Game #76.  RTC Live returns to Philly for this regional rivalry taking place downtown this evening.

The Blue Hens of the University of Delaware invade the Wells Fargo Center in downtown Philadelphia tonight to take on the Wildcats of Villanova University. Delaware, expected to compete with Colonial Athletic Association powers Old Dominion and Virginia Commonwealth for the CAA title this season, matches their 5-2 record, which includes a five game winning streak, against Villanova’s 8-1 record tonight. Each squad will feature outstanding guards as the Blue Hens, led by senior guard Jawan Carter, a Tatnall Prep star who played a year at Saint Joseph’s University on City Line Avenue before he transferred to Delaware and freshman point guard Devon Saddler who has averaged 9.4 points and 4.1 assists per game through his first seven collegiate games, will match skills and energy with Wildcat guards, Corey Fisher, a senior who can play the point and off guard positions, and Maalik Wayns, a sophomore “Philly guard” out of Philadelphia’s Roman Catholic High School. Join RTC Live at 7:30 tonight for this Battle of the Guards.

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Games #74-75.  RTC Live heads to Anaheim for an interesting double-header of west coast powers.

RTC Live returns to Anaheim for the Wooden Classic, the 17^th annual edition of this event, but the first without its legendary namesake, where a quartet of western teams make up a solid schedule. The matinee features Long Beach State and St. Mary’s, a couple of teams expected to at least challenge for their regular season conference titles, although both teams still have a lot to prove. The Gaels have posted an 8-2 record thus far, but have come up short in their two biggest tests of the season (against BYU and San Diego State) with their best win over St. John’s looking a little less impressive by the day. LBSU has again played a brutal schedule, at this point considered the toughest in the country by KenPom, but have only had middling success on their way to a 5-6 record, with a win over Iowa their best outcome balanced against losses at North Carolina, Utah State, Washington and at home against San Diego State. The Niners gave North Carolina a good run their last time out behind a career-high 31 from junior forward T.J. Robinson, and he could be in for an interesting matchup with SMC junior forward Rob Jones, who has led his team in scoring in each of the last four games, including two straight double-doubles. In the main event, UCLA faces #16 BYU in a good test for the Cougars. While Anaheim is just 40 miles from the UCLA campus, and the Bruins are certain to have more fans at the game than any of the other teams, UCLA fans just don’t travel well (especially on what is supposed to be a rainy weekend in the Southland), so this won’t be a de facto home game for Ben Howland’s squad. However, if UCLA can find some kind of way to slow BYU’s Jimmer Fredette (much easier said than done, but the bulk of this task will likely fall to Malcolm Lee, with plenty of other Bruin eyes keeping track of the All-American candidate at all times), they could cause matchup problems up front. While BYU does feature a string of big guys up front, UCLA’s frontline of Tyler Honeycutt, Reeves Nelson and Joshua Smith could give the Cougars trouble. BYU head coach Dave Rose will want to see his team get out in transition early and often, and it will be interesting to see Howland’s response, as he has claimed a desire to see his team up the tempo from recent years. But likely the best chance for the Bruins to keep this one close is to ugly things up and turn this into a rockfight. Should be an interesting day of basketball in Anaheim, and we’re hoping you’ll drop in and join the conversation, starting at 11:45am PST.

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Game #72.  A slow start to the season has people wondering when the Gonzaga Bulldogs will finally play up to their potential. Losses to San Diego State, Kansas State, Illinois, and Washington State have Gonzaga sitting at 4-4 heading into to South Bend to take on #23 Notre Dame. Good news for Gonzaga is that Notre Dame is coming off their first loss of the season- a 72-58 loss Wednesday to the Kentucky Wildcats. During that loss, Notre Dame’s offense went ice cold in the second half after a sizzling start highlighted by Ben Hansbrough’s 18 first half points. Prior to Wednesday’s loss, Notre Dame stood at 8-0, which matched their best start to a season under the tutelage of coach Mike Brey. Senior guard Steven Gray and junior big man Robert Sacre lead the Bulldogs in a matchup that should be very entertaining and hard fought. The Irish counter will be led by senior guard Hansbrough and senior forwards Tim Abromaitis and Tyrone Nash. The key to the game for the Bulldogs will be to contain Hansbrough and the Fighting Irish’s potent three point shooting attack. The key for the Irish will be to contain Steven Gray and cause him to defer to his less experienced backcourt mates. The first ever matchup between these two schools will end with one team getting back to the winning ways and the other searching for answers to early season struggles.

