Standout players, ACC in trouble, upsets — what a two-day stretch of college hoops!

The chaos of men’s college basketball has been on full display in recent weeks, from the madness of Feast Week to Kentucky‘s loss to Clemson on Tuesday, to Creighton‘s upset of No. 1 Kansas on Wednesday.

Among the highlights of this week’s SEC/ACC Men’s Challenge and Big 12-Big East battles were multiple, high-level performances from a handful of stars. Some of those efforts were generated by familiar faces, but a pair of freshmen — one who might be the best player in the country, and another who had barely played to this point — were the clear headliners.

What ensued was another reminder that this sport is at its best when new stars emerge and demand our attention. These players who excelled for their teams on Wednesday are worthy of recognition now, and in the coming months leading up to the NCAA tournament.

ESPN’s Myron Medcalf, Jeff Borzello and Joe Lunardi put a bow on two of the biggest early-season days in men’s college hoops, breaking down the stars, an upset and why we should be worried about one particular power conference.

Six stars from Wednesday night

Cooper Flagg and Isaiah Evans, Duke Blue Devils
22 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists (Flagg); 18 points, 6-for-8 from beyond the arc (Evans) in Duke’s 84-78 win over Auburn

Duke saw huge production from two members of its vaunted freshman class — one expected, the other completely out of nowhere. But Jon Scheyer needed both Flagg and Evans to hand Auburn its first loss of the season. Early on it looked like the Tigers might run Duke out of its own gym. So Scheyer turned to an unlikely source: Evans, who had played 44 minutes total in his first seven games — including zero minutes against Kansas, Arizona and Kentucky. But the No. 15 recruit from the 2024 class hit six 3s in the first half, scoring 18 points in just 11 minutes to help Duke right the ship and take the lead.

Then it was time for Flagg to take over. He had 16 points after halftime, taking advantage of matchup issues and consistently getting to the rim. After late-game struggles against Kentucky and Kansas, Wednesday was a chance for Duke’s young roster to step up and make a statement. — Borzello

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Pop Isaacs, Creighton Bluejays
27 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists in Creighton’s 76-63 win over Kansas

Isaacs faced a variety of issues in the first month of the season: He was held out of the season opener after undergoing hip surgery last spring, and he was limited at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas due to an illness. If Wednesday was fully healthy Isaacs, though, Greg McDermott will be very happy with the Texas Tech transfer moving forward. Isaacs was the team’s go-to guy in both halves against Kansas. He hit three early 3s in the first seven-plus minutes to set the tone, but it was his back-to-back 3-pointers early in the second half that gave Creighton some separation. Two more buckets a couple of minutes later answered a pair of Kansas mini-runs.

If Isaacs can be the team’s top perimeter scorer to balance out Ryan Kalkbrenner down low and Steven Ashworth at the point, a fully healthy Creighton should return to its elite offensive ways after some early-season stumbles. — Borzello

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Liam McNeeley, UConn Huskies
17 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks in UConn’s 76-72 win over Baylor

Liam for THREEEEE! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/m7n1NbBXVD

— UConn Men’s Basketball (@UConnMBB) December 5, 2024

Wednesday was a critical game for UConn. The Huskies beat Maryland-Eastern Shore over the weekend but their three losses in three days at the Maui Invitational were still fresh in their minds. They were also still without All-American forward Alex Karaban, who’d suffered a head injury in Maui. That opened the door for five-star freshman McNeeley to take over as the team’s primary offensive option.

McNeeley really got going after halftime against Baylor, getting back-to-back baskets early in the period to give UConn the lead. He was one of the team’s emotional leaders, he played with assertiveness and aggressiveness — everything Dan Hurley needed to see from his team after last week. — Borzello

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Mark Sears, Alabama Crimson Tide
20 points, 7 assists, 2 steals in Alabama’s 94-79 win over North Carolina

During a wild four-minute stretch in the first half against UNC (16:12 to 12:18), Sears — the preseason AP All-American and SEC player of the year — scored 9 points and recorded assists on a pair of 3-pointers to help Alabama take a 21-14 lead. North Carolina never closed the gap.

