Preview Roundups
December 02, 2017
South Carolina State at NC State 12:00 PM ET
North Carolina State has weathered the most difficult portion of its non-conference schedule. Now the Wolfpack head into a string of five straight games in which they really shouldn’t be tested, beginning Saturday against visiting South Carolina State.
Lehigh at Virginia 12:00 PM ET
Virginia tries to avoid looking ahead to a major top 25 showdown when the 15th-ranked Cavaliers host battle-tested Lehigh on Saturday afternoon. Unbeaten Virginia held an opponent under 50 points for the fourth time in seven games Monday with a 49-37 victory over Wisconsin as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and visits No. 19 West Virginia next Tuesday.
Cincinnati at Xavier 12:00 PM ET
Having rolled through the first seven games of the season, No. 9 Cincinnati finally faces its first true test of 2017 - and it's a doozy. The Bearcats visit No. 20 Xavier in their annual Crosstown Shootout on Saturday afternoon - and the Musketeers will have revenge on their minds after dropping an eight-point decision last season.
Indiana at Michigan 12:30 PM ET
Michigan looks to bounce back from a humbling loss when it begins Big Ten play at home to Indiana on Saturday. The Wolverines were riding a three-game winning streak heading into their Big Ten/ACC Challenge matchup with 11th-ranked North Carolina, but were blown out of the building as they trailed by as many as 29 points in the eventual 87-71 defeat to the defending NCAA Tournament champions and they hope to start conference play on the right foot by beating the Hoosiers for the fourth straight
Colorado at Colorado St. 1:00 PM ET
Colorado takes its 6-0 record on the road
Saturday for its first true road test of the season: A trip north to Fort
Collins and a game against rival Colorado State. Oddly, though, the visiting
team in the series has won four straight – a streak the Buffaloes have a chance
to continue.
Massachusetts at South Carolina 2:00 PM ET
South Carolina returns home for the first time since raising its Final Four banner when it hosts UMass on Saturday. The Gamecocks are looking to bounce back from their second loss of the season, while the Minutemen hope to snap a three-game skid.
Georgia at Marquette 2:00 PM ET
Marquette has plenty of offensive firepower at its disposal, and comes into Saturday’s home game against Georgia off a school-record shooting display. The Golden Eagles established a program record in Wednesday’s 95-69 rout of Chicago State by making 18 3-pointers, led by Markus Howard’s 11-of-15 performance from beyond the arc, and the sophomore's 33-point effort marks the third consecutive game a Marquette player has scored 30 or more.
Wichita St. at Baylor 2:00 PM ET
No. 16 Baylor looks to recover from its first loss of the season when it hosts eighth-ranked Wichita State on Saturday with both teams addressing injury concerns before the showdown. The Bears dropped a 76-63 decision at Xavier on Tuesday and lost third-leading scorer Terry Maston for at least a month after breaking his right hand while Wichita State’s top scorer Landry Shamet suffered a right ankle injury last time out.
Saint Louis at Butler 2:00 PM ET
Butler looks to build on its emotional win over Ohio State when it hosts Saint Louis on Saturday. The Bulldogs bested the Buckeyes 67-66 in overtime in their first matchup with former coach Chris Holtmann, who bolted Butler for Ohio State in the summer, in the fifth-place game of the PK80 Tournament, and they hope to ride the momentum to their first win over the Billikens since 2002.
Youngstown St. at DePaul 2:00 PM ET
DePaul returns to action after nearly a week off when it hosts Youngstown State in a non-conference contest Saturday afternoon. The Blue Demons snapped a three-game losing streak with a win over Portland in their PK80 Invitational finale, while the Penguins come in on a four-game losing skid.
Virginia Tech at Mississippi 2:00 PM ET
Virginia Tech’s early-season performance is beginning to turn heads, and the team can continue to do so with a road victory over Ole Miss on Saturday. The squads are meeting for the second straight season after the Hokies claimed an 80-75 home win over the Rebels last December.
UC Davis at Washington St. 3:00 PM ET
Washington State tries to improve to 7-0 on the season when it hosts UC Davis in a non-conference contest Saturday afternoon. The Cougars are coming off a sweep through the Wooden Legacy with three victories, while the Aggies have won two of their last three entering the game.
