After a couple of days off, the rundown and the rebound, or winners and losers or whatever I feel like doing, is back. Last night was insane with Syracuse losing, Arizona going to overtime with Utah, Florida getting some all time dumb play from Auburn, St Louis going to overtime and Creighton shooting the lights out late. Tonight is loaded. Five top 25 teams are in action against unranked foes, but all 5 of them are on the road.
Throwback Thursday photo via
7 PM
(13) Michigan State at Purdue – ESPN
The Spartans get ready for the big weekend rematch with Michigan this weekend by traveling to West Lafayette to take on Purdue. Michigan State has alternated wins and losses since January 21. They are coming off a weekend loss to Nebraska at home. The Boilermakers have won 2 of 3 and are coming off a huge win over Indiana.
(22) Memphis at Rutgers – CBS Sports Network
The first time Memphis and Rutgers hooked up was on February 4. The Tigers were up 31-5 halfway through the first half. The good news for Rutgers is that this game could not possibly go worse. Memphis shot 59%, hit 12 of 19 from 3 and 17 of 21 at the line. Six players scored in double figures with 18 from Austin Nichols, 16 and 8 assists from Joe Jackson and 15 from Michael Dixon Jr leading the way. Chris Crawford had 12, 11 and 5. Not bad. I'm sure they would all love a replay of that.
9 PM
(5) Duke at North Carolina – ESPN
Like I need to convince you to watch Duke at Carolina.
(21) Connecticut at Temple – ESPNU
The Huskies beat the hell out of Temple 90-66 on January 21. DeAndre Daniels went for 31 and 12 while Shabazz Napier added 27-7-6. With how well UConn has played lately, it's hard to see them dropping one to Temple. Although SMU just lost up there.
11 PM
(25) Gonzaga at BYU – ESPN2
The third rematch of a team beating the hell out of the other is the most interesting. Gonzaga pulled away in the second half to beat BYU 84-69 in Spokane. The Bulldogs hit 57.4% from the field, 10-22 from 3 and 12-12 at the line. Kevin Pangos had 24 points thanks to 6 threes, Sam Dower had 18 and 14 a piece were scored by Gary Bell and David Stockton. Tyler Haws went for 23 for the Cougars.
ON TV
7 PM
Alabama at Texas A&M – ESPN2
Penn State at Nebraska – ESPNU
The Cornhuskers can move a game over .500 in the Big 10 with the win. They've won 3 in a row and 5 of 6. Penn State did win the first meeting in Happy Valley by 4.
9 PM
Georgetown at Seton Hall – CBS Sports Network
If the Hoyas have any real NCAA tournament claim, they have to win this game.
Washington St at Oregon St – Pac 12 network
Toledo at Bowling Green – ESPNU
The Rockers are 21-4, 9-3 in the MAC West, half a game behind Western Michigan. This is a nice national showcase for them.
Portland at San Diego – Root Sports
11 PM
USC at Stanford – Pac 12 network
If the Cardinal have a legit NCAA tournament claim, they can't drop games to the last place team in the league.
Pepperdine at Loyola Marymount – ESPNU
St Mary's at San Francisco – Root
THE REST
7 PM
Fairleigh Dickinson at Bryant
Mt. St. Mary's at Central Connecticut St
LIU Brooklyn at Robert Morris
The Colonials won at LIU by 9 two weeks ago. That kicked off their current 4 game win streak. Robert Morris leads the Northeast by 2 games.
Sacred Heart at Wagner
St Francis (NY) at St. Francis U
Middle Tennessee at Charlotte
Louisiana Tech at East Carolina
Two of the three teams tied atop C-USA go on the road for tricky games. Charlotte is much better than East Carolina in the standings, 5-6 to 2-9, but neither test is a slam dunk. Middle Tennessee and Tech meet up next Thursday.
North Texas at FIU
Tulsa at FAU
UAB at Marshall
Rice at Old Dominion
Louisiana-Monroe at Georgia St
A win here by the Panthers pretty much eliminates everyone but Western Kentucky from the Sun Belt race. They would lead WKU by 3 games with 5 remaining. Looking good for an NIT bid at the very least.
Fairfield at Niagara
Quinnipiac at Canisius
A battle of 12-4 teams in the MAAC. Both teams are 2 behind Iona. The winner will be tied with Manhattan for second place.
Towson at Northeastern
Eastern Michigan at Northern Illinois – ESPN3
Western Carolina at Appalachian St
Georgia Southern at Chattanooga
Furman at Wofford
Milwaukee at Youngstown St
East Tennessee St at Jacksonville
USC Upstate at North Florida
8 PM
UTSA at Southern Miss
UTEP at Tulane
UTEP is the third 9-2 team in C-USA. Tulane is 6-5 in the league. It'll be interesting to see if all 3 teams atop the league can handle road tests.
New Mexico St at UT-Pan American
Omaha at South Dakota
South Alabama at Texas St
Tennessee Tech at Tennessee-Martin
Jacksonville St at SE Missouri St
Eastern Illinois at Belmont
The Bruins lead the Ohio Valley East by a game over Morehead State.
SIU-Edwardsville at Tennessee St
Valparaiso at Green Bay
Green Bay has a 2 game lead in the Horizon over Valpo. The Crusaders smacked the Phoenix by 15 in the first meeting. A win here would clinch the Horizon league regular season title for the Phoenix since they have a 2 game lead on Cleveland State and swept the Vikings.
CS Bakersfield at UMKC
Utah Valley at Chicago St
Utah Valley leads the WAC by half a game over New Mexico State. They have two road games against ok teams in the middle of the league before the rematch next Thursday.
UT-Arlington at Arkansas St
Troy at Louisiana-Lafayette
Northern Colorado at Northern Arizona
Marist at St. Peter's – ESPN3
SE Louisiana at New Orleans
9 PM
Weber St at Montana
The Big Sky leading Wildcats take on 7-7 Montana. The first meeting went down to the wire with Weber winning by 5.
Portland St at Southern Utah
Western Illinois at Denver
Idaho St at Montana St
10 PM
Grand Canyon at Seattle
CS Fullerton at Cal Poly
Long Beach St at UC Davis
UC Riverside at UC Santa Barbara
Pacific at Santa Clara
North Dakota at Sacramento St
12 AM
UC Irvine at Hawaii
The Anteaters, such a cool name, are starting to pull away with the Big West. One of their losses in league play was a home loss to Hawaii in overtime.
