Lehigh (16-7, 9-3 Patriot) at Bucknell (16-8, 10-2 Patriot) – 7:00 PM EST (CBS Sports Network)
Tonight’s matchup takes us to central Pennsylvania where the top two teams in the Patriot League face off for the second time this season; the Bucknell Bison host the Lehigh Mountain Hawks tonight in Sojka Pavilion. The Bison won the first meeting between both teams at Lehigh earlier this season thanks to a game-winning layup from Jimmy Sotos with about a second remaining on the clock. Bucknell did start the year a little slowly at 6-6, but their win at Vermont is still a significant one and even their win against Monmouth is looking better and better by the day.
Lehigh is a full game behind Bucknell in the standings; however, they are currently in a stretch where they have won six out of their last eight games. The only real surprise was getting swept by Colgate thus far. Their best win of the season so far was a 15-point win against Princeton back in November. Lance Tejada leads the Mountain Hawks with 14.5 points per game.
OTHER GAMES, NEWS, AND NOTES
-Houston picked up a really nice win against Cincinnati yesterday and still has just one loss on the season. I was impressed with the play of both teams, and although Cincinnati could have really used the road win, I think they should be more encouraged from their performance than discouraged.
-Iowa overcame a double digit deficit with just minutes to go to come back against Northwestern and dodge what would have been a somewhat damaging loss, but by no means would it have been a killer loss. Northwestern easily leads the nation in heartbreaking losses this year.
-Indiana’s win at Michigan State was great. The problem is that they’ve done so many things that aren’t great that I still think they’re on the outside looking in. They fell at home to Ohio State yesterday, and are now just 4-9 in Big Ten play, which is way below what we typically see for teams that are inside the bubble.
-VIRGINIA AT NORTH CAROLINA (ACC). I think Virginia is still on the #1 line, but they could really use a big time win like this in order to help them stay up there. When you look at the opportunities teams like Kentucky and Michigan have to get top ten wins away from home, it’s not inconceivable that some of them could jump over Virginia.
-KANSAS AT TCU (Big 12). TCU just picked up a win that they desperately needed over the weekend against Iowa State. If they could get this one then they’ll really be on cruise control. Kansas needs this win as well. To date, they have just one true road win. It’s a part of their resume that’s really lacking, and this particular road win could really help them out.
-OKLAHOMA AT BAYLOR (Big 12). Oklahoma is just 3-8 in league play, and won’t make the NCAA Tournament unless that gets better. Baylor is in relatively good shape, but could really benefit from rebounding from a loss over the weekend.