By Peyton Wesner
12:00 PM EST-ESPN
19-6 (8-4) 23. Ohio State
at 16-8 (7-4) Michigan State
19-6 (8-4) 23. Ohio State
Solid Wins:
-Marquette 74-63 (Home)
-High Point 97-43 (Home)
-Wright State 100-55 (Home)
-Illinois 77-61 (Home)
-Michigan 71-52 (Home)
-#23 Indiana 82-70 (Home)
-#16 Maryland 80-56 (Home)
Conference Losses:
-Iowa 71-65 (Home)
-Indiana 69-66 (Road)
-Iowa 76-67 (Road)
-Purdue 60-58 (Road)
Last Game:
-Win Against Penn State 75-55 (Home)
Key Players:
---#0 D'Angelo Russell (FR)
-19.4 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 5.5 APG, & 1.7 SPG
---#2 Marc Loving (SO)
-11.7 PPG & 3.9 RPG.
---#12 Sam Thompson (SR)
-10.2 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 2.0 APG, & 1.4 SPG.
---#1 Jae'Sean Tate (FR)
-8.4 PPG & 4.8 RPG.
---#3 Shannon Scott (SR)
-7.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 6.2 APG, & 1.9 SPG.
---#15 Kam Williams (FR)
-6.8 PPG.
---#23 Amir Williams (SR)
-6.8 PPG, 4.8 RPG, & 1.8 BPG.
16-8 (7-4) Michigan State
Solid Wins:
-Loyola (IL) 87-52 (Home)
-Marquette 79-68 in Semi-Final of Orlando Classic.
-Indiana 70-50 (Home)
-Iowa 75-61 (Road)
-Michigan 76-66 in Overtime (Home)
Conference Opponents:
-#12 Maryland 68-66 in Double Overtime (Home)
-#14 Maryland 75-69 (Road)
-Nebraska 79-77 (Road)
-Illinois 59-54 (Home)
Last Game:
-Win Against Northwestern 68-44 (Road)
Key Players:
---#45 Denzel Valentine (JR)
-14.4 PPG, 6.1 RPG, & 4.4 APG.
---#20 Travis Trice (SR)
-13.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 5.4 APG, & 1.4 SPG.
---#22 Branden Dawson (SR)
-11.8 PPG, 9.9 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.5 SPG, & 1.3 BPG.
---#5 Bryn Forbes (JR)
-9.8 PPG.
---#10 Matt Costello (JR)
-7.3 PPG, 5.6 RPG, & 1.2 BPG.
Prediction:
"Let's get it on!" To start "Super Saturday" we have a great matchup between Big Ten foes fighting for a top four spot in the standings, so they can receive a first day bye when the Big Ten Tournament comes rolling around. Although the Aaron Craft Era is over in Columbus, the D'Angelo Russell Era has just begun. Russell, a Freshman from Louisville, Kentucky, probably has his home town team wondering why they didn't recruit him harder, especially with the way he has played during his first season. Coming into today's game, Russell is averaging 19.4 points per game and has scored over thirty points twice! The support cast around Russell at Ohio State, include youngsters Marc Loving and Jae'Sean Tate and Seniors Sam Thompson and Shannon Scott. Luckily for the Buckeyes is the fact that Ohio State's second leading scorer Marc Loving will play this afternoon after being suspended for the last three games. During his suspension, Ohio State went 2-1 with their only defeat coming at Purdue. Loving will need to start right where he left off in his last game (19 points, 6 rebounds) to give his team a chance against a very experienced Michigan State Spartans team. Doesn't seem like Branden Dawson has been in school forever? This year Dawson is finally a Senior and is averaging career highs in points, rebounds, and assists, while also becoming a thousand point scorer. Another Senior trying to reach a thousand points in his career is Travis Trice. With Gary Harris going to the NBA and Keith Appling graduating, the door opened right up for Trice who leads the Spartans in assists while being the team's second leading scorer. But surprisingly, Dawson nor Trice has been the go-to scorer when needed this season, but rather Junior Denzel Valentine. The home-grown Junior has been great this year and comes in averaging 18.3 points per game in his last three games. Looking at this matchup at a glance, a person could easily fall in love with Ohio State as they score an average of six more points per game than Michigan State while both defenses are very even. But the game is in East Lansing and is very critical for the Spartans as there is a real possibility that they could not make the tournament. I believe Russell will get his points and probably score around twenty or more, but I think Valentine will play with a chip on his shoulder and have a performance that nearly neutralizes Russell's affect on the game. If this happens, Michigan State will win as they have the better team.
