Texas and Pittsburgh are two of the most productive teams of the current decade. The two programs have combined to make ten appearances in the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen over the last eight seasons. Over that same stretch, they have five seasons of at least 27 wins. For two programs with so much recent success, it’s a shame they have only played once, 18 years ago.

Unfortunately, tonight’s Pitt team won’t be as polished as the previous squads Coach Jamie Dixon has led during his six-plus years at the helm. The Panthers are but a shell of their former selves, as six members of last year’s Elite Eight team won’t be on the court tonight. They lost 52 points per game from last year’s lineup thanks to the departures of DeJuan Blair, Sam Young, Levance Fields, and Tyrell Biggs. Jermaine Dixon, the team’s only returning starter and senior, will be unavailable after breaking his foot in September. Add in the fact that junior forward Gilbert Brown is academically ineligible this semester, and many fans won’t even be able to recognize the remaining Pitt roster.

Don’t let the new look fool you, however. Coach Dixon has always done less with more, having achieved his impressive results without the benefit of a single McDonald’s All-American recruit in his first six seasons. Just two years ago, he led the Panthers to 27 wins and an NCAA second-round appearance without Fields or Mike Cook, who both were injured. You can be sure that Pittsburgh will be well-disciplined and well-coached on the fundamentals, and should give Texas a run for their money tonight.

By the numbers

As a disciple of UCLA’s Ben Howland, Dixon is a defense-first coach whose team will get in your face and force mistakes. They love to quickly double down on the wings and the blocks, causing bad passes, charges, and travels.

This season, however, the Panthers have flipped the script. Through their first four games, it’s the offense that is leading the charge. Ranked by efficiency, the Panther attack is 14th in the country, while the defense is just 141st-best in the land. As usual, the Panther tempo stats are near the bottom of the barrel, with their 64.9 possessions per game checking in at 286th nationally.

Pitt’s biggest problem is — just like the Longhorns — at the free throw line. The Panthers have made just 62.4% of their attempts so far this year, slightly behind Texas’ 63.2% mark. If this game turns into a physical hackfest, the ensuing free throw display could very well be a crime against humanity.

Meet the Panthers

The new-look Pittsburgh team is led by sophomore combo guard Ashton Gibbs. Although he’s just in his second year, he gained valuable experience this summer on the gold-medal winning U.S. U-19 team coached by Dixon. Gibbs played so well on that squad, he worked his way up to a starting role by the end of the summer. While Gibbs is a heady floor general, he’s also a very dangerous shooter. Last year, he led the Big East in three-point percentage, and is off to another quick start this year, knocking down 42.9% of his looks.

Travon Woodall is just 5’11”, but has lightning-quick speed that more than makes up for his short stature. Starting alongside Gibbs, Woodall is the primary distributor, dishing out 28 assists through the first four games. The tiny guard has incredible court vision and is often lasering passes through tiny windows that no one else can see. He’s also fantastic on the fast break, able to dart in and out of traffic like a waterbug.

Perhaps the biggest impact player to return from last year’s team is junior Brad Wanamaker, a stocky 6’4″ guard who embodies Dixon’s intense defensive mindset. He’s not solely a one-trick pony, though, as he knows how to get to the rack and finish, to the tune of ten points per game this season. With so much talent missing from last year’s team, Wanamaker is being looked at to lead this young bunch through the tough Big East slate.

Nasir Robinson is a 6’5″ sophomore forward who can also fill the center role when Dixon wants to go with a smaller lineup. He wasn’t much of a contributor in his freshman season, but has started all four games this year. He’s responded well, posting ten points and five boards per game so far.

The key to this year’s team, though, will likely be the development of center Gary McGhee. He spent last season backing up Blair, playing less than seven minutes per game. This year, he’s being thrust into the spotlight as the team’s sole post option, and the team’s success could very well ride on how well he responds.