South Dakota at Duke 3:30 PM ET
Duke has played only one true road game thus far but due to its schedule commitments to events such as the Phil Knight invitational in Portland, Ore. last week, few teams have traveled as much or played nearly as often. After a two-day break following their most recent win, the top-ranked Blue Devils return home for the first time in nearly two weeks Saturday when they host South Dakota.
Harvard at Kentucky 3:30 PM ET
Kentucky's Kevin Knox wasn't shy while giving himself an impromptu self-evaluation recently, and the 6-9 freshman forward puts his skills on display again when the No. 7 Wildcats host Harvard on Saturday. “I’m very versatile,” Knox told reporters. “I can really do pretty much everything: Get to the basket, post-up, hit mid-range shots. … Just imagine if my 3-point shot is hitting.”
Tulsa at Illinois St. 4:00 PM ET
Tulsa has its offense rolling as it heads to Illinois State for a non-conference rematch on Saturday afternoon. The Redbirds won the first meeting 84-68 on Nov. 19 in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, but Tulsa has rebounded to win two in a row.
Richmond at Wake Forest 4:00 PM ET
After digging itself an 0-3 hole to start the season, Wake Forest has a chance to get to level ground Saturday with a win over visiting Richmond. A change in their philosophy on offense as resulted in back-to-back wins for the Demon Deacons, who will meet the Spiders for the 55th time.
Monmouth-NJ at Connecticut 4:00 PM ET
Connecticut got a career-high 29 points from Christian Vital to defeat Columbia in overtime in its last game. The Huskies look to make it two straight wins when they host Monmouth in Hartford on Saturday.
Sacred Heart at St. John's 4:30 PM ET
St. John's had almost a week off to recharge after its trip to Orlando for The AdvoCare Invitational, where the Johnnies went 2-1 after Sunday's 46-43 victory over Central Florida. The Red Storm return to the floor Saturday to host a Sacred Heart team looking to wrap up a stretch of three consecutive road games with its second victory.
Providence at Rhode Island 5:00 PM ET
Providence has gotten the better of longtime rival Rhode Island over the years and the Friars are streaking into this year's matchup against the host Rams on Saturday. Following a championship in the 2K Classic in Madison Square Garden, a buzzer-beating win over Belmont and an impressive 20-point triumph over Boston College, Providence outlasted a high-scoring Rider team 88-84 on Wednesday for its fifth straight victory.
Ohio St. at Wisconsin 5:00 PM ET
Ohio State and Wisconsin have both proved their mastery on the gridiron time after time this season, but their basketball counterparts cannot say the same on the hoops court. Three hours before the Big Ten Championship game is scheduled to kick off in Indianapolis between the same two schools, the Buckeyes and Badgers will begin conference play on the hardwood Saturday when they meet in Madison.
Penn St. at Iowa 5:00 PM ET
Teams looking to bounce back from poor stretches in their previous game meet Saturday when Penn State visits Iowa in the Big Ten opener for each team. The Nittany Lions scored the first 11 points at North Carolina State on Wednesday before nearly falling behind by double digits later in the half, while the Hawkeyes took a tie into the break against Virginia Tech on Tuesday and were outscored 41-17 in the second half.
Loyola Marymount at Oregon St. 5:00 PM ET
A loss to a winless opponent would have been difficult for Oregon State to swallow - but the Beavers prevailed, and now have their sights set on rising above the .500 mark as they host Loyola Marymount on Saturday afternoon. Oregon State earned a seventh-place finish at the AdvoCare Invitational in Orlando, fending off a furious Marist rally to upend the Red Foxes 65-46.
Delaware State at East Carolina 5:00 PM ET
East Carolina will try to make it two straight under interim head coach Michael Perry when it hosts Delaware State on Saturday. Jeff Lebo resigned Wednesday with the Pirates off to a disappointing 3-4 start.