Game #71.  In a battle of two of the best teams west of the Rockies, Arizona and BYU face each other in the “neutral” venue of Salt Lake City.

It is a “neutral” court show down in Salt Lake City as the BYU Cougars are taking the 20-minute drive up I-15 to face the Arizona Wildcats at the home of the Utah Jazz, Energy Solutions Arena. Arizona is 8-1, fattening up on some low level D-I teams and losing their only true test at Kansas 87-79. Sophomore forward Derrick Williams is the do-it-all man for the Wildcats. He leads the team in points (20.2 per game), rebounds (7.6), steals (1.3), and blocks (0.9). The Cougars are fresh off their 86-58 victory over Vermont in the Jimmer Fredette classic.  Fredette has been drawing NBA scouts wherever he goes, because he has range that stretches well beyond the NBA arc.  Join us tonight for what should amount to a great intersectional matchup.

Reminder: BYU does not allow live blogs during the game so we will post a quick update at every media timeout in accordance with their rules.

BYU 14, Arizona 8 – 15:41 1st half. Strangely this game at Energy Solutions Arena lacks the big game feel that BYU can bring at home. Fredette continues to steal the show for BYU. He has seven points already, and is getting wide open looks. Sean Miller already had to burn a timeout for Arizona to settle the team down. They have six points from Derrick Williams including one incredible ally-oop that drew applause even from the BYU faithful.

BYU 20, Arizona 10 – 11:57 first half. Arizona is working a lot of double teams at Fredette but it has yet to matter, he already has 11 points. For BYU long term I still think they need guys like Kyle Collinsworth and Brandon Davies to continue their development as reliable post players to take some heat off Jimmer and Jackson Emery. So far they are doing enough to keep Arizona honest and that’s exactly what they need. Arizona needs to work for some better shots, settling too much for long jumpers.

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Game #73. The Harvard Crimson host in-town rivals Boston University at Lavietes Pavillion.  Harvard is off to a quick 6-2 start with losses to George Mason and Michigan, while the Terriers come in with a 4-6 record.  The Terriers have won their last six games at Lavietes, but the Crimson lead the overall series 33-26.  Both teams sport very impressive freshman guards: Boston University has the quick D.J. Irving, while Harvard has the touted Canadian sharpshooter Laurent Rivard (who averaged 18 points a game in last week’s games against Fordham and Michigan).  As for upperclassmen, Harvard’s Christian Webster and captain Keith Wright are the team’s high scorers, both averaging over 15 points a game.  On the Terrier side Jake O’Brien and John Holland are the players to watch: both are capable of putting up points in a hurry and Holland has averaged over 17 points a game so far this season.  This should be a fast, exciting game.  Both teams are athletic and thrive in transition.  The key for Boston University will be to contain Harvard’s Keith Wright especially, as he’s taken over several games already for the Crimson.  Unfortunately for the Terriers, Harvard has a relatively balanced attack.  But limiting Wright in the post and not giving up open threes will be crucial for the Terriers if they want to extend their Lavietes streak to eight games.  On Harvard’s defense, they need to contain Irving and keep him from penetrating too often.  He’s incredibly explosive and can really spark an offense.  This should be a great game between two teams that should be in the hunt of conference championships–and the automatic NCAA bid that comes with it–come March.  The game tips off at 2 PM Eastern.

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Game #70.  RTC Live moves on to Pittsburgh for the back end of the Big East/SEC Invitational.

Welcome college basketball fans to Pittsburgh’s Consol Energy Center in what promises to be a great matchup between #3 Pittsburgh and #13 Tennessee in the SEC/Big East Invitational. Most of what college basketball fans have heard about Tennessee in the early going this year have been off the court regarding their coach, but many may not know that the Volunteers have already knocked off then #7 Villanova in the NIT Season Tip-Off finale a couple weeks ago, only to rocket up 11 spots in the national rankings. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, has been near the top of the rankings all year. These teams have as many similarities as they have differences though. Tennessee will be the first team since Texas that has matched up similarly to Pittsburgh on the boards. The two main differences between them are that Pittsburgh distributes the ball more in terms of total assists and they turn the ball over less. The difference that might prove monumental in this game, even though it is stated as a neutral site, is the home court advantage for Pittsburgh. Get ready for the toughest battle Pittsburgh has had all year at the newest sport’s facility in town.

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Game #68.  RTC Live will be on hand tonight for Jimmer Fredette’s homecoming to Glens Falls, New York, in front of a packed house. 

