Connecticut, which is riding a three-game winning streak, looks to avenge an early season loss when it visits Temple in an American Athletic Conference contest on Thursday. The Owls knocked off the Huskies 55-53 on a spinning jumper in the lane by Josh Brown with two seconds left in early January, setting the stage in the matchup of teams which are in hot pursuit of first-place SMU in the conference standings.

Syracuse and Florida State are both hanging out on the NCAA Tournament bubble with less than a month left in the regular season and are looking for strong finishes. The teams will get a chance to move forward at each other’s expense when the Orange host Florida State on Thursday in an ACC matchup.

No. 5 Iowa attempts to remain in possession of first place in the Big Ten when it visits No. 22 Indiana in a Big Ten showdown on Thursday. The Hawkeyes are a half-game ahead of second-place Maryland and one game in front of the Hoosiers, who are 13-0 at home this season.

These are heady times for No. 12 Oregon, which has won six straight to grab a 1 1/2-game lead in the deep Pac-12 race. The current run has several national experts projecting the Ducks as a Final Four team, but first coach Dana Altman’s squad will look to get past California on Thursday at Haas Pavilion, where the Bears are unbeaten in 14 games this season.

It’s been quite the up-and-down Pac-12 season for Colorado, which finds itself a game out of a coveted top-four spot in the conference. Coming off a winless road swing last week against the Oregon schools, the Buffaloes are aiming to bounce back Thursday with a home game against last-place Washington State. 

SMU suffered a rare home loss in its last contest and attempts to make sure it doesn't happen again when Gonzaga visits in a nonconference tilt on Saturday. The Mustangs were defeated 82-77 by Tulsa on Wednesday for their first home loss this season and just their fourth in 50 games since the beginning of the 2013-14 campaign.

Oregon State re-entered the NCAA Tournament discussion with narrow wins over Utah and Colorado last week, but the Beavers will need to get past a long-time nemesis Thursday to keep their hopes alive. Coach Wayne Tinkle’s squad heads to Stanford looking for just its second victory over the Cardinal in its last 22 trips to Palo Alto.