---Michigan State 70, Ohio State 69
12:00 PM EST-ESPN2
18-6 (8-3) 12. North Carolina
at 16-9 (5-6) Pittsburgh
18-6 (8-3) 12. North Carolina
Lunardi's Bracketology: 3 Seed
Solid Wins:
-Davidson 90-72 (in Charlotte)
-#22 UCLA 78-56 in Consolation Bracket of Battle 4 Atlantis.
-#18 Florida 75-64 in Consolation Championship of Battle 4 Atlantis.
-#12 Ohio State 82-74 in CBS Sports Classic (in Chicago)
-#5 Louisville 72-71 (Home)
-NC State 81-79 (Road)
-Syracuse 93-83 (Home)
Conference Losses:
-#13 Notre Dame 71-70 (Home)
-#10 Louisville 78-68 in Overtime (Road)
-#3 Virginia 75-64 (Home)
Last Game:
-Win Against Boston College 79-68 (Road)
Key Players:
---#5 Marcus Paige (JR)
-14.2 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 4.2 APG, & 1.4 SPG.
---#3 Kennedy Meeks (SO)
-12.3 PPG, 7.8 RPG, & 1.3 BPG.
---#11 Brice Johnson (JR)
-12.2 PPG, 8.0 RPG, & 1.1 BPG.
---#44 Justin Jackson (FR)
-9.9 PPG, 3.6 RPG, & 2.5 APG.
---#13 J.P. Tokoto (JR)
-8.7 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 4.1 APG, & 1.3 SPG.
---#22 Isaiah Hicks (SO)
-6.9 PPG & 3.3 RPG.
---#0 Nate Britt (SO)
-6.3 PPG & 1.8 APG.
16-9 (5-6) Pittsburgh
Solid Wins:
-Kansas State 70-47 in Third Place Game of Maui Invitational.
-Manhattan 65-56 (Home)
-Oakland 81-77 in Overtime (Home)
-Florida Gulf Coast 71-54 (Home)
-Florida State 73-64 (Home)
-#8 Notre Dame 76-72 (Home)
-Syracuse 83-77 (Home)
"Never Shoulda Happened" Losses:
-Hawaii 74-70 (Road)
-Virginia Tech 70-67 in Overtime (Road)
Last Game:
-Loss To #9 Louisville 69-56 (Road)
Key Players:
---#2 Michael Young (SO)
-13.3 PPG, 7.8 RPG, & 1.0 BPG.
---#1 Jamel Artis (SO)
-12.8 PPG, 5.8 RPG, & 2.1 APG.
---#0 James Robinson (JR)
-10.0 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 5.1 APG, & 1.2 SPG.
---#3 Cameron Wright (SR) (DNP in Last Game @ Louisville)
-9.1 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 2.6 APG, & 1.6 SPG.
---#12 Chris Jones (SO)
-8.8 PPG, 3.0 RPG, & 1.9 APG.
---#13 Josh Newkirk (SO)
-7.0 PPG & 3.4 RPG.
Prediction:
Roy Williams better watch out because Pittsburgh may be peaking at the right time. The Panthers, led by a plethora of young talent, have had some very impressive victories of late as they have taken down top ten ranked Notre Dame and Syracuse at home. Will North Carolina fall victim next? The Tar Heels hit a bit of a skid ending January and starting February that started with the defense allowing, what would had been a huge win, the Louisville Cardinals to come back from a sixteen-point deficit at the KFC Yum! Center to force overtime. In overtime, the momentum was completly shifted and the Tar Heels were drained, which led to the Louisville Cardinals running North Carolina out of town in a ten point victory. Two days later, UNC had to face the Virginia Cavaliers, who were coming off a loss at home versus Duke. There was no way Virginia was going to lose two in a row and the Tar Heels dropped another. Since the two game losing streak, North Carolina has rebounded nicely with a win at Boston College, but today will be a different kind of test. Players coming in hot that you must keep an eye on are Pittsburgh's "Sophomore Stud" Jamel Artis and North Carolina's Brice Johnson. Both have been filling up the stat sheet as Artis comes in averaging 20.8 points per game in his last five including a thirty-two point performance against Bryant while Johnson is scoring a modest 14.2 points per game in his last five. I feel like this game will be closer than people think, but I believe North Carolina will win in a blow-for-blow fight. The difference maker will be Marcus Paige and I trust him to make the right decisions while protecting the ball for his team.
