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College basketball heat check: Creighton heating up, Arkansas’ tourney hopes dead

By Mike Phillips

NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 12: Ty-Shon Alexander #5 of the Creighton Bluejays in action against Jared Rhoden #14 of the Seton Hall Pirates during a college basketball game at Prudential Center on February 12, 2020 in Newark, New Jersey. Creighton defeated Seton Hall 87-82. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 12: Ty-Shon Alexander #5 of the Creighton Bluejays in action against Jared Rhoden #14 of the Seton Hall Pirates during a college basketball game at Prudential Center on February 12, 2020 in Newark, New Jersey. Creighton defeated Seton Hall 87-82. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /
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With two weeks to go in the regular season, Creighton is climbing while Purdue plummets in the latest edition of FanSided’s college basketball heat check.

The regular season is nearly over and that means momentum is key for teams looking to reach the NCAA Tournament. A key hot streak could bump a program’s seed line up significantly while going cold could knock them out of the dance altogether.

Momentum is key in this week’s edition of the college basketball heat check and we’ll start with our rapid risers, beginning with the Creighton Bluejays who are surging up the Big East standings.

Rapid Risers

Creighton

The Big East looked to be Seton Hall’s to lose just a few weeks ago but Creighton has been charging quickly. Winners in eight of their past nine games, the Bluejays are a lethal offensive team that can put the ball in the basket and share the rock with effortless efficiency. Led by guards Ty-Shon Alexander and Marcus Zegarowski, Creighton averages 78.1 points per game while knocking down 37.7 percent of its three-point attempts. The Bluejays just knocked off Seton Hall in Newark on Feb. 12 so they have certainly put the rest of the Big East on notice.

Kansas

The newly minted no. 1 team in the polls, Kansas looks like the favorites to win the national championship at this point. The Jayhawks have won 12 straight games, the longest winning streak this side of Dayton, including an impressive three-point victory at Baylor on Saturday. Possessing the nation’s eighth-best scoring defense helped but Kansas was also ridiculously efficient on the offensive end, knocking down 50.9 percent of their shots. Kansas has the ability to beat you in multiple ways, making them an extremely tough out.

Arizona State

The Sun Devils were barely a bubble team two weeks ago but a seven-game winning streak has them sitting in sole possession of first place in the Pac-12. Six of those victories have been by five points or less, meaning Arizona State has learned how to close out tough games. Bobby Hurley‘s club is led by junior guard Remy Martin, who averages 19.1 points per game and is shooting 44.4 percent from the floor. This brilliant run of play has all but assured the Sun Devils of reaching the NCAA Tournament and their seed should keep rising as the wins pile up.

Fast Fallers

VCU

VCU was widely expected to be the top team in the Atlantic 10 this season, even being ranked at some points but things have not gone according to plan. The Rams enter play this week at a disappointing 7-7 in conference play, which puts them in eighth place behind non-bubble teams like St. Bonaventure, Saint Louis and Duquesne. The four-game losing streak is ill-timed for VCU, which has all but slid off the bubble and probably needs to win the A-10’s automatic bid to get back to the NCAA Tournament.

Purdue

Skeptics have questioned whether the Big Ten could actually get a dozen teams into the NCAA Tournament and they are being proven correct by Purdue. Despite sitting in a decent spot as recently as two weeks ago, the Boilermakers are now 14-14 after dropping four straight games. There is no shame in losing to Penn State, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio State but a tournament-caliber team can’t drop all of them, especially with two of those games in Mackey Arena. With only three games left in the regular season, Purdue likely has to run the table and pick up wins in the Big Ten tournament to end up on the right side of the bubble.

Arkansas

One factor that teams in the mix for the NCAA Tournament can’t account for is injuries, and that has been a killer for Arkansas. Just three weeks ago, the Razorbacks were 16-5 with a quality road win over Indiana before seeing Isaiah Joe go down with a knee injury. Arkansas lost its next five games without Joe, who returned and scored 21 points to help the Razorbacks beat Missouri. As long as Joe can stay on the floor Arkansas should be far more competitive, but the damage to their tournament hopes may already be done.

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