NEWS AND NOTES:
-Providence got an extremely impressive win over a Marquette team that we have all been saying can go to the Final Four. The Friars were at home, but they held a lead pretty much throughout and finished off a very impressive 72-57 win. It’s hard to not think of the Friars as a tournament caliber team now as they improve to 10-2 and add a very impressive win to their profile.
-Memphis followed up their big win against Clemson with another big win against Virginia. This one was a blowout. It was a game in the first half, but not in the second half. UVA’s defense didn’t bother the Tigers at all as they rolled 77-54, and this should help move the Tigers up the rankings and up the seedlist.
-Indiana is now 8-3, but they once again had to sweat out another home buy game. They actually trailed by 15 with less than 10 minutes to go against Morehead State, but closed on a 20-4 run to barely escape with a 69-68 win. Minus the close loss to Kansas (which was, after all, a loss) Hoosiers might be the least impressive 8-3 P5 team I have ever seen. Four of their wins were close home buy games, and another win was a close game against Louisville, which is basically like a home buy games.
-Western Carolina is now 9-2 after edging out a struggling Vanderbilt team on the road 63-62. It’s the 5th true road win for the Catamounts, and they will be a fun team to watch in the SoCon this year.
-Florida needed two overtimes to get by Michigan 106-101. Michigan had looked sluggish for most of the year, but played really well yesterday against a Gator team that’s pretty good. Still, the Wolverines are just 6-6 and need to start stringing together wins if they want to build up their resume.
-UCLA was a team I praised before the season started. Then after the season started I continued to praise them despite some early and hard fought losses in Maui. UCLA is now just 5-5 after their 76-72 loss to Cal State Northridge last night. I am no longer praising them. CSN, on the other hand, is now 8-3 on the year and will definitely be worth paying attention to as they go through Big West play.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-CONNECTICUT AT SETON HALL (Big East). UConn has looked as good as anyone in the country this year whereas Seton Hall has struggled some, but the Hall are coming off a nice win against Missouri and should have some momentum and confidence coming into this one tonight.
-BAYLOR VS DUKE (New York NY). Baylor has just one loss, but it was in their last game and they were blown off the floor by a Michigan State team that’s been struggling for most of the year, so that raises some red flags as the Bears head into another really big test tonight. Duke is still in the rankings at 7-3, but their best win to date is probably that same Michigan State team we mentioned earlier that has struggles so much, so they could really use this one tonight.
-XAVIER AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East). The Johnnies are a respectable 7-3 on the year, but they don’t have a lot of meat on their resume yet and need to hold serve in a game like this.
-PURDUE FORT WAYNE AT PITTSBURGH. This is a buy game, but PFW is coming in with an 11-1 record and Pitt, while respectable at 8-3, still doesn’t have a win on their resume that will jump out at the committee or a game that has demonstrated that they are a solid tournament-caliber team. They could be tested more than what they’re expecting tonight, so they don’t want to overlook PFW.
-NORTHWESTERN VS ARIZONA STATE (Hall of Fame Series, Phoenix AZ). Northwestern already has the big win against Purdue on their resume, and they’ve also struggled at times this year. They dropped a home game to Chicago State and didn’t exactly put DePaul away in their last game. They should get this one tonight, but Arizona State is a lot better than either Chicago State or DePaul.
-NORTH CAROLINA VS OKLAHOMA (Jumpman Invitational, Charlotte NC). Oklahoma is unbeaten, and while they’ve taken some little tests this is a HUGE test against a UNC team that’s not a true road game, but still in front of a crowd that will very much favor the Tarheels. This is a big game for North Carolina as well. This is their third straight game against a top ten team, and they’ve lost the other two, so a win tonight would give their profile a boost and give them some of their momentum back.
-VILLANOVA AT CREIGHTON (Big East). This is an interesting conference opener for both teams. Nova has been wildly inconsistent this year. They have wins away from home against North Carolina and Memphis, but have also managed losses to teams like Drexel and Penn. This is their first game in over 11 days, and it is a big test against a Creighton team that’s highly ranked and that just picked up a nice win against Alabama.
-UC IRVINE AT NEW MEXICO. UC Irvine is 7-4 on the year and just snapped a three game losing streak, but those three losses were at Duquesne, at Utah State, and at San Diego State, all by 10pts or less. They do have a win at USC, but USC has not emerged as a strong team yet and that win has lost some of its sparkle. At 10-1, New Mexico has shown they can play, but hasn’t had any massively big wins yet and barely escaped an upset loss to New Mexico State in their last game. Both teams could really use this one. If UCI can get this one on the road and then blow through the Big West then they should get a serious look from the committee.
-ALABAMA VS ARIZONA (Hall of Fame Classic, Phoenix AZ). Alabama is a modest 6-4, but they’ve played a really tough schedule and I think they’re better than what their record may indicate. Having said that, they’re probably not good enough to beat an Arizona team that’s in contention for a #1 seed. Arizona lost to Purdue in their last game, but that’s hardly a setback. They should be able to get it done tonight in front of a crowd that will likely favor them.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES/BUY GAMES:
-Saint Louis @ NC State – A win for NC St gets them to 8-3 on the year, but they still have work to do
-Oakland @ Dayton – a win for the Flyers gets them to 9-2 and keeps them inside our bubble
-North Dakota @ Nebraska – Nebraska can improve to 10-2 with a win tonight
-Tennessee Tech @ Evansville – The Aces are off to a very good 9-2 start and have another winnable one at home tonight
-Sam Houston @ Grand Canyon – The Lopes are on a roll and can get to 10-1 with a win tonight
-Jackson State @ Gonzaga
-Bellarmine @ Utah