Rush The Court

If you’re an obsessive schedule-tracker like we are — and you sorta have to be in this business — you quickly realize the rhythms of game scheduling.  It becomes more stark during the conference season when most schools play a regular schedule of two games per week (usually on the same days), but you can still see it in November and December based on general patterns of tv viewership, travel and holidays.  By way of example, Mondays and Fridays are usually not very good nights for games, as most teams are either going into or coming out of a weekend game (usually on Saturday).  Conversely, Tuesdays and Thursdays are often busy, with the penultimate day of the work week being preferred for many western-based teams.  Wednesdays, the Hump Day, are often busy just because it’s the middle of the week and games on that day maximizes rest and practice time for students before the next one on the weekend.  If you’re reading this site, none of this information will be new to you; you already inherently know it. 

So it’s a little odd that this week — Christmas week — a random Tuesday night will be the biggest game night of the entire slate of games this week (Mon-Sun).  Most teams take time off for the holiday, allowing their players to spend some quality time at home if they’re close enough to travel and/or with friends and other teammates if they’re not.  To that end, there are a grand total of zero games this Thursday and Friday, one game on Saturday (RTC Live will be at WVU-Seton Hall), and only eleven games on Sunday.  Our point: if you want to satisfy your hoops jones, you’d best tune in tonight (91 games) and tomorrow (39 games) to cure the anxiety. 

And what a schedule of games it is!  Our little box of  Nightly Nonsense listings wasn’t big enough to hold all of tonight’s goodies, so we will do you the service of listing the games you should be tracking along with us throughout the day and evening (yes, there are day games!) and into tomorrow.  It may not be Christmas just yet, but the treats have come early this year.  Settle in for your long winter’s nap with nonstop hoops over the next two days. 

Christmas on December 22

• 3 pm – Nevada vs. BYU (ESPN360).  This game, as part of the Las Vegas Classic, features a MWC/WAC matchup between two talented teams that could really use this RPI-increasing victory. 
• 3 pm – Northeastern vs. St. Mary’s (ESPNU).  This 10 am (local time) game from Hawaii wil be one of your few opportunities to watch SMC’s Omar Samhan, who is averaging 22/12/2 blks while shooting over 60% from the field this season.
• 5:30 pm – Tulsa vs. Nebraska.  Tulsa has looked good this year, but they’ve played nine home games (all wins) and dropped their only game away from home (@ Missouri State).  This neutral-site game in Las Vegas is a must-win if the Golden Hurricane want to position themselves for an at-large berth in March.
• 7 pm – #9 Michigan State @ #2 Texas (ESPN2).  The Horns are plowing through teams to the tune of a 29-pt average margin of victory, but MSU has had their number the last three seasons (all neutral court wins, though).
• 7 pm – South Alabama @ #18 Florida (ESPN360).  The Gators try to get off of a two-game losing streak with a home date against USA.
• 7 pm – Ohio @ Pittsburgh (ESPN360).  These two top 35 defenses should deliver a close game that you probably won’t want to watch, so keep this one on in the background.

• 7:30 pm – Western Carolina @ #23 Clemson.  The Catamounts already have a scalp from Louisville’s Freedom Hall this season, so getting another at Littlejohn isn’t out of the question.  
• 8 pm – #16 Butler @ UAB.  UAB has won nine in a row including a convincing victory a week ago against visiting Cincinnati at home.  Butler will need every nudge it can get from the scoreboard and clock operator tonight to ensure a win in Birmingham.
• 8 pm – Missouri State @ Arkansas.  The Hawgs are struggling in a major way, but can they get up for an unbeaten mid-major from their neighborhood (90 miles away)?   Pomeroy gives MSU an 87% chance to win this one!
• 9 pm – California @ #1 Kansas (ESPN2).  Cole Aldrich has been under the weather lately, but a steady diet of Max Zhang and Markhuri Sanders-Frison may help him recover tonight.  Still, Cal might be the best team KU has faced so far this year, believe it or not.
• 10 pm – LSU @ Washington State (CBS CS).  This game in Seattle will feature Wazzu’s Klay Thompson (25/5/3 assts) vs. Tasmin Mitchell (17/9) in a game where the records probably overvalue both of these teams.
• 11 pm – Texas A&M @ #19 Washington (FSN).  Best game of the night?  The sticky A&M defense will try to put the clamps down on Quincy Pondexter and Isaiah Thomas, both of whom are averaging over twenty a game this season. 

Christmas on December 23

• 12 pm – Harvard @ #13 Georgetown.  Noonball!  The Crimson have a close loss at UConn and a win at BC already this year.  Georgetown better be careful with Jeremy Lin and company, or they’ll lose their second in a row.
• 7 pm – UMass @ Boston College.  UMass comes off its crazy win over Memphis in Boston with another short road trip, this time to rock the suburbs versus BC.  Wins at Providence and Michigan; losses at home vs. Harvard and Rhode Island.  Can anyone figure out the Eagles?
• 7 pm – Charlotte @ Old Dominon.  Charlotte brings a 9-1 record and a win at Louisville into its game against the stingy ODU defense.  Will ODU have a letdown after its big win in DC over the weekend?
• 7 pm – Rider @ Siena.  This MAAC matchup features Edwin Ubiles and Ryan Thompson going up against one another in an early-season conference battle between two of the favorites in this league.
• 7:30 pm – #21 Ole Miss @ #6 West Virginia (ESPN2).  Bob Huggins’ former assistant at Cincinnati takes on his mentor while his team is playing very well lately.  But how will the Rebels handle Da’Sean Butler and Devin Ebanks?
• 8 pm – #12 New Mexico @ Oral Roberts (ESPN360).  ORU has been up and down this season, but you can guarantee they’ll be sky-high for the unbeaten Lobos coming to Tulsa.  Darrington Hobson and Roman Martinez are having great years for Steve Alford. 
• 9 pm – Milwaukee @ Wisconsin (BTN).  The Badgers already lost to Green Bay (granted, that was a road game), but they’ll have their work cut out handling the mammoth-sized James Eayrs (13/6) inside in this one. 
• 9:30 pm – Illinois vs. Missouri (ESPN2).  This border war game in St. Louis features two young teams searching for identities, as the Mizzou press (#2 in TO% nationally) will harass DJ Richardson and Brandon Paul all over the court.
• 10:30 pm – NC State @ Arizona (FSN).  NC State will be without the services of Tracy Smith and Arizona will not have Jamelle Horne for this one (out six weeks), but it should be a good one between two programs clearly fighting to keep their heads above water this year.