Jeff BorzelloDec 24, 2025, 07:00 AM ETCloseJeff Borzello is a basketball recruiting insider. He has joined ESPN in 2014.Follow on X
play0:15Milan Momcilovic buries 3 against Long Beach StateMilan Momcilovic buries 3 against Long Beach State
play0:27Braden Smith’s behind-the-back pass sets up a huge Purdue jamBraden Smith pulls off a no-look, behind-the-back pass to Oscar Cluff who finishes with a massive jam.
play0:25AJ Dybantsa throws down big dunk vs. Eastern WashingtonAJ Dybantsa throws down big slam vs. Eastern Washington
play0:20Thijs De Ridder rocks the rim with powerful slamThijs De Ridder rocks the rim with powerful slam
Bellarmine Knights vs. Kentucky Wildcats: Game Highlights (1:15)Bellarmine Knights vs. Kentucky Wildcats: Game Highlights (1:15)
Milan Momcilovic buries 3 against Long Beach StateMilan Momcilovic buries 3 against Long Beach State
Braden Smith’s behind-the-back pass sets up a huge Purdue jamBraden Smith pulls off a no-look, behind-the-back pass to Oscar Cluff who finishes with a massive jam.
Braden Smith pulls off a no-look, behind-the-back pass to Oscar Cluff who finishes with a massive jam.
AJ Dybantsa throws down big dunk vs. Eastern WashingtonAJ Dybantsa throws down big slam vs. Eastern Washington
play0:15Labaron Philon Jr. hits a shot vs. Kennesaw StateLabaron Philon Jr. knocks down basket
Kentucky dropped out of these Power Rankings back on Dec. 4, following a 5-3 start. A day later, the Wildcats lost by 35 points to Gonzaga in Nashville, and it looked like the wheels were falling off.
Less than three weeks later, Mark Pope’s team returns to the mix. Kentucky has won four straight games, all by double-figures, including 12-point victories over Indiana and St. John’s.
If this team can stay healthy moving forward — Lowe’s shoulder appears to be the biggest question mark, given he has injured it a couple of times this season and sat out Tuesday’s win over Bellarmine — the preseason expectations might not be completely out of reach just yet.
Finally, note that this will be the final Power Rankings of 2025. Like the AP poll, we’re taking next week off and will return on Jan. 8.
Braden Smith’s behind-the-back pass sets up a huge Purdue jam
AJ Dybantsa throws down big dunk vs. Eastern Washington
AJ Dybantsa throws down big slam vs. Eastern Washington
Labaron Philon Jr. hits a shot vs. Kennesaw StateLabaron Philon Jr. knocks down basket
Thijs De Ridder rocks the rim with powerful slamThijs De Ridder rocks the rim with powerful slam
USC made some waves last week when it made a midseason addition, landing former Robert Morris guard Kam Woods to its roster in the wake of Rodney Rice’s season-ending injury. With Rice and Amarion Dickerson (also a former Robert Morris transfer) both done for the season, Eric Musselman needed some perimeter depth — and Woods was still available after entering the portal this past March. Woods was a second-team All-Horizon performer last season, averaging 14.9 points and 5.2 assists.
More importantly, the Wildcats are as close to full health as we’ve seen all season — and a complete Kentucky roster looks very much like a top-25 team, if the second half against the Red Storm last Saturday is any indication. Projected lottery pick Jayden Quaintance is a presence at both ends of the floor; Jaland Lowe is the team’s lone true point guard; and former Alabama transfer Mouhamed Dioubate is an experienced two-way player. Quaintance made his debut against the Johnnies, while Lowe has played just six games and Dioubate eight.
Arizona’s two-headed center tandem of Motiejus Krivas and Tobe Awaka is part of the reason the Wildcats are so dominant on the backboards at both ends of the floor — and so efficient inside the paint on the offensive end. The pair have combined to average 19.7 points, 18.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game while each shooting better than 57% from the field. Awaka has cemented himself as arguably the best backup big man in college basketball, ranking 12th nationally in rebounds (10.4 RPG) despite starting zero games and averaging fewer than 20 minutes.
Following a couple of shaky performances in November, Elliot Cadeau has been one of the better playmakers in the country this past month. He has dramatically improved his 3-point shooting from 37% in his first seven games to 52.6% in the past four, making more than two per game while maintaining his usual vision and passing ability. In a four-point win over TCU on Nov. 14, Cadeau had 3 points on 1-for-6 shooting to go with 1 assist and 6 turnovers. In the first two Players Era Festival games, he had just 2 assists in 31 total minutes. Over the past five games, he is averaging 12.0 points and 7.8 assists, turning it over just 2.2 times per game.
