Big Ten Preview #6: PURDUE BOILERMAKERS

Purdue goes here at #6 despite it being equally likely they finish in any spot from #3 to #8 because, quite simply, there just isn't that much known.  What we know is Lewis Jackson is will be very difficult to guard, won't be a good shooter, but will have success using his incredible quickness to get into the paint and either score, get fouled, or set-up his teammates.  We also know Purdue will play very tough man-to-man defense.  But that's it.  Everything else is a question mark of varying degrees.

We almost know that Robbie Hummel will be good - and he'll have to be considering he's really the team's only consistent offensive threat - but can you say that about a guy coming off not one but two major knee injuries?  I caught a little bit of one of the Boilers exhibition games and he looked like the same old fundamentally sound, mid-range jump-shooting put it on the floor and go around a slower big guy player that he always was, but that was against sub-par competition and who's to say that knee doesn't weaken as the season goes along and the minutes pile up, or just plain gives out again?  If he's healthy all year he's an all league player, but if he has issues, Purdue has issues.

I don't even know who is going to score here besides Hummel and Jackson, because nobody else has ever had to with JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore around.  Ryne Smith will certainly be around to hit a bunch of three-pointers, but I'm not sure if he can create his own shot and without Moore helping on the perimeter and Johnson drawing doubles (although if Hummel is healthy he probably will) he's going find fewer open shots.  The rest of the team is a collection of unknowns, at least as far as offense goes.

On paper they're talented:  junior D.J. Byrd, sophomore Terone Johnson, and freshman Anthony Johnson were all top 100 type recruits coming out of high school and others - juniors Kelsey Barlow and John Hart, sophomores Travis Carroll and Sandi Marcius and freshman Jacob Lawson all have things to offer but have some major question marks.  Byrd looks like he's on the Brian Cardinal express train to annoying hustleplayerville, Barlow is a freak athlete and great defender but his offensive game is lacking, Carroll is a big lumbering oaf, Marcius is a communits, Lawson is a great athlete but very raw offensively, and Hart started last season strong but didn't look like nearly the same player after returning from injury mid-year.

I expect the key for the Boilers - outside of Hummel's health of course - is the development of either Anthony or Terone Johnson.  Anthony redshirted last year but was the higher regarded recruit coming out of high school and did score 9 in Purdue's first exhibition game.  Both are supposed to be pretty good athletes who can score, and if either or both develop into a true weapon on that end of the floor Purdue will shoot up into the top 4 in the conference - once again, assuming Hummel's knee.

You know I probably could saved time and just typed Hummel Hummel Hummel Hummel Hummel Hummel over and over again for this preview.

DWG Over/Under Conference Wins:  9.5

Beat the Boilers

Like I said in my post from yesterday I can't believe how geeked out I am for this game, especially since Purdue is probably going to win by twenty.  But I just can't help it.  I can't wait for the game.  I guess I'm a bit like Jennifer Aniston.  She just knows that whatever guy she gets with is going to get sick of her and break her heart, but she keeps flinging herself at dudes anyway.  That's me.  But instead of dudes it means Gopher basketball.  As far as you know.

On to your preview.

1.  Mediocre team that desperately needs a win at home vs. a final four contender - what usually happens?  Well, I detailed in the last post how UCONN beat WVU Monday night in a very similar position to what the Gophers are in.  Checking back to last year, I found nine similar situations, where a team on the bubble is visited by a top 10 team: Maryland vs. #3 North Carolina, Cincinnati vs. #7 Louisville, Georgetown vs. #6 Louisville, Maryland vs. #7 Duke, UAB vs. #4 Memphis, VA Tech vs. #7 Duke, Maryland vs. #10 Wake Forest, Va Tech vs. #2 North Carolina, and West Virginia vs. #6 Louisville.   The bubble team's record in those games:  1-9.  Gulp.  But hey, thanks to UCONN Bubble teams are undefeated in this type of game this year, so it's practically a lock for your precious Gophers.

2.  How good is the big three of Purdue?  Really, really good and getting better.  E'Twaun Moore might be emerging as the real go-to guy on this team and he absolutely took over the game against Michigan State.  JaJuan Johnson has added a 19-foot pull-up jumper to his already Hakim Warrick like game, and Robbie Hummel is steady as they come (except for his shooting slump the last three games which hopefully will continue).  The three combine to score 65% of Purdue's points and grab 52% of the team's rebounds, and Hummel and Johnson are two of the most offensively efficient players in the country according to Ken Pom, and Moore has a higher effective field goal percentage than either of them.  Oh, and Lewis Jackson is back and has seemingly solved his turnover issues from last year.  Yeah, this all sounds real good.

