News, Notes and Highlighted Games for Thu, 2/15

NEWS AND NOTES

-Drexel continues to shoot themselves in the foot, and last night’s unexpected loss at William & Mary may be too much for them to recover from. The Dragons shot just 33% and only managed 17 first half points.

-Mississippi is now all by themselves in first place in the SEC West. In fact, they’re the only team that’s above .500 in league play. They won against LSU last night after forcing a turnover in the final seconds, which enabled them to get a final shot off and win by one point. Ole Miss has a chance to end up crashing the dance.


HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-USC AT ARIZONA (Pac Ten). Big time match-up in the Pac Ten. Both teams are solid NCAA Tournament teams, and both seem to have a chance to play their way into the pod system. Arizona had been struggling, but they’ve won three in a row and appear to have snapped out of it. They have another chance to add a big quality win on their resume tonight. USC’s RPI is just, but they have some big wins and are right in the conference race. They’re just one game out of second place, but Arizona is just one game behind them, so it’s a tight race. There is still room for both teams to improve their resumes, so a win today would be helpful for either team.

-UCLA AT ARIZONA STATE (Pac Ten). UCLA is coming off of a road loss to West Virginia, but that isn’t too damaging. They just need to rebound from that and focus on winning in the conference. Arizona State has lost 14 games in a row, but their last four were by five points or less, so they have been able to at least put a scare into some pretty good teams. UCLA is in first place in the conference and is still a strong candidate for a #1 seed. A loss today would really hurt their chances at a #1 because Arizona State is so bad, but they would remain a very strong pod team, and still be in the race for a #1.

-OREGON AT CALIFORNIA (Pac Ten). Oregon can still make the pod system, but they have lost four of their last six and need to snap out of it. California has gone into the tank, but it is never easy to win on the road in this league. Oregon does not want to lose to a non-tournament caliber team and make it five losses out of seven.

-PROVIDENCE AT NOTRE DAME (Big East). I get the feeling that both of these teams really need to win this game. Notre Dame is in slightly better shape, but they aren’t solid enough to where they can afford to go into a slump, and they need to continue to win games such as this, especially at home. Providence is on the outside looking in, but they can still play their way into consideration if they finish strong down the stretch. They need some decent wins though, and a win on the road against the Irish would certainly qualify. Notre Dame has lost three out of five, including two in a row, and really needs this one to get themselves further inside the bubble.

-INDIANA AT PURDUE (Big Ten). Purdue played a fantastic game their last time out, and nearly upset Ohio State on the road, which would have really boosted their resume in the sense that it would have a huge quality road win. They didn’t win, but they must be feeling encouraged after playing so well. Indiana is a huge conference rival, and with Purdue being right on the bubble, it’s a win they need just as much on paper as they do off paper. The Hoosiers have struggled on the road themselves. They’re a solid NCAA Tournament team, but if they could put together some decent road wins between now and the end they could be looking at the pod system. They have a lot to gain from winning this one as well.

-OREGON STATE AT STANFORD. Stanford has lost three of their last four and has another very tough game coming up against Oregon. This is a game that Stanford should win, and needs to win in order to take some of the pressure off their next three games, which are against Oregon, USC and UCLA.