---North Carolina 72, Pittsburgh 64
8:00 PM EST-ESPN2
17-7 (8-4) 17. Oklahoma
at 12-13 (5-7) Kansas State
17-7 (8-4) 17. Oklahoma
Solid Wins:
-#22 UCLA 75-65 in Quarterfinal of Battle 4 Atlantis.
-Butler 59-46 in Semi-Final of Battle 4 Atlantis.
-Missouri 82-63 (Home)
-Tulsa 87-68 (Road)
-#22 Baylor 73-63 (Home)
-#10 Texas 70-49 (Road)
-#24 Oklahoma State 82-65 (Home)
-Oklahoma State 64-56 (Road)
-#15 West Virginia 71-52 (Home)
Losses to Unranked Opponents:
-Creighton 65-63 (Road)
-Kansas State 66-63 in Overtime (Home)
Last Game:
-Win Against #14 Iowa State 94-83 (Home)
Key Players:
---#24 Buddy Hield (JR)
-17.6 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 1.9 APG, & 1.5 SPG.
---#11 Isaiah Cousins (JR)
-12.2 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 2.1 APG, & 1.2 SPG.
---#35 TaShawn Thomas (SR)
-11.0 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 1.7 APG, & 1.5 BPG.
---#00 Ryan Spangler (JR)
-10.9 PPG, 8.0 RPG, & 1.3 BPG.
---#10 Jordan Woodard (SO)
-8.8 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 4.2 APG, & 1.5 SPG.
12-13 (5-7) Kansas State
Solid Wins:
-Purdue 88-79 in Quarterfinal of Maui Invitational.
-Texas A&M 71-64 (in Kansas City)
-#16 Oklahoma 66-63 in Overtime (Road)
-#22 Baylor 63-61 (Home)
-Oklahoma State 63-53 (Home)
"Never Shoulda Happened" Losses:
-Long Beach State 69-60 (Road)
-Texas Southern 58-56 (Home)
-Texas Tech 64-47 (Road)
Last Game:
-Loss To West Virginia 76-72 (Road)
Key Players:
---#2 Marcus Foster (SO)
-14.0 PPG, 2.4 RPG, & 2.1 APG.
---#11 Nino Williams (SR)
-11.5 PPG & 4.9 RPG.
---#42 Thomas Gipson (SR)
-11.1 PPG & 4.8 RPG.
---#14 Justin Edwards (JR)
-6.3 PPG, 3.5 RPG, & 1.1 SPG.
Prediction:
If anyone could take the Big 12 Conference crown away from Kansas, it will be Iowa State or a team that handed Iowa State a loss in their last game, the Oklahoma Sooners. The Oklahoma Sooners are a team I truly love to watch because they are simply a great overall team. On the offensive side, the Sooners have the best scorer in the Big 12 in Junior Bobby Hield. Hield is a pure scorer that can basically score the ball in any way possible. Since conference play has begun, Hield is averaging 19.5 points per game. That is a player of the year like statistic! No wonder Hield is on the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 List. The scary part for Big 12 opponents is that Oklahoma does not just have Hield to worry about but four other scorers around him that can also put the ball in the basket (Isaiah Cousins, TaShawn Thomas, Ryan Spangler, and Jordan Woodard). While the Sooners can obviously score, they also play great defense and hold opponents to an average of 61.6 points per game, which is two points less than what Kansas allows per game. Now do you believe how good Oklahoma is? If so, then you understand why Kansas Jayhawks' fans will swallow their pride and root for their arch-rival this evening. The Kansas State Wildcats have had a very up and down season so far. In non-conference play, K-State was embarrassed by being defeated by mid-majors Long Beach State and Texas Southern, but then they redeemed themselves by starting conference play 4-0 with two of their four wins coming against ranked opponents, including the team they are playing tonight. Then the Iowa State Cyclones knocked the Wildcats off their high ground, ultimately sending them into a stretch with six losses in seven games. The six losses in the last seven brings us to tonight's game against Oklahoma. This evening, Kansas State will get their leading scorer, Marcus Foster, back on the court after missing three games due to a suspension for a violation of team rules. That should help right? Sure, it will but I feel like Foster will need huge help from teammates Nino Williams and Thomas Gipson. All together I believe the trio needs to produce forty-five to fifty points to keep their team in the game. What I look forward to finding out is what will be harder for Kansas StTs, playing good defense against Oklahoma's offense or trying to score on their opponent's defense. Nevertheless since Kansas State stole the first meeting in overtime, I do not see them upsetting the Sooners again, especially with the way Hield is playing.