So far, McGhee is averaging 6.3 rebounds per game and 7.5 points. He’s not an incredibly quick guy, and his footwork still needs some improvement. Tonight should be a good test for him against the slimmed-down, more explosive Dexter Pittman.

Off the bench, the Panthers really only run three deep. Chase Adams is the first guard off the pine, and he has a history with the Longhorns. Adams is a new arrival in Pittsburgh, having transferred from Centenary, where he once faced Kevin Durant and the Horns in the Erwin Center. Back on December 28th, 2006, then-freshman Adams provided fourteen points and six assists in a losing effort against Texas. Since then, he’s improved his assist-to-TO numbers and even was named defensive player of the year in the Summit League last season thanks to 83 steals.

Freshman Dante Taylor is Dixon’s first McDonald’s All-American recruit, and his undeniable talent has earned him a bunch of early playing time. Coming out of Houston, Taylor is still working his way back from a foot injury, and will likely be even more of a force by conference play. He’s already quite impressive, though, grabbing six boards per contest in just 18 minutes per game.

Lamar Patterson rounds out the core rotation for Coach Dixon. Just a freshman, he already has an excellent basketball body at 6’5″, 220 pounds. While he’s playing just over twelve minutes a game, this swingman is already showing brief flashes of his potential. While he likely won’t make a huge impact on tonight’s game, he has a bright future ahead of him.

Keys to the game

Just like Iowa, the Panthers move the ball around very, very well. They play unselfish basketball and wear out opponents with crisp passing and great floor spacing. In a dominating 71-46 win over Binghamton, the Panthers had a ridiculous 24 assists on 27 field goals. Texas will once again have to play great team defense, communicating, rotating, and helping each other out against the precision Panther offense.

Texas will also need to earn extra possessions against a Pitt team that is ninth-best in the country when it comes to keeping opponents off the offensive glass. The Panthers can score in bunches, so the Longhorns need to get second and third chances when they fail to score.

Playing in front of a crowd that is decidedly anti-Texas also means that the Longhorns need to get ahead early. While this is technically a neutral-site game, last night’s crowd made it clear that the Sprint Center is going to be a road arena for Texas. If the Horns can take them out of it early — and not give the lead away like last night — the freshmen won’t have to deal with a hostile crowd in the waning moments of a close game.

Tonight’s tip is set for 9:15 P.M. Central, but once again it will be affected by the earlier game. Iowa and Wichita State tip off in the consolation game at 6:45, and there will be a 30 minute window between the two contests. If you’re out and about tonight, be sure to add time to the end of those DVR settings.

We’ll be hitting the road back to Austin immediately following tonight’s game, so look for a delayed post-game sometime Wednesday evening.

Texas played 30 minutes of solid basketball on Monday night in Kansas City, notching a 25-point victory to move to 3-0 on the year. Unfortunately for the Longhorns, it was the other 10 minutes that made things much more interesting than they should have been.

Freshman Jordan Hamilton led the way early for Texas, hitting four three-pointers in the first half. The Texas defense also helped to open things up early, stifling Iowa (1-3) for the first ten minutes of the game. The Hawkeyes had trouble getting open looks, often battling the shot clock before clanging the ball off the rim. The Longhorns built a lead as big as fourteen points with 10:30 to go in the first frame. But then things got hairy.

Perhaps it was complacency due to the large lead. Or perhaps the Longhorn defenders were tired of rotating on defense as the Hawkeyes utilized screen after screen and moved the ball around the court at lightning speed. But whatever the reason, the Texas D was no longer in the face of the Iowa sharpshooters, and they quickly paid for it. The Hawkeyes finished the half by nailing 5-of-7 from behind the arc, including a desperation buzzer-beating heave sunk from the opposite three-point line by Cully Payne. The teams headed to the locker room tied with 38 points apiece.

Halftime adjustments were quickly apparent, as Texas gave Iowa a steady dose of Dexter Pittman. The big man had just four points in the first half, but immediately doubled that — and then some — by scoring three quick buckets in the first two minutes of the second stanza. The Texas defense woke up as well, holding Iowa scoreless for nearly six minutes after a Matt Gatens three coming out of the locker room.

