Many games today have already been postponed, including Louisville at Temple and SMU at Rutgers in top 25 action. Let's take a rundown of tonight's action that Mother Nature has not postponed. Yet.
Photo via AP Photo / Andy Manis from ESPN
7 PM
Northwestern at (9) Michigan St – Big 10 Net.
By points per possession, these are the 1st and 4th ranked defenses, MSU then Northwestern, respectively. The difference is that Sparty has a top 4 Big Ten offense and the Wildcats rank dead last at 0.86 points per possession. That's not a lot. The first meeting showcased this. Michigan State only scored 54. Northwestern scored 40. Gary Harris scored 14 with 6 boards and 4 steals in that game, while Keith Appling had 11-5-4 assists-3 steals. Northwestern shot 28.3%, 5 of 23 from 3. The good news is that it would be really hard to shoot worse than that.
(18) Creighton at Butler – CBS Sports Net.
The Blue Jays catch Butler on some short rest. Butler was demolished by Xavier Tuesday night. Creighton is trying to get back on track to set up the huge showdown with Villanova on Sunday afternoon. The first meeting wasn't even close as Creighton won by 28. Doug McDermott scored 28 on 11 of 19, 3 of 5, 3 of 4. The Blue Jays hit 55.6% from the field in that one.
9 PM
Minnesota at (21) Wisconsin – ESPN
These seem like a couple of teams trending in opposite directions since they first hooked up. The January 22 loss to the Golden Gophers was Wisconsin's third in a row. They ended up losing 2 of the next 3 but have bounced back with wins over Illinois and Michigan State. Minnesota's win over Wisconsin was followed by 3 straight losses of varying pain. The Gophers got back on the wagon with a win over IU on Saturday. Sweeping Wisconsin would go a long way for Minnesota's tournament chances. Maurice Walker and Deandre Mathieu each scored 18 for Minnesota in the first game. Sam Dekker had 20 for Wisconsin, who as a team shot 5 of 20 from 3.
ON TV
7 PM
Arkansas at Missouri – ESPN
The Tigers have dropped 3 straight. Arkansas just won their first SEC road game against someone other than Auburn for the first time since 1874 (not accurate). Mizzou won at Arkansas on the 28th of January. This is as close to a key bubble game as you will find before Valentine's Day.
UNC Asheville at Radford – ESPNU
9 PM
Colorado at UCLA – ESPN 2
All of Colorado's conference losses have been by double figures, which includes a 69-56 home loss to UCLA. Jordan Adams scored 14, 4 of 15 shooting, with 13 boards, while Norman Powell was unguardable as he put in 19. Colorado had Josh Scott and Askia Booker go off for 40 points on 14 of 23 shooting, 5-7 from 3, 7 of 11 from the line. The rest of the team scored 16 on 6 of 27, 0 for 10 and 4 of 8. Both teams have been generally hot since that game. UCLA has won 4 of 5, Colorado 3 in a row.
St John's at Seton Hall – Fox Sports 1
The Red Storm have been on a major hot streak, winning 6 of 7. The only loss was on a Doug McDermott buzzer beater. The Big East streak of 5 of 6 started with a 77-76 win over Seton Hall. While St John's has been hot, they are still a game under .500 in Big East play. This is the kind of game they shouldn't lose if they are legit.
Tennessee State at Belmont – ESPNU
This is a fine chance to watch the Ohio Valley leaders in action. JJ Mann averages 20.2 points per game and Craig Bradshaw 19.1. The duo are hitting 46% of their 3s.
Pepperdine at Gonzaga – Root Sports
10:30 PM
Utah at USC – PAC 12 Net.
11 PM
San Diego at St Mary's – ESPNU
BYU at Pacific – Root
THE REST
2 PM
UNC Greensboro at Georgia Southern
4 PM
Vanderbilt at South Carolina
5 PM
Boston College at Georgia Tech – ESPN3
7 PM
Robert Morris at St Francis U.
This could be a tricky one for the Colonials. Robert Morris, Northeast Conference leaders, only won by 5 at home against St Francis.
Florida Gulf Coast at East Tennessee St
The Eagles co-lead the A-Sun with Mercer. FGCU destroyed ETSU by 28 in the first meeting.
South Dakota at IPFW
Denver at IUPUI
Manhattan at Rider
Drexel at Charleston
Samford at Appalachian St
Northeastern at UNC-Wilmington
Green Bay at Youngstown St – ESPN3
(:30) Illinois Chicago at Cleveland St
Green Bay only leads the Horizon by a game over Cleveland St after the weekend. I suspect they will continue to do so because Green Bay and the Vikings won their first meetings against the respective schools by double digits.
8 PM
Montana St at North Dakota
FIU at UTSA
Tulane at Middle Tennessee
Old Dominion at North Texas
Chicago St at UT-Pan American
North Dakota St at Western Illinois
The Bison lead the Summit by a game. The Western Illinois Leathernecks were defeated by 13 the first time they teams tangled.
UT-Arlington at UL-Monroe
Troy at Western Kentucky – ESPN3
Eastern Illinois at Austin Peay
Morehead St at Jacksonville St
SIU-Edwardsville at Murray St
Murray would cruise to the OVC 'West' division title with a win. But Edwardsville got them earlier in the year.
Eastern Kentucky at Tennessee Tech
East Carolina at Tulsa
UA-Little Rock at UL-Lafayette
Arkansas State at South Alabama
South Dakota St at Omaha
8:30 and 8:45 PM
Qunnipiac at Fairfield – ESPN3
Oral Roberts at Houston Baptist
Central Arkansas at Texas A&M-CC
McNeese St at Southeastern Louisiana
Stephen F. Austin at Lamar
11-0 SFA looks to keep on rolling as they visit 2-9 Lamar. The Lumberjacks opened conference play by beating Lamar by 20.
Nicholls St at New Orleans
Northwestern St at Sam Houston St
9 PM
Weber St at Southern Utah
The Big Sky best, 10-2 Weber St, against one of the worst teams in the country, 1-20, 0-12 Southern Utah. This was a 6 point game the first time. Maybe something crazy happens.
Southern Miss at UAB
The Conference USA leading Golden Eagles look to push their winning streak to 8 against their familiar conference foe.
UMKC at New Mexico St – ESPN3
Abilene Christian at Incarnate Word – ESPN3
Sacramento St at Eastern Washington
Montana at Northern Colorado
FAU at UTEP
The Miners are 8-1 along with Southern Miss in C-USA. They've won all 8 in a row, the last 5 by double digits.
Seattle at Utah Valley
Utah Valley leads the WAC. They are the Wolverines. They also own a win over Seattle. Mitch Bruneel scored 20 with 9 boards. Now you know a player on Utah Valley.
10 PM
Idaho at CS Bakersfield
Cal Poly at CS Northridge
Hawaii at UC Riverside
UC Santa Barbara at Long Beach St – ESPN3
UCSB is tied with Irvine in the loss column for the Big West lead. Long Beach is a game back with 3 losses. The Gauchos won the first meeting by 13 a month ago.
Loyola Marymount at Portland
Northern Arizona at Portland St
