Today is a truly Super Saturday with big games to end the regular season and start conference tournaments. Today, we have the likes of Andrew Nicholson, Myck Kabongo, Justin Edwards, Kris Joseph, Olu and Devoe, the Canadian Aggies in New Mexico and a whole lot more men's and women's games all day all right here ...
Here is where the men are playing today ...
12:00pm George Washington @ Dayton
12:00pm North Carolina-Wilmington vs. Drexel
12:00pm Saint Louis @ Duquesne
12:05pm Binghamton vs. Stony Brook
12:30pm Nebraska @ Minnesota
2:00pm Georgetown @ Marquette
2:00pm Southern Miss @ Marshall
2:00pm St. Bonaventure @ La Salle - It took St. Bonaventure two overtime periods to get beat Saint Joseph's Wednesday and now they head back to Philadelphia to take on La Salle. In his last five games, Andrew Nicholson has failed to score 25 or more points once and that was a 19-point effort in the narrow 76-60 loss to Temple. In that span he's averaging 27.6 points along with 10.4 rebounds and 2 blocks. La Salle is a tough team, especially at home, so this could be a dogfight. Expect Matthew Wright and Chris Johnson to provide some outside shooting help in this one too.
2:00pm American University @ Lehigh
2:00pm Eastern Michigan @ Toledo
2:00pm Western Carolina vs. Wofford - Western Carolina beat Citadel last night in their opening round game of the SoCon Tournament. Harouna Mutombo had 21 points while Keaton Cole had 14. Playing a little less than 24 hours ago, will the team have it in them to beat Wofford?
2:30pm Rider vs. Fairfield
3:00pm Utah Valley @ North Dakota
4:00pm Louisville @ Syracuse - This is a big game for Syracuse. The Orange have locked up the Big East title for their last season and despite the fact that this game is really meaningless for them, it means a whole lot in the seeding for the Big East Tournament for next week. Louisville will be looking to get the win and it will be up to Kris Joseph and company to maintain their edge leading up to next week. In Syracuse's two point win over UConn last Saturday, Joseph was huge going for 21 points on 8-of-15 from the field including 3-of-7 from the three. He's always asserted himself as the team's alpha dog when the games were tight and he may have to today against the Cardinals.
4:00pm Missouri @ Texas Tech
4:30pm Marist vs. Iona
4:30pm Lafayette @ Bucknell
5:00pm Idaho State @ Eastern Washington
5:00pm Arkansas @ Mississippi State
6:00pm Furman vs. Davidson
6:00pm Northeastern vs. Virginia Commonwealth
6:00pm Utah @ Oregon - Oregon is riding a three game winning streak right now and it's the best time to be playing this well. With the Pac-1 Tournament only a week away, a win to close out the regular season would be what the Ducks need to help carry them in. Devoe Joseph is averaging 20.2 points in the last five games on 37-of-61 shooting (that's .607 for you percentage guys) along with 2.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Olu Ashaolu was playing well himself in four of the last five. The win over Colorado had him in foul trouble and limited him to only 11 minutes of action. This should be a Ducks win but stranger things have happened in the PAC-12 this season. I'd think that this could be a big game for Olu.
6:00pm Detroit vs. Cleveland State
6:05pm Maine vs. Vermont - Maine goes into this game having won only one game in their last seven. Getting this win will not be helped playing the second best team in the America East either. Freshman Justin Edwards has been relatively quite when you compare his last few games to his first few of the season but he's still playing solid ball. Teammate Mike Allison has also been playing solid of late but for the Black Bears to get this W, they are going to need big, not sold, games from both players.
7:00pm Harvard @ Cornell
7:00pm Baylor @ Iowa State - Iowa State's Melvin Ejim will be going head to head with Quincy Miller in this one. This should be exciting. So should the match up of Royce White and Perry Jones III or Quincy Acy.
7:30pm Niagara vs. Loyola (MD)
8:00pm UC Irvine @ UC Riverside
8:00pm Houston @ Rice
8:30pm Georgia Southern vs. Elon
9:00pm Texas @ Kansas - Texas' Myck Kabongo going head-to-head with Kansas' Tyshawn Taylor can only mean awesome. This should be a KU win but seeing Kabongo going at it with Taylor will be a treat. I would put the edge on Taylor since he's an experienced upperclassman but Myck is poised to show the Jayhawks, and the world, that he's ready for the challenge.
9:30pm IUPUI vs. South Dakota State
10:00pm Idaho @ San Jose State
10:00pm New Mexico State @ Fresno State - New Mexico State lost a heartbreaker to Nevada on Thursday. You can bet that they are looking to take out their frustration on Fresno State. I would expect Hernst Laroche and Daniel Mullings to provide some scoring here and it's a blowout, which is possible, there could be lots of points to go around.
11:00pm BYU vs. Gonzaga - A late addition to the schedule today thanks to late results on the west coast, this will be a big game. Gonzaga has been an NCAA Tournament staple the last few years under Coach Few but they may be a bubble team without a good showing at the WCC Tournament. They've lost to BYU and then beat them at home and a win here would add a big thumbs up from the Selection Committee I'm sure. A loss here may mean an antsy waiting game that the Bulldogs may not have a happy ending to. Kevin Pangos and Rob Sacre will need to be on their game tonight to get this W.
And here is where the women are playing tonight ...
9:30am Siena vs. Fairfield
12:00pm Kent State @ Ohio
12:00pm Syracuse vs. West Virginia - This game is a first step for Kayla Alexander to help show that 1) the Orange are better than people think they are; and 2) that she is an elite Big East player. Though winning the conference tournament would be a stretch, a win over West Virginia could help their at-large bid possibility.
1:00pm Fairleigh Dickinson @ Sacred Heart
1:05pm Detroit @ Valparaiso
2:00pm Buffalo @ Akron
2:00pm Mount St. Mary's @ Quinnipiac
3:00pm Prairie View A&M @ Alcorn State
4:00pm USC @ Washington State
4:00pm Green Bay @ Illinois-Chicago
4:00pm LIU Brooklyn @ Monmouth
4:00pm Montana State @ Weber State
5:00pm Hawaii @ Idaho
5:00pm Oregon @ Utah - Oregon and Utah are fighting for pride and a better spot in the conference tournament and win by either team would help, especially since they are tied in the standings with a 7-8 conference record. In Utah's last game, it was Michelle Plouffe who came up big in the overtime win over Oregon State Wednesday going for 19 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block in 41 minutes. Taryn Wicijowski chipped in with a near double-double, 9 points and 10 rebounds, along with 3 assists and a steal. The dynamic duo should be looking to get their team over the Ducks but they will need to be both have great outings.
5:00pm North Dakota @ Utah Valley
6:00pm Oregon State @ Colorado
6:00pm Cornell @ Harvard
7:00pm Princeton @ Brown
7:00pm Texas Tech @ Kansas State
7:00pm Cal State Bakersfield @ Seattle