With the defense clicking, the Horns slowly pulled away, building an insurmountable double-digit lead in front of a restless crowd who was rooting for the upset. Texas piled on the fast break points and blocked numerous shots, frustrating an Iowa offense that could only muster an 18.8% second-half success rate against the suffocating D.

If one can look past the mental lapse late in the first half, this was a very impressive win for the Longhorns. The defense played outstanding basketball when they were all keyed in and on the same page. Players were talking and rotating on defense, backup forwards Alexis Wangmene and Gary Johnson were challenging and stifling their opponents all the way out to the high post, and the active hands of the guards led to fourteen fast break points for Texas.

Offensively, Texas showcased a balanced attack. When the Horns pounded the ball inside, Pittman was practically unstoppable, even against the collapsing Iowa zone. The solid outside shooting of Hamilton kept the Texas offense afloat when they weren’t able to score in the paint. Five different Longhorns ended up in double-figures on the night, yet another example of how dangerous the Texas depth will be for opponents.

But despite all the positives, there were still issues the team will be working on. Texas turned it over 16 times in this one, which actually seems like a small victory after the 21 turnovers against Western Carolina last Wednesday. Unfortunately, many of the Longhorn miscues were the result of being fancy or sloppy — sometimes on the same play — when they were enjoying large leads. The argument could be made that Texas felt over-confident and knew they would be able to beat Iowa, fundamentals be damned. But will these bad habits resurface later against quality opponents who can make the Longhorns pay if they get lackadaisical with a big lead?

Free throws were once again a dicey proposition for Texas. The Longhorns made 70% of their attempts from the stripe, thanks in large part to the steady hand of J’Covan Brown, who made all four of his attempts. While that number was a vast improvement from the 62% they posted against UC-Irvine and the hide-your-face-in-shame 53% mark they had against Western Carolina, the struggles of guard Varez Ward were still worrisome. Ward is doing a great job attacking the rim and getting to the line, but he has only made 50% of his attempts from the stripe. His ability to drive and get defenses reacting is greatly diminished when opponents know they can hack at him and limit Texas to no more than one point that possession.

The final area of concern was another lengthy drought for the Texas offense. The Longhorns went three-and-a-half minutes late in the first half without scoring, and had another four minutes in the second where they suffered the same fate. Credit must be given to a tough Iowa defense, but fans of the Longhorns will recall the stagnant periods that plagued last year’s team and briefly reappeared against Western Carolina.

The Longhorns have a ton of weapons to kill you from anywhere on the floor, but it seems like they are content to shoot threes when they are unable to get it inside. Texas definitely has the long-range gunners to make this work, but their insistence upon constantly launching it from behind the arc is leading to long droughts. If you take Hamilton out of the equation in this game, the rest of the Longhorns went 4-of-16 from behind the arc. That’s far too many attempts when there is such a size advantage down low, and especially when the three-point shots aren’t falling.

Let’s revisit our keys to the game as we wrap this one up…

Exploit the height advantage – Texas didn’t do a great job of this in the first half, but it was clear that Coach Barnes made it a point of emphasis at halftime. Pittman and Damion James combined for 25 points, and the Longhorns enjoyed a 40-31 rebounding edge.

Strong perimeter defense – Late in the first half, it felt like this might be Texas’ undoing. But the Longhorns clamped down on defense the rest of the way, and the Hawkeyes sputtered to a 10-of-37 night behind the arc. If you take out the flurry of threes that Iowa made in the last seven minutes of the first half, they were just 5-of-30 on threes in the other 33 minutes of play.

Control the tempo – Texas scored 14 fast-break points in the game, and in the closing minutes of the contest, their ability to run completely crushed any last-ditch comeback attempts from the Hawkeyes. It was mentioned earlier that the Texas half-court offense sputtered for stretches, but there is no doubt that the Longhorns look their best when running the floor and getting easy fast-break and secondary-break points.

