Archives: Previews

After a loss that showed the Musketeers are not all that far from the team they want to be, Xavier will stay at home for a matchup against Delaware on Tuesday in Cincinnati. Battle-tested Xavier is far from content with its overall situation. It’s dropped four of six overall and lost consecutive home games, including one to then-No. 6 Houston on Friday. Houston is No. 3 this week. Another of those Xavier defeats came on

Knocking off a top-five team, as well as an in-state rival, gave No. 23 Wisconsin a huge boost going into its Big Ten opener. The Badgers upset No. 3 Marquette 75-64 on Saturday for their fifth straight victory. Now they will play Michigan State on Tuesday at East Lansing, Mich. Max Klesmit sparked the win over Marquette by scoring all of his 21 points in the first half. Wisconsin led by 13 at the break

Off to its best start in eight seasons, No. 19 Oklahoma begins a tough stretch in nonconference play Tuesday when Providence comes to Norman, Okla., as part of the Big East/Big 12 Battle. The Sooners’ 7-0 start is their best since 2015-16, when they opened 12-0 en route to a Final Four appearance. The terrific start has been fueled by hot shooting and lockdown defense. Oklahoma is among the nation’s best in field-goal percentage, shooting

No. 14 BYU is slicing up opponents and rising in the rankings. The Cougars (7-0) lead Division I in scoring margin, winning their games by an average of 31.7 points, and ranked second in the nation in NET rating behind Houston. Their next test is an up-and-coming Evansville team Tuesday night in Provo, Utah. NET rating is a formula driven by efficiency values and outcomes that factors in home and road wins plus quality of

Kansas State, which has claimed back-to-back overtime wins against mid-major programs, will take a step up in competition on Tuesday against Villanova during the Big 12/Big East Battle in Manhattan, Kan. Kansas State (6-2) has won three straight games, including an 88-78 victory over Oral Roberts last Tuesday and a 75-74 decision versus North Alabama on Saturday. The one-point triumph over the Lions was particularly disturbing for head coach Jerome Tang. It took a 3-pointer

Kansas will be looking to avoid a loss of focus in a potential trap game on Tuesday night when it hosts Kansas City in Lawrence, Kan. The second-ranked Jayhawks (7-1) trailed then No. 4 UConn midway through the second half before mounting a come-from-behind 69-65 victory over the defending national champions on Friday night. Following the matchup with the Roos, Kansas will face Missouri at home for the first time since 2012. Hunter Dickinson scored

After a series of dominating wins against mid-major foes, No. 6 Baylor will move up in weight class on Tuesday against Seton Hall in a Big East-Big 12 Battle matchup in Waco, Texas. Tuesday’s game will be the first encounter between Baylor and Seton Hall. They were scheduled to meet in November 2020 before COVID issues within the Baylor program forced the cancellation of that contest. The Bears (8-0) roll into the game after an

Gonzaga thrived the past three seasons with the superstar-led attack featuring Drew Timme. Now the No. 7 Bulldogs are prospering behind a balanced approach that includes five players averaging from 11.6 to 14.7 points per game. Gonzaga (6-1) looks to continue the pattern on Tuesday night when it faces Arkansas-Pine Bluff (4-5) in Spokane, Wash. The Bulldogs haven’t had a 20-point scorer in four of their seven games. Sharing the ball was key as Gonzaga

There’s no doubt No. 5 UConn and No. 9 North Carolina have been tested in the first month of the season. Another exam awaits Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden in New York as part of the Jimmy V Classic, when the Tar Heels and Huskies square off as part of a doubleheader of Top 25 matchups. Florida Atlantic and Illinois are meeting in the other game on Tuesday. UConn (7-1), the defending national champion,

When it comes to the perks Florida Atlantic earned following last season’s run to the Final Four, Tuesday’s ranks pretty high as the 13th-ranked Owls travel to New York to face No. 24 Illinois in the Jimmy V Classic opener. FAU coach Dusty May couldn’t help but muse about his program’s good fortune shortly after the Owls knocked off Charleston on Saturday night in the final of the Field of 68 Tip-Off. “I know that