3.  What's been working for the Gophers the last two games?  Offensive flow, keeping the ball moving in the half court, and the high/low.  Against the Badgers they shot 48% while turning it over just 11 times and against the Hoosiers it was 56% and again just 11 turnovers, this time against 23 assists.  That ball movement and just overall efficient offense is leading to a lot of open shots, as evidenced by the team's 14-29 three point shooting in the last two.  Of course, Purdue is a better defensive team (6th in def. efficiency) than Wisconsin (20th) or Indiana (153rd), and I can't envision how the high/low would possibly work against the Boilers and their size, but moving the ball and finding open shots is going to be a huge key - as it is in pretty much every game of basketball since Naismith and his peach basket.

Defensively this new 3-2 zone has been very effective.  Indiana and Wisconsin combined to shoot just 33% from three and 30% from two, and according to Myron Medcalf of the Star Tribune the two teams combined to score just 22 points in the paint.  That's all well and good, and there's not doubt a properly executed zone with good athletes - which the Gophers have - can be a devastating defensive weapon, but Purdue ain't Wisconsin or Indiana.  The Badgers are more reliant on the three for offense than Craig Hodges and Indiana flat out sucks.  The Boilers don't rely on the three, and Moore, Johnson, and Hummel all attack the paint.  We'll see just how good that zone is, and we'll see it in a hurry.

4.  Who needs to step up?  Honestly, everyone.  This game isn't remotely close on talent, so it's going to take effort, smart-play, hustle, and some luck if the team is going to pull this one out.  Hummel has shot just 8-26 in the last three so if he keeps that up it would be huge, but I'm not that worried about the defense, it's the scoring points part that concerns me.  Westbrook is going to have to avoid the temptation to revert back to "the man", and in such a high-profile game you better believe he's going to be tempted.  That's probably the #1 key to the game, how Westbrook plays within the offense.  I mean, Devoe is going to have to play one of his best games of his career, Sampson is going to have to continue his evolution towards Big Man of the Century and check Johnson, Hoff is going to have to find open shots, and there will probably have to be a surprise hero here somewhere, but the Westbrook thing trumps all.  If he's in "showcase my talent" mode, nothing else is going to matter.

5.  Well, what do we think?  I may be amped up for the game and even feeling a bit optimistic, but I am a realist at heart.  Checking kenpom.com, they give the Gophers a 45% of winning this game and predict a one-point Purdue win.  That's probably not too generous towards Minnesota.  I think if the Gophers and Boilers play this game ten times, Purdue wins seven times - let's just hope this is one of the other three.

Purdue 66, Minnesota 62

As far as other bubble-related news goes, two huge developments last night.  The first was Florida notching a huge win by beating Tennessee, and beating them by double-digits.  This is everything the Gators needed, and gives them not only another win, but a big-time signature victory.  They helped themselves out immensely.

Second, and even more impactful to the bubble, Northern Iowa lost to Evansville in a shocker.  Not only was UNI a heavy favorite, but Evansville had lost 17 of its last 18 games and ranked #275 in the RPI going into last night's game.  Prior to this all UNI would have had to do was win their last two MVC games against bottom feeders and it would have locked up a bid regardless of what happened in the conference tournament.  Now?  This is so huge UNI pretty much needs to get to conference final or it's going to be a very nerve-wracking Selection Sunday.  What a huge whiff.

Elsewhere, Louisville didn't get a big win it was looking for against Georgetown but are still probably ok, while Illinois, Old Dominion, and Seton Hall all got wins they needed for one reason or another.  Northeastern had slim, slim, slim at-large hopes, and those are now officially bye-bye with their loss at home against Hofstra.



WEDNESDAY'S BUBBLE GAMES OF NOTE:

South Florida @ Villanova - The Bulls have a couple of really good wins (beat Pitt and Georgetown earlier), but because the rest of the profile is pretty weak they could really use another.

San Diego State @ BYU - SDSU is probably about as much of a middle of the bubble team as there is.  They could really use a high-profile win and this chance to beat the Cougars is as good as it gets.

