Weekend tip-off: Duke, Louisville highlight ranked matchups
Best Bets: There's a lot for college hoops fans to like on the Saturday slate with conference play now in full swing.
The top clash in the early part of the day finds No.4 Duke suddenly looking to snap a losing streak in the tough environs at No. 7 Louisville (noon ET, ESPN). It isn't just that Duke has lost two in succession — that can happen in the Atlantic Coast Conference —, but both were by double digits, with the most recent setback against Miami (Fla.) at home. At the risk of oversimplifying, all the Blue Devils not named Jahlil Okafor need to make more shots. The Cardinals have been getting timely perimeter shots of late from Chris Jones, and he's probably going to have to make some more to help break down Duke's interior defense that is still quite sound.
No. 10 Kansas, the lone Big 12 squad still without a loss in the early stages of the conference schedule, will have that status tested in prime time at No. 13 Iowa State (9 p.m. ET, ESPN). The Cyclones, who won a hard-fought contest at West Virginia and came up a point short at Baylor, will be quite glad to be back in Ames for yet another marquee match-up in the 'Deep Dozen-minus-two.' All three of ISU's previous league games have been decided by two points or fewer, so it wouldn't be a surprise if this one also comes down to the wire. The Jayhawks haven't exactly been winning with great basketball artistry as key freshmen Kelly Oubre and Cliff Alexander continue to learn the college game. The more experienced Cyclones could have the edge at home, but as usual they'll need F Georges Niang to avoid early fouls trouble.
Then there's No. 1 Kentucky, which had a much more comfortable victory last time out after back-to-back overtime testers, looking to keep its record clean at Alabama (4 p.m. ET, ESPN). It seems the way to hang with the deep and talented Wildcats is to collapse the defense and make them hit from the outside. That doesn't work, of course, if Aaron Harrison is knocking down treys as he was against Missouri Tuesday. The Crimson Tide weren't exactly sharp in their loss at South Carolina last time out, and they will find points inside hard to come by against UK's numerous rim protectors.
Number of the day: 13. No. 15 West Virginia doesn't have the shot makers some other top squads have. But when the Mountaineers are generating points with their full-court press, they're still tough to beat. WVU heads into Saturday's game at No. 20 Texas (6:15 p.m. ET, ESPN) leading the country in steals, swiping 13 a game. The timing isn't great for the Longhorns, who've dropped two in succession. But they got a bit of a break in their schedule with no weeknight contest, so the extra rest might help them handle the pressure.
Days until Selection Sunday: 57.
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