Game #117.  RTC Live makes its first trip to the desert Southwest with a trip to Tempe for some Pac-10 basketball.

It’s been a trying first half of the Pac-10 season for Herb Sendek’s Arizona State Sun Devils, but there’s a lingering sense that they should be better than they are.  Having only played two home games en route to a 1-6 start, the schedule certainly breaks favorably for a renaissance. Two of the issues are that ASU’s usually staunch defense has been lacking and guard/forward Rihards Kuksiks has been in what seems like a season-long funk.  Tonight’s visit from USC provides an opportunity, as the Trojans come in struggling as well.  After starting off strongly by beating Washington State and UCLA, and nearly knocking off league gorilla Washington, USC lost to both Oregon schools away and split against the Bay Area schools last weekend at home.  Jio Fontan and Nikola Vucevic have played well, but there hasn’t been much consistency beyond those two.  It should make for an interesting game here tonight in Tempe.  Join us for a little Pac-10 hoops from the desert.

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Game #116.  RTC Live is back on the east coast, trekking through another snowstorm to get to a Big East game…

Georgetown and St. John’s are both stuck in the wasteland known as the middle of the Big East. With the power at the top of the league, taking care of business against fellow bubble dwellers in the middle becomes so important, and with 11 teams competing for a spot in the NCAA Tournament, games like this may end up what determines an NCAA at-large berth or an NIT bid.  The Johnnies beat Georgetown earlier this season up at MSG as the Hoyas struggled to get anything going offensively. Austin Freeman woke up against Seton Hall, going for 28 points, but both Chris Wright and Jason Clark have struggled since their hot starts during non-conference play. Georgetown is 3-4 in the conference, and falling any further behind the pack would spell trouble. This team has proven the past couple of years they don’t handle adversity all that well.  St. John’s, on the other hand, is winding down the brutal stretch of their schedule in which they played eight straight teams that are or recently were ranked. They’ve gone 2-4 — including their win over Georgetown — and currently sit at 4-4 in Big East play. The Johnnies have less breathing room than the Hoyas, however, since their non-conference schedule is highlighted by losses to Fordham and St. Bonaventure while Georgetown has wins at Old Dominion and Missouri. Picking up a road win to complete a sweep of Georgetown sure would look good come March.

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Game #115.  RTC Live returns to the scene of the crime — the Hilltop — where Mark Few’s team were upset by the Dons one year ago.

Coming off an upset loss at Santa Clara on Thursday night, Gonzaga cannot afford another road loss within the WCC for fear of losing too much ground to rival St. Mary’s in the early going.  One year ago in this game the Dons upset Gonzaga in overtime behind 22/9 from Dior Lowhorn.  The talented guard is gone, but USF remains an interesting team.  They sit at 3-1 in the WCC with the only loss occurring at SMC, and they’ve played several good teams tough including San Diego State and Colorado State from the Mountain West.  Gonzaga is also 3-1 in the league, but the Zag defense has been surprisingly pedestrian this year as exhibited by its inability to slow down Kevin Foster in the Santa Clara game (36 points).  Tonight’s game is very important for Mark Few’s team, as the Zags have yet to play presumptive favorite St. Mary’s where a loss tonight would really put the ten-time conference regular season champions in quite a hole (as the WCC only plays a 14-game schedule).

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Game #114.  RTC Live is back in South Bend for another matchup between two teams jumbled up in the pack of the conference.

Notre Dame will enter Saturday’s home matchup with Marquette with revenge on their mind. Marquette soundly defeated the Irish 79-57 on January 10th. During that showdown, Marquette shot a sizzling 70.6% from the three point line, so shutting down the Golden Eagles’ perimeter game should be of utmost importance for Mike Brey’s squad. This Notre Dame team will be different than the Notre Dame team that lost that January 10th matchup, due to the fact that senior forward Carleton Scott has returned to the Irish lineup; Scott missed five games after suffering a hamstring injury in Notre Dame’s January 1st loss at Syracuse. Irish guards Eric Atkins and Ben Hansbrough will be the keys to stopping Marquette’s potent three point attack. Marquette guard Dwight Buycks and forward Jae Crowder will be key if Marquette wants their perimeter shooting to be a major factor. This game is important for both teams’ Big East position, as Notre Dame is 4-3 in conference and Marquette is 3-2 in conference. A win would be of great importance for both squads, as the conference season heats up.

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Game #113.  RTC Live visits Big East country for an interesting showdown with Tennessee and the return of Bruce Pearl.

Tennessee can only be described as an enigma: they’ve beaten Pitt (in Pittsburgh no less), Villanova (on a neutral site), Memphis, Vanderbilt and Georgia; they’ve lost to Oakland, Charlotte, USC, College of Charleston, Arkansas and Florida.  Connecticut is better described as a surprise.  After last year’s total implosion, Kemba Walker has put Jim Calhoun’s team on his back and led the Huskies to wins over Michigan State, Kentucky and Texas (in Austin).  These two teams may sport the best wins in the entire country (at Pitt and at Texas).  But all is not well in Storrs or Knoxville: the elephant in the room at every Connecticut game is the fact that they too are waiting to hear from the NCAA how severely they’re to be punished for violations of NCAA rules; and Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl is halfway through an eight game SEC suspension for lying to the NCAA.  Connecticut’s spectacular play on the court has upstaged any talk of the potential violations, while the Volunteers look like entirely different teams from night to night.  As this is a nonconference game, Pearl will be coaching the Volunteers for the first time since early January.  The game also showcases two of the biggest playmakers in the country in Walker and Scotty Hopson; two of the best freshmen in Shabazz Napier and Tobias Harris; two under-appreciated big men in Alex Oriakhi and Brian Williams; and two big-time coaches under fire in Jim Calhoun and Bruce Pearl.  Needless to say, this is must-see basketball.