Mercer at Memphis 5:00 PM ET
The best news for Memphis after an ugly performance Thursday in a loss at UAB is the Tigers get a chance to move on quickly, hosting Mercer on Saturday. The Tigers scored just 21 points in a dreadful first half against the Blazers en route to a 71-56 defeat, during which Memphis shot just 1-of-8 from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes and finished the game 4-of-10 from the free-throw line as its three-game winning streak ended.
Yale at Texas Christian 5:00 PM ET
TCU continues to win games, but second-year coach Jamie Dixon would like to see his Horned Frogs close out those victories stronger. The Horned Frogs have a chance to do that and extend their national-best win streak against visiting Yale on Saturday night.
Kansas at Syracuse 5:30 PM ET
Two of the five winningest programs in college basketball history meet in the Hoophall Miami Invitational on Saturday when No. 2 Kansas takes on Syracuse in a matchup of early-season unbeatens. The Wildcats have blown out five of their six opponents, while the Orange continue to slip by the competition.
Villanova at St. Joseph's 5:30 PM ET
Villanova has won five straight matchups with rival Saint Joseph's and aims to extend that streak Saturday while remaining perfect on the young season. The visiting Wildcats, ranked fourth in the nation, defeated another local rival, Pennsylvania, their last time out.
Boston College at Hartford 7:00 PM ET
Boston College may have dropped a 71-62 decision to Nebraska on Wednesday in the Big 10/ACC Challenge, but the Eagles may have lost something even more important when grad transfer Deontae Hawkins went down with an apparent knee injury. With the ACC opener against Duke only a week away, Boston College might have to use Saturday’s road contest at Hartford as a testing ground on how to play without its leading rebounder and third-leading scorer.
South Florida at Appalachian St. 7:00 PM ET
South Florida continues to seek consistency in its game when the Bulls complete a two-game road trip at Appalachian State on Saturday. USF followed up its first two-game winning streak in nearly a year by dropping the past two contests heading into the matchup with the Mountaineers.
Hawaii at Utah 7:00 PM ET
With the calendar flipping to December, Utah only
has two nonconference games remaining on its home schedule. The first of those
will be played Saturday night when the Utes host former Western Athletic
Conference rival Hawaii.
Arkansas at Houston 7:30 PM ET
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson wasn't happy with his team's play Wednesday but isn't worried about it carrying into the next game. Sampson expects the Cougars will be ready to host former Southwest Conference rival Arkansas on Saturday night.
Princeton at Miami-Florida 8:00 PM ET
Despite its No. 13 ranking, Miami hadn't really been tested entering its battle with No. 12 Minnesota on Wednesday, but the Hurricanes responded with an 86-81 victory over the host Golden Gophers for their fourth straight Big Ten/ACC Challenge win. Now Miami returns to South Florida to face Princeton on Saturday in the Hoophall Miami Invitational in what is considered a neutral site game at AmericanAirlines Arena in downtown Miami.
San Francisco at Arizona State 9:00 PM ET
Ranked for the first time in nine years, No. 21 Arizona State looks to remain unbeaten Saturday as the Sun Devils face visiting San Francisco from the West Coast Conference. With senior guards Shannon Evans II, Tra Holder and Kodi Justice leading the way, the 6-0 Sun Devils are averaging 95.7 points per game while shooting a remarkable 54.2 percent from the field.
Southern California at Southern Methodist 10:00 PM ET
USC and SMU will meet for the third time in a little over a year when the 18th-ranked Trojans travel to Dallas to take on the defending American Athletic Conference champions. USC swept two meetings last season, including a dramatic 66-65 upset of the sixth seeded Mustangs in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Tulsa, Okla.
Arizona at UNLV 10:00 PM ET
Arizona fell out of the national rankings with three straight losses last week, but coach Sean Miller insists the team’s lackluster start could have some long-term benefits. The Wildcats face another tough early-season test Saturday at UNLV, which opened with six straight wins before losing 77-68 in overtime to Northern Iowa on Wednesday.
St. Mary's at California 11:00 PM ET
After losing all three games in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, including a shocking 96-72 loss to Division II Chaminade, first-year California coach Wyking Jones said it was time to "go back to the drawing board." The Golden Bears, who bounced back with a 83-63 victory over Cal State Northridge, will try and make it two in a row when they host East Bay rival Saint Mary's on Saturday night.