Preview Roundups
February 20, 2016
Memphis at South Florida 11:00 AM ET
With speculation swirling that Josh Pastner's job may be in jeopardy, the Memphis Tigers appear to be focused on doing everything they can to keep their head coach around with a strong finish. The Tigers, who bounced back from an embarrassing road loss at Tulane with a 73-56 home win over UCF on Wednesday, will try to win back-to-back American Athletic Conference games for the first time since mid-January when they visit struggling USF on Saturday.
Florida at South Carolina 12:00 PM ET
South Carolina is in the midst of its first losing streak of the season, and it faces another tough test when it hosts Florida in a Southeastern Conference matchup on Saturday. The 23rd-ranked Gamecocks have lost two straight – a blowout home setback to Kentucky and a stunning 72-67 defeat at Missouri on Tuesday – and need to get back on track to buoy their postseason prospects.
Georgia at Vanderbilt 12:00 PM ET
Georgia travels to Vanderbilt on Saturday in a matchup of two teams who started the week hoping to bolster their NCAA tournament hopes, but now face an uphill climb to keep their bubbles from bursting. Each squad endured a deflating defeat Tuesday – the Bulldogs squandering a second-half lead in a home loss to Florida while the Commodores fell on a last-second shot at last-place Mississippi State – making Saturday’s contest even more critical.
Duke at Louisville 12:00 PM ET
A four-game stretch that figured to make it nearly impossible for Duke to win the ACC regular-season crown for the first time since 2009-10 has instead almost singlehandedly created a logjam with six teams within a game of the conference lead. The 19th-ranked Blue Devils began their unlikely run against the league's top teams with a 72-65 home win versus Louisville on Feb. 8 and will try to wrap it up without a loss Saturday when they visit the Cardinals.
Xavier at Georgetown 12:00 PM ET
Seventh-ranked Xavier will try to avoid looking ahead to a showdown with No. 1 Villanova next week when it visits struggling Georgetown in a Big East battle on Saturday afternoon. The Musketeers have won seven of eight games since losing to Georgetown at home 81-72 on Jan. 19 when they shot only 35.3 percent from the field.
St. Bonaventure at Dayton 12:00 PM ET
St. Bonaventure needs to do some work if it wants to get on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble, and a road win over a ranked team would certainly help. The Bonnies will try to pull off that feat when they visit No. 13 Dayton on Saturday.
Miami-Florida at North Carolina 1:00 PM ET
No. 4 North Carolina doesn't have any time to feel sorry for itself after its painful loss to rival Duke on Wednesday with first place in the ACC on the line Saturday afternoon when it hosts co-leader and 10th-ranked Miami (Fla.). The Tar Heels dropped a 74-73 decision at home despite Brice Johnson's 29 points and 19 rebounds, after leading most of the night and playing a short-handed Blue Devils team.
Penn St. at Rutgers 1:00 PM ET
This season was shaping up as another disappointing one in Big Ten play for Penn State until the Nittany Lions knocked off Indiana and Iowa - their first consecutive home wins against ranked teams in five years - in the past two weeks. Penn State hopes to avoid a letdown after its latest upset when the team travels to Rutgers on Saturday to play the hapless Scarlet Knights.
Baylor at Texas 2:00 PM ET
The brutal Big 12 schedule continues Saturday as No. 22 Baylor visits No. 25 Texas with each fighting stay in the top half of the league's standings. The teams are tied for third with Oklahoma and trail second-place West Virginia by one game and league-leading Kansas by two with five games left.
Pittsburgh at Syracuse 2:00 PM ET
Pittsburgh and Syracuse will be looking to bolster their NCAA Tournament resumes when they meet Saturday in a key ACC matchup at the Carrier Dome. The Orange had won five straight and eight of nine to force their way back into the picture for March, but missed a chance for another marquee victory when they fell 72-58 at Louisville on Wednesday.
Marquette at DePaul 2:00 PM ET
With just two weeks remaining in the regular season, Marquette desperately needs to establish some momentum beginning with Saturday's Big East game at DePaul. The Golden Eagles have been off for a week after suffering a home loss to Creighton but have four winnable games and a home date with No. 1 Villanova remaining prior to the Big East tournament, which they likely would need to win in order to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Mississippi St. at Alabama 2:30 PM ET
Red-hot Alabama seeks a seventh straight victory over Mississippi State when the Bulldogs visit Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Saturday. The Crimson Tide started their five-game overall winning streak with an 82-80 overtime victory over Mississippi State on Feb. 2.
Butler at Villanova 2:30 PM ET
Villanova has not had many tight games this season, particularly in Big East play. However, one of the teams that gave the Wildcats a challenge earlier in the campaign gets another crack at Villanova on Saturday when Butler visits the nation's top-ranked team.
Florida St. at Virginia Tech 3:00 PM ET
Florida State visits Virginia Tech on Saturday with both teams in need of a slump-ending victory. The Seminoles have lost three games in a row after briefly putting itself in the NCAA Tournament picture by winning four straight, while the young Hokies have dropped seven of their last eight contests.
Clemson at N.C. State 3:00 PM ET
Clemson is on a mini-roll, winning its last two
games to enhance its position on the NCAA Tournament bubble. But the Tigers have struggled on the road where they’ll play three of
their final four games, beginning with Saturday’s visit to N.C. State.
