Preview Roundups
February 11, 2015
Georgia at Texas A&M 7:00 PM ET
Kentucky holds a three-game lead in the SEC but there remains a wild scramble for second place, and two of the teams jockeying for position in the upper reaches of the conference meet Wednesday when Georgia travels to Texas A&M. The Aggies are in a three-way tie for second and have won seven of eight since a double-overtime loss to the top-ranked Wildcats. The Bulldogs are tied with LSU one game out of second and are winners of six of their past eight contests.
Syracuse at Boston College 7:00 PM ET
Syracuse is struggling, but the Orange won't get any sympathy from Boston College. The ACC rivals square off Wednesday with the Eagles having lost four straight and nine of their last 11, including a defeat at the Carrier Dome last month. Since outlasting Boston Colllege, Syracuse has lost three of four with the only win coming in a furious comeback against lowly Virginia Tech.
La Salle at VCU 7:00 PM ET
Despite enjoying one of the deeper rosters in college basketball, key injuries have begun to tarnish what was VCU’s best start under coach Shaka Smart. The 22nd-ranked Rams, who are 1-1 since losing defensive stalwart Briante Weber for the season, hope to get back leading scorer Treveon Graham back on Wednesday when they host La Salle. VCU won 17 of its first 20 games – matching the school’s best start since 2006-07 – before Weber suffered a major knee injury in a Jan. 31 setback to Richmond.
Kansas St. at West Virginia 7:00 PM ET
West Virginia hit quite a rough patch last week, losing to fellow ranked Big 12 foes Oklahoma (71-52) and Baylor (87-69) to fall to fourth place in the conference. Now the No. 20 Mountaineers get a brief respite from the gauntlet of Top 25 league opponents, hosting Kansas State on Wednesday. The Wildcats have fallen on even harder times, losing four straight – a streak which began with a 65-59 home loss to West Virginia on Jan. 27.
Penn St. at Ohio St. 7:00 PM ET
No. 21 Ohio State is making a brief stop at home during a stretch of four out of five on the road and will host Penn State on Wednesday. The Buckeyes split the first half of that road test and are coming off a 19-point win at Rutgers that pushed them into a tie for second place in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions have yet to win on the road in conference play but put together a strong defensive effort in a 56-43 win over Nebraska on Saturday.
Miami-Florida at Wake Forest 7:00 PM ET
Tonye Jekiri may lead the ACC in rebounding, but Miami (Fla.) coach Jim Larranaga, who leads the Hurricanes into action Wednesday at Wake Forest, is still waiting for his center to blossom on the offensive end. Jekiri is the only ACC player to collect better than 10 rebounds per game, but ranks fourth on his team in scoring at 8.1 points per contest.
South Florida at Central Florida 7:00 PM ET
A pair of struggling in-state rivals will clash on Wednesday when USF visits UCF in American Athletic Conference play. The Bulls and Knights are a combined 3-17 and each side is hopeful that the rivalry will send them headed in the right direction as the regular season's end draws near. UCF has lost six in a row, nine of its last 11 and has needed overtime to notch each of its two conference wins, while USF enters play on a nine-game losing streak.
Indiana St. at Wichita St. 8:00 PM ET
Indiana State gets the first of two chances over a two-week span to pull off an upset of No. 13 Wichita State on Wednesday when it travels to face the Shockers in a Missouri Valley Conference game. Wichita State has won two in a row since losing at then-No. 18 Northern Iowa, 70-64, on Jan. 31 and is coming in off a milestone 78-35 home win over injury-plagued Missouri State on Saturday.
Virginia at N.C. State 8:00 PM ET
Third-ranked Virginia has lost just one game all season, but the loss the Cavaliers sustained Saturday could derail their Final Four hopes. Virginia plays at North Carolina State on Wednesday without second-leading scorer Justin Anderson, who fractured a finger on his left hand in Saturday’s 52-47 victory over No. 9 Louisville and will miss four to six weeks. “It’s obviously not ideal,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett told reporters, “but we’re going to grow from it and learn from it.”
