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Whose stock has risen and fallen during the tip-off marathon?
A look at whose stock has risen and fallen during this year's college basketball tip-off marathon. Check back throughout Tuesday's action because this file will be updated all day:
STOCK RISING: OREGON'S DEFENSE
Strong defense was the biggest reason Oregon edged 20th-ranked Baylor 74-67 on Monday night. The Ducks limited the Bears to 39 percent shooting and forced 18 turnovers including six from point guard Lester Medford. One of the keys to Oregon's defensive effort was its array of quick, athletic wings capable of closing out fast on shooters and keeping their man out of the lane. They could afford to extend their defense even with top shot blocker Jordan Bell sidelined with a foot injury since junior college transfer Chris Boucher again filled in admirably, disrupting Baylor's offense with his long arms, quick feet and keen instincts. Baylor did score 30 points in the paint and rebound more than 40 percent of its misses, but those numbers were tolerable for Oregon considering the Bears massive size and strength advantage in the paint. Rico Gathers, in particular, had an 85-pound advantage on Boucher yet pulled down half as many rebounds.
STOCK FALLING: VIRGINIA'S DEFENSE
Virginia's packline defense prides itself on walling off the paint and forcing teams to shoot contested jump shots, but the Cavaliers weren't disciplined enough to adhere to those principles in their surprising 73-68 loss at George Washington on Monday night. The Colonials shot a respectable 45.1 percent from the field, went to the foul line 28 times and scored the most points a Virginia team has given up in regulation since Dec. 2013. Guard Patricio Garino attacked off the dribble, center Tyler Cavanaugh scored around the rim and forward Kevin Larsen played the quarterback role from the high post, scoring nine points and dishing out five assists. It's crucial that Virginia gets back to dominating on defense soon because the Cavaliers again don't have the sort of high-powered offense to compensate. They also have a difficult November and December schedule featuring games against Cal, Villanova, Ohio State and West Virginia.
STOCK RISING: DEDRIC LAWSON
Even though its upset bid fell short in an 84-78 loss to Oklahoma, Memphis has to be encouraged by how well it competed against a top 10 opponent. The Tigers displayed more talent, effort and basketball IQ than at any point in last year's disappointing 18-14 season. The biggest bright spot was Lawson, the heralded 6-foot-8 centerpiece of Josh Pastner's freshman class. Lawson was aggressive attacking off the dribble or pulling up from mid-range in his second college start, scoring 22 points, grabbing 15 rebounds and getting to the foul line 15 times. He committed a couple bad fouls and settled for too many 3-pointers, but those are youthful mistakes. All in all, Lawson showed the ability to emerge as Memphis' go-to scorer as a freshman and perhaps help the Tigers exceed uncharacteristically modest expectations this season.
STOCK RISING: BEN SIMMONS
There is nothing more fun to watch in college basketball so far this season than Ben Simmons leading a fast break. The 6-foot-10 forward continues to show skills that other players his size simply don't have. In LSU's season opener against McNeese State on Friday night, Simmons fed a streaking teammate with a behind-the-back pass to set up a layup. In the Tigers' second game against Kennesaw State on Monday night, Simmons showed off his ball handling and speed in the open court, going behind the back before feeding a teammate a perfect bounce pass for a layup. Simmons finished with 22 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals on Monday night. Granted the competition isn't high-level, but it's notable how dominant the future top-five pick has been.
STOCK FALLING: MALIK POPE
From Winston Shepard's leadership and aggressiveness, to Dakarai Allen's confident shooting stroke, to Zylan Cheatham's high-enery potential, San Diego State's performance against Utah was very encouraging even in a 81-76 road loss. One of the few exceptions, however, was the play of the Aztecs' most highly touted prospect. Many thought Pope was poised for a breakout season as a sophomore now that his knee injuries have finally healed, but the skilled 6-foot-10 forward only has one basket in two games. Against the Utes, he was content to hoist contested threes early in the shot clock rather than trying to attack off the dribble or work for a better shot. He finished 1-for-8 from the field and had as many points as fouls with four apiece.
