The metrics love them—they closed out the year No. 15 in KenPom's rankings—but they consistently struggled against quality competition. They finished just 4-10 in Quad 1 games and suffered double-digit losses to Arizona, Tennessee, Auburn, Kentucky and Florida while also losing to Purdue, Creighton and Ohio State in nonconference play.

They cruised to a 13-point victory over No. 13 seed Charleston in their opener on Friday, but their defense allowed 96 points in that game, and the Cougars won the rebounding battle while knocking down 10 three-pointers.