It’s a stark contrast to last week, where the Tide were either tied or down at halftime in all three of their games in the Players Era Festival. They avoided the same situation against the top-25 Tar Heels by showcasing their offensive capabilities, as well as the challenges all opponents will encounter this season when Nate Oats’ squad gets an early lead and its best player impacts the game the way Sears did. — Medcalf

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Keshon Gilbert, Iowa State Cyclones
24 points, 2-for-4 from beyond the arc, seven assists in Iowa State’s 81-70 win over Marquette

He’s Absolutely Feeling It.#Cyclones | #C5C | @kg2times pic.twitter.com/ULWK1lM2IX

— Iowa State Men’s Basketball (@CycloneMBB) December 5, 2024

In November, Kam Jones made his case for the national player of the year race. On Wednesday however, he was not the best player on the floor in Marquette’s matchup with Iowa State. Instead, it was Gilbert, who guided Iowa State to a top-five victory over the Golden Eagles. This kind of performance is becoming the norm for the former UNLV transfer: He has scored 23 points or more in three of the past four games. He’s also shot 59% from inside the arc and 82% from the free throw line this season.

It’s been an incredible start for a player who hopes to lead Iowa State its first conference regular season championship since 2001, and its first Final Four appearance since 1944. Gilbert’s effort Wednesday was convincing. He’s playing like one of America’s best right now for a top-10 team. — Medcalf

ACC does itself no favors vs. SEC juggernaut

The ACC spent much of the offseason lamenting its Selection Sunday snubs from March. The league had put only a third of its teams in last year’s NCAA tournament, compared to 57% of both the Big 12 and SEC and 43% of the Big Ten.

Most galling to ACC supporters was the conference continuing to outperform its numbers in the tournament itself — a consistent pattern in the NET era and in direct contrast to the trend of having fewer teams and lesser seeds in the bracket. The ACC has sent 51.7% of its NCAA teams to at least the Sweet 16 since 2019, tops among all conferences, compared to the Big Ten’s bottom-end 11.4% in that category.

More with less versus less with more, if you will.

Seeking to fully right the ship, projected ACC bubble teams made a concerted effort to schedule better in the 2024-25 season — in particular, Pittsburgh Panthers, Wake Forest Demon Deacons, Clemson Tigers, Miami Hurricanes, Syracuse Orange and Notre Dame Fighting Irish in their respective nonconference slates.

There’s been only one problem: You still have to win games. And the just-concluded ACC-SEC Challenge has been nothing short of disaster for the ACC. Beyond the league’s dismal 2-14 showing across the 16 contests on Tuesday and Wednesday, teams that the conference most needed to show up simply did not.

At this point, the ACC will be hard-pressed to exceed its 2024 bid total, even with California Golden Bears, Stanford Cardinal and SMU Mustangs added to the mix.

The SEC, on the other hand, is rolling toward an all-time season. In 2011, the Big East sent a record 11 of its 16 teams — including eventual champion UConn — to the tournament. The SEC is on pace to have at least 12 of its newly configured 18 teams on the board in March 2025.

If and when it happens, we would do well to remember this first week of December. — Lunardi

The big Tuesday upset

This was a massive win on Tuesday for Clemson. Ian Schieffelin (20 rebounds) was fantastic on the glass, while Jaeden Zackery and Chauncey Wiggins both hit big shots in the second half. The Tigers have now won each of their past four games against AP top-five opponents; according to ESPN Research, they’re only the third team ever to do so and the first since UTEP from 1985 to 1992.

So what went wrong for Kentucky? Put simply, its outside shots weren’t falling. The Wildcats made three of their first six 3-pointers and then made just four the rest of the game. After making one trey on the first possession of the second half, they made just one over the next 19½ minutes, a stretch that didn’t end until Lamont Butler made one with two seconds left in the game. For an offense that leans heavily on its shooting prowess, things really became bogged down late in the contest in the half-court game. Otega Oweh tried to get his own shot, Jaxson Robinson tried to get his own shot and so did Andrew Carr and Butler. But none of those guys is meant to be a primary shot creator on a consistent basis. Brad Brownell’s defense showed up, and Kentucky’s shooters didn’t respond.

The Tigers are coming off an Elite Eight appearance, but they didn’t receive much hype entering the season. Now, they’re 8-1, with the lone loss coming in a true road game at Boise State. They are pretty clearly a top-four team in the ACC, and this is the type of win that will have staying power come Selection Sunday. — Borzello