Villanova at Providence 8:00 PM ET
Providence added scary illness to insult in a loss to Xavier on Saturday but plans to have coach Ed Cooley back on the bench when it hosts No. 6 Villanova on Wednesday. Cooley left Saturday’s game and spent the night in a Cincinnati hospital while dealing with exhaustion and dehydration. The Friars coach will need to have plenty of focus in order to guide his team past the Wildcats, who are on top of the Big East and riding a four-game winning streak.
Texas Christian at Texas 8:00 PM ET
Texas can continue its domination of in-state rival TCU when it hosts the Horned Frogs on Wednesday. The Longhorns have won 10 straight and 14 of 15 in the series, including a 66-48 triumph in Fort Worth last month. TCU posted hideous shooting percentages across the board that night, shooting 33.3 percent from the field, 3-of-18 from 3-point range and a staggering 9-of-23 from the foul line.
Pittsburgh at Louisville 8:00 PM ET
Inconsistency on offense has dogged Louisville just about every time it has faced a Top 25 opponent. Fortunately for the eighth-ranked Cardinals, such has not been the case against unranked foes – a trend they look to continue on Wednesday when they host Pittsburgh. Louisville is averaging 76.1 points on 46.8 percent shooting against 17 unranked opponents, but scoring only 60.3 points per game on 34.7 percent shooting versus six Top 25 foes – posting 52 or fewer points three times.
Illinois St. at Northern Iowa 8:00 PM ET
No. 12 Northern Iowa puts its 11-game winning streak on the line Wednesday against visiting Illinois State, which gave the Panthers a scare last month before losing in the final seconds. Forward Seth Tuttle scored 21 points against the Redbirds on Jan. 25, when the Panthers rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit and escaped with a 54-53 victory. Wednesday’s contest is set for the McLeod Center, where Northern Iowa has won 15 straight dating back to last season and is 12-0 this season.
DePaul at St. John's 9:00 PM ET
Coach Steve Lavin is hoping a dose of adversity will help his team turn its season around as St. John's hosts DePaul on Wednesday in a crucial Big East contest. After benching center Chris Obekpa, the Red Storm responded by hammering Creighton 84-66 on Saturday, avenging an earlier loss to the Bluejays. St. John's will also look to even its series with DePaul as the Blue Demons edged the Red Storm 71-67 in overtime in their first meeting.
Tennessee at Vanderbilt 9:00 PM ET
Vanderbilt has made some noise of late, escaping the SEC basement to post back-to-back wins over Florida (67-61) and South Carolina (65-50). And it’s been senior forward James Siakam who’s shown the way, posting scoring and rebounding double-doubles and blocking seven combined shots in the two contests. Siakam and Co. look to continue their surge Wednesday against visiting in-state rival Tennessee, which has lost four of its last five games.
Oregon at Southern California 9:00 PM ET
Oregon will try to win its 10th straight game against USC — which would be the longest winning streak against the Trojans in program history — when the teams meet Wednesday night in Los Angeles. Oregon has won three straight overall with its only league losses coming against No. 7 Arizona (twice) and at Washington and Washington State in back-to-back games last month. The Ducks avenged those defeats with wins over both schools last week in Eugene.
Indiana at Maryland 9:00 PM ET
Sole possession of second place in the Big Ten is at stake as Maryland tries to exact revenge from Indiana when it hosts the Hoosiers on Wednesday. The No. 19 Terrapins have alternated wins and losses in their last six games, including an 89-70 setback at Indiana on Jan. 22 when the Hoosiers shot 60 percent from the field and 15-for-22 from 3-point range. Indiana is coming off a 70-67 victory over Michigan on Sunday, while Maryland lost 71-55 at Iowa on Sunday.
Oregon St. at UCLA 10:00 PM ET
Oregon State has set a school record with a 14-0 start at home, but the surprising Beavers will need a few more road wins to improve their postseason chances. They’ll receive their next test on Wednesday against UCLA, which has won 10 consecutive home contests against the Beavers. Guard Norman Powell averages a team-high 16.2 points for the Bruins, who are looking to avenge a 66-65 loss to the Beavers in Corvallis on Jan. 22, when they shot 30.6 percent – including 6-of-25 from 3-point range.