Pitt @ Notre Dame - The Irish are as good as dead, any single-loss probably kills their chances and with Harangody still injured it will probably happen sooner rather than later.

Dayton @ Temple - The Flyers at-large chances are spiraling down, down, down, and they're probably fifth in the A-10 pecking order at this point.  Stealing one from the Owls would help right the ship.

UTEP @ Southern Miss - The Miners lead C-USA, but are on pretty thin ice due to a weak non-conference profile.  They can't afford a loss here.

Virginia Tech @ Boston College - If the Hokies lose here, they're done.

Florida State @ North Carolina - Florida State's profile is good but not great - they can't afford to lose to the craptastic Heels.

UAB @ Central Florida - I think UAB is nearing lock status for a bid, but they still have to win games like this one.

DePaul @ Cincinnati - A loss here ends the Bearcats chances.

Saint Joe's @ Charlotte - The 49ers are another team that can't afford a loss.

Marquette @ St Johns - I personally think the committee is going to reward Marquette for playing so many good teams tight even though they lost them all (Marquette has six losses against RPI top 50 teams by single-digits), but winning a game like this is still a must for the Eagles.

Xavier @ St. Louis - X is already in, but the Billikens are making a late push.  Something like, say, a win over the Musketeers would be an immense help.

Auburn @ Ole Miss - Lunardi says the Rebels are out.  I'm not necessarily agreeing with that, but they definitely have to win out to have a prayer.

Memphis @ Houston - Memphis probably needs to win at least three of its last four and make a run in the CUSA tournament to have a chance.

Wichita State @ Bradley - Any loss short of in the MVC Tournament final ends the Shockers' hopes.

Alabama @ Mississippi State - Varnado and company have an empty profile when it comes to big time victories, so their only chance is win a lot of games.

TCU @ UNLV - The only way UNLV doesn't get in is by losing games like this one.


Sheesh, busy night.  Hopefully the Gophers win and all these other teams lose.

To the Boiler Room

Get it?  Boilers?  Boiler Room?  Freddy Krueger?  Actually this bit would have worked out a lot better if I knew how to use the picture software on my computer.  I was going to paste in a Purdue jersey over Freddy's shirt so it was like he was Chris Kramer, but my computer kept telling me "Error:  Source and Destination File Name is the Same" which is total BS because the one file is called "purduejersey" and the other is called "freddykrueger" so how can those be the same?  I once kind of knew how to use computers.  Now I'm like an 80-year old asking how to use "The Google."  Let's just get to something else I'm bad at - basketball analysis.

I've decided to try to add a little bit of structure to my game previews, and as such I'm going to start using a stupid gimmick that I like to call "5 Questions."

1.  How are the Gophers going to deal with the next KG?  Purdue has a ton of weapons - specifically three - but I am more worried about JaJuan Johnson than either E'Twaun Moore or Robbie Hummel.  Not that Moore and Hummel are going to be easily stopped, but Johnson's skill set is prefect to take advantage of Iverson and/or Sampson.  He's got the range to pull them out to the perimeter and the ability to go around them from there, or on the block he has a nice turnaround and good moves and footwork to get himself open shots.  Not to mention he is an oustanding offensive rebounder, and the Gophers aren't great at preventing them.

The one weakness I see is that Johnson does have a tendency to bring the ball down when he gets it inside rather than keeping the ball high.  If the guards and other assorted wing-types can get down there and double before he can get into a move and/or grab the ball when it's down low they can keep him down.  Of course, that could lead to open three-pointers, but we'll have to take that chance.

2.  What is Hoffarber's role going to be?  It's an interesting situation with the Hoff, who has basically become the Gophers top offensive weapon lately, but he can be taken advantage of on the defensive side of the ball by certain teams - and Purdue is probably one of them.  He doesn't fare badly against less athletic teams and can actually be a "force" on the boards in those situations, but I don't know how he fits in against Purdue.  When Ryne Smith is in the game he should be able to handle him, but every other wing on the Boilers would go right around him.

Still, they are going to need him in the game for his offense, and especially in this game because Purdue's one defensive weakness is defending the three-pointer.  They allow opponents to shoot 38.8% from three, 305th in the country.  Whether they play a lot of zone or find other ways to help him out, he's going to need to be in the game.  And if he can go off like he has lately, that gives the Gophers a good chance to steal one.