The Longhorns advance to face Pittsburgh in tonight’s championship game at 9:15 P.M. A pre-game look at the Panthers will be headed your way in just a few hours.

Texas and Iowa met in this city and this tournament just four years ago, with the Longhorns claiming a 68-59 win and the tournament crown. A lot has changed since then, as what was once the Guardian’s Classic, played at Municipal Auditorium, is now the CBE Classic, played at the sparkling Sprint Center. And while the names and buildings have changed over the years, so has the stature of a once-proud Iowa Hawkeye basketball program.

Todd Lickliter is in his third year of coaching at Iowa City, and things are becoming more difficult every season. Just weeks after the end of a disappointing 15-17 campaign in 2008-09, the Hawkeyes lost four key players. Leading scorer Jake Kelly transferred to Indiana State after his mother’s death in a plane crash, wanting to be closer to his family. Starting point guard Jeff Peterson bolted for Arkansas, with his departure rumored to be the result of dissatisfaction with Lickliter’s coaching style. Juniors Jermain Davis and David Palmer also left the program, heading to D-II schools in a search for more playing time.

The sudden roster turnover left the Hawkeyes with a young and inexperienced team, devoid of its former leaders. And if the summer of turmoil weren’t enough, things turned even uglier once the season tipped off. For the first time since 1931, the Hawkeyes started a season with back-to-back home losses, falling short against UT-San Antonio and Duquesne in the CBE’s opening round games.

By the numbers

In typical Big 10 style, Iowa is a team that relies on excellent defense. The other half of their equation is an offense predicated on driving and dishing, looking for spot-up shooters who can knock down the three or the open jumper. Unfortunately for the Hawkeyes, their shooting has been abysmal to start the year. Iowa is hitting just 29.1% of their attempts from behind the arc this season, but may have turned the corner in Friday night’s 68-46 win over Bowling Green. In that one, the Hawks made 48% of their threes.

Another reason for Iowa’s anemic start is a problem hanging on to the basketball. They are coughing it up on 22.7% of their possessions, which is a problem when your style of play involves grinding out low-scoring wins. That slowdown tempo means that Iowa has less possessions to work with, so the importance of each and every turnover is magnified. Fortunately for Coach Lickliter, this year’s Texas team has actually had even more issues with ball control than his team, as the Horns own a 23.8% turnover percentage in their first two games.

The Texas tempo numbers aren’t that much higher than Iowa’s, something that is skewed in small part by the choppy nature of the Western Carolina game. The Longhorns do have the athletes to get out and run the floor, however, which will play in their favor if they can dictate the pace of tonight’s game. A slow, half-court battle increases the odds of an Iowa upset, so the Longhorns must control the flow.

Meet the Hawkeyes

With so much turnover on the roster, Coach Lickliter is experimenting with his starting lineups early in the year. Through the first three games, he’s thrown out three different starting combinations. Only seven players saw significant minutes in the win over Bowling Green, though, so he may have finally found the formula that works.

Cully Payne runs the show at the point, despite being just a freshman. The Peterson transfer meant that Payne would not have the luxury of a slow development, and he’s been handed the reins immediately. He’s struggling to adjust to the college game so far, turning it over three times in his debut while failing to log a single assist. Since then, he’s looked marginally more comfortable, but still has just 10 assists on the year to go with his nine TOs. Payne is also expected to be one of the three-point threats that can knock it down when the Hawkeyes drive and dish, but so far has yet to do so. He’s just 3-of-13 behind the arc this season, with all of his makes coming on opening night.

Anthony Tucker is a sophomore who is being looked at as a major scoring threat from the two-guard position. Although he’s in his second year of eligibility, Tucker is essentially just a freshman. Last year, he missed half of the season due to poor grades, and was also suspended for an alcohol-related incident. While he started the year coming off the bench, Tucker has been in the starting lineup the last two games. He’s a solid outside shooter who is still shaking the rust off, as indicated by his 4-of-19 start from behind the arc. But like the entire Hawkeye team, he looks to have re-discovered his shot following a 3-of-6 night from long range against BGSU.

