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Winless in conference play so far and already falling behind in the Big East standings despite no team playing more than four league games, Georgetown and visiting DePaul meet Saturday in Washington, D.C. Both squads are coming off lopsided losses that highlighted each team’s persistent defensive struggles early in the Big East slate. Georgetown (7-7, 0-3 Big East) surrendered 49 points in the second half of its 77-60 home loss to Creighton on Tuesday. The

The road gets much tougher now for No. 20 Texas and surging Texas Tech, who square off on Saturday night in a Big 12 Conference opener in Austin, Texas. Both squads carry an 11-2 record into the clash, with the Longhorns winning five straight and the visiting Red Raiders coming off six consecutive victories. The Longhorns’ latest outing was a 79-62 win over UT Arlington on Monday that kept Texas undefeated at home. Max Abmas

Only two teams are still chasing their first Big Ten Conference win, and they intersect Saturday afternoon when Iowa welcomes Rutgers to Iowa City. Iowa (8-6, 0-3 Big Ten) sits in the conference cellar after losses to Purdue and Michigan in December and an 83-72 defeat at No. 21 Wisconsin on Tuesday. The Hawkeyes also started 0-3 in conference play last season, then turned it around and make the NCAA Tournament. “I think we have

No. 14 Duke brings one conference win and a little bit of worry to South Bend for Saturday night’s matchup with Notre Dame. The ACC preseason favorites are still trying to reflect that description away from home. Duke (10-3, 1-1 ACC) lost its only two true road games this season. But there are signs the Blue Devils are rounding into form. Duke has won five games in a row, including Tuesday night’s 86-66 home victory

Utah State puts a 12-game winning streak on the line Saturday when it hosts No. 13 Colorado State in a Mountain West heavyweight clash in Logan, Utah. The Aggies (13-1, 1-0) started conference play on Tuesday with an 88-60 win at Air Force. The Rams (13-1, 1-0) snapped New Mexico’s 11-game winning streak with a 76-68 win at home. Colorado State’s Isaiah Stevens eclipsed 2,000 career points in that game with 18, giving him 2,007.

No. 17 Florida Atlantic continues its introductions into the American Athletic Conference on Saturday afternoon when the Owls go on the road to face Charlotte. FAU scored a 79-64 win over visiting East Carolina on Tuesday night in its AAC debut. Coach Dusty May knew the Owls (11-3, 1-0 AAC) wouldn’t need long to adjust and is glad to put the conference opener behind them. “Nice to get back home and start conference play, begin

Through their non-conference schedules, Oklahoma and Iowa State have been two of the best in Division I in terms of shooting, margin of victory and defense. On Saturday, the 11th-ranked Sooners (12-1) and Cyclones (11-2) open Big 12 Conference play in Norman, Okla. “We keep talking about continuing to defend, continuing to defend and being hard to score against,” Oklahoma coach Porter Moser said. “It all starts defensively. That’s what happens in this league too.

Tennessee was expected to be a national contender this season, as signified with a ranking of No. 9 in the preseason poll. Ole Miss wasn’t in the AP Top 25, or even on the radar, when it failed to receive a single vote in October. The Rebels are ranked now and visit the No. 5 Volunteers (10-3) to open SEC play Saturday night in Knoxville, Tenn. The No. 22 Rebels (13-0) haven’t been flawless, but

After surviving the opener of a tough road trip on Thursday, No. 19 James Madison moves onto the second leg as it visits Southern Miss on Saturday afternoon in Hattiesburg, Miss. It will be the second game in less than 48 hours for the Dukes (14-0, 2-0 Sun Belt), who are riding a program-record winning streak and enter the weekend as one of three unbeaten teams in Division I along with No. 3 Houston and

No. 10 Arizona delivered a dominant display of team basketball as the lead-in to Saturday’s Pac-12 contest against Utah. That 47-point triumph isn’t the best news for the Utes, who attempt to break a 12-game skid in Tucson, Ariz., when they visit the Wildcats on Saturday night. Utah (11-3, 2-1 Pac-12) hasn’t won on Arizona’s home floor since posting a 68-67 victory on Dec. 6, 1986. That’s so long ago that the Utes played in