," Miller said. "He's so skilled and yet so big and athletic. Usually, there is one or the other. He has both."

Tra Holder, Arizona State Sun Devils

When you score 29 points and finish with a 4-for-7 clip from the 3-point line at Allen Fieldhouse and leave with the win, you're allowed to flex. Holder hit big shots, scored at the rim and guided an Arizona State squad that leads our latest Power Rankings and stands fifth in the AP poll (the Sun Devils got five first-place votes) after handing the Jayhawks their 11th home loss in the Bill Self era. Between the KU effort and his 40-point outing in a win over Xavier last month, Holder is high on the list of players to see in college basketball.

Alize Johnson, Missouri State Bears

The departures of Wichita State and Creighton in recent years diminished the profile of the Missouri Valley Conference. But Missouri State, which was picked to win the league, features a hidden gem in Johnson. In the first 10 minutes of his team's win over Hampton last week, the double-double machine and NBA prospect had a dunk, a 15-footer and a 3-pointer on his stat sheet. But his one-handed dunk off a teammate's miss early in that game highlighted the 6-foot-9 forward's athleticism.

Mikal Bridges, Villanova Wildcats

Let's discuss his dunk from last week's game against Gonzaga in the Jimmy V Classic. You know the dunk: second half, near the eight-minute mark. Bridges drives to the rim and dunks on every player in the history of the Gonzaga program. Domantas Sabonis. Kelly Olynyk. Jeremy Pargo. John Stockton. The whole town of Spokane, Washington, felt that, too. Then Bridges swatted Silas Melson's shot on the other end. Watch him.