The biggest returning star for the Hawkeyes is sophomore Matt Gatens, a sharpshooter who has started every game of his collegiate career. He was named to the Big 10 All-Freshman team last season, a year in which he averaged 10.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per contest. He’s practically automatic from the line, where he made 90% of his attempts last year and has failed to miss in 13 attempts this season.

If Gatens’ solid freshman year made him a leader, Jarryd Cole may be another one by default. The junior center is the only starting upperclassman, and one of only two upperclassmen who has even played this season. He’s not a prototypical center, as he’s just 6’7″ and can often be found setting screens on the perimeter. Iowa likes to use him for those ball screens not only to free up the dribble-drive, but also to unclog the lane by pulling taller defenders out with him.

Although Cole is often setting the offense in motion from somewhere around the arc, he’s still the team’s best option on the glass. With 8.7 boards per game, he’s grabbing nearly a quarter of the team’s rebounds, giving him a fair number of putback attempts when the rest of the offense is struggling. He’s going to be mismatched against the bigger Texas frontcourt, but with a lack of depth behind him, he’ll have to produce.

Brennan Cougill is a freshman forward who started his first game of the year on Friday night, and will likely stay in the starting five thanks to hard-nosed, hustle play. He’s still a raw talent who is awkward with his back to the basket and misses a lot of easy looks, but he’s constantly crashing the boards and earning extra possessions for the Hawkeyes. Against Bowling Green, Cougill played 30 minutes and turned in a solid line of eight points and eight rebounds.

The only upperclassman besides Cole that has seen the court this year is Devan Bawinkel, a senior guard whose only job is to knock down threes. Last season, 51 of his 52 shots were from behind the arc, and he did not have a single free throw attempt. Bawinkel, who was replaced in the starting lineup by Tucker, is solely a spot-up shooter. Texas will need to keep an eye on him, but will also benefit from knowing that he isn’t a threat to drive the lane or really even try to attack off the dribble. Like the rest of his team, Bawinkel might finally be heating up from behind the arc, as he hit 2-of-3 against Bowling Green after starting the year just 1-of-5 from long range.

The most impressive newcomer has been Eric May, a 6’5″ freshman who is listed as a guard but plays much bigger. He has a nice touch, as his 46% shooting mark attests, but he also attacks the glass like a fiesty forward. Even though he’s smaller than most of Texas’ players, he’ll be a tough guy to guard. He’s 40% from long range, but he can attack off the dribble if you play him too tightly on the perimeter. On a team that is so horribly undersized, May’s constant motor and tenacious play make him a valuable asset off the bench.

Aaron Fuller is a sophomore forward who started the first two games of the year, but picked up two quick fouls in both of them. May responded off the bench in those two games, but Cougill ultimately replaced Fuller in the starting lineup on Friday night. Aaron actually saw the floor for just three minutes in the win over Bowling Green, so he may have played himself right out of the rotation.

Keys to the game

With such a mismatch in size, the obvious key for Texas is to exploit the height advantage. The Longhorns really struggled to take advantage of the mismatch against Western Carolina, making Dexter Pittman‘s 17 minutes nearly useless. Tonight, Texas needs to pound the ball inside against the tiny Iowa frontcourt and must dominate the rebounding battle once again.

In addition, Texas will need to play strong perimeter defense to ensure that the Hawkeyes don’t hang around with a bevy of threes. Their roster is loaded with three-point gunners, all of whom have been struggling so far this year. The uncomfortable conclusion you can reach with those facts is that the Hawkeyes are due for a breakout game behind the arc. If they have that kind of night against Texas, it could make things dicey.

Finally, Texas must control the tempo. As we mentioned earlier, fewer possessions only serve to minimize the natural advantages that the Longhorns have. If Texas can get out and run a little bit, there is no way that the Iowa offense can score enough to keep up.

