Thursday night's top matchups on the college hoops front will run from coast-to-coast with stops in four conferences for crucial showdowns. The evening will be headlined by a top-25 clash in the ACC where the streaking Virginia Cavaliers trek into Durham to meet Duke.
Just the second conference game for both teams, it's the only regular season meeting between the Blue Devils and Cavaliers, Nos. 8 and 16 respectively in the latest AP poll. It should be an amped-up crowd at Cameron Indoor Stadium for Duke's conference home opener, and obviously the first real test under the brightest of lights this year for Tony Bennett and Virginia.
The Cavs will bring a 12-game win streak and some very impressive defensive stats into Thursday's tilt, including the second-fewest points allowed (50.5 per game). Virginia has especially been solid in limiting opponents to just one shot per trip down the floor, and the Cavaliers will need every bit of defense they can muster against a Blue Devils bunch that ranks eighth nationally in scoring (82.1), field goal shooting (49.8%) and 3-point success (41.7%).
Beating Duke period has been tough enough for the Cavaliers in this series, with the Blue Devils winning the last seven overall and owning a 114-48 advantage all-time. Winning here at Cameron has proven even tougher for Virginia who has dropped 14 straight in Durham. The Cavs appeared to be on their way to stopping that streak just about a year ago on their last trip to this floor, building a 10-point lead in the first half only to get wiped out in the last 20 minutes and drop the contest by a 76-60 final with Duke laying 21½.
ESPN has this broadcast starting at 9:00 p.m. (ET), and the lead-in matchup two hours earlier on the same channel is a Big Ten battle between the Wisconsin Badgers and Purdue Boilermakers.
It's an overused cliché, but this truly is a must-win for Bo Ryan and Wisconsin who suddenly find themselves in the throes of a three-game conference losing skid. The defense has still been doing its job for the most part, but the Badgers have gone stone-cold on offense. Their best effort during the losing streak was hitting less than 35 percent from the field in the loss at home to Iowa, and they've canned just 15 of their last 70 attempts from 3-point land.
Purdue, on the other hand, is off to a 3-1 start to the Big Ten campaign, the Boilermakers sinking at least 50 percent of their shots in wins over Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota but falling apart in an ugly 20-point defeat at Penn State. This game should hinge on which team can find its touch from outside since neither team is prone to giving the ball away. The Badgers (8.6) and Boilers (9.9) are the top two teams in the country in fewest turnovers per game.
Wisconsin and Purdue split their two meetings last season, each winning and covering as home favorites. The Boilermakers have won seven of the last 10 overall, including the last five on their home floor in West Lafayette.
Jacksonville State at Murray State – 8:00 p.m. (ET)
How can you not be a Racers fan right now? Murray State's attempt to go through the regular season undefeated shouldn't be contested Thursday when Steve Prohm's squad should be heavy favorites over a very bad Jacksonville State group that will begin a 3-game road trip with this clash at CFSB Center.
Murray State has not only been winning on the floor, but also at the college basketball betting window with an 8-3-1 ATS mark. The biggest danger in this game is the Racers have a much tougher matchup this Saturday when they host Tennessee Tech, the team that effectively kept them from getting an invite to last year's NCAA Tournament.
Junior guard Isaiah Canaan is coming off a big 35-point effort the last time out to lead the Racers past Austin Peay. Canaan connected on all but one of his eight 3-point shots, and Murray State has been very efficient overall so far in conference games. The Racers are shooting over 55 percent in their four Ohio Valley games, and 51.5 percent from long-range.
Murray State will be without leading rebounder Ivan Aska for this game, and probably Saturday's as well. The senior forward is still mending a broken bone in his right hand and has missed the last two games already.
Gonzaga at Saint Mary's – 11:00 p.m. (ET) ESPN2
If you can only see one game Thursday night, this classic West Coast Conference duel gets my endorsement as the one to watch. It's the first of two meetings on the schedule between the Bulldogs and Gaels – with Saint Mary's returning the visit to Gonzaga on Feb. 9 – and it finds both teams off to unbeaten starts in the WCC. The 4-0 Gaels have a half-game lead over the 3-0 Bulldogs as far as the conference standings go.
West Coast kingpins for a while now, Saint Mary's and Gonzaga are adjusting to sharing some of the conference limelight with BYU after the Cougars joined the ranks. The Gaels and the Bulldogs both bring stout defenses into this matchup, though Gonzaga's defenders have been even tougher so far in conference action allowing just 52 points per game. That defense has translated into a 10-2 'under' mark for the Zags overall this season.
Saint Mary's is surrendering nearly 67 per game in WCC play, though some of those numbers can be attributed to the fact the Gaels have taken on BYU already while Gonzaga has not.
Each team took turns beating one another on their home courts last season, with the Bulldogs winning the rubber match during the postseason tourney. Gonzaga has come out on top the last three at McKeon Pavilion, most recently last February in a thrilling 89-85 overtime fight with Saint Mary's favored by 3½.