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Game #112.  Gonzaga heads to the Bay Area for a game against conference rival Santa Clara who has upset on its mind.

Gonzaga heads into a weekend matchup with two Bay Area rivals that wreaked havoc on its season last year, starting with Santa Clara tonight from the Leavey Center at 6 PM Pacific. Santa Clara (10-9, 1-2 WCC) took the Zags to the wire last year before succumbing 71-64, and San Francisco finished off the nightmare weekend with an 81-77 (OT) win two nights later. The Zags need to avoid a trap against the Broncos tonight to keep up with Saint Mary’s atop the WCC standings and restore their luster for a return to the Top 25. At 13-5 (3-0 WCC), the Zags can’t afford any unexpected losses, and the Broncos are hoping to give them just that.

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Game #110.  RTC Live visits Philadelphia tonight for a Big 5 matchup between two old rivals.

Still searching for its first win over a city rival in four years, Penn heads to North Philadelphia to take on Temple at the Liacouras Center tonight at 7:30 p.m. Incidentally, the Quakers’ last Big 5 victory came over Temple and former coach Fran Dunphy, but since then Dunphy has taken the Owls to the top of the Atlantic 10 while Penn has fallen on hard times. At 5-7, the Quakers are showing signs of improvement under head coach Jerome Allen, a Dunphy protege, and star point guard Zack Rosen (16.0 ppg), but have lost three straight. The host Owls (12-4), meanwhile are in the midst of another strong season but are coming off a loss to Duquesne that knocked them out of national rankings. They’re led by  guard Ramone Moore (15.4 PPG), forward Lavoy Allen (10.7 PPG) and guard Juan Fernandez (10.8 PPG), who missed two games with a bone bruise before returning vs. Duquesne.

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Game #111.  RTC Live is back at Notre Dame this evening to see what this Cincinnati team is all about this season.

Notre Dame comes reeling into Wednesday’s match-up with Mick Cronin’s Cincinnati Bearcats following last week’s losses at Marquette and at St. John’s. The good news for Mike Brey’s squad is that their home court has been very kind to them this season, as they are undefeated at the Purcell Pavilion. The play of Irish seniors Ben Hansbrough and Tim Abromaitis will be key in igniting Notre Dame’s turnaround. Cincinnati comes into Wednesday’s showdown following a loss at Syracuse on Saturday. Cincinnati began the season with a sizzling 15-0 start and are still seen as a force to be reckoned with within the Big East. Juniors Yancy Gates an Dion Dixon lead the charge for the Bearcats, who are still searching for their first conference road victory. The frontcourts of each team will dictate who will win this game and this might be a problem for the Irish, who are still without starting forward Carleton Scott, who suffered a hamstring injury earlier this month. However, if Abromaitis, senior Tyrone Nash, and sophomore Jack Cooley are able to contain Gates and senior Ibrahima Thomas then the Irish will be in good shape to continue their home court winning ways.

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Game #109.  RTC Live is back at Northwestern for another Big 10 matchup; both of these teams need a win tonight in the worst way.

A struggling, young, Michigan team comes to Welsh-Ryan Arena tonight looking to break a four-game losing streak. The Wolverines have been competitive against some of the best teams in the country, including Kansas and Ohio State, but lost to Indiana by 19 their last time out. Northwestern looks to get back on track after blowing its second chance to beat Michigan State last week in overtime in Lansing. Star John Shurna scored just six points in that game and he’ll certainly be looking to rebound. On the other side, Darius Morris is one of the best young players in the Big Ten. He’s an exciting playmaker that averages 7.3 assists per game and also leads the team in scoring at 15.7 points per game. You can catch the game on the Big Ten Network and/or follow along with all the action right here live from Evanston, Ill. with John Templon of Chicago College Basketball.

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Game #108.  RTC Live returns to north Jersey for another Big east tilt between two teams that absolutely cannot afford another loss this early.

A winter advisory was issued for New York and New Jersey yesterday. Seton Hall fans know that means it is time for a basketball game, and true to form, Georgetown, off to an unexpectedly poor 2-4 start to their Big East regular season, will come to the Rock Tuesday evening, in search of conference win number three. The Hoyas will be led by guards Chris Wright and Austin Freeman, one of the acclaimed back courts in the conference, along with wing Jason Clark and a front court that features Hollis Thompson and Julian Vaughn. Seton Hall, also off to a 2-4 start, will be led by a veteran nucleus that includes starting wing Jeremy Hazell, forwards Jeff Robinson and Herb Pope. Seton Hall will match Georgetown’s backcourt with the veteran duo of Keon Lawrence and Jordan Theodore. The teams have split their last six metropolitan New York City meetings at an even 3-3, and with the return of Jeremy Hazell, Tuesday night’s game promises to be another shootout. RTC Live will be at the Rock at 7:00 PM Tuesday to describe the action and discuss these two talented teams.

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