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Oftentimes, Thanksgiving week tournaments include a few top-tier, main-dish matchups among a mishmash of options that can be hit-or-miss. Kind of like Thanksgiving dinner.
The Ball Dawgs Classic, which begins Monday, Nov. 25 outside of Las Vegas, fortunately features more of the former, as three top-15 ranked teams are participating in the four-team tournament. With apologies to the DePaul Blue Demons, the opportunity to watch the Oklahoma Sooners, Kansas State Wildcats and Duke Blue Devils make the event a must-watch attraction.
The tournament will open with a Duke-Kansas State matchup, with the winner of that contest likely to meet Oklahoma in the championship game on Wednesday, Nov. 27. Here are three big, literally, reasons to tune into the tourney:
Will Ayoka Lee bully the Blue Devils?
The beginning of the Kansas State grad center’s fifth college season has been expectedly fantastic. With little flash or flair, Ayoka Lee is an efficient and effective offensive force, unleashing her arsenal of low-post moves to average 19 points and 6.3 rebounds per game for the Wildcats. Remarkably, she’s doing that while playing less than 15 minutes per game! At her current pace, she’d be scoring over 51 points per game if she played a full 40 minutes.
While that’s unreasonable (even though she once scored a NCAA Division I women’s basketball record 61 points in a game), it’s not outlandish to imagine that Lee could maintain her rate of offensive impact if she were to approach the 27 minutes per game she averaged last season. However, considering her history of lower-body injuries, it makes sense for head coach Jeff Mittie to limit her time, especially since the Wildcats have been winning by more than 37 points per game.
Against the Duke, the first ranked team K-State will play, Mittie might need more from Lee. But the Blue Devils are the type of opponent against which the 6-foot-6 center should be able to continue to do her thing. The only bigs in head coach Kara Lawson’s regular rotation are younger and smaller than Lee. Sophomore Delaney Thomas is 6-foot-3 and not much of a rim protector, while 6-foot-2 freshman Toby Fournier has the wingspan and instincts that allow her to serve as an effective defensive presence, although she likely lacks the heft necessary to consistently deter Lee. And if they manage to do so, K-State then can let senior forward Temira Pondexter go to work. The 6-foot-1 transfer from Tulsa has emerged as Lee’s frontcourt partner, putting up 12.6 points per game. And unlike Lee, her game extends behind the arc, as she is shooting almost 35 percent on 5.8 3s per game.
The Wildcats also have enough talent elsewhere to effectively match up with the wing- and guard-heavy Blue Devils. Senior guard Jaelynn Glenn has been lighting up the nets from behind the arc, shooting almost 48 percent on 4.6 3-pointers per game. Sophomore guard Zyanna Walker is doing a little bit of everything, leading the Wildcats with 6.2 assists per game while also scoring 11.2 points, grabbing 5.2 rebounds and collecting 1.6 steals.
Lawson and the Blue Devils have to hope that their much tougher early season schedule will have them better prepared to meet the challenge and advance to the championship game.
Crush some Beers with the Sooners
At 2-3 and without head coach Doug Bruno due to a medical leave of absence, DePaul doesn’t stand much of a chance against Oklahoma in Monday’s second matchup. The Sooners have been a juggernaut so far, averaging 92 points per game and winning by an average of more than 40 points. That mark includes a 44-point win over another Power 5 team in Virginia.
Driving the Sooners’ train (or Conestoga wagon) has been 6-foot-4 junior forward Raegan Beers, who arrived in Norman from Oregon State and immediately began accumulating double-doubles. She’s averaging 19 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. And opponents can’t load up on her, as redshirt senior wing Skylar Vann and sophomore forward Sahara Williams are ready to take advantage. The experienced Vann is averaging 11.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, while Williams, a bit undersized for a big at 5-foot-11, nevertheless is equally effective, scoring 12.4 points per game while also averaging 4.8 boards and 2.8 assists.
Expect a high-scoring show from the Sooners in this one.
A battle of the bigs for the Ball Dawgs title?
Whether Kansas State or Duke prevails in their opening matchup, the Ball Dawgs championship game should be competitive. If it is the Blue Devils, containing Lee and the Wildcats will have served as the perfect preparation for meeting Beers and the Sooners.
Yet, seeing Lee and Beers go head-to-head would be more intriguing. It not only would prove that post play is not dead, but demonstrate how bigs who possess a blend of traditional and modern skills can serve as the fulcrum for offensively powerful teams in an era of basketball that increasingly values fast-paced, 3-point-heavy and guard-driven play.
If this showdown materializes, the Wildcats would be unlikely to get away with limited minutes for Lee. In contrast to the Blue Devils, the Sooners, led by Beers, possess the interior bulk need not only to match the Wildcats, but also to push them around, especially when Lee is not on the court. So if K-State (smartly) prioritizes the long term with Lee, with eyes on trophies won in March and not November, Oklahoma could capture the Ball Dawgs Classic.
Tournament schedule
All games held at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson, NV and available through FloSports.
Monday, Nov. 25
Duke vs. Kansas State (3 p.m. ET)
Oklahoma vs. DePaul (30 min. following Game 1)
Wednesday, Nov. 27
Consolation Game (2 p.m. ET)
Championship Game (30 min. following Game 1)