Tonight's Marquee Match Up features the Orange trying to snap a four game losing skid against the Huskies. Find out where everyone else is playing tonight right here ...
Marquee Match Up
7:00pm Syracuse @ Connecticut
When Kris Joseph went down with a concussion on Jan. 15, you can mark that as the point when the fortunes of the Orange seemed to have turned sour. Since that loss against Pitt on Jan. 17, Syracuse has lost four straight and have seen them slip from the Top 10. The only bright side is that Joseph has been playing very well since his return to the lineup. He’s averaging 19.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2.3 steals in 35.3 minutes but that hasn’t been enough for garner any wins. Joseph is certainly playing like he’s All Conference but he’ll need a Herculean effort if he’s gonna be the guy to lift the Orange from their losing streak against a very good UConn team. Since the key members have been playing well for Syracuse in their losses, the focus will be on Joseph to show that he is indeed that impact player tonight to get the win. No pressure though, sorta.
And here is where everyone else is playing tonight …
6:30pm Minnesota @ Indiana
7:00pm Marquette @ Villanova
7:00pm Virginia Commonwealth @ Northeastern
7:00pm Albany @ New Hampshire
7:00pm Saint Joseph’s @ Richmond
7:00pm George Washington @ Duquesne – Dwayne Smith has been playing a very good Robin to anyone on the George Washington that plays the Batman role on a given game. He’s currently the team’s second leading scorer and rebounder while only playing 22.4 minutes per game. He’s coming off his first double-double of the season so maybe this will lead to a more prominent role in this game.
7:00pm Western Carolina @ Elon – Western Carolina’s Harouna Mutombo has been having one of those seasons: in and out of the starting lineup, minutes fluctuate dramatically from game to game leading to everything generally inconsistent. In the last three games he’s averaging 12 points, 4 rebounds, an assist and a steal in 26.7 minutes. This may be the start of a new corner for Mutombo. Elon’s Roger Dugas has been a fixture in the starting lineup for the majority of the season but his playing time has been a little inconsistent the last 5 games and he didn’t start the last four games.
8:00pm Nebraska @ Kansas State
8:00pm Central Arkansas @ Northwestern State
8:05pm Drake @ Southern Illinois
9:00pm Georgia @ Arkansas
9:00pm Cal Bakersfield @ Southern Utah – Alex Johnson has been playing great all season and it’s unfortunate that his team is an independent because he’d make an all conference team for sure with his numbers. After coming off a 2-point, 1 rebound, 2 assist performance Jan. 22 against San Diego, he’s averaged 18 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 34.5 minutes. Could this be another one of his 20 point games?
9:00pm St. Bonaventure @ Dayton – Andrew Nicholson had his first double-double since Dec. 18 in the win against Fordham three games ago and his 25 points was the first time he’s scored over 13 in six games. The Bonnies are currently tied with Dayton in the conference standings despite having very different overall records and this could be a game to steal for St. Bonaventure. Look for the Bonnies to go to Nicholson early in this game as they will need to if they want to have a shot to win it. Also keep an eye on Matthew Wright who has been shooting the ball well of late in extended minutes.