Game # 123.  It’s an Atlantic 10 blockbuster matchup as Duquesne faces off with Dayton on a Sunday afternoon.

Welcome to a flurry filled Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh for an Atlantic 10 Conference matchup between Duquesne and Dayton at the Consol Energy Center, the home of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Duquesne comes into the contest as the hottest team in conference, riding a nine-game win streak, including 6-0 in the A-10. Duquesne has been stuffing the stat sheet of late, leading to a #11 national ranking in points per game, and #2 in assists per game. Dayton, meanwhile, has had a bouncy ride so far this A-10, coming into the match 3-3. Look for the Flyers to try to control the tempo, as they come into the game averaging 14 points a game less on the year. This should be a great matchup at a great new venue in a town with Super Bowl dreams this time of year. Join us for a great A-10 matchup this Sunday afternoon.

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Game #121. RTC heads to Madison Square Garden (aka “The World’s Most Famous Arena”) as the defending champs invade The Big Apple.

Game #120.  RTC Lives makes its first-ever trip to Arizona’s McKale Center for a battle between Pac-10 stalwarts.

Today’s game between USC and Arizona at the McKale Center represents the turning point of the conference season.  Arizona has designs on catching first-place Washington in the standings, sitting only one game behind the Huskies with the difference being the Wildcats’ loss at Seattle nine days ago.  Secure in the knowledge that UW will have to pay Sean Miller’s team a return trip in late February, Arizona knows that it can’t afford a home loss here today.  USC is coming off a solid road win in Tempe on Thursday night, and it’s clear that when their inside/outside duo of Nikola Vucevic and Jio Fontan have it going, they can compete with anyone in this league.  Arizona has a strong frontcourt anchored by All-American candidate Derrick Williams, but guard play has been troublesome and inconsistent.  Nevertheless, we’re excited to be headed to McKale tonight, site of so many great games over the years.  Join us on RTC Live…

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Game #121.  RTC Live visits Tulsa this evening for what should be a key Conference USA battle.

We are expecting a good game tonight in this high-stakes bout between the UTEP Miners (17-4, 5-1) and the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes (10-10, 3-3). For Tulsa, this is a revenge game. They were defeated 69-59 by the Miners in the conference opener on January 5, and they would love nothing more than to upset the C-USA standings, and hopefully right the ship with a win tonight. UTEP has a little more than just pride on the line. They are currently tied atop the conference standings with Memphis; I’m sure they would love for things to stay that way. It will also be a matchup between the conferences two biggest stars. Tulsa is led by leading scorer Justin Hurtt, who is averaging 20.7 points per game, while UTEP is led by Randy Culpepper; the returning Conference USA Player Of The Year.

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Game #119.  The nation’s top-ranked team visits struggling Northwestern this evening.

#1 Ohio State comes to Welsh-Ryan Arena on Saturday night with a perfect record and a dominating cast of players. Jared Sullinger should find plenty of room in the paint against a porous Northwestern interior defense, or the 1-3-1 zone, and the Buckeyes tend to knock down shots from everywhere. Northwestern’s star player, John Shurna, suffered a concussion in the Wildcats’ latest disappointing loss at Minnesota and will be a game-time decision. If he can’t go Northwestern will be undermanned at almost every position on the court. Still, can Northwestern pull the epic upset? It’ll be televised on ESPN2 and you can follow along during the whole game here starting at 6 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. CT.

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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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