Tip time tonight is officially 8:45 P.M., but it’s much more likely that the game will be starting at 9 P.M. or later. The first semifinal of the night, which has Pitt facing off against Wichita State, doesn’t even tip until 6:30 P.M. Add in the thirty-minute window between games, and you can see how tonight’s contest might be wrapping up a little closer to midnight.

Post-game react and the championship or consolation preview will be headed your way tomorrow.

Wednesday night’s victory over Western Carolina was certainly impressive for the Longhorns. They logged a 32-point win, held their opponents to a scant 26.2% shooting percentage, and won the rebounding battle by an overwhelming 47-32 margin. But while the scoreboard and the stat lines were tilted heavily in Texas’ favor, some old issues managed to resurface for the Longhorns.

Most concerning for fans should be the continued struggles from the free-throw line. Last season, Texas made less than 80% of their attempts from the line, with nine players shooting hitting less than 70% of their tries. Of those nine, eight are on this year’s roster. As a result, the Longhorns have made just 59.6% of their free throws over the first two games. Damion James was the only Longhorn to truly shine from the charity stripe against the Catamounts, as he made 8-of-10 on the night. Alexis Wangmene also made both of his attempts, so perhaps the pair can put on a clinic at the next practice.

In addition, the youth of the team showed in the form of turnovers. Texas coughed it up against the Catamounts 21 times, for a differential of negative six. While we discussed in the game preview Western Carolina’s tendency to force steals, the complete lack of ball control will be absolutely killer if it continues into the new year. Yes, it’s still very, very early in the year, but the inability to get entry passes to the post was painful to watch.

It was also difficult for the Longhorns to develop any real offensive rhythm in the game. This isn’t worrisome like the free throw struggles and turnovers, but it’s something that could prolong the establishment of steady rotations off the bench. Any flow to the offense was constantly stifled by a combination of the turnovers, liberal substitutions, and whistle-happy refs — who called an excessive twelve fouls in the first eight minutes of the second half. With different players constantly running on the court and the choppy, whistle-interrupted style of play, it was tough to find any unit of players who excelled for any length of time.

In the winning effort, J’Covan Brown came closer to showing fans just how special of a player he is, but turnovers still plagued his game. Brown lost the ball six times against Western Carolina, giving him eleven TOs on the season. But the rest of his offensive game continued to blossom, as he once again showcased his three-point range and even brought the Frank Erwin Center crowd to its feet with a buzzer-beater to end the first half. J’Covan is going to be a star in the near future, but it’s clear that his unfortunate one-year absence has put a little bit of rust on his game.

Elsewhere on the freshman front, Jordan Hamilton is quickly proving that there is not a shot he doesn’t like. While this is a habit that will certainly need to be broken as the season wears on, Hamilton has at least made up for his quick-trigger by constantly following shots. Even though he missed four of five long-range attempts, each time he was crashing the glass and hustling for offensive boards. It’s hard not to like the drive and determination he’s exhibiting, but he will need to remember that on a team this talented, the last thing Texas needs is the Hamilton Catch-and-Shoot Extravaganza.

While we’ve picked out these negative aspects to dissect, the game was by no means a disappointment for Texas. The D was superb for a second-straight game, putting Texas first in the nation for defensive efficiency. Ken Pomeroy’s number-crunching shows that the suffocating Longhorn defense is allowing just .589 points per possession. Texas likely won’t see a true test of that defensive mettle until they take on the up-tempo Tar Heels on December 19th, but it will be interesting to keep tabs on that stat as the season rolls on.

Moving past the team accolades and on to the individual achievements, Gary Johnson is to be lauded for an excellent showing off the bench. The forward made all four of his shots from the field, chipping in ten points with seven boards. Although most players would expect to see an increase in minutes from their sophomore to junior seasons, Johnson is making the most of his decreased playing time.

