Archives: Previews

Boston College brings the baggage of its first loss in six games to Pitt on Thursday night, but the Panthers are unpacking much bigger problems. The Eagles (6-4, 3-3 ACC) had a five-game winning streak snapped last week when Virginia Tech scored 35 straight points en route to a 48-22 victory. BC was outgained 600-262 (including 363-124 on the ground) in suffering its first defeat since Sept. 23. “We didn’t play like we have for

The Appalachian State men’s basketball team doesn’t make it out west very often. The Tuesday night game against Oregon State in Corvallis, Ore., will be the first time the team has trekked this far West since 2000, when it competed in a November tournament in Hawaii. That event was also the only previous time the Mountaineers faced the Beavers, and Oregon State emerged with a 60-37 win. Appalachian State (1-1), which was picked to finish

Two local rivals off to perfect starts will collide Tuesday night when Stanford plays host to Santa Clara in a nonconference game. The Cardinal (2-0) opened their season last week with two wins against California State University programs. They squeaked by Cal State Northridge 88-79 on Nov. 6 and then had a much easier time against Sacramento State on Friday, cruising to a 91-73 victory. “It’s the last year of the (Pac-12) Conference and we

After winning four of five nonconference home games a year ago, DePaul is 0-2 at Wintrust Arena to open the season, a trend the Blue Demons will aim to reverse when South Dakota visits on Tuesday. While DePaul’s losses to Purdue Fort Wayne and Long Beach State came by just 12 combined points, the Blue Demons’ collective halftime deficits in those games totaled 24 points. DePaul (0-2) trailed by as many as 22 in the

Vanderbilt, after a rough start to its season, looks to start a winning streak when it faces UNC Greensboro in Nashville on Tuesday night. The Commodores (1-1), a heavy favorite in their season opener against Presbyterian on Nov. 7, trailed by 15 points in the second half before losing 68-62. The Blue Hose were picked last in the Big South’s preseason poll. On Friday, Vanderbilt followed that by knocking off South Carolina Upstate — picked

If TCU coach Jamie Dixon had one takeaway from his team’s 82-60 win over Omaha on Thursday night, it involved the defense. The Horned Frogs held the visiting Mavericks to 39.3 percent shooting on field-goal attempts overall and just 27 second-half points. TCU (2-0) hosts UT Rio Grande Valley, a 1-1 team coming off a 100-79 loss at South Dakota, on Tuesday night in Fort Worth, Texas. “Most importantly, I was encouraged by what we

Undefeated Oklahoma looks to build on a successful start to the season when it opposes Texas State on Tuesday in Norman, Okla. The Sooners (2-0) have posted two home blowout wins, the most recent being an 82-43 victory over Mississippi Valley State on Friday. Otega Oweh led Oklahoma with a career-high 20 points while Sam Godwin had 12 points and 11 rebounds, Rivaldo Soares added 11 points and Le’Tre Darthard scored 10. Oklahoma was in

Mississippi State won its first two games of the season despite being short-handed. The Bulldogs will try to make it three in a row when they face North Alabama on Tuesday night in Starkville, Miss. “We thought heading into the season that depth was going to be a positive for us this year,” Mississippi State coach Chris Jans said. “Fortunately, it is.” Injuries will sideline first-team All-Southeastern Conference forward Tolu Smith until January and forward

Two teams that are off to entirely different starts to the season will meet when Western Michigan travels to Evanston, Ill., to face Northwestern on Tuesday night. Northwestern is off to a 2-0 start and is coming off Friday’s 71-66 home win over Dayton, which was picked first in the preseason Atlantic 10 poll. The Wildcats figure to be led all season by graduate student guard Boo Buie, but Northwestern coach Chris Collins was encouraged

No. 16 Southern California continues its early-season homestand on Tuesday night when it hosts UC Irvine in Los Angeles. The Trojans (2-0) followed an 82-69 season-opening defeat of Kansas State in Las Vegas on Nov. 6 with an 85-59 blowout of Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday. USC never trailed in Thursday’s rout, which was the first of three home games for the Trojans before they travel to the San Diego area for a Thanksgiving weekend