College Basketball Week 15: 5 biggest takeaways

Here’s your weekly dive into what we took away from the last seven days of college hoops.

The March clock ticks closer and this week, unfortunately, featured several injuries that will either have an effect on which teams make it to the Big Dance or how far they go when they get there. We’ll take a look at each of those and dive into some of the better under the radar talents across college basketball.

Here’s a look at what we’ve learned in the last week.

Assessing the impact of John Egbunu’s injury for Florida

The Florida Gators played their first game without junior center John Egbunu this weekend as they held off the Mississippi State Bulldogs, 57-52, in Starkville. Egbunu is set to miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL.

The 6-foot-11 big man has been a key piece of the Gators’ defense that currently ranks in the top five nationally based on adjusted efficiency, per KenPom. In particular, his 6.8 percent block rate helped hold opponents to just 45.2 percent shooting inside the 3-point arc. Saturday’s contest gave us a look at what life without Egbunu might be like for the Gators.

Sophomore Kevarrius Hayes, a very good rim protector in his own right, stepped into the starting lineup for Egbunu but played just 25 minutes. Hayes has a penchant for fouling that has limited his minutes this season and did so again against the Bulldogs.

Without another real backup big man on its roster, Florida struggled to contain Mississippi State on the interior. The Bulldogs finished 20-for-38 (52.6 percent) on 2-point shots in the contest.

The Gators will no doubt be able to make some adjustments to their rotations that may help limit the impact felt by the absence of Egbunu, but Saturday’s matchup with Mississippi State showed that they’re now more vulnerable on the interior, which will make it tough to maintain the same standard of defense they’ve played this season.