STOCK RISING: VALPARAISO'S AT-LARGE HOPES
It's very early and it's still a long shot, but Valparaiso appears to be the rare Horizon League team that may not have to rely on winning its conference tournament to secure an NCAA bid. The Crusaders (3-0) already have two wins that should boost their RPI at the end of the season, a rout of MAAC favorite Iona on Sunday and a 58-55 nail biter at Atlantic 10 contender Rhode Island on Tuesday morning. Finding power-conference teams willing to schedule a game was not easy for a Valparaiso program with amost every key contributor back from last year's 29-win NCAA tournament team, but the Crusaders do still have a few more chances to notch quality nonconference wins. They visit Pac-12 contender Oregon and improving Oregon State next week and play a home-and-home series with fellow mid-major power Belmont in December.
STOCK FALLING: STEPHEN F. AUSTIN'S SUPPORTING CAST
Southland Conference player of the year Thomas Walkup was up to the challenge of trying to help Stephen F. Austin avoid an 0-2 start. Unfortunately for the Lumberjacks, nobody else was. Walkup scored 30 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out three assists in Stephen F. Austin's 70-60 loss at Northern Iowa, but his supporting cast shot was an ice-cold 10 of 42 from the field. Guard Ty Charles was especially ineffective for the second straight game, missing nine of the 11 shots he attempted. While Stephen F. Austin has been disappointing in losses to Baylor and Northern Iowa, it would not be wise to write off the Lumberjacks too quickly. They return four starters from a team that started 1-3 last season but rebounded to win 29 games and reach its second straight NCAA tournament.
STOCK RISING: GEORGE WASHINGTON
With Rhode Island's E.C. Matthews out for the season, Dayton's Dyshawn Pierre in limbo and VCU replacing its coach and a handful of key players, the Atlantic 10 title race is more wide open than usual. The way George Washington played in its 73-68 upset of Virginia on Monday night, the Colonials could be the team to take advantage. Active on defense and aggressive on offense, George Washington led the sixth-ranked Cavaliers most of the game. Guard Patricio Garino demonstrated all-conference level ability at both ends of the floor, forward Kevin Larsen scored and distributed from the high post and Wake Forest transfer Tyler Cavanaugh provided the interior scoring threat the Colonials didn't have last season. And they did it all against a team known for its elite defense, a team that defeated George Washington 59-42 a year ago.
STOCK FALLING: BYU
BYU's 66-65 loss to Long Beach State will be hard to stomach for the Cougars fans who stayed up late on Monday night to watch it. They watched their team give away a winnable game because of poor free throw shooting and careless ball handling. A BYU team that was fifth in the nation in foul shooting a year ago sank just 8 of 21 free throws against the 49ers. No miss was more costly than Kyle Collinsworth's that would have tied the score at 66 with 38.3 seconds to play. Of course BYU still would have gotten one final chance to win were it not for Long Beach State's Nick Faust poking the ball away from Collinsworth as he turned to dribble up court after grabbing a big defensive board with seven seconds to go. It was BYU's 24th turnover of the game, and it doomed the Cougars to defeat.
STOCK RISING: COLORADO GUARD GEORGE KING
With volume-shooting Askia Booker gone and swingman Xavier Johnson sidelined after tearing his Achilles, Colorado needed perimeter scorers to emerge in support of all-conference center Josh Scott. Enter George King, a little-known 6-6 wing who redshirted last season after averaging 1.5 points per game as a freshman. King lit up Auburn for 27 points on 9-for-14 shooting on Tuesday, helping Colorado rally from a double-digit deficit to defeat the host Tigers 91-84. Through two games, King is now averaging 20.5 points per game and has sunk eight 3-pointers. If King can emerge as a consistent perimeter complement to Scott, that would be a huge boost to a Colorado team projected to finish in the lower half of the Pac-12 this season. Suddenly, the Buffaloes would have a pretty solid perimeter nucleus in King, talented point guard Dominique Collier and Providence transfer Josh Fortune.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
