Preview Roundups
February 17, 2015
Wake Forest at Notre Dame 7:00 PM ET
On the surface, a week-long break came at the best possible time for No. 10 Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish take the court for the first time since Feb. 10 when they host Wake Forest in an ACC battle on Tuesday. Notre Dame's last four games have featured a loss at Pittsburgh, a sluggish win against league-worst Boston College, a 30-point defeat to Duke and a 60-58 win at Clemson.
Kentucky at Tennessee 7:00 PM ET
Top-ranked Kentucky continues its pursuit of an undefeated season when it visits Tennessee in SEC play on Tuesday. The Wildcats are tied for the best start in school history with the 1953-54 squad, an accomplishment that caught some of them by surprise. “A lot of us didn’t even know about the record,” guard Andrew Harrison told reporters. “We’re just trying to take it one game at a time and win every game that we can play. It doesn’t matter if we don’t finish it out right.”
St. John's at Georgetown 7:00 PM ET
St. John’s has revived its season with three straight impressive victories and the Red Storm look to continue the run Tuesday at rival Georgetown in a key Big East battle. St. John’s had lost seven of 10 before knocking off Creighton, DePaul and Xavier in succession by an average of 11.3 points to improve its hopes for an NCAA Tournament bid. Georgetown rolled over Seton Hall 86-67 last time out on Feb. 10 for only its second victory in five games after winning the previous four in a row.
Houston at South Florida 7:00 PM ET
The doormats of the American Athletic Conference tangle Tuesday when USF hosts Houston in the first of two stretch-run meetings between the teams. The Bulls are hoping to improve their chances to avoid a second straight last-place finish, having lost 27 of 31 games since the AAC's inception, including 11 in a row. The most lopsided setback of that slide came Saturday at home against Memphis, which topped the Bulls - who went without a 3-pointer for the second time this season - by a 75-48 score.
Baylor at Texas Tech 7:00 PM ET
Baylor hopes to rebound from consecutive losses when the 20th-ranked Bears travel to Texas Tech on Tuesday. The Bears boast a solid NCAA Tournament resume but can't afford a bad loss. Baylor is trying to break back into the top half of the Big 12 standings and move above .500 in conference play, while the Red Raiders hope to climb out of the league cellar.
South Carolina at Georgia 7:00 PM ET
Georgia should have plenty of motivation entering Tuesday’s home contest against South Carolina, given the Gamecocks beat the Bulldogs last month and Georgia’s NCAA Tournament resume took a hit with Saturday’s loss to Auburn. “We had a lead and didn’t close the game,” Georgia coach Mark Fox said after the Bulldogs blew a late nine-point lead in losing to the under .500 Tigers. South Carolina lost by 34 points Saturday at No. 1 Kentucky, the Gamecocks’ seventh loss in nine games.
Wichita St. at Southern Illinois 8:05 PM ET
Wichita State bounced Southern Illinois from the Missouri Valley Conference record books in their last meeting. When the teams reconvene Tuesday, the 13th-ranked Shockers hit the road eyeing their fourth regular-season sweep of the Salukis in six years. Wichita State recorded its 23rd straight league win against Southern Illinois on Jan. 14 – breaking the Salukis’ modern mark for consecutive MVC victories set from 2002-04 – and went on to win 27 in a row before a Jan. 31 loss at Northern Iowa.
Texas at Oklahoma 9:00 PM ET
Texas is back at .500 in the Big 12 following three straight wins, but the Longhorns’ biggest test will come over the next two weeks against the league’s top teams. The gauntlet starts Tuesday at No. 17 Oklahoma, which had its five-game winning streak come to an end with last Saturday’s 59-56 loss to Kansas State. The Sooners have won three in a row against Texas, including a 21-point win in Austin on Jan. 5, when Oklahoma outscored the taller Longhorns 34-16 in the paint.
Louisiana State at Texas A&M 9:00 PM ET
The middle class in the SEC is beginning to sort itself out, and Texas A&M and LSU both find themselves in strong bubble position. Both teams will try to continue building a strong resume for an at-large NCAA Tournament berth when the Aggies host the Tigers on Tuesday. Texas A&M pulled into a tie for third place in the SEC by squeezing out a one-point win over Florida on Saturday and sits a game ahead of LSU.
Alabama at Auburn 9:00 PM ET
Auburn coach Bruce Pearl told reporters prior to the Tigers' 101-87 loss to No. 17 Arkansas on Feb. 10 that "there isn't a team on our schedule we can't beat. I don't know if we can beat Kentucky at Kentucky. I just don't know. I don't know. Can we (go on a run)? Yeah, we can." Auburn backed up its coach's bold statement with a 69-68 upset victory at Georgia on Saturday, and hopes to continue its roll Tuesday when it hosts Alabama in basketball's version of the Iron Bowl.
Michigan St at Michigan 9:00 PM ET
Michigan State is on a roll and needs to continue racking up victories to bolster its NCAA Tournament chances, starting with Tuesday’s visit to Michigan in Big Ten play. The Spartans won four of their last five games – including an overtime win versus the Wolverines on Feb. 1 – to significantly improve their position. “We’re not done yet, we’ve still got some Big Ten games left,” Spartans guard Denzel Valentine told reporters, “and hopefully we can sneak into a good run in the NCAA Tournament.”
San Diego St. at New Mexico 9:30 PM ET
San Diego State is eyeing its fourth Mountain West Conference regular-season title in the last five seasons and appears to have righted itself at just the right time. The No. 25 Aztecs convincingly beat their two closest conference pursuers last week, downing Wyoming (67-41) and Colorado State (72-63) at home and open a two-game road swing Tuesday at New Mexico. Three weeks ago, the Lobos were in the thick of the MWC chase but have dropped four straight and five of their last six.
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