Who is ready for conference play matchups and a Top-5 showdown in the college basketball? This guy! Today, is the official start of conference play in NCAA Division One Men's Basketball as the West Coast Conference starts it off with a great matchup featuring number eight ranked Gonzaga and the high-scoring BYU Cougars in Provo, Utah. While that game is taking place at 6:00 PM EST, a little earlier in the great city of Louisville there will be a race between the Louisville Cardinals and the Kentucky Wildcats to see who can score the most.
2:00 PM EST-ESPN2
12-0 1. Kentucky
at 11-0 4. Louisville
Can anyone put a blimish on the Wildcats' record? If Louisville cannot, I am not sure who will. The Kentucky Wildcats have looked unstoppable this season as they have defeated some of the nation's top teams like the number five ranked Kansas Jayhawks, the number six ranked Texas Longhorns, the number twenty-one ranked North Carolina Tar Heels, and even the "best of the West", the UCLA Bruins. And for the record, they didn't just beat these teams by five or ten points but try more like twelve or more! They beat Kansas by 32 points...32 points and UCLA by 39 points! Kentucky is led by the Harrison Brothers (Aaron Harrison (SO) and Andrew Harrison (SO)) and stat-sheet stuffer Willie Cauley-Stein (JR). And that is not all of UK's talent! In addition to those three stars they have six other very good players that are a part of the two teams of five that Coach John Calipari plays fairly equally in playing time that make other teams cry "Uncle!" Even though the Wildcats are undefeated, they have "lost" one thing this year, which is the health of Junior Alex Poythress who tore his ACL in a team practice. Poythress was one of the key contributors of the Wildcats as he was a starter that averaged 10.7 points per game per forty minutes (5.5 PPG). The Louisville Cardinals hope to add not a personel loss but a loss to the Wildcats' record in the KFC Yum! Center this afternoon. The Cardinals also come into today's game undefeated but have not played the quantity of good competition Kentucky has played. Louisville has played and defeated number fourteen ranked Ohio State (64-55) and the Indiana Hoosiers (94-74) but besides those two games the competition has been small and unranked. Another difference between the two clubs is that Louisville's Coach, Rick Pitino, has a stragety much different than Kentucky's Coach John Calipari's platoon. The Louisville Cardinals do not have ten good players like Kentucky but only four to go along with a very weak bench. The stars for L'ville include guards Terry Rozier (SO, 16.7 PPG), Wayne Blackshear (SR, 13.7 PPG), Chris Jones (SR, 12.3 PPG), and the big man in the middle who averages the double-double, Montrezi Harrell (JR, 16.7 PPG & 10.0 RPG). My keys of the game for Kentucky is to "run in transition" and get Louisville's Harrell in foul trouble. The Wildcats play their best when they push the tempo with fresh platoons ultimately making their opponents tired. Louisville's bench does not impress anyone so Petino will try to play his starters the majority of the time causing them to be extra tired when Calipari throws a fresh set of legs at them. In addition to pushing the tempo, UK needs to go straight at Montrezi Harrell with the purpose of getting him back on the bench. Harrell is arguably Louisville's best player as he scores the ball as well as plays great defense. If the Kentucky guards and Willie Cauley-Stein can draw fouls on him early to take his presence out of the game Kentucky will win hands down. For Louisville, they must not loose their identity and play "Cardinals basketball for 40 minutes." What I mean by that statement is that Louisville should not allow Kentucky to make them play at a faster pace then they normally play because if so they will be tired that much quicker, which leads to ineffective play and no legs underneath their jumpers. Personally, I feel Kentucky's depth will be too much for Louisville today and the Wildcats will prowl to another high-quality win in enemy territory.
---Kentucky 50, Louisville 43
6:00 PM EST-ESPN 2
11-1 8. Gonzaga
10-3 BYU
Normally the Bulldogs are the favorite in almost every conference game they play...this is one of them but they will need more than the 63 points they scored against Cal Poly to win. The Gonzaga Bulldogs are off to another great start this season with an NIT Season Tip-Off Championship and blowout wins at home against then twenty-second ranked SMU and at Pauley Pavillion against the UCLA Bruins. The only loss Gonzaga has so far was against number three ranked Arizona at Tuscon. The game was close throughout but Gonzaga could not capitalize on a chance at the end of regulation to win the game and later fell in overtime by the score of 66-63. Like Kentucky, Gonzaga has a lot of depth because last season the only starter that graduated was Sam Dower. This season, the Bulldogs are led by Kentucky transfer, Kyle Wiltjer (JR) who is averaging 16.8 points per game (most on the team) to go along with 5.1 rebounds per game. Walking into battle with Wiltjer on a nightly basis is Byron Wesley (SR, 11.8 PPG & 5.3 RPG), Domantas Sabonis (FR, 10.9 PPG & 5.8 RPG), Kevin Pangos (SR, 10.8 PPG & 4.9 APG (leads team)), Przemek Karnowski (JR, 10.1 PPG & 6.5 RPG (leads team)) and Gary Bell Jr. (SR, 8.9 PPG). Isn't that a great six man crew? The reason for the success this year for Zaga is the defense they play to go along with their offense. Tonight the defense will be tested by the highest scoring offense in college basketball, the BYU Cougars. BYU is averaging 88 points per game and has scored over a hundred points in two of their thirteen games. Leading the pack for the Cougars is Senior Tyler Haws. Haws has had a tremendous career in Provo and has the opportunity to reach two thousand points for his career this season if he