Varez Ward also showed flashes of brilliance, looking once again like the exciting, lane-slashing guard that we saw at the end of last season. Ward provided ten points on 4-of-6 shooting and even logged three steals. Some fans questioned his inclusion in the starting lineup, but it’s quickly becoming clear that his late-season surge back in March was just the beginning of great player development.

Texas will face Iowa tomorrow night in the semi-finals of the CBE Classic at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. We’ll bring you a game preview sometime in the A.M. hours.

With early round action wrapping up in the slew of early-season tournaments, fans are now being treated to a host of great match-ups involving top teams across the country. The Puerto Rico Tip-Off started its quarterfinal slate earlier today, while the four premier teams in the 2K Sports Coaches vs. Cancer Classic square off in Madison Square Garden tonight. We’ll be back later tonight with some thoughts on the Longhorn victory over Western Carolina, but in the meantime enjoy the games below…

#24 Syracuse (2-0) vs. #12 California (2-0) | 6 P.M. CST | ESPN2

Both teams have yet to live up to their hype this year, with Syracuse stumbling in a pre-season exhibition game and the Golden Bears failing to put away Murray State in their season opener. In the big picture, a win tonight is much more important for a Cal team that will be playing a much weaker conference schedule than the Orange and will need quality non-conf wins to boost their profile.

Be on the lookout for ‘Cuse sophomore Scoop Jardine in this one, as he enters the game with 13 assists in the first two contests. If facing “real” opponents cuts into his playing time, those gaudy numbers will surely decline. But if he performs at that level against Cal, you can be sure hoops commentators across the country will be taking notice.

Sam Houston State (2-0) at #5 Kentucky (2-0) | 6 P.M. CST | ESPN FC1
It’s certainly not a match-up of the same caliber as the games in Madison Square Garden, but this one does give fans another early chance to catch Coach Cal’s loaded Wildcats. Potential Freshman of the Year John Wall dropped 19 points in his collegiate debut on Monday night, but none were more important than the two he added at the buzzer to knock off upset-minded Miami of Ohio. Kentucky fans hope things will be a little less intense in this one, while Wall and Patrick Patterson look to lead the team to a 3-0 start.

#15 Ohio State (2-0) vs. #4 North Carolina (3-0) | 8 P.M. CST | ESPN2
Another high-quality match-up from MSG, as the Buckeyes look to break out against a Carolina team that is loaded with freshman talent. For Ohio State, the man to watch is Evan Turner, a Player of the Year candidate who started the season with a triple-double and is averaging a ridiculous 19 points, 17 rebounds, and seven dimes through the first two games. Fans will also want to keep an eye on how Dallas Lauderdale does against UNC’s frontcourt, easily the best in the nation. Lauderdale is slowly coming back from breaking his finger in the pre-season, and tonight he’ll certainly have his mending hands full with the Tar Heel big men.

Central Arkansas (1-1) at #1 Kansas (2-0) | 7 P.M. CST | ESPN FC2
Kansas survived a close call in St. Louis on Tuesday night, as Memphis missed a three-point attempt at the buzzer which would have won the game. You can be sure that Coach Bill Self has used that narrow victory as motivation over the last fourty-eight hours. And that’s very bad news for the visiting Bears.

Utah Valley State (1-1) at #18 Minnesota (2-0) | 7 P.M. CST | Big Ten Network
The Golden Gophers scored 106 points in the second halves of their first two games, running away with both of them by a combined margin of 77 points. Things shouldn’t be getting any tougher against the Wolverines tonight. The game will be a nice warm-up for the Gophers’ upcoming neutral-site showdown with Butler, but it’s likely only worth a glance during commercials of the other contests.

La Salle (1-0) at South Carolina (2-0) | 8:30 P.M. CST | ESPNU
The SEC already has a black eye this year, as Mississippi State lost by double digits to Rider at home last week. Picked to finish near the bottom of the conference this year, South Carolina could earn a little credibility back for the league with a win over a top A-10 team. Helping the Gamecocks’ chances is the fact that this game in Charleston, SC is practically a home date.