On another Super Saturday, NBA All Star Saturday as well, we have a ton of great games and a special four pack to keep you content from early afternoon right up until the NBA festivities begin in the evening. Check out who's playing today right here ...
Marquee Matchup
12:00pm St. Francis (NY) @ Wagner
Wagner has split their last four games going 2-2 capping it off with a tough loss to Long Island Thursday night. With two games left in the regular season for the Seahawks, they have already made a complete 180 degree turnaround. Tyler Murray was great in the loss to LIU going off for 16 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists in 38 minutes. St. Francis (NY), who is one game back of Wagner right now in the conference standings, will look to get even with them with a win here and they will scrape for that victory. Murray has been the rock all season and with this being a pretty important game for the seedings in the conference tournament, he will likely come up big in this one.
1:45pm Texas @ Nebraska
Texas has been on a wicked roll in 2011 currently on an 11 game winning streak that includes Kansas, Baylor and Texas A&M twice. This game will likely be a win but Nebraska should give the Longhorns a test before they meet the plunging Iowa State Cyclones Tuesday. The Cornhuskers are looking to gain some ground to get a better seeding for the conference tournament which is right around the corner so they will look to be taming these herd. Through the last five games, Tristan Thompson and Cory Joseph are averaging 21 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, a steal and 2.8 blocks collectively which were, aside from the 69-60 win over Baylor on the 12th, were all blowouts. I don’t expect that Nebraska will get blown out by Texas in this one but then again I didn’t expect the Longhorns to blowout Texas A&M either, twice.
4:00pm Rutgers @ Syracuse
Syracuse took two tough losses to Georgetown at home and then Louisville on the road before getting a much needed win against West Virginia team five days ago. If you total that up, that is six losses in their last nine games in conference play which seems unfathomable for a ranked team of the Orange’s caliber. In that stretch, Kris Joseph had been great averaging 15.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2 assists and 1.9 steals in about 34 minutes a game. Rutgers is team that the Orange should beat on paper but with the way the Big East season has been going, this could turn into a game if the ‘Cuse can’t put the Scarlet Knights early.
8:30pm Santa Clara @ Portland
The Portland Pilots have been on a really nice ride all season and have one of the best overall records in the WCC Conference. The only problem is that they are 5-6 in conference play and they are now facing one of the teams that beat them this season. Now that win should have gone to Portland but Santa Clara came out on fire lighting up the Pilots in a key stretch to seal the game and I’m sure that the memory of that loss on the road is still fresh and they will be looking to bomb the Broncos today. Portland’s Nem Mitrovic has been great all season and in his last six games he’s averaging 17.5 points, 6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and a steal plus making 24 threes. Yikes that’s crazy! Santa Clara’s Canadian Marc Trasolini is currently going through a stretch where he’s playing less and his scoring and rebounding have been down a little. Since not playing on February 1, Traz has averaged 7 points and 5 rebounds playing in 21 minutes. This should a bold win for Portland, especially since they lost to San Francisco Thursday night but if Santa Clara is looking for another upset win, they will need a lot from Trasolini.
And here is where everyone else is playing today …
1:45pm Missouri @ Iowa State
2:00pm Washington State @ Arizona State
2:00pm Canisius @ Boston University
2:00pm Central Michigan @ Niagara
2:00pm Cal-Bakersfield @ Longwood – Alex Johnson is getting his groove back. He’s have some huge scoring games in the last few weeks and those coincide with him making a lot of threes. He made 5 threes in the loss to Fresno State so will this be another one of those games?
2:00pm Northeastern @ UNC-Asheville
2:00pm Eastern Kentucky @ Western Carolina
3:00pm Iona @ Liberty
3:00pm Georgia State @ Louisiana Tech – Louisiana Tech is riding another losing streak at the wrong time having lost four straight. In that span, Olu Ashaolu has averaged 12.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1.5 steals but he’s also averaged 5.5 turnovers. Even though Georgia State is as good as some teams that the Bulldogs have played, they will need to come out hard to win this game and end that losing skid.
3:00pm Bradley @ Tennessee-Martin
4:00pm Middle Tennessee @ Arkansas-Little Rock
4:00pm North Dakota State @ IPFW
4:30pm Maryland-Eastern Shore @ Coppin State
4:30pm Northwestern State @ McNeese State – McNeese State and Northwestern State are tied in conference standings in the Southland East at 7-4 so you know that this will be a battle to the finish for the W. Diego Kapelan has been averaging 16.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and a steal in the last three games and he looks poised to have another big game now with top spot on the line today.
5:00pm Sam Houston State @ Central Arkansas – Imad Qahwash has been playing so well all season it’s a shame he’s not on a better team. In the last three games, all losses for Central Arkansas, he’s averaged 16.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1.7 steals all off the bench.
5:05pm UC Irvine @ Nevada
5:30pm Arkansas-Pine Bluff @ Texas Southern
7:00pm Long Island @ Mount St. Mary’s
7:00pm St. Francis (PA) @ Fairleigh Dickinson
7:00pm Harvard @ Columbia
7:00pm Dartmouth @ Cornell
7:00pm Arkansas @ Alabama
7:00pm Creighton @ Akron – Jahenns Manigat was inserted into the starting lineup two weeks ago and he’s been playing his best basketball of the season. He’s been putting up a modest 8.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and a steal in 25.8 minutes a game in his new role. Expect more of the same here.
7:00pm George Washington @ La Salle
7:00pm Robert Morris @ Monmouth
7:00pm Maine @ Siena
7:30pm New Hampshire @ Marist
7:30pm Davidson @ Presbyterian – In the last four games, Nik Cochran has been a spark off the bench hitting for over 16 points three times including going off for 18 points in 16 minutes against Georgia Southern February 16. I’m just curious to see what he does in this game.
8:00pm UNC Greensboro @ Elon
8:00pm San Francisco @ Gonzaga – Gonzaga has been rolling along to a four game win streak but has not looked like the Gonzaga of yore. They have been getting big leads and then losing them just as easily before finally putting their opponents away. That inconsistent play has been mirrored by Rob Sacre who is playing his worst ball of the season right now. After losing to San Francisco earlier this season, Sacre and the Zags are going to need to need to come out with fire in their eyes to win this one, even if they are playing at home.
8:05pm Detroit @ Drake
8:30pm Northern Colorado @ New Mexico State – New Mexico State is coming off back-to-back wins over Louisiana Tech making that four wins in their last five. The tandem of Hernst Laroche and Tyrone Watson have been playing well in that stretch while Christian Kabongo has come on in the last three after being reinserted into the starting lineup. Look for the Canadian front to make an impact in this contest.
8:30pm USC Upstate @ Belmont
9:00pm Seton Hall @ Marquette
9:00pm Gardner-Webb @ Tennessee Tech
9:05pm Idaho @ Montana State
10:30pm USC @ Stanford