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Akron (16-5, 6-2) at Kent State (15-6, 3-3) – 6:30 PM EST (CBS Sports Network)
Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to Kent, Ohio for one of the MAC’s signature rivalry games – the Wagon Wheel Rivalry between the Akron Zips and the Kent State Golden Flashes. Akron comes in having gone 2-2 in their last four games; their two losses came at home against Toledo and Buffalo. The Zips are a perfect 4-0 on the road thus far in MAC play, although Northern Illinois represents their best road win to date. Loren Jackson averages 18.5 points a game for Akron.
Kent State has run hot and cold this season – they looked like the team to beat in the MAC after wins at Wright State, Towson and a conference-opening blowout win at Bowling Green. A three-game losing streak against Miami, Western Michigan and a home loss to Northern Illinois put the Golden Flashes behind the 8-ball, but they are coming off of a road win at Toledo that featured a comeback from a 21-point deficit against the Rockets. Danny Pippen (14.0 PPG/6.8 RPG) leads Kent State in both points and rebounds.
-Arizona finally got a road win last night as they knocked off Washington 75-72. It wasn’t easy. The game seesawed back and forth and they needed a late run to get the win. This fills a huge hole on their resume.
OTHER NEWS, NOTES, AND GAMES
-Maryland picked up another nice home win against a pretty strong Iowa team. They are getting closer and closer to being locked in as a protected seed.
-Colorado fell at UCLA, which doesn’t cripple them, but it does hurt them. We’ve all had some fun beating up on UCLA this year, but they’ve won three of their last four and two of those wins were pretty good, and are playing much better now than they were out of the gate. They’re a hundred miles away from the NCAA Tournament, and it does hurt Colorado some to not beat them, but….maybe we should actually be giving a little bit of props to Mick Cronin and the Bruins. They actually have become a better team.
-Stanford is a team that’s inside the bubble. Oregon State is a team that’s outside the bubble. Stanford lost at home to Oregon State last night. They could have done without that.
-VCU AT RHODE ISLAND (Atlantic Ten). Both of these teams are hovering around the bubble, which makes this a hugely important game tonight. Both need quality wins, and both have limited opportunities.
-COLUMBIA AT YALE (Ivy League). I like this Yale team and think they will deserve a look from the committee if they win out.