Rush The Court

After one day of competition, the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge is tied at one game a piece, with 12 more matchups to come tonight and tomorrow (schedule below). Wake Forest tipped things off Monday night by using a furious late rally to top Rutgers, 69-68, while Minnesota held off Clemson, 89-83, in the evening’s nightcap behind a strong performance by freshman Jordan Murphy. Both of those games were played at Big Ten venues, but the ACC will have the home court edge tonight by hosting four games. To prepare for this evening’s action, the ACC and Big Ten microsites are once again here to defend the schools they cover. Patrick Engel (Big Ten) and Brad Jenkins (ACC) make the case for each team in their respective leagues for all six contests that will take place tonight on the ESPN family of networks.

Michigan at N.C. State (7:00 PM ET, ESPN2)

• Patrick: We’ve seen Michigan at both its best and its worst so far this season. As I detailed on Monday, it’s becoming clear that the Wolverines have plenty of shooters but are going to once again struggle in the paint. NC State isn’t great at either defending the three (35.7%) or shooting it (32.4%), but the Wolfpack are one of the biggest teams in the country (ninth in height). Michigan has to find space against NC State on the perimeter without getting beat in the paint or on the glass to earn a win here.
• Brad: The obvious advantage here for the Wolfpack is in the paint. N.C. State should control the boards, and it will need to because Michigan is bound to hit more threes than Mark Gottfried’s team. As long as he can stay relatively fresh, Anthony Barber (39.2 MPG) should win the point guard matchup with Derrick Walton. The Wolfpack aren’t deep and must avoid foul trouble, but they can’t shy away from being physical in defending the offensively-potent Michigan wings.

Northwestern at Virginia Tech (7:00 PM ET, ESPNU)

• Brad: There’s no way to sugarcoat Virginia Tech’s opening home loss to a SWAC team (Alabama State), but Buzz Williams’ guys have shown some recent signs of improvement. Iowa State beat them handily in the semifinals of the Emerald Coast Classic last week, but the Hokies bounced back to beat a decent UAB squad in overtime the next night. If Virginia Tech is to win this game, it probably will have to do so by living at the foul line.
• Patrick: The Wildcats have survived without Vic Law so far. They’re not elite in any one area, but they also don’t have a singular glaring weakness. They’ve been a perimeter-oriented team to this point, but Alex Olah’s ability to get to the free throw line will challenge a Virginia Tech team that rarely lets its opponents get there. Northwestern has a good chance of winning this game on the road if it can earn charity stripe opportunities while keeping the free throw-minded Hokies (nation-leading 60.9% free throw rate, per KenPom) away from the line.

Virginia at Ohio State (7:30 PM ET, ESPN)

• Patrick: I thought Thad Matta would work his usual magic on this extremely young team, but that hasn’t yet been the case. The Buckeyes are losers of three straight contests and look like the team of freshmen that they are, turning the ball over at least 14 times in four of their five games. Virginia has been one of the nation’s most efficient teams on both ends, as usual, so the youngsters will need to grow up to win this one.
• Brad: If Ohio State can’t handle UT-Arlington and Louisiana Tech in Value City Arena, how can they expect to beat Virginia? The Cavaliers are stingy as usual on the defensive end, but the story this season is the suddenly potent offense that Tony Bennett’s bunch has shown thus far. Believe it or not, the Cavaliers are actually averaging over 80 points per game. Virginia lost its first road game of the year two weeks ago, but that was to George Washington, a better team than the Buckeyes.

Miami at Nebraska (9:00 PM ET, ESPNU)

• Brad: Miami may have been ripe for an upset here were it not for that bad home loss to Northeastern in its last outing. Look for Jim Larranaga’s veteran group to bounce back and play like they did in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, where it came in first place and blew away its competition. The Hurricanes’ senior backcourt of Angel Rodriguez and Sheldon McClellan will not be rattled by Nebraska’s impressive home court support, and Miami will break a Huskers’ home winning streak that is built on four wins against teams rated in the bottom 30 of KenPom’s ratings.
• Patrick: Nebraska has exceeded expectations this season and has been vastly improved offensively with the help of Kansas transfer Andrew White and Tai Webster’s recent emergence. Miami hasn’t played a true road game yet, but it is a veteran team that shouldn’t be fazed by the denizens of Lincoln. Three-point defense has been a season-long issue for Miami, so Nebraska needs to take advantage in that area. But to win, the Huskers will need to slow the potent Hurricanes’ offense, which averages 1.17 points per possession and shoots an exceptional 52 percent from the field.

Purdue at Pittsburgh (9:00 PM ET, ESPN2)

• Patrick: The Boilermakers look like the Big Ten’s second-best team behind Michigan State, and they’ve done it with a stifling defense that’s allowed 0.92 points per possession. Pittsburgh is off to a good start as well, led by an offense that scores 1.13 points per possession. Michael Young and Jamel Artis are a productive frontcourt duo for the Panthers, but Isaac Haas, A.J. Hammons and Caleb Swanigan will be very tough to control.
• Brad: Huge teams like this Purdue squad gave Pittsburgh fits in the past, but Jamie Dixon brought in some new big bodies this year, freeing up forwards Michael Young and Jamel Artis to play their natural positions and the results have been good.  Each player’s offensive rating is over 139.0 in the Panthers’ 4-0 start. Pitt has also been extremely hot from distance, making 49.2 percent of its three-point attempts on the season.

Maryland at North Carolina (9:30 PM ET, ESPN)

• Brad: The usual knock against North Carolina is that the Tar Heels sometimes lack great energy and consistent effort on the defensive end. That should not be a problem tonight. There’s plenty of motivation to give former ACC partner Maryland a reminder of what Tobacco Road is all about. And it doesn’t hurt that Marcus Paige will be making his season debut this evening. Normally, there may be some issues when integrating a primary player back into the lineup, but Paige has already played plenty of minutes with this group and his versatile game won’t force others to change much. Look for a strong winning effort by Roy Williams’ group in the marquee game of this season’s Challenge.
• Patrick: These teams are pretty even on paper and are elite offensive teams with a few issues defensively. Marcus Paige will make his season debut, and while Carolina’s offense has been fine without him, he is the key to pushing it into overdrive. The Tar Heels have been stingy in the paint too, but haven’t faced a frontcourt nearly as good as Maryland’s yet. The Terps will need to win the battle down low and prevent Paige from getting comfortable in order to notch the road win.