3.  Any chance that with the Boilers coming off the huge win over West Virginia and then traveling to Madison this weekend that they are overlooking this game?  Well, if you want to make that up and use it for bulletin board material go ahead, but I don't think so.  No matter how lofty the team's goals - and the Boilers have got to believe they are final four bound - here in the Big Ten I don't think anybdoy overlooks anybody else, particularly not a Tubby Smith coached opponent.  I don't think the Gophers are quite looked at as highly as they should be and eventually will be, but I also don't think they are going to be ignored by Painter and Co.  Just for kicks, I checked out Purdue in what you could call "trap" games between two biggies the last several years and I can't find even one single instance of them sleeping on a team they should have beaten in between two big games.  So there goes that sliver of hope. 

4.  Which Lawrence Westbrook will show up?  It is clear that Westbrook is the go-to scorer on this team.  Yes, Hoffarber has been the biggest weapon, but his inability to create his own shot makes me too much of a liability to be "the man."  Devoe can create his own shot, but he isn't quite their yet either, so that leaves it to L-Dub to be the alpha dog on this team, and when it works it's a thing of beauty; both Wisconsin games last year, this year's Penn State game were examples of what he can do when he's on.  But, as any Gopher fan can tell you, he has been incredible inconsistent throughout his career, and this year has been no exception.  In games against top 50 teams as defined at kenpom.com, Westbrook is playing significantly worse than his overall season averages.  Points per game:  9 vs. 14.  Field Goal Percentage:  41% vs. 52%.  Assists per game:  0 vs. 2.  Turnovers per game:  3 vs. 1.7.  Steals:  0.3 vs. 1.5.

If the Gophers are to do anything in conference play this year Westbrook is going to start bringing his A game against the tough opponents with more regularity.  Purdue, Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Ohio State are all in the top 50 and Northwestern and Illinois are just outside of it.  I predicted that Westbrook would have a "special" senior season and he got it off to a good start with that Penn State game.  If he can keep it going with a huge game against the Boilers that would go a long way towards a possible upset.

5.  Can the Gophers beat Purdue in West Lafayette?  Short answer:  no.  Long answer:  probably not.  Any time you play defense as well as the Gophers, and make no mistake this is one of the best defensive teams in the country, you always have a chance to win anywhere.  Although with Purdue being nearly as good on that end (they are 7th to the Gophers 5th in defensive efficieny) and with the Boilers having little trouble with Wake Forest, another top 15 defensive team, earlier this year it doesn't seem really likely.

Still, with a defense that is that good and a team that showed they can win tough road games (@ Madison last year), I don't expect this to be an embarrassment.

Purdue 60, Minnesota 54.

Minnesota/Purdue - Let's Get This Over With

The Gophers are a very gaudy 16-2 on the season thus far, and there's no doubt all fans should be very happy with the way things are going. Tubby has made the program relevant already in just two years, and has pulled in a top 25 recruiting class in both of the past two seasons. Beyond that, his game coaching ability reminds me every game how much I hate Dan Monson and Ron Gardenhire, as he seems to be able to come up with an answer to almost everything. The teams' two losses were due to facing a more athletic team in Michigan State, tough to coach against that, and against a team with a disciplined, frustrating defense in Northwestern. What do you get if you combine those two teams? Purdue. Great.

Starting with the defense, Purdue is one of the best defensive teams in the country, ranking fifth in the country, not conference, in overall defensive efficiency (Northwestern is 42nd). They also first in the nation in adjusted field goal percentage, mainly due to their complete and total lockdown on 2 points shots, where they allow opponents to shoot just 38%, ranking second in the country behind just Vanderbilt. They aren't exactly weak guarding the three either, allowing opponents to hit just 32% of their threes. They also block their opponents shot 14% of the time (20th) and turn the opponent over 24% of the time (35th). In other words, pack a lunch.

As far as being more athletic I suppose that's at least a little debatable this year, which is a huge improvement from Monson's days, but no matter what kind of homer glasses you're wearing, the Boilers have the better players, starting with Big Ten POY candidate Robbie Hummel.

