Brendon Mulvihill is an RTC contributor. You can find him @themulv on Twitter.  See bottom of the post for the Official RTC Star System.

The V Foundation has been able to give over $90 million to more than 100 cancer research facilities nationwide since the organization was founded in 1993. Tonight means way more than college basketball. So while you are watching the games tonight at home, take a minute to remember what these folks are doing for our friends and family. Let’s take a look at the hoops action this evening at the Jimmy V Classic in NYC.

Marcus Denmon And The Tigers Kick Off the Jimmy V Classic in NYC (AP Photo/L.G. Patterson)

#10 Missouri vs Villanova – 7 PM EST on ESPN HD (***)

• Missouri is deadly accurate from the floor. Through seven games, the Tigers are shooting 58.2% from two and 43% from three. Look for Mizzou guards Marcus Denmon and Kim English to continue their hot shooting against a Villanova team that ranks 108th in effective field goal defense. Nova was recently beat-up by another excellent shooting team in the St. Louis Billikens. If Jay Wright does not address his team’s field goal defense quickly, Missouri is going to blow out the Wildcats just like they have every other opponent this season.
• Villanova has a distinct height advantage against Missouri. If Wright’s club is to have any chance in this game, they are going to have to use that height and grab all the offensive rebounds they possibly can. Missouri’s speed and accuracy on offense puts pressure on the opposing offense to not have any empty possessions. Keep an eye Wildcats’ 6’10” forward Mouphtaou Yarou on the inside. Yarou needs to own the offensive boards. If Villanova is missing shots against an aggressive Tiger defense and not grabbing offensive boards, the game will be over quickly for Wright’s team.
• Missouri’s speed, accuracy, and experience will prove to be the difference in this game. Thus far, Villanova has not proven they have a defense to stop a team that shoots as well as Mizzou. If Yarou and the rest of the Wildcats can grab offensive boards, they will have a chance but ultimately the pressure Denmon and English put on the team will be too much.

Washington vs #12 Marquette – 9 PM EST on ESPN HD (***)

• Turnovers appear to be the biggest factor affecting Washington’s offensive and defensive efficiency. In their losses to St. Louis and Nevada, the Husky offense turned the ball over on 24.2% and 31.5% of their possessions, respectively. On the other side of the ball, Washington’s defense only created turnovers on 12.1% and 16% of their opponents possessions, respectively. If Washington is to have any chance at winning tonight against a Marquette team that takes care of the basketball and gets after it on defense, Lorenzo Romar’s team is going to have do much better in the turnover department. Freshman guard Tony Wroten must limit his mistakes and create more opportunities for guard C.J. Wilcox to hit shots from the outside and for Aziz N’Diaye to take advantage of his size on the interior. Keep an eye on the turnover numbers through out the game for Washington, as they will dictate their ability to win.
• Marquette’s Darius Johnson-Odom and Jae Crowder are two of the most effective players in the entire country. Neither player turns the ball over and both players have an eFG% of just over 68%. Crowder is shooting an astonishing 70.7% from two (29-41). Keep an eye on how the Husky’s defend these two players. If N’Diaye can use his size to shut off the lane and Wroten, Wilcox, and Terrence Ross can use their length to pressure the ball, Washington may have a shot. However, if you see Johnson-Odom and Crowder putting on their typical show, it’ll be lights out in NYC for U-Dub.
• Washington is young and talented but the Marquette experience and efficiency may prove to be too much for the Huskies. Unless, the Husky offense can take care of the ball much better than they have been and N’Diaye can hit more than the 48.8% of his shots, Romar and company are going to have a tough night against Marquette. Look for Crowder and Johnson-Odom to do heavy damage all night.

***** – quit your job and divorce your wife if that’s what it takes to watch this game live
**** – best watched live, but if you must, tivo and watch it tonight as soon as you get home
*** – set your tivo but make sure you watch it later
** – set your tivo but we’ll forgive you if it stays in the queue until 2014
* – don’t waste bandwidth (yours or the tivo’s) of any kind on this game

bmulvihill (74 Posts)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 6th, 2011 at 6:50 am by bmulvihill and is filed under Regular Features, set your dvr. Tagged: Aziz N'Diaye, CJ Wilcox, darius johnson-odom, Jae Crowder, jay wright, kim english, lorenzo romar, marcus denmon, marquette, missouri, mouphtaou yarou, terrence ross, tony wroten, villanova, washington. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.