Milan Momcilovic has been the best shooter in college basketball this season. He leads the nation in 3-point percentage, making more than 55% of his perimeter shots, and ranks third in the country in 3-pointers made with 4.0 per game. (He’s also shooting 90% from the free throw line.) Momcilovic started his college career as a very good shooter, but much of his offense was generated from inside the arc. After making 1.6 3s per game as a freshman and 2.3 as a sophomore, he has clearly prioritized the 3 as a junior while still possessing his Dirk Nowitzki-esque fadeaway.
Tarris Reed Jr. looks close to full strength after missing most of the first month with hamstring and ankle injuries. In four games since returning to action against Florida at the Jimmy V Classic earlier this month, Reed is averaging 13.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.5 blocks. He put up 20.0 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocks in a healthy three-game stretch at the start of November, so he’s not quite there yet, but a dominant Reed is such a difference-maker for Dan Hurley and the Huskies.
Duke had its first loss of the season this past Saturday, blowing a 17-point second-half lead to Texas Tech. After the game, Jon Scheyer pointed to his team’s rebounding as the biggest concern — particularly given the Red Raiders’ foul trouble and lack of depth up front. “In this game, we missed 24 shots. We only got six of them,” Scheyer said. “With the size they had on the floor, that’s very disappointing.” It was the Blue Devils’ worst offensive rebounding performance of the season; they also allowed five offensive rebounds in the second half, resulting in six points for Tech.
We highlighted Braden Huff in this space last week, so let’s pivot to Braeden Smith, who is coming off his best game in a Gonzaga jersey. He opened the season as the Zags’ starting point guard, but went to the bench after four games as Mario Saint-Supery moved into the lineup. In this past Sunday’s win over Oregon, however, Smith was needed as Saint-Supery was dealing with an illness. The former Colgate transfer came off the bench to finish with 21 points and seven assists without turning the ball over.
Braden Smith is currently averaging his fewest shots per game since his freshman season, but he has taken his distribution to a different level this season. Smith has racked up at least 10 assists in three straight games, including a season-high 14 against Auburn over the weekend. He became the only Purdue player in at least 20 seasons to hit the 10-assist mark in three straight games, per ESPN Research. He leads the nation in assists and is inching closer to the all-time NCAA Division I assists record, currently held by former Duke star Bobby Hurley. Smith is only 203 assists away.
At a program that prides itself on physicality and dominating the backboards, being one of the most imposing interior units Tom Izzo has had at Michigan State is quite an accomplishment. Through the first two months, the Spartans lead the nation in defensive rebounding percentage and rank eighth in both offensive rebounding percentage and block percentage. Izzo has had only one other team that ranked in the top 10 nationally in all three categories, and it won 30 games back in 2017-18. This is currently his best defensive rebounding team ever, his best shot-blocking team since 2017-18 and his best offensive rebounding group since 2000-01.
Houston came out of Saturday’s game against Arkansas with a statement victory, with the nine-point margin not truly indicative of the Cougars’ dominance. They led by 21 within the first 11 minutes of the game and still had a 17-point edge in the final five minutes. It was an incredible showing for Kelvin Sampson’s backcourt, a group that looks like it could be the best in the country. Freshman Kingston Flemings went for 21 points, 5 assists and 3 steals; Emanuel Sharp had 22 points and three made 3s; and Milos Uzan went for 13 points and four assists.
There’s not a player in college basketball performing at a higher level than AJ Dybantsa over the past couple of weeks. He ended the first half of his freshman campaign with the first triple-double of his career: 33 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the win over Eastern Washington on Monday. It capped a historically strong month for Dybantsa, who averaged 27.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.7 assists in December. Per ESPN Research, he’s the first Division I player in the past 30 seasons to average 25-5-5 while shooting 60% from the field in a calendar month.
We asked in this space last week how Seth Trimble’s return would impact Hubert Davis’ starting lineup and rotations. Now we have some answers. Trimble immediately slotted back into the lineup upon his return against Ohio State, playing 36 minutes and showing no ill effects of the broken left forearm he sustained in early November. As we theorized, Davis opted to go with a smaller lineup, as Luka Bogavac kept his starting spot and Jarin Stevenson moved to the bench. UNC made a season-high 12 3-pointers in Monday’s win over East Carolina, so it paid off.
One of the more unexpected stat lines of the season came from Nebraska’s Berke Buyuktuncel. The former UCLA transfer finished Sunday’s win over North Dakota with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for just the fourth triple-double in program history. What makes his outing particularly remarkable is the fact Buyuktuncel had 12 assists total in the first 10 games, with just six in his past eight. He never had more than four in a game during the first two-and-a-half seasons of his college career.