Hummel doesn't quite look the part of an elite athlete, but he plays like one. He's an excellent all-around player, and can hurt you in a whole bunch of different ways. He leads the Boilers and the Big Ten in rebounding at 7.9 per game, and also ranks second on the team in scoring at 13.8 per game, and chips in with 2.4 assists and a steal, while shooting 41% from three. He might not quite get the respect he deserves because of his Northwesternian looks and not eye popping numbers, but he will be a major factor Thursday night, even if you don't notice him. He can dominate game without it being obvious, as he doesn't need to take a lot of shots (season high of just 14, Steve Curry's season high is 33). He's very important to the Boilers; in there two Big Ten losses he was hurt, against Penn State he didn't play and against Illinois he only scored seven points. I have no idea how the Gophers will handle him.

I'm not exactly sure how they'll handle Purdue's leading scorer, E'Twaun Moore at 13.9 per game, either. Westbrook can probably handle him since he's shown he can handle bigger guards and Moore stands at 6-4. Although the best plan might be to just let him have the ball and go nuts. This season he can't shoot (41% from the floor, 34% from three) or take care of the ball (1-1 Assist/TO ratio) and put up a 1-12 against Wisconsin and a 2-8 with 7 turnovers against Northwestern. The Gophers don't force turnovers this season quite to the pace they did last year, but they are still in the top 41 teams in the country in doing so. If they can get after Moore, it will go a long way towards helping them to a win.

A major concern going into this game is the Gophers' rebounding woes, and it's amplified in a game against a team like this, who rank second in the Big Ten in rebounding per game. It's not just due to Hummel, either, as they also have misspelled name guy JaJuan Johnson, an athletic jumping bean 6-10 type who more than doubled his scoring from last year (from 5.4 to 12.5 per game) and blocked shots (1.0 to 2.3) and increased his rebounding from 3.1 to 5.7 per game, all while shooting 55% this year (up from 42% last year). I know that's a lot of numbers to throw out at you math challenged retards, but let's just say he was good and has gotten a lot better. I'm actually pretty excited to see how Ralph Sampson handles him, I think they match up fairly well, with Johnson having a bit of an advantage athletically and with his experience. I am not looking forward to how Johnson matches up with Iverson, because he will destroy him and probably steal his girlfriend.

Finally, because I'm getting bored and drunk (on Cranberry & Vodkas - with Lime), I'll talk about the three non-E'Twaun guards; Lewis Jackson, Chris Kramer, and Keaton Grant.

I'll start with Kramer, since you probably know who he is since he's been around for twelve years. I thought I saw where he got hurt this year, but unfortunately it wasn't serious because it would appear he's back. Kramer is basically the new version of Brian Cardinal, but a shorter, slightly less annoying version. You know the type, he gets props for his tough defense and hustle when really all it is is hustle and lack of ability - like Dusty Rychart. Expect him to be irritating.

Lewis Jackson is the main triggerman for the offense, he's started the last 11 games for the Boilers and leads the team in assists with 3.3 per game, and the freshman tied a career high with 6 assists in the Boilers last game against Iowa, not an easy team to get assists against. I'd say more, but in the two Purdue games I've watched this year I don't remember him. I'm assuming Al Nolen can make him cry.

Finally, Keaton Grant who is kind of depressing. Last season, he was a huge part of the Boilers success averaging 11.2 points and leading the team with 66 three pointers made. Then he had knee surgery in the off-season, and has struggled to find his old form. His scoring is down to 8.0, and he's only beat his average from last season twice this year, and more importantly is only shooting 34% from the field this season. In the games I've seen him play this year, he seemed to be a step slower but could still get to the rim; the real problem was he couldn't finish - unlike me with your sister. He did play maybe his best game of the season in their last game against Iowa, with 12 points thanks to four three-pointers, so maybe he's turning it around. And, seeing as how the Gophers are next up, I'm going to assume he's hit his stride.

Overall, we have a team with a shut-down defense and some really good offensive players starting to become the team everyone thought they were going to be after some early season struggles going against a very young team that has had some real success, but may have overachieved and is starting to deal with some serious questions. I know how this ended up in Hoosiers, but there's no Jimmy Chitwood here, no matter how Norman Dale Tubby might be. Purdue 71, Minnesota 60.

Purdue vs. Minnesota

Suddenly, I realized the Gophers are playing at Purdue tonight, and it is my duty to at least make a half-assed attempt at a preview. Then I realized, I haven't really seen much of Purdue this year. A top 20 team in both polls, at the top of the Big Ten Standings, #29 in RPI and #24 in Pythagorean winning percentage, and I haven't seen them much. I was hoping one of the other Gopher bloggers would have a preview up, so I could just reword their preview and sound smart, but no such luck. Although over at From the Barn there was this nugget of goodness, which reads, in part, "Forward Dan Coleman has taken his game to the next level under Smith" which, quite literally, made me burst out laughing.

