College Hoops Barometer: A Demon Once More

February has been tumultuous for LSU and its potential No. 1 NBA draft pick power forward, Ben Simmons. After beating No. 15 Texas A&M on Feb. 13, the Tigers have dropped consecutive games to unranked SEC teams, Alabama and Tennessee. Simmons was punished for academic issues by not starting against Tennessee. Even though the star freshman only missed four minutes and it didn't affect his play at all, the Vols trounced the Tigers. More concerning, during the Tennessee game starting senior guard Keith Hornsby aggravated a sports hernia injury and could be out for the rest of the season. As a bubble team, this isn't the way you want things to go if you want a spot in the big dance.

LSU's troubles have opened up opportunities for other teams to enter the competition, such as St. Bonaventure, who just beat last week's No. 15 team, Dayton, led by sophomore Jaylen Adams' 31 points, and fellow SEC member Vanderbilt, who is just one game behind LSU in conference play, and just won an important game over Georgia on Saturday.

Here's what's happening around the rest of the NCAA as bubble teams become desperate for a spot in March Madness.

UPGRADE

Denzel Valentine, Michigan State

Valentine reminded us last week why he was of POY-favorite pre-knee injury, racking up seven assists in the first half against Wisconsin on Thursday. Michigan State's Mr. Versatility has double-doubled in three consecutive games, against tough Big Ten opponents such as Purdue, Indiana and Wisconsin, hitting 12 of 25 threes and 30 of 61 field goals. His efforts have resulted in two convincing wins and one impressive comeback against Purdue after being down by 16 at the half, to bring the game to overtime. In addition to being unstoppable, he has a knack for making his teammates better, and is giving Oklahoma's POY candidate, Buddy Hield, a run for his money.

Georges Niang, Iowa State

Niang hasn't scored in single digits once in the entire 2015-16 season, not a feat to be taken lightly. The 6-foot-8 senior has a stellar accuracy in the paint and is even decent from behind the arc, at 54 percent from the field, 39 percent from the three-point line. Recently, he's been on the upswing, averaging 22.5 points across his last four games. Even though the Cyclones have dropped a couple lately he's been one of the most consistent scorers in college basketball, he deserves credit for the work that he's done this year, averaging a career-high 19.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game. The veteran of the team, Niang is a big weapon for Iowa State and will be needed to survive in the postseason.

Codi Miller-McIntyre, Wake Forest

Miller-McIntyre is finally looking like himself after scoring at least 14 points in his last three games, including a season-high 24 points Feb. 13 against NC State. The senior guard has uncharacteristically struggled to score for much of the season, averaging 8.9 points per game (a similar stat line to his freshman year), but perhaps that's just because he is shooting less, only about eight attempts per game. Now that he's going back to how he played in 2014-15 when he averaged 14.5 points per game, he has potential to produce well this week against Notre Dame, in what could be a high-scoring game.

Alec Peters, Valparaiso

Remember that guy who gave Maryland some trouble in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year? Well he's back, and he may be even better. Alec Peters, now a junior, double-doubled Sunday with 32 points and 11 rebounds against Detroit to reach 10th on the all-time scoring list at Valparaiso and help his team win the 2015-16 Horizon League's regular season conference title. Peters has double-doubled in the last three games and has solid long-range accuracy for a 6-9 forward, shooting 50 percent from the field and 44 percent from behind the arc. He averages 16.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.0 assist in 30 minutes per game.

CHECK STATUS

Yogi Ferrell, Indiana

Like the current market, Yogi's been a bit bearish in February, as he struggles in what seems to be a pretty deep shooting slump, making 25 of 74 attempts (33.8 percent FG) in his last seven games. Ferrell is shooting about 29 percent from three-point range in that span, averaging 13.6 points, 4.7 assists and 2.3 rebounds. As a comparison, previous to this slump, he hit 47 percent of his threes and 48 percent of his field goals. The slump could be attributed to burnout, effectiveness of his other teammates or any other number or reasons, but the point is, he'll need to do more than he's done in the first half of February as the Big Ten tourney and Big Dance approach if he wants to continue to carry his team.

Rico Gathers, Baylor

After starting the month strong against Texas on Feb. 1 with 20 points, eight rebounds and three steals in 25 minutes, Gathers has unraveled a bit due to an illness that has affected his last five games, two of which he was sidelined. In the three others he was less than average, averaging just 6.0 points and 6.7 rebounds in 23 minutes per game. The 6-8, 275, Gathers was also ejected on Feb 13 for committing a flagrant-2 foul against Texas Tech's Justin Gray. It's unknown how long the illness will continue to affect his play, and tournament time is fast approaching.

Caris LeVert, Michigan

Caris LeVert has been in game-time decision limbo for several weeks due to a lingering leg injury. His last full, real game was Dec. 30 at Illinois. His leg injury has left him a big question mark for the Wolverines. LeVert played 11 scoreless minutes against Purdue on Feb. 13, however he sat out both games that followed. The senior point guard was a top scorer before his injury, averaging 16.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 31 minutes per game. If LeVert returns, he would cut into some of Derrick Walton Jr. and Muhammed-Ali Abdur-Rahkman's minutes, but he might have a tough time getting back into rhythm in time for the Big Ten tournament.

Malik Newman, Mississippi State

Newman has struggled with a couple injuries lately, including a hyperextended knee and a back injury. The back injury forced him to sit out the Alabama game, in which Craig Sword received extended minutes in his absence. He is questionable for Wednesday's game against a tough Texas A&M team. The freshman had played quite well this season, averaging 13.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists, before his last three games in which he dropped to just 6.0 points per game. If Newman plays, it is unclear how well he can recover from these two injuries.

DOWNGRADE

Jawun Evans, Oklahoma State

Oklahoma State's star freshman and leading scorer was ruled out for the season Sunday due to a shoulder injury he suffered in early February. He was on fire in January, averaging 16.8 points, 6.1 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. Consequently, this is a tough loss for the Cowboys, who have gone 1-4 since he first sat out due to the injury. Oklahoma State is relying on Jeffrey Carroll and Tyree Griffin to fill the gap left by the true freshman, but it just isn't the same without Evan's explosive offense.

Anas Mahmoud, Louisville)

Louisville's woes at center continued this week with the loss of Anas Mahmoud to a sprained ankle, suffered in practice. The Cardinals lost original starter Mangok Mathiang (foot) to injury 10 games into the season, and this injury has depleted the Louisville frontcourt even further. Mahmoud, a 7-0 sophomore, was mostly backing up Chinanu Onuaku but would start in case of illness or injury. Mahmoud's exit for the season means Onuaku, Raymond Spalding and Matz Stockman most likely will see an increase in playing time to fill the gap.

Devin Thomas, Wake Forest

Thomas was suspended two games last Friday for "lapses in judgement." Thomas is the team's leading scorer and rebounder, so this is quite the statement to make. The Wake Forest coaching staff also dismissed sophomore forward Cornelius Hudson from the team, stating both players "... had lapses of judgement and hopefully they will learn from this." This could be a wake-up call to Thomas, as the senior is being scouted for this year's NBA draft. Thomas will be eligible to return for his Senior Night and the ACC tournament before his college career is over.