---Oklahoma 70, Kansas State 57
9:00 PM EST-ESPN
14-9 (7-4) Connecticut
at 20-5 (11-2) 25. SMU
14-9 (7-4) Connecticut
Solid Wins:
-Dayton 75-64 in Semi-Final of Puerto-Rico Tip-Off
-Florida 63-59 (Road)
-Cincinnati 62-59 (Home)
Conference Losses:
-Temple 57-53 in Overtime (Home)
-Tulsa 66-58 (Road)
-Cincinnati 70-58 (Road)
-Houston 70-68 (Road)
Last Game:
-Win Against Tulsa 70-45 (Home)
Key Players:
---#11 Ryan Boatright (SR)
-18.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 4.4 APG, & 1.3 SPG.
---#44 Rodney Purvis (SO)
-10.1 PPG & 2.1 RPG.
---#35 Amida Brimah (SO)
-10.0 PPG, 4.7 RPG, & 3.2 BPG.
---#5 Daniel Hamilton (FR)
-10.0 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 3.2 APG, & 1.0 SPG.
20-5 (11-2) 25. SMU
Lunardi's Bracketology: 7 Seed
Solid Wins
-Eastern Washington 77-68 (Home)
-Wyoming 66-53 (Home)
-UC Santa Barbara 80-73 in Overtime (Home)
-Michigan 62-51 (Road)
-Memphis 73-59 (Home)
-Temple 60-55 (Road)
-Tulsa 68-57 (Road)
Losses to Non-Ranked Opponents:
-Indiana 74-68 (Road)
-Cincinnati 56-50 (Road)
-Cincinnati 62-54 (Home)
Last Game:
-Win Against Houston 75-69 (Road)
Key Players:
---#11 Nic Moore (JR)
-14.6 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 5.4 APG, & 1.4 SPG.
---#2 Yanick Moreira (SR)
-11.6 PPG, 6.8 RPG, & 1.2 BPG.
---#5 Markus Kennedy (JR)
-10.9 PPG, 5.8 RPG, & 1.1 SPG.
---#0 Ben Moore (SO)
-7.5 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 2.1 APG, & 1.0 BPG.
---#1 Ryan Manuel (SR)
-6.2 PPG, 3.2 RPG, & 2.1 APG.
Prediction:
So maybe UConn does have a chance to make the NCAA Tournament! On Thursday night the Connecticut Huskies made a statement by defeating American Athletic Conference leader Tulsa by thirty-five points! Can you say beatdown? Experienced guard Ryan Boatright had a phenomenal game against the Golden Hurricane as he shot eight for fourteen and scored a game-high twenty-three points. Now this was not a "one in a season" performance for the Senior from Aurora, Illinois, since he is averaging 24.2 points per game in his last six contests. Can you say the boat is rocking in the right direction? I can, but I can also say UConn has lost their last three conference games away from the XL Center, which is the scenario tonight for the Huskies against SMU. Coached by Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown, the SMU Mustangs are impressing America with their talent as they could be a team that makes a run deep into March. Last Saturday, the Mustangs galloped into the storm and handed the Golden Hurricane their first conference loss thanks to a twenty-three point, seven assist outing from Nic Moore. Moore is no doubt the best player on the Mustangs as he facilitates and scores the ball at ease. After the win at Tulsa, SMU escaped Houston in a close victory on Thursday night. Tonight I expect another close game, but who will win? For most fans, the eye test would declare Connecticut the winner, but for me I believe SMU will get the job done. The best player is definately on UConn and the Huskies could easily win if they play like they did against Tulsa. Personally I think that is a big "if" and I feel the Mustangs will outrun the Huskies at home.
---SMU 68, Connecticut 67
9:00 PM EST-SEC Network
19-5 (8-3) 24. Arkansas
at 17-7 (8-3) Ole Miss
19-5 (8-3) 24. Arkansas
Solid Wins:
-Wake Forest 83-53 (Home)
-SMU 78-72 (Road)
-Iona 94-77 (Home)
-Dayton 69-55 (Home)
-Georgia 79-75 (Road)
-Tennessee 69-64 (Home)
Conference Losses:
-Tennessee 74-69 (Road)
-Ole Miss 96-82 (Home)
-Florida 56-55 (Road)
Last Game:
-Win Against Auburn 101-87 (Road)
Key Players:
---#10 Bobby Portis (SO)
-17.9 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 1.3 BPG, & 1.0 SPG.
