There are a couple of big games tonight to get you through what could be a chilly night (unless you're down south or in the Carribean) that feature an up and coming freshman and a couple of west coast dogs plus a whole lot of other games on both the men's and women's sides right here ...
Marquee Match Up
8:00pm Maine @ Eastern Illinois
With all the ballyhoo about the three high school All Americans to start this season, Maine’s Justin Edwards has come out to be the freshman with the most splash early. He’s put together three straight 20-plus point games and has been far and away, the best performing Canadian freshman thus far. Tonight the Black Bears are taking on a tough Eastern Illinois that is coming off a double overtime loss to Central Arkansas four days ago. Maine’s already played a very good Conn team which should be the best team they’ll face all season before March. Edwards is looking like a star on the rise leading his team in scoring, rebounding and steals in the early going so this could be the game to get in on the ground floor.
11:15pm Notre Dame @ Gonzaga
Gonzaga is taking their perfect 4-0 record into battle with the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame who are visiting in Spokane. Though this isn’t the Notre Dame of last season, they are still a very formidable team despite having lost their All America candidate Tom Ambromaitis for the rest of the season due to injury. With that in mind, the Zags have a good shot at staying perfect. Guard Kevin Pangos has cooled off a little since that 33 point outburst to start the season but is playing solidly while starting at the point averaging 15.8 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal in just under 30 minutes a game. Big man Rob Sacre is looking very good in the early going also pacing the team in points (17.0), rebounds (9.0) and blocks (1.3) in just under 29 minutes of action. This game should be a good one to ease the Zags into what looks like a really competitive December non-conference stretch that include Illinois, Michigan State, Arizona and Xavier.
And here is where the rest of the men are playing tonight …
7:00pm Furman @ Elon
7:00pm Bucknell @ George Mason – Bucknell’s Bryson Johnson has broken out of the mini scoring slump to put together back-to-back 20-point games this past weekend dropping 27 on West Alabama and 20 on Morehead State. In those games he was 15-of-27 from three so look for the shooting to continue tonight.
7:00pm Northeastern @ La Salle
7:00pm Drexel @ Saint Joseph’s
7:00pm Pitt vs. Duquesne – Khem Birch has looked solid in his first two games in the starting lineup for Pitt posting a double-double in the first and just missing out on one in the next. In what looks like a battle of Pittsburgh against Duquesne, I would think that Birch has a shot of getting another double-double and it could be with either points, boards or blocks (dude had six in his last one against Robert Morris) so don’t sleep.
7:30pm Richmond @ William & Mary
8:00pm Mississippi Valley State @ Arkansas – With star Marshawn Powell out with injury, Marvell Waithe could be playing more minutes. When given more floor time he’s shown that he can be very efficient this season. In the last game against Grambling State, Waithe had 7 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 4 blocks in 22 minutes. This could be another one of those games.
8:00pm Northern Iowa @ Iowa State – Iowa State’s Melvin Ejim is settling into a role now and he could have a breakout game against Northern Iowa.
8:00pm Jamestown @ North Dakota
8:00pm Central Arkansas @ Tennessee-Martin
8:05pm Rice @ Houston Baptist
9:00pm Drake @ Boise State
9:15pm Virginia Tech @ Minnesota
10:30pm Creighton @ San Diego State
11:05pm Eastern Washington @ Idaho
And now for the ladies …
11:30am Villanova @ Lehigh
5:00pm Fairfield @ Brown
7:00pm Michigan @ Maryland
7:00pm Nebraska @ Georgia Tech
7:00pm North Dakota State @ IUPUI – Dani DeGagne is playing some good ball for North Dakota State. In her last game, a win over Valley City State, she had 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in 25 minutes.
7:00pm Binghamton @ Cornell
7:00pm Akron @ Cleveland State
7:00pm Canisius @ Bucknell – Canisius’ Jamie Ruttle is looking like the lone bright spot for a Griffins team that is starting slow at 1-3. She’s leading the team in scoring at 11.8 and averaging 4.8 off the glass. Canadian Jen Lennox is also looking good averaging 7.3 points in just 18 minutes of action.
7:00pm St. Bonaventure @ Kent State
7:00pm Howard @ St. John’s
7:00pm Rhode Island @ Bryant – Naana Ankoma-Mensa is looking really good for Bryant. In her last game against Boston College, she had 13 points, 9 rebounds (7 on the O side), 2 steals and a block in 25 minutes. This could be another big game for her tonight.
7:00pm Charleston Southern @ Charleston
8:00pm Texas State @ Texas Tech
8:00pm NC State @ Northwestern
9:00pm San Francisco @ Colorado
11:00pm Washington State @ Gonzaga