Connecticut at Cincinnati 4:00 PM ET
Amida Brimah had his best game since returning from a broken finger and Connecticut took a huge step toward securing an NCAA Tournament bid by beating SMU on Thursday. The Huskies could just about lock up a berth when it visits Cincinnati in an American Athletic Conference game Saturday.
Oklahoma at West Virginia 4:00 PM ET
No. 3 Oklahoma suddenly appears very vulnerable, especially on the road. The Sooners will try to avoid a third straight loss overall and a third straight road setback on Saturday when they visit No. 11 West Virginia, which is having some trouble with ranked teams of late.
Mississippi at Auburn 5:00 PM ET
Auburn snapped a seven-game losing skid with an
upset win at Arkansas on Wednesday. Now, the Tigers will try to make it two in
a row – and avenge an earlier loss – Saturday when they host Ole Miss in a
battle of lower-half SEC programs.
Louisiana State at Tennessee 5:30 PM ET
LSU freshman Ben Simmons is arguably the best college basketball player in the nation, but he's far from satisfied as the Tigers visit Tennessee on Saturday in an SEC game. Simmons went 10-for-19 from the free-throw line as part of LSU's 20-for-35 performance in a 76-69 loss to Alabama on Wednesday, prompting the 6-10 forward to return to the court following the game to practice from the stripe and try to improve on his .680 percentage from the line.
Kansas at Kansas St. 6:00 PM ET
With Selection Sunday less than a month away, Kansas is once again looking like a major threat to make a deep run in March. The second-ranked Jayhawks eye their seventh straight victory Saturday when they visit Kansas State.
Kentucky at Texas A&M 6:30 PM ET
Freshman guard Jamal Murray looks to continue his productive scoring
splurge, and No. 14 Kentucky seeks to remain in first place in the SEC
when it visits No. 24 Texas A&M on Saturday. Murray is averaging
28.3 points over the past four games - the Wildcats won each by an
average of 22.5 points - and is averaging a team-best 19.2 entering the
contest against the slumping Aggies, who defeated Ole Miss on Tuesday to
end a four-game slide.
Ohio St. at Nebraska 7:00 PM ET
Ohio
State won its third straight game and defeated Michigan on Tuesday to keep its faint
NCAA Tournament hopes alive. The Buckeyes' next step toward the postseason takes them to Nebraska on Saturday night to face a Cornhuskers squad that has lost six
times at home this season and is scuffling to stay above .500.
Missouri at Arkansas 7:30 PM ET
Missouri has won back-to-back Southeastern Conference games for the first time in two years, but it has yet to cure its road woes. The Tigers will try to snap a 23-game road losing streak Saturday, when they travel to Arkansas – where they earned their last win away from home on Jan. 28, 2014.
Texas Christian at Iowa St. 7:30 PM ET
No. 15 Iowa State looks to avoid its fifth loss in seven games when it hosts Big 12 cellar-dweller TCU on Saturday night. The Cyclones stand among the top 20 in the nation in scoring (82.6) and were third in field goal percentage (50.3) going into the weekend, but struggled on the defensive end in a 100-91 overtime loss at Baylor on Tuesday.
Notre Dame at Georgia Tech 8:00 PM ET
Notre Dame puts an impressive three-game winning streak on the line Saturday when it visits Georgia Tech in ACC action. The 18th-ranked Fighting Irish have knocked off then-No. 1 North Carolina, Clemson and Louisville in succession to climb into an enviable position in the ACC, as they enter the weekend in position to gain a double-bye in the upcoming conference tournament.
Stanford at Washington 8:00 PM ET
Washington’s freshmen were the talk of the Pac-12 after opening league play with a 5-1 record, but that seems like months ago for the free-falling Huskies. Coach Lorenzo Romar’s squad has lost four straight heading into Saturday’s contest against visiting Stanford, whose faint Pac-12 title hopes were kept alive with back-to-back wins over Oregon and Washington State.
Purdue at Indiana 8:30 PM ET
No. 21 Indiana looks to take sole possession of first place in the Big Ten when it hosts 16th-ranked Purdue on Saturday. The Hoosiers are coming off an 80-64 win over Nebraska to move into a tie with No. 6 Iowa at the top of the conference standings and improved to 15-0 at Assembly Hall for the first time since the 2006-07 season in the process
Texas Tech at Oklahoma St. 9:30 PM ET
Texas Tech looks to continue its hot streak Saturday at Oklahoma State. The Red Raiders beat three ranked teams in an eight-day span - a first in program history - to strengthen their chances of making the NCAA Tournament.
Oregon St. at Oregon 10:00 PM ET
Oregon has lost two straight and, with a week off to stew, the No. 17 Ducks should be hungry to turn things around in their Pac-12 matchup Saturday night against visiting Oregon State in the most contested rivalry in college basketball history. Oregon shot poorly while losing back-to-back games in the Bay Area to California and Stanford last week and needs a win over Oregon State to keep pace with No. 12 Arizona for the conference lead.
Colorado at UCLA 11:00 PM ET
UCLA has recently been vulnerable at home and the Bruins will try to buck that trend when they host Colorado in a Pac-12 game Saturday night. UCLA has lost three of its last four games at Pauley Pavilion to fall into the bottom three in the Pac-12 standings and a loss to the Buffaloes would guarantee its first non-winning season in conference play since the 2009-10 season.
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