The NC-Double-Eh Schedule - Dec. 29

Today's Marquee Match Up features two great Canadian bigs locking horns out west.  Check out who else is playing today right here ...

Marquee Match Up

8:30pm Lafayette @ Gonzaga

Lafayette’s Jared Mintz will be battling Gonzaga’s Rob Sacre in the middle of what will likely be a game that will go to the wire if the Zags don’t blow out the Leopards early.  Mintz is not a typical back to the basket type of big while Sacre is.  Mintz is a more spot up kind of guy, which Sacre is not.  This will be a great match up of two skilled guys going head to head.  Keep in mind that Mintz is coming off this first single digit scoring game this season in Lafayette’s loss to Rhode Island last week.  Sacre on the other hand is coming off a 22 point, 4 rebound, 3 steal, 2 assist performance in Gonzaga’s win over Xavier.  This will be a great match up of two players that the opposite kind of game and it will be pretty exciting to see who gets the better of whom.  Oh yeah, there is also Kelly Olynyk and Manny Arop playing for the Zags but check the boxscore to make sure that their still alive after their last few inconsistent weeks. 

And here is where everyone else is playing today …

5:00pm New Hampshire vs. Cornell

7:00pm Monmouth @ Harvard – Laurent Rivard was a pleasant surprise to this point and he’s really established himself as an offensive threat off the bench for the Crimson.  In his last five games, Laurent has scored in double figures four times and is averaging 14 points in that span.  Against Monmouth he could be big for Harvard who are looking to make it eight wins on the season.

7:00pm Wake Forest @ Richmond

7:00pm Ark-Pine Bluff @ Akron

7:00pm Northwestern State @ Canisius

7:00pm Tennessee-Martin @ Tennessee

7:30pm Hofstra @ Iona

8:00pm North Carolina A&T @ Arkansas

8:05pm Southern Illinois @ Drake

9:00pm Marquette @ Vanderbilt

9:00pm Delaware @ Santa Clara – Since coming off the bench, Marc Trasolini has been playing very well.  In the last three games, Traz is averaging 15 points and 6 rebounds in 24 minutes and he even had his best game of the season in a loss to Washington State Dec. 19 going for 18 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals and a block and assist.  Delaware is not the same caliber as Washington State but his performance here may be telling of how he’ll do for the rest of the season.

9:30pm Northeastern vs. Princeton

10:00pm New Mexico State @ Idaho – The Canadian contingent at New Mexico State is what’s buoyed the Aggies in the last five games.  In these games, Christian Kabongo, Hernst Laroche and Tyrone Watson have all started and are really playing like stars.  I’ve mentioned before that they are combining for a lot of the team’s offense as well helping to anchor the defense so this may be a must see game for the non believers.  Montreal’s Djim Bandoumel is playing for Idaho but he may get very little playing time in this one. 

10:15pm Louisiana Tech @ Boise State – Olu Ashoalu has been rolling along this season and should continue to do so against Boise State.  Olu has had double-doubles in his last three games and is averaging 17 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists and a block in 30 minutes a game in that stretch.  Boise State is coming off a loss to Portland last week and should be looking to exact revenge on someone.  I wonder what Ashoalu will have to say about that.