---#24 Michael Qualls (JR)
-15.3 PPG, 5.1 RPG, & 1.6 APG.
---#00 Rashad Madden (SR)
-9.8 PPG, 3.4 RPG, & 4.9 APG.
---#5 Anthlon Bell (JR)
-8.6 PPG & 1.6 APG.
---#2 Alandise Harris (SR)
-7.7 PPG, 3.2 RPG, & 1.0 SPG.
17-7 (8-3) Ole Miss
Lunardi's Bracketology: 10 Seed
Solid Wins:
-#23 Creighton 75-68 in Semi-Final of Emerald Coast Classic.
-Cincinnati 66-54 in Championship of Emerald Coast Classic.
-Oregon 79-73 (Road)
-Coastal Carolina 71-68 (Home)
-#19 Arkansas 96-82 (Road)
-Florida 72-71 (Home)
-Texas A&M 69-59 (Home)
"Never Shoulda Happened" Losses:
-Charleston Southern 66-65 in Overtime (Home)
-TCU 66-54 (Home)
-Western Kentucky 81-74 (Home)
Last Game:
-Win Against Florida 62-61 (Road)
Key Players:
---#42 Stefan Moody (JR)
-15.6 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 2.3 APG, & 1.5 SPG.
---#32 Jarvis Summers (SR)
-12.7 PPG, 1.8 RPG, & 4.4 APG.
---#10 Ladarius White (SR)
-11.6 PPG & 3.2 RPG.
---#11 Sebastian Saiz (SO)
-7.4 PPG, 5.3 RPG, & 1.0 BPG.
---#4 M.J. Rhett (SR)
-6.7 PPG & 4.7 RPG.
Prediction:
Moody FOR THREEEEEEE! Moody Magic! Ole Miss Wins! On Thursday night, Ole Miss Rebel Stefan Moody drained a long three pointer from the Florida Gators' nose on the court to give his team a one point lead with 2.7 seconds left. Later the shot would become the game-winning shot. A star player being the star in sort of a home-coming game, is no better sight in my opinion. So the Rebels winning streak is now up to six games thanks to Moody's three pointer and Sebastian Saiz and Dwight Colby. What did Saiz and Colby do you ask? The two bigs grabbed sixteen rebounds and scored seventeen points collectively, which helped control the paint for their team. Will Ole Miss be able to get the same quality performances from Saiz and Colby in order to control the paint against one of the best post players in the nation? When someone talks to me about Arkansas basketball, it amazes me that they do not talk more about the "Sophomore Stud", Bobby Portis. Bobby Portis is a 6'11" dominator who has a chance, if he keeps up the scoring pace, to become a thousand point scorer this season. Portis is not just a great college player but an NBA talent as he is shooting 56.4% percent from the field and 75.0% from the free throw line. In addition, Portis has ten double-doubles this season and has scored twenty plus points nine times! Walking across the Arkansas/Mississippi border with Portis is Mike Qualls, who is the guard of the duo, who can also fill up a scoreboard equally as fast as his teammate. Qualls has scored twenty plus points eight times already this year and has even put up thirty points in one game. With the talent on the court, I feel like this game will be very high scoring. Really, I figure it will probably come down to who can score more between Arkansas's Portis and Qualls or Ole Miss's Moody, Summers, and White. Be sure to keep track of this game on your phone, if you do not have the SEC Network because it is sure to be a show.
---Arkansas 74, Ole Miss 71
11:59 PM EST
9-15 (1-8) Cal State Fullerton
at 17-9 (5-5) Hawaii
9-15 (1-8) Cal State Fullerton
Decent Wins:
-Wright State 67-62 in Spartanburg Marriott Upstate Classic.
-Florida International 64-61 in Spartanburg Marriott Upstate Classic.
-Nevada 65-55 (Road)
-Texas A&M-CC 82-77 (Home)
-Seattle 67-55 (Home)
Single-Digit Conference Losses:
-UC Riverside 84-78 in Overtime (Road)
-UC Irvine 63-58 (Home)
-Long Beach State 91-85 in Overtime (Home)
-UC Riverside 71-66 in Overtime (Home)
Last Game:
-Loss To UC Davis 75-69 (Road)
Key Players:
---#23 Alex Harris (SR)
-16.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 3.3 APG, & 1.5 SPG.
