Five-star freshmen shine on opening night

Nov. 6—No opening night jitters

Will Riley’s 31 points on 77/83/86 shooting certainly makes a case for the best debut among the Class of 2024 five-stars. But some of the Illinois freshman’s peers were just as dominant Monday on the first night of the 2024-25 college basketball season. These five also stood out, courtesy beat writer Scott Richey:

Flory Bidunga, Kansas

Hunter Dickinson’s presence on the Kansas roster will likely factor in to the type of role Bidunga plays, but for one night at least there was no drop-off when the Jayhawks turned to the 6-foot-9 freshman big man off the bench. Bidunga finished with 13 points on perfect 6 of 6 shooting to go with eight rebounds in just 17 minutes in a 87-57 Kansas win against Howard.

Cooper Flagg, Duke

Flagg was not kind to his home state, with the Blue Devils beating up on Maine on Monday at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C.. The projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft got off to a bit of a slow start, missing three of his first four shots, but he finished with a stat sheet-stuffing line of 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals in Duke’s 96-62 win.

Kon Knueppel, Duke

That Flagg wasn’t Duke’s leading freshman scorer in Monday’s 34-point win against Maine was a shot across the bow to the rest of the ACC (and the country). Knueppel had 15 points at halftime and finished with a team-high 22 on 8 of 14 shooting. The 6-7 wing out of Milwaukee, Wis., made 3 of 8 three-pointers and added four rebounds and two assists to his haul.

Asa Newell, Georgia

Georgia was picked to finish 12th in the loaded SEC this season, and beating Tennessee Tech by five in the season opener doesn’t make the case for the Bulldogs to be any better than that. Not for lack of effort on Newell’s part, though. The 6-11 forward led Georgia with 26 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks and shot 72 percent if you take out his four missed three-pointers.

Derik Queen, Maryland

The Terrapins went to Queen early and often in their 79-49 win…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/five-star-freshmen-shine-opening-154800709.html

Author : The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.

Publish date : 2024-11-06 15:48:00

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