Big Monday attempts to give a little color to the Garfield-like Monday haters and the college basketball lovers out there. There is not a ranked team in action tonight but there are some interesting games with a lot of small conference leaders in play.
Photo via AP / News & Observer / Robert Willett from ESPN
North Carolina at Florida State – ESPN
The Tar Heels are rocking a 6 game winning streak. Only two of those wins have been on the road. The Tar Heels could move themselves a game behind Duke in the ACC standings before Thursday's big showdown.
Meanwhile FSU has been slumping as of late. They've lost 6 of 9 with the only wins being against Notre Dame, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, all at least 3 games under .500 in ACC play. In fact, FSU doesn't have a win over any .500 team in the ACC. They've lost to Virginia twice and Duke so it's not like they've had a ton of changes. Clemson is their best league win.
Some of the players to watch tonight are James Michael McAdoo of UNC. He's averaging 16.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.3 steals a game. Marcus Paige is putting up 15.5 points, 5.2 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals. FSU's leading scorer is Aaron Thomas with 14.1. Thomas also averages 4.7 boards, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals. Ian Miller and Okaro White average 12.4 and 6.8 boards and 12.1 points respectively.
Oklahoma State at Baylor – ESPN
The game that turned Oklahoma State's season upside down was the 76-0 loss to Baylor. The Cowboys had lost 2 of 3 before that, but those were at Kansas and at OU. Losing at home to a Baylor team that had lost 5 straight officially put them on a losing streak. One that currently rides at 6 games.
Baylor got crushed in the two games following the Oklahoma State win but have bounced back with wins over TCU and Kansas State. Both have been by double figures, although the K-State game did go to overtime.
Brady Heslip went nuts in the first meeting. He scored 20 on the back of 6 three pointers. Cory Jefferson put up 11-13 boards. OSU got a horrible shooting game from Marcus Smart, 3-14 in a 15 point effort, but the two players going tonight had big games. Markel Brown had 24 on 9-12, 6-8 from 3 with 4 steals and Le'Bryan Nash had 19 on 7-11. They were the only Cowboys to make more than 5 field goals though. Something that could be a problem tonight.
Mississippi Valley State at Southern – ESPNU
The Southern Jaguars lead the SWAC at 10-2 and get a nice home showcase tonight. MVSU is only 4-8 in the league but they handed Southern one of their two conference losses 72-64 on January 22. Anthony McDonald had 17 and Julius Francis and Blake Ralling 14 for the Delta Devils. Southern got 21 from Calvin Godfrey and 18 from Malcolm Miller. The Jaguars turned the ball over 16 times in the loss.
THE REST
7 PM
Delaware at Towson
Towson is the best chance to put an end to Delaware's chances of running through the Colonial undefeated. Delaware is 11-0. Towson is 8-3 in second place. The teams met once with a 83-76 margin. Devon Saddler scored 23 for the Blue Hens, Jarvis Threatt 20 and Davon Usher 17. The Tigers got 29 and 16 from Jerrelle Benimon. The teams went a combined 7 of 38 from 3 in that game. Not good.
UNC Wilmington at William & Mary
Stetson at USC Upstate – ESPN3
Charleston Southern at High Point
Davidson at Citadel
The Wildcats lead the Southern Conference by a game over Chattanooga. The Citadel is one of the only teams in America without a conference win. These teams met up on the first with Davidson winning by 19. The Citadel shot just 8 three pointers and attempted 2 free throws. De'Mon Brooks of Davidson had 23 points on 9-10 and 8 rebounds.
7:30 PM
Delaware State at Florida A&M
Morgan St at Maryland-Eastern Shore
NC A&T at South Carolina St
Texas St at Georgia St
The Sun Belt leading Panthers look to bounce back from their first conference loss over the weekend. They are lead by the trio of RJ Hunter and his 23.3 points and 2.6 steals per game, Ryan Harrow's 14.8 points and 4.7 assists and Devonta White's 14 and 4.2. Texas State is 3-8 in the league.
8 PM
NC Central at Savannah St
The first of two meetings between NC Central and Savannah State. Central leads the MEAC at 10-1 while State is 7-4. If there is any chance at league upheaval, it would start tonight. Central would have a 2 game lead in the league with a win.
8:30 PM
Jackson St at Texas Southern
UAPB at Alcorn St
Grambling St at Prairie View A&M
9 PM
Weber St at Idaho St
Weber State leads the Big Sky by 2.5 games. They lead the Bengals by 5 going into tonight's game. The first meeting was only a 6 point Weber State win. Davion Berry went for 23-6 assists-5 rebounds and Jordan Richardson went for 18. Joel Bolomboy had 16 boards for the Wildcats. Chris Hansen would like you to have a seat and he also scored 27 in the first meeting. Hansen made 5 of the Bengals 6 three pointers. Weber State made 12 from distance in the win.
