College Hoops Today: Coyotes Outplaying Projections

This week, Charles Bediako – whose college eligibility was reinstated – came through with four dunks, two steals and two blocks – in his first NCAA game in almost three years; Illinois upset Purdue behind Keaton Wagler’s career-best performance (46 points); and BYU’s AJ Dybantsa (who had a great debut a couple of months ago) went off for 43 points to break Danny Ainge’s school record for points in a game by a freshman. Other college basketball stories we’re tracking include…

Jordan Crawford, Take Two

Two seasons ago, the South Dakota Coyotes hit rock bottom with a mere 12 wins, but bounced back to 19 victories a year ago. Unfortunately, the traction gained hasn’t held as South Dakota got off to an 0-2 start, and despite turning things around with a 5-1 run, has gone 6-8 since, including a 3-4 mark in Summit League play.

The upshot? The Coyotes are plodding along at 11-11, and in Year 17 of the program the school is still seeking its first NCAA tournament appearance. Still, South Dakota was ranked 296th in the preseason and has slightly outplayed that (currently 285th as per kenpom).

One Coyote who has really picked up the pace over the last week and a half has been junior guard Jordan Crawford (not to be confused with the one who played 281 NBA games in the 2010s). In playing almost the entire game, he scored 22 points with three treys on Saturday, giving him four straight games of at least 16 points and three straight with at least 22.

A transfer from Eastern Kentucky this season (see video below for a sampling of his work at EKU), Crawford has taken a big step forward now that he’s a full-time starter as he’s getting more touches, getting to the line more and doing better work on the glass – not to mention scoring 5.5 more points per game.

At 6’3” and 180 pounds, the North Carolina native is not the biggest kid, but he can score, bringing Jamal Crawford Lite skills to the table. South Dakota’s Crawford is not likely an NBA prospect, but we do like the fact he’s become more efficient this season; more of that could get him on the radar, especially if he transfers to a power conference for his senior season.

A Canadian Kid in Saint Louis

One program that has made an incredible turnaround is the Saint Louis Billikens. Two seasons ago, Saint Louis dropped 20 games, but last season bounced back over .500 with a 19-15 mark. This season has been unbelievable as a current 13-game win streak has the Billikens sitting atop the A-10 with a 19-1 mark and ranked 24th in the country. It’s the first time the school has been ranked since 2020-21 as it seeks to snap a six-year NCAA tourney drought (in fact, they are currently +2000 to make it to the Final Four as per FanDuel).

Saint Louis doesn’t have a single player who scores even 13 points per game, but succeeds with a balanced attack that features six dudes averaging double digits. And a seventh player, who averages close to 9.5 PPG was the latest to lead the way as sophomore forward Ishan Sharma blew up for a career-high 29 points on Friday, including a whopping nine three-pointers (on 12 attempts) with two assists and two steals while shooting 71 per cent from the floor overall.

The Milton, Ont. native had failed to top even eight points in any of the previous five games, so this really was a bolt out of the blue. Still, since transferring from Virginia this season, Sharma has taken on a bigger role, garnering more than twice the touches while doing a better job on the glass.

He knows how to space the floor at an NBA level, and at 6’5”, 190, he could garner some second round attention if he can build on this performance. Keep an eye on Sharma down the stretch as he clearly has some pro potential.

RotoRob Tune of the Day

American alt rock band Dishwalla got its start in 1990 and has remained active since, save a three year break between 2005 and 2008. In 1999, they contributed the track “Find Your Way Back Home” to the soundtrack for the 1999 classic comedy American Pie.