---#10 Lanerryl Johnson (JR)
-11.7 PPG.
---#3 Moses Morgan (SR)
-9.1 PPG & 2.7 RPG.
---#11 Josh Gentry (SR)
-7.1 PPG & 2.8 RPG.
---#21 Steve McClellan (SR)
-6.9 PPG & 8.5 RPG.
17-9 (5-5) Hawaii
Solid Wins:
-Pittsburgh 74-70 (Home)
-East Carolina 75-73 in Fifth Place Game of Gulf Coast Showcase.
-Nebraska in Quarterfinal of Diamond Head Classic (Home).
-Colorado 69-66 in Third Place Game of Diamond Head Classic (Home).
-UC Davis 84-76 (Home)
Questionable Losses:
-San Francisco 88-73 in Quarterfinal of Gulf Coast Showcase.
-Cal Poly 61-57 in Overtime (Home)
-UC Riverside 66-62 (Road)
Last Game:
-Win Against UC Riverside 73-52 (Home)
Key Players:
---#23 Aaron Valdes (SO)
-14.2 PPG, 5.3 RPG, & 1.9 SPG.
---#1 Garrett Nevels (SR)
-10.6 PPG & 4.5 RPG.
---#0 Isaac Fleming (FR)
-9.8 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 2.0 APG, & 1.2 SPG.
---#33 Stefan Jankovic (SO)
-9.5 PPG & 3.9 RPG.
---#25 Mike Thomas (SO)
-8.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG, & 1.2 BPG.
---#5 Roderick Bobbitt (JR)
-8.4 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 5.7 APG, & 3.3 SPG.
---#14 Negus Webster-Chan (SO)
-7.7 PPG & 4.4 RPG.
Prediction:
Unless you live on the West Coast and want to watch what should be a blowout basketball game, catch up on some sleep, you most likely will not miss anything. Cal State Fullerton was 8-7 going into Big West Conference play, and everything was going smoothly until the losses started to pile up and the win percentage started heading South. The Titans lost their first eight out of nine conference matchups leading us to today. Honestly four of the losses could have resulted in wins, but unfortunatley the ball bounced the opposite way and resulted into single-digit losses. A bright spot in all the losses for Fullerton is the play of Senior Alex Harris. Harris, who comes into tonight averaging a team high 16.1 points per game, can be described as a high volume shooter (averages 12.8 field goal attempts per game) that attempts about a third of his shots from downtown (averages 4.5 three point attempts per game) at a low shootng percentage of 29.6%. Despite these negatives, when Harris is hot, he can be lethal. Two games ago against UC Riverside, Harris scored thirty-one of his team's sixty-six points in a 71-66 loss. So the 6'1" guard is very capable of scoring the basketball, but he could go cold tonight in sunny Hawaii. The University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors is one of the teams I think very highly of on the West Coast. Just like Cal State Fullerton, if a few close games would have went their way, Hawaii could have more wins, and in their case be at the top of the standings. Although "Sophomore Stud" and leading scorer Aaron Valdes has struggled of late, Hawaii's success is not dependent on the performance of one man as they have much bench depth and many capable players that can score. My key of the game for Cal State Fullerton is to keep the score close because the Rainbow Warriors are capable of making mistakes. If the Titans can hang around a five point deficit at the four minute time out, then they will be in striking range to win this game. For Hawaii, I have two keys: Shut down Alex Harris and make him force bad shots and get Aaron Valdes involved early and often. Hawaii knows Harris will put up shots, but if they can get him taking terrible off-balanced, long-range shots, then that takes the ball out of the Titans' hands and into Hawaii's. Lastly, Hawaii needs to get Valdes involved early in the first half because they need his confidence up when Big West Tournament time comes around. Valdes must get back to his early December self for Hawaii to have any chance of winning the conference tournament and receiving the NCAA Tournament's automatic bid for the Big West Conference. Like I indicated at the beginning though, Hawaii should win and I will go with them and hope they will not allow Cal State Fullerton to pull off the upset in their home gym.
---Hawaii 67, Cal State Fullerton 60
PW's Prediction Record Coming into Today: 141-52 (51-14 in the MVC)
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