The NC-Double-Eh Schedule - Dec. 22

Today's Marquee Match Up features a showdown in as the Longhorns will try to run a stampede through the Spartans.  Find out where everyone else is playing today here ...

Marquee Match Up

7:00pm Texas @ Michigan State

If there was ever a game that you want to make every attempt to watch, this is the one for the month.  Texas is taking its 9-2 record into East Lansing to face a Spartans team that has already played in some very tough games and should be ready for the Longhorns.  Now outside of the obvious Top 25 vs. Top 25 talk, for us Canadians there are two very interesting side match ups:  Cory Joseph vs. Kalin Lucas and Tristan Thompson vs. Durrell Summers.  Now I don’t think that there will be another team that will have this type of match for Texas’ Dynamic Duo that are so even in a lot of ways so it will be an interest game to watch.  Also to note is that Joseph has been on an up slide with his production on the stat board while Thompson has been on a downslide.  Regardless, both will need to bring everything they got to help get the win before the holiday break.

Here is where everyone else is playing today ...

12:00pm Northeastern vs. Saint Louis

12:00pm Richmond @ UNC Greensboro

2:30pm Longwood vs. SIU-Edwardsville

7:00pm Harvard @ UConn – There is no way that Harvard should win this game against UConn but it will be nice to catch a glimpse of Laurent Rivard.  He’s scored in double digits three of his last four games and is averaging 14.5 points including a career high 21 that he hung on Michigan in Ann Arbor.  UConn will definitely not give anything to Rivard but it will be nice to see how he plays against one of the toughest teams in the land.   

7:00pm Drexel @ Syracuse – It will be interesting to see which Kris Joseph shows up for this game.  The one that makes the game look easy and effortless or the one that is in the game but is almost invisible.  If it’s a tight game, it will for sure be the former but it’s a blowout if may be the latter.  We will just need to watch to find out.

7:00pm East Carolina @ George Washington

7:00pm Bucknell @ Boston College

7:00pm Lafayette @ Rhode Island – I think it’s time that we start talking more about Lafayette’s Jared Mintz and we’ll do so here.  He’s coming off a very long break since the last Leopards’ game back on Dec. 11 so there may be some rust to shake off.  Keep in mind that he’s yet to score in single digits this season and against Rhode Island, Lafayette will need all of them. 

7:00pm Quinnipiac @ Niagara

7:00pm South Florida @ Cleveland State

7:00pm Elon @ Navy

7:30pm Vermont @ Iona

7:30pm Arkansas-Little Rock vs. Oral Roberts

8:00pm Texas Southern @ Arkansas

8:05pm Detroit @ Bradley – Jason Calliste has had some big games this season for Detroit, even in the midst of the arrival of much heralded recruit Ray McCallum Jr. After scoring a total of 7 points against Western and Eastern Michigan, Calliste dropped 16 on Central Michigan Saturday.  His kid gets major minutes for the Titans and can fill up the boxscore in a hurry.  Checking him out would definitely be worth your time.

8:05pm Canisius @ Lamar

8:30pm Robert Morris @ Arizona

10:00pm Santa Clara @ Cal Northridge – Last week, Marc Trasolini averaged 17 points and 6.5 rebounds in 26.5 minutes all off the bench.  This move seems to have worked out for him and his numbers and play have improved since the end of November slide when he dropped back-to-back 19 points games.  Expect Traz to come off the bench in this contest and possibly have another big one.

10:00pm Boise State @ Portland

10:00pm UC Riverside @ Cal Bakersfield

11:00pm Xavier @ Gonzaga - I don’t think that it will ever be an easy non conference schedule for Gonzaga and Xavier is one of those hard games.  The Musketeers were ranked in the Top 25 once this season and are every bit as good as you might expect. The good news for the Zags is that they are coming off a big win over Baylor this past Saturday with Rob Sacre and Kelly Olynyk making some big contributions.  With that high still in their blood, this game should be a slugfest with the Bulldogs having the home court advantage.

11:00pm Kansas @ Cal