keeps the pace of scoring he is averaging now. In his three years at BYU he has averaged 21.7 PPG his Sophomore year, 23.2 PPG his Junior year, and 22.3 PPG so far this season. The problem for BYU has not been there offense but their defense. At the Maui Invitational, the Cougars gave up 92 points to the San Diego State Aztecs in a Double Overtime loss and 87 to the Purdue Boilermakers in a Single Overtime loss. The other loss for BYU came strangely because they could not score enough points to the thirteenth ranked Utah Utes. Star Tyler Haws struggled against Utah and shot 9 for 22 from the field. Besides Haws, BYU has a guard that plays like a big man in 6'6" guard Kyle Collinsworth (JR, 13.1 PPG & 7.6 RPG (leads team) & 5.3 APG (leads team)), a traditional guard in Anson Winder (SR, 14.2 PPG, 4.2 RPG), and a sharpshooter named Chase Fischer (JR, 13.6 PPG). So the Cougars have an ample supply of offense but can their defense stop a solid offense in the Gonzaga Bulldogs tonight at the Marriott Center? My key of the game for Gonzaga is to shutdown Tyler Haws. I know BYU has more than just Haws to score the ball but Utah held him to 40.9% shooting and got a 65-61 win, why not the Zags? For BYU, the key is to play the kind of defense showed in the loss to Utah, which includes protect the three point line. Gonzaga scores about one-fourth of their points on three pointers (21.5 of their 83.7 PPG from 3 pointers) while shooting about 40% from downtown. BYU held the Utes to 14.3% shooting from beyond the arc, that is the kind of defensive performance that the Cougars need to pull of the upset tonight.
---Gonzaga 76, BYU 67
9:00 PM EST
12-0 24. Colorado State
5-8 New Mexico State
If Kentucky does not fall to Louisville, will Colorado State drop their first to New Mexico State? The Colorado State Rams have had a great season so far as they have won every non-conference game going into tonight, but can they survive their last at New Mexico State. The Rams dominance has not just be in-state but outside the state as well. (Out of State) During Thanksgiving weekend, CSU went and won the Great Alaska Shootout by defeating Missouri State, Pacific, and UC Santa Barbara in the Championship Game. After the tournament, the Rams used the early season tournament championship as momentum leading to dominance within their state by defeating Wooden Legacy Finalist UTEP and Northern Colorado in Fort Collins and traveling on the road to beat their rival, the Colorado Buffalos, and another tough opponent in the Denver Pioneers. The early success for Colorado State can be pinpointed to their unselfishness as a team. The Rams are nineteenth in the country in assists per game with just under seventeen per game. Also, one thousand point scorer, J.J. Avila (SR) has continued to produce like he has done in past two years by leading the Rams in points per game with 14.1 and rebounds per game with 7.6. In addition to his scoring and rebounding numbers, he is second on the team with 3.4 assists per game. What can't he do? The New Mexico Stats Aggies hope Avila cannot lead his team to a victory in Las Cruces tonight. Although the record suggests it, the New Mexico State Aggies are not a bad team. Many thought going into the season that the Aggies were going to be a top Mid-Major in college basketball. New Mexico State has had a very tough non-conference schedule this season, which has added a number of losses to their record. Their season opener was against number eleven ranked Wichita State at Charles Koch Arena, which is always a tough place to play. The Aggies were ran out of the building and destroyed by the Shockers leading them to their next matchup at Saint Mary's. Like their first game, the Aggies were defeated by double-digits on the road by the Gaels. In fact, losses on the road has been the theme of New Mexico State basketball as seven of the Aggies' eight loses have occured while visiting another team's arena and three of those eight have been decided by three or fewer points (UTEP, Wyoming, and Oral Roberts). The only two besides Saint Mary's and Wichita State that were decided by more than ten was at New Mexico and Baylor, which are hard opponents to beat anywhere. The thing that shows me that New Mexico State plays better at home is that they have defeated UTEP 71-64 after a 77-76 loss and came close to defeating their in-state rival, New Mexico, at home after a 62-47 defeat in "The Pit". So what gives me the feeling the Aggies could pull the upset tonight? Three players...Remi Barry (SR, 13.8 PPG (leads team) & 4.5 RPG), Pascal Siakam (FR, 11.8 PPG & 6.6 RPG), and DK Eldridge (SR, 10.3 PPG & 3.4 RPG). For New Mexico State, to win tonight, these three starters will have to play beyond their averages. What hurts the Aggies chances is the injury to Senior guard Daniel Mullings. The 2013-2014 WAC Player of the Year sustained a broken finger while practicing about a month ago and will miss tonight's game while being expected back in February. His scoring (13.4 PPG) and rebounding (7.4 RPG) were tops on the team and in my opinion, New Mexico State would be a favorite to beat Colorado State with him on the court. My key of the game for Colorado State is to knock down the three-point shot. The Rams are tied for twenty-fifth best in the nation in three point percentage at 39.8% and if as a team, they start getting hot from beyond the arc they will move into conference play undefeated. Like I said earlier for the Aggies to pull off the upset without Mullings, New Mexico State must get a big performance from one of their starters. Personally, I feel like it most
likely will come from Remi Barry or DK Eldridge since they are the Seniors and are most capable of dropping twenty on any given night.
---Colorado State 58, New Mexico State 55
My College Basketball Picks Record: 26-15
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