Final Night time in Faculty Basketball: Is Michigan Clearly the No. 1 Crew within the Nation?

Feast Week has been full of statements and fun hoops. That won’t stop on Thanksgiving Day, either.

No. 16 North Carolina and No. 11 Michigan State will meet up in the Fort Myers tip-off on Thursday (4:30 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app). The matchup pits two of the game’s top programs and a pair of undefeated teams in one of the two games featuring two ranked teams on the men’s side on Thursday. No. 4 Duke and No. 22 Arkansas, meanwhile, will meet in Chicago later on Thursday.

In the women’s game, there will be a top-four matchup to determine the champion at the Players Era Festival. The men’s title game took place on Wednesday, and you could say it was a bit of a decisive victory.

So, before we dive into another full day of hoops, let’s take a closer look at Wednesday’s action. 

Michigan completes historic domination at Players Era

Three days, three games and three blowout victories. That’s how the Players Era went for No. 7 Michigan, who won the festival on Wednesday by dominating No. 12 Gonzaga, 101-61. The victory came a day after Michigan defeated No. 21 Auburn, 102-72, and two days after it defeated San Diego State, 94-54.

Wednesday’s win marked the first time ever that a team defeated a ranked opponent by at least 30 points in back-to-back games in men’s Division I history. It was also the most lopsided loss of Gonzaga coach Mark Few’s career, and the largest victory for Michigan over a ranked opponent in program history.

With the win on Wednesday, Michigan became the new No. 1 team on KenPom. It’ll almost certainly climb up the ranks when Monday’s AP Poll drops, but we’ll see if it did enough to move Purdue out of the top spot. 

As for the actual game, senior forward Yaxel Lendeborg added to his case to be considered as the most impactful transfer from this past offseason. He scored 20 points to go with 11 rebounds on Wednesday. 

USC wins Maui Invitational 

While one Big Ten team dominated the Players Era Festival, another won another top midseason tournament. USC took down Arizona State, 88-75, to win the Maui Invitational on Wednesday.

Chad Baker-Mazara led the way for the Trojans with 23 points as he actually won the tournament for the second straight year. Baker-Mazara helped Auburn win the Maui Invitational last season before transferring to USC over the offseason. He’s made a great impact at USC so far, scoring 20.3 points per game. 

Kansas gets off the schneid 

After a relatively underwhelming opening couple of weeks for Kansas, the Jayhawks might have gotten back on track at the Players Era Festival. Kansas defeated No. 17 Tennessee 81-76 on Wednesday, completing a perfect week for Kansas. It was guard Melvin Council Jr.’s turn to step on Wednesday in the absence of star freshman Drew Peterson, scoring 17 points in the victory.

The win marks Kansas’ first ranked victory of the year after losing to North Carolina and Duke earlier in November. It defeated Notre Dame and Syracuse earlier in the week at Players Era, but those victories weren’t by a large enough margin for Kansas to play in the tournament’s title game.

Auburn handles St. John’s

As Kansas was able to get its first ranked win of the season on Wednesday, St. John’s dropped to 0-3 against ranked foes. It lost to Auburn, 85-74, at the Players Era. St. John’s actually carried a nine-point lead into halftime before guard Tahaad Pettiford went off, scoring 27 points in Wednesday’s victory.

Texas outlasts UCLA in top-four matchup

In the women’s game, Texas emerged victorious in the matchup of the day. The fourth-ranked Longhorns took down No. 3 UCLA, 76-65, to advance to the Players Era title game on the women’s side. Senior guard Rori Harmon scored 26 points in the win, while Texas slowed down UCLA star Lauren Betts, who only scored eight points. 

As for who Texas will face in the Players Era title game, No. 2 South Carolina was in full control in its 83-66 win over Duke. Forward Joyce Edwards and center Madina Okot led the way for the Gamecocks there, scoring 22 and 23 points, respectively. 

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