Hometown hero Jimmer Fredette returns to the 518 area code in upstate New York to lead the BYU Cougars against the Vermont Catamounts in a neutral-site contest. Fredette led BYU to the second round of the NCAA tournament last March, and no doubt looks to capture a Mountain West conference title and another berth in the Big Dance this season. After amassing over 2,400 points in his high school career, Fredette is currently averaging 22.3 points per game and will no doubt strive to put on a show tonight in his hometown, back in the place where it all started. BYU has remained perfect thus far in its 2010-11 campaign, going undefeated in its first eight games. On the other bench, Vermont will no doubt look to rain on Fredette’s homecoming parade with an upset victory. To date, Vermont has amassed a 6-1 record heading into America East conference play. Vermont recently defeated area mid-major Siena, 80-76, back on November 13, and looks to be the frontrunner once league play begins.

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Game #67.  It’s our maiden voyage of the season to one of the better venues on the west coast, Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, as SDSU comes to town.

So far it’s been a dream season for Steve Fisher’s San Diego State Aztecs, sitting at 8-0 and on the cusp of the top ten after impressive wins over Gonzaga, St. Mary’s and Wichita State.  Three tough games to be sure, but SDSU would like to get a statement win over a power conference team to go along with that group.  Tonight’s game at California will provide such an opportunity.  A packed house is expected for the game, and the homestanding Bears will have to find a way to keep the crowd engaged when the three best players on the floor — Kawhi Leonard, Billy White and Malcolm Thomas — all play for the visiting team.  The truth is that with a completely revamped lineup from last year’s Pac-10 regular season champions, you never quite know what you’re going to get with Cal.  They’ve crushed New Mexico and defeated Temple, but lost to Notre Dame (in the infamous five-point half game) and Boston College convincingly.  We have a feeling that with an undefeated highly ranked team coming to town, the Bears will be ready for a fight.  Join us for what should be a great one tonight in Beserkeley. 

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Game #66.  RTC Live is back in Chestnut Hill for what has become a very interesting matchup as the early season has worn on.

This year’s edition of New England’s finest hoops rivalry gets underway tonight at 7 PM ET when Providence travels north to face Boston College at Conte Forum. While both teams were considered long shots to make the NCAA Tournament before the season, the Friars (9-1) and Eagles (6-2) are off to surprising starts. Providence’s #99 ranking in defensive efficiency is a dramatic improvement from last year’s squad and the Friars have early wins against Wyoming, Northeastern and in-state foe Rhode Island to show for it. The versatile duo of Marshon Brooks (21.4 PPG) and emerging star Vincent Council (17.1 PPG) lead the scoring attack in a crucial season for Keno Davis. Despite a shocking loss to Yale, Boston College has rebounded to beat both Texas A&M and California on a neutral floor and defeated Indiana in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Junior Reggie Jackson (18.8 PPG, 4.5 RPG) is one of the most gifted and exciting players in the ACC while first-year coach Steve Donahue also has senior cogs Joe Trapani and Corey Raji at his disposal. Join me tonight from Conte Forum for RTC Live to see if Providence can notch their first quality win of the campaign or if the Eagles protect their home turf and continue to build their own NCAA Tournament resume.

Ed. Note: We had some technical difficulties at Conte Forum tonight. We will have a full write-up tomorrow.

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Game #65.  RTC Live heads to an old familiar in the form of Louisville’s Freedom Hall, but the Cardinals of Rick Pitino won’t actually be there. 

Our next stop is at Freedom Hall on Wednesday night as Notre Dame (8-0) makes the trip to the Bluegrass for one heck of a road test against Kentucky (5-2). True, Freedom Hall isn’t Kentucky’s home court (nor is it Louisville’s, now), so one could say that that techincally makes this a neutral site game. Don’t kid yourself. They’ve actually turned the Freedom Hall floor blue and painted Kentucky’s logo at center court, and Louisville is loaded with UK supporters, too, so there’s nothing neutral about this. The Irish are playing excellent basketball and a win here would be a superb resume-builder come March, but Kentucky’s still stinging from the loss at North Carolina and could use a win against a ranked team to boost its confidence after dropping two of their last three and taking a hit in the polls; could a loss here send the team with the nation’s best recruiting class out of the Top 25? And they say early December basketball doesn’t mean anything. We disagree. The live blog window opens at 9:15 pm ET for this SEC/Big East Invitational contest. Read the rest of this entry »