In the first game of the Phil Knight Invitational, we saw #14 Oregon vs. #13 Memphis. In this matchup, we saw potential #1 overall pick James Wiseman sit for most of the first with with foul trouble. And though he ended up with 14 points and 12 rebounds, imagine the impact that he could have had if Memphis had stayed away from switching 1-5 on the perimeter to where Wiseman was guarding the 1 and 2 positions.
Towards the end of the game however, it started to move towards the Payton Pritchard show. Even though he was 4-11 shooting, you just got a sense that his presence was almost enough to will the Ducks to their eventual 82-74 win.
The next game saw Lon Kruger’s Sooners pinned against Wyatt Tinkle’s Beavers of Oregon State. In the first half it was a very competitive, very physical game. Kruger’s side took the early advantage into halftime with a 1 point lead.
It was the second half where the Sooners really started to pour it on. They took a 42-41 lead and expanded it to a 66-46 lead in a matter of almost 10 minutes. Though the Beavers got it back down to six points, the Sooners kept it out of reach with timely buckets from Kristian Doolittle and Austin Reaves.
All of these teams looked like they could potentially be playing for conference titles, let alone come tourney time. There is still a lot of time between these events, so let’s take this small sample size and keep it at that.