Preview Roundups
February 03, 2015
Georgia at Kentucky 7:00 PM ET
Kentucky enters February as the nation’s lone unbeaten team, and after a handful of close calls, the top-ranked Wildcats have found their stride again as they prepare to host Georgia on Tuesday. “Right now, you should just try to find out how good you can be,” Kentucky coach John Calipari told reporters after Saturday’s 70-55 victory over Alabama, the sixth in seven games by 15 point or more. The Bulldogs won five in a row and 11 of 13 before an ugly 67-50 loss Saturday at South Carolina.
St. John's at Butler 7:00 PM ET
St. John’s will get another crack at containing Kellen Dunham when the Red Storm visits No. 22 Butler on Tuesday. The Bulldogs defeated St. John's 73-69 on Jan. 3 when Dunham scored a season-high 28 points as part of a strong junior campaign in which his shooting percentages are up across the board. Butler has won five of their last six games, while the Red Storm are seeking their first back-to-back victories in 2015.
Mississippi St. at Tennessee 7:00 PM ET
Tennessee, which snapped a two-game losing streak with an emotional 71-63 victory over Auburn in former coach Bruce Pearl's return to Knoxville on Saturday, tries to complete a regular season SEC sweep of visiting Mississippi State on Tuesday. The Volunteers opened conference play with a 61-47 victory over the Bulldogs on Jan. 7 in Starkville. Tennessee has won four straight over Mississippi State and is 44-10 all-time against the Bulldogs at home.
Indiana at Wisconsin 7:00 PM ET
Fourth-ranked Wisconsin goes after its 14th victory in the last 15 meetings with Indiana when it hosts the No. 25 Hoosiers on Tuesday. The Badgers are atop the Big Ten standings and the current crop of Wisconsin players hasn’t won a conference crown. “If you look further ahead, you’re going to slip up,” guard John Gasser told reporters. “We understand how competitive this league is; every night is going to be a battle and there’s a lot of season left. We haven’t done anything yet.”
Northern Iowa at Indiana St. 7:05 PM ET
Northern Iowa rides a nine-game winning streak to Indiana State on Tuesday as the 15th-ranked Panthers try to hang onto their perch atop the Missouri Valley Conference. The Panthers are tied for the league lead with Wichita State after beating the visiting Shockers 70-54 on Saturday. The Sycamores got off to a hot start in conference play but have lost three of their last five.
Northwestern at Nebraska 7:30 PM ET
Northwestern and Nebraska will try to turn things around when they meet Tuesday in a Big Ten clash in Lincoln, Neb. Northwestern has lost seven straight, the last six by eight points or less, while Nebraska will be trying to avoid its first three-game losing streak after falling at Michigan and Minnesota last week. Terran Petteway, who averages 18.6 points for the Cornhuskers, is 5-for-19 from the floor in the last two games, and second-leading scorer Shavon Shields is 8-for-27.
West Virginia at Oklahoma 8:00 PM ET
Oklahoma looks to avenge an earlier loss to 12th-ranked West Virginia on Tuesday when the teams meet in Norman, where the 21st-ranked Sooners are 9-1 this season. Guard Buddy Hield averages a Big-12-leading 17.5 points for Oklahoma, which committed a season-high 22 turnovers in an 86-65 loss to the Mountaineers on Jan. 13. West Virginia, which leads the nation in steals, moved into a tie with Iowa State for second place in the conference with Saturday’s 77-58 win over Texas Tech.
N.C. State at Wake Forest 8:00 PM ET
If North Carolina State is to reach its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament, Trevor Lacey will likely be the biggest reason. The 6-3 junior guard, who sat out last season after transferring from Alabama, leads the Wolfpack into its next must-win contest against host Wake Forest on Tuesday. Lacey's basket at the buzzer lifted the Wolfpack to an 81-80 victory at Georgia Tech on Saturday.
Louisville at Miami-Florida 8:00 PM ET
Louisville’s Montrezl Harrell has struggled to live up to his preseason All-American hype at times this season, although his impact in his team’s latest ACC win was hard to ignore. The eighth-ranked Cardinals hope for a repeat performance from him Tuesday when they take a three-game winning streak into Miami (Fla.). Harrell tallied 22 points and 15 rebounds on Saturday, doing most of his damage in the second half as Louisville rallied from an 18-point second-half deficit to beat North Carolina.
Florida at Vanderbilt 9:00 PM ET
Florida has reversed its fortunes of late, recording back-to-back narrow victories after winning only two of its first seven games decided by five points or fewer. The Gators had also failed to protect leads inside the final seven minutes in six games this season, and that’s why Michael Frazier II’s two game-winning free throws with 1.9 seconds remaining in a 57-56 victory over Arkansas meant so much Saturday. Florida tries to build on that win when it visits Vanderbilt on Tuesday.
Seton Hall at DePaul 9:00 PM ET
A three-game losing streak threatened to knock Seton Hall down the standings in the rough Big East but back-to-back wins have the outlook improving. The Pirates will try to get some revenge for one of those setbacks when they visit DePaul on Tuesday. The Blue Demons have dropped three in a row since winning at Seton Hall on Jan. 22 and are having trouble competing on the defensive end while allowing an average of 80 points in the last three.
Virginia Tech at Syracuse 9:00 PM ET
Coming off its worst defensive performance in more than five years, Syracuse hopes to tighten things up Tuesday against visiting Virginia Tech. The Orange allowed 93 points in last Monday's 10-point loss at North Carolina as the Tar Heels became the first opponent to shoot better than 48 percent or score more than 83 points against Syracuse this season. It was the most points the Orange had allowed since the 2008-09 campaign as the team fell for the third time in four games.
South Carolina at Arkansas 9:00 PM ET
Arkansas would like to get back on the winning track when it hosts South Carolina on Tuesday, and an easier victory would be nice too. The Razorbacks are coming off a one-point loss to Florida, which followed three wins by a total of eight points, including an overtime affair. The Gamecocks are looking to put together their first winning streak since a seven-game string of victories culminated with an upset of No. 14 Iowa State on Jan. 3.
Rutgers at Illinois 9:30 PM ET
Illinois looks to improve to 11-1 at home this season when it takes on Big Ten newcomer Rutgers on Tuesday. The Fighting Illini's thrilling 60-58 victory over Penn State on Saturday was overshadowed by the news that leading scorer Rayvonte Rice and junior guard Aaron Cosby were suspended indefinitely for violating team rules. Illinois' slim hopes of earning an NCAA tournament bid are growing dimmer by the day as it tries to climb back to .500 in conference play.