Not a lot of solid games on the air tonight, but the headline match-up should more than make up for the mediocrity elsewhere on the TV dial.
DePaul (10-14 overall, 5-7 Big East) at #13 Connecticut (20-5, 9-3) – 6 PM CST, ESPNU
The Huskies return home after escaping sunny Florida with an overtime buzzer-beating win against the Bulls, hoping to keep pace with G-town and the Cardinals. DePaul is at the other end of the standings, trying to stay ahead of Providence and St. John’s long enough to make the Big East tournament.
#15 Purdue (21-5 overall, 12-1 Big 10) at #14 Indiana (21-4, 10-2) – 6 PM CST, ESPN
The Hoosiers silenced critics who asked if they would ever claim a marquee win and temporarily ushered the Kelvin Sampson debacle aside with a convincing home win over Michigan State on Saturday night. Purdue dispatched that same Spartan squad on Tuesday, setting the table for tonight’s winner to slide into the driver’s seat of the Big Televen.
UNC-Greensboro (14-10 overall, 8-7 Southern) at Davidson (19-6, 17-0) – 6 PM CST, ESPN2
The Wildcats have not lost since December 21st, and there’s no reason that they should tonight. Last week they defeated UNC-Greensboro by five on the road, but tonight get to face them in the friendly confines of Belk Arena. Although Davidson clinched their league title with a win on Saturday, they are still looking to impress the tournament committee in case they somehow stumble in the Southern Conference tournament. A 19-game win streak could quite possibly be the slightest bit impressive.
Georgia (12-11 overall, 3-7 SEC) at Kentucky (13-10, 7-3) – 8 PM CST, ESPN
It’s hard to believe that this is the same Wildcat team which lost to Gardner-Webb and started the year with a 4-5 mark, but Billy Clyde Gillispie has things looking up in the Bluegrass State. Kentucky has the third-best record in the SEC, a strength of schedule ranking of 27th, and quality wins over Tennessee and Vanderbilt. While tonight’s game won’t offer a réesumé-building victory, every win gets the Wildcats closer to the post-season in a year with a really, really soft bubble.
Missouri State (13-14 overall, 6-9 MVC) at Creighton (17-8, 8-7) – 8 PM CST, ESPNU
The Jays are certainly not the team of years past, as they are sitting smack in the middle of the Metro Valley and head into this one on a two-game losing streak. This game doesn’t have much impact on the big picture this season, so unless you dig the mid-majors or have a nephew at Missouri State, you might only catch this one during commercials of whatever else you are watching.
If you’ve got ESPN Full Court, I don’t have a lot to offer you. Here are the leftovers, if you’re interested…
Bowling Green (11-13 overall, 6-6 MAC) at Ohio (16-9, 7-5) – 6 PM CST
It’s MAC-tastic!
Southern Utah (8-17 overall, 6-8 Summit League) at Oral Roberts (18-6, 13-1) – 7 PM CST
Scott Sutton and the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles should be dancing again in March, and with good reason. They are dominating the far-flung teams of the Summit League and played Texas A&M, Arkansas, and Texas close this year. As for Southern Utah…well, I honestly didn’t even know they existed until about ten minutes ago.
Baylor (17-7 overall, 5-5 Big 12) at Oklahoma (17-8 overall, 5-5 Big 12) – 7 PM CST
The selection committee says they don’t assign certain conferences a number of bids, but that doesn’t stop some pundits from labeling match-ups such as this one “elimination games.” But with that soft bubble I referred to earlier, there’s a good chance that both the Bears and Sooners could find themselves in the field of 65 next month, regardless of tonight’s outcome. Of course, if Baylor wants to even sniff the Big Dance, they need to first get off of their skid, as they’ve lost five of their last six, including a home game against this Oklahoma team.
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