Do you feel it? The air is feeling cooler, the leaves are falling, football season is halfway over, so you know what that means? Basketball season is here! We have already had a few exhibitions and scrimmages and soon the real thing will be here! The NBA has already tipped off (which I apologize for my month long absence during that but I was gone for work) and the college season is here to follow. We have some early battles to look forward to this year, so lets take a look at the a few early ones:



Allonzo Trier (11) driving to the basket.

No. 10 Arizona vs. No 12 Michigan State

Time and Place: November 11th 7pm EST at Honolulu, HI for the Armed Forces Classic

TV: ESPN

Okay, lets get amped up for this one! The first big game of the year is played in Hawaii and is a top 15 matchup. Not only is it a big matchup but it will be played in a hangar! Basketball? Check. Air force? Check. One super American opening day? Discount double check (Eh, don’t sue State Farm). Enough of the theatrics though, lets talk about the game:

2 Players to watch for: Allonzo Trier and Eron Harris are going to be names to keep an eye on in this game. First off, with Trier you get a pure scorer from the wing. The guy can score from anywhere on the court shooting 36.4% from 3pt and an impressive 68% when going to the rim. He was the leading scorer for the Wildcats last year (14.8 ppg) as a freshman, the dude can ball. Harris on the other hand is Walking Dead head shot deadly from outside. He hit 43.9% on 3pt shots last year on a solid 9.3 ppg. Why highlight this guy? He is one of the eldest on a young MSU team that will be needing leadership and experience early on. Look to Harris to be that guy from the get go.

Best name: Chance Comanche (Arizona). Chance, I just want you to know, you are the reason why I added this award to the article.

IoB prediction: This is a tough call due to both teams having a lot of inexperienced talent. I generally go with experience this early on, but neither really has the advantage there. My selection goes to Arizona though. I think that MSU is going to struggle to find an identity early on without a clear cut leader. I’m sure they will get it figured out later on in the season as they always do but I can see them struggling a little early on. Arizona by 10.



A submarine with sailors on it in Hawaii. I don’t know anything about this picture.

No. 3 Kansas vs. No. 11 Indiana

Time and Place: November 11th 9pm EST at Honolulu, HI for the Armed Forces Classic

TV: ESPN

Let’s not leave Hawaii quite yet! Right after the Arizona-MSU bout, we get to see Kansas take on Indiana in the same venue. Maybe it’s recency bias but I think this is one of the best opening day lineups in recent memory. Now if only I were actually in Hawaii rather than Indiana in November…. Anyways, on to basketball!

2 Players to watch for: Okay, I may surprise you with my two selections in Frank Mason and James Blackmon Jr. I’ll start with Mason. You may be surprised in this selection because everybody wants to see next years lottery pick Josh Jackson. However, I’m going to pull a Lee Corso and say “not so fast” about Jackson being the pick. As I said earlier, I like the experienced players in these early matchups and Mason brings that. Mason averaged 12.9 ppg, 4.6 apg, while shooting 38.1% from 3pt. He is as sturdy as they come and will be the exact type of player that the Jayhawks will want to lean on while guys like Jackson get their feet wet. Now on to Blackmon, which I am sure comes as the most surprising. I picked him over the likes of Thomas Bryant or OG Anunoby because he is filling the massive hole left by Yogi Farrell. Heck, if JBJ can bring half of what Yogi brought then this Indiana squad will be legit. Blackmon is coming off an injury but he can shoot lights out which is evidence by his 46.3% shooting mark before he went down last year. If he can learn to pass a little more and run the offense some this IU team will be tough to beat (and that sickens me to say as a Purdue grad).

Best name: OG Anunoby (IU). I’m going to ignorantly assume OG stands for “original gangsta” and you can’t stop me!

IoB prediction: As much as I complimented IU in this preview I still think Kansas has the advantage here. Kansas just has so much talent on the wing and I’m not sure IU has the perimeter defense to stop them. I think Kansas will struggle some with Bryant and Anunoby but not enough to overcome the guard play. Especially with IU needing to figure out how to supplement the loss of Yogi, who has been their cornerstone for the past four years, I think Kansas takes this early one. Kansas by 8.



“The Shot” Sadness for UNC.

No. 4 Villanova @ No. 15 Purdue

Time and place: November 14th 7pm EST at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, IN

TV: Big Ten Network

Well what do you know, my favorite team to write about shows up in this article and I didn’t even have to abuse my powers to do so, this is a legit top matchup this early in the season. The game will be played at Purdue’s home in Mackey arena which is one of the loudest arenas in the country, this game will be bumping. Will that homecourt be enough though for a battle tested Villanova squad who is coming fresh off a championship season? Stay tuned!

2 Players to watch for: Jalen Brunson and Vince Edwards. First off, can we just take a moment to recognize how impressive Brunson’s first year was? I don’t mean by incredible stats but by the fact that he came in as freshman and helped lead his team to a National Championship. And point guard is often one of the positions considered to have the largest learning curve! Brunson finished the season averaging 9.6 ppg on 51% fg%, and 38.3% 3pt all while looking like an upperclassman. Watch out for Brunson to be known as one of the best guards in the country. Vince Edwards has a similar story. He came into Purdue and from day one has been rock solid. The guy quietly does a little of everything. First off, he is 6’8, averaged 11.3 ppg, shot the 3 at a 40.7% rate, grabbed 5.4 rpg, and dished out 2.9 apg. He does a little of it all and with the departures of AJ Hammons and Raphael Davis this is his year to take over the reigns as the lead man. The Junior will need to be the glue that holds this Boilermaker team together.

Best name: Basil Smotherman (Purdue). Hopefully he is the missing ingredient for Purdue’s success! I know, I’m very punny….

IoB prediciton: This is going to hurt. I really truly believe Purdue can pull this win off at home, however I try to be mostly unbiased when I write these articles and if I’m being fair, I think Villanova has the slight edge. As I mentioned before Purdue will be looking to fill the void left by AJ Hammons and Raphael Davis. This game is very early in the season and I think this Purdue squad will take a month or so before they are truly running on all cylinders. Villanova returns a lot of talent from last teams National Championship squad and they weren’t very phased by those bright lights, so I think they put up a good showing in West Lafayette. Villanova by 4.

Other notable November games to watch:

November 15th:

No. 2 Kentucky vs. No. 12 Michigan State 7pm EST, ESPN

No. 9 Wisconsin @ No. 22 Creighton 8:30pm EST, FS1

No. 1 Duke vs. No. 3 Kansas 9:30pm EST, ESPN

November 29th:

No. 19 Syracuse @ No. 9 Wisconsin 7:30pm EST, ESPN

No. 12 Michigan State @ No.1 Duke 9:30pm EST, ESPN

November 30th:

No. 15 Purdue @ No. 13 Louisville 7pm EST, ESPN

No. 6 North Carolina @ No. 11 Indiana 9pm EST, ESPN

Hope you enjoyed my ramblings about basketball stuff. Be sure to follow me on Twitter @InquiryofBall for new postings and other shenanigans. Thanks!