But on to the stuff that matters. Purdue is really having a tremendous season at 21-6 and 12-2 in the Big Ten. They are a lock for the NCAA tournament, with a shot at a top 3 seed, and have an impressive win over Louisville on the resume (although the Cards weren't at full strength that game). The Boilers had one of the top recruiting classes this season, and although there were some growing pains - losing at home to Wofford, giving away a game at Clemson - they are here, they're queer, deal with it.

The Boilers have a lot of guys who can hurt you, and are balanced in all areas. Such as:

9 guys play at least 15.6 minutes (Gophers 7)
7 guys score at least 5.6 points (Gophers 6)
8 guys grab at least 3 rebounds (Gophers 4)
6 guys dish at least 1.2 assists (Gophers 6)
5 guys nab at least 1 steal (Gophers 5)
7 guys have made at least ten threes this season (Gophers 5)

So they're balanced, and they're deep. The good news, is the gophers are also balanced and deep. Change around some of those arbitrary cutoffs used above, and they could probably match up even better. It's my personal opinion that Purdue is more talented, as Robbie Hummel and E'Twaun Moore are both lightyears better than anybody the Gophers can trot out there, but we've seen this Minnesota team grind it out with better teams and keep it tight until they blow it at the end.

That's once again what will probably happen tonight. I'm fully expected a close, entertaining battle right down until about the 6 minute mark where the Gophers decide to run around like a bunch of idiots while Purdue calmly takes a close game and turns it into a 10 point win.

A couple of keys for the Gophers:

1. Three pointers. Yes, Minnesota is an excellent three point shooting team, tops in the Big Ten and 55th in the country at 38.1%. However, there is a tendency to fall in love with the three and stop getting in the paint. Against an excellent defensive team like Purdue (18th in defensive efficiency) who is also mediocre defending the three (160th nationally) it will be even easier to fall in love with the three ball. I'm not saying to avoid it, because I think it will be a key if the Gophers want to pull off an upset tonight, but there has to be some penetration and transition baskets as well.

2. Turnovers. Both teams are outstanding at turning their opponents over, with Minnesota ranking 8th and Purdue 9th in the country. However, Purdue is excellent at not turning it over on offense, 42nd in the country, while the Gophers come in 175th. If the Gophers can't take care of the ball, this is going to be disastrous.

3. The Big Three. Not the Gophers' guys. The Gophers don't have a big three. They have like a 1.5 sometimes. I mean Moore, Hummel, and Keaton Grant from Purdue. Although the Boilers are balanced, those are the top three scorers and the guys who scare you. They can all blow up, and blow up in a hurry, and all three shoot better than 40% from three point land, where the Gophers are only ok defensively. Moore has scored in double digits 9 straight games, including 28 against Northwestern. He can be limited, however, as Indiana held him to 3-15 shooting and Michigan State to 5-14. The Gophers will have to do the same. Keaton Grant can score inside and out, and had back-to-back 22 point games against Illinois and Iowa last month. I expect Westbrook to lock him down. Robbie Hummel, on the other hand, is an absolute nightmare matchup. He plays his best against good teams (17 against Indiana, 21 against Wisconsin, and a 24 point/11 rebound monster against Michigan State) and ranks 12th in the entire country in offensive rating. He comes in at 128.1, and according to Pomeroy "anything over 120 is excellent." He shoots 51% overall, including 46% from three and 86% from the line. Let's just hope the Gophers aren't good enough to keep him interested.

So there you have it. Purdue 77, Minnesota 67.


Penn State -3.5 vs. Iowa (L)
Miami +8.5 @ Clemson (L)
Cincinnati +11.5 @ Pitt (W)
Tex Tech/Texas A&M UNDER 131.5 (L)
Illinois State -3.5 vs. Creighton (W)
UAB +1 @ UTEP (W)
Baylor -4 @ Colorado (W)
Kansas -13.5 @ Iowa State (L)
Duke -15 vs. Georgia Tech (L)
West Virginia -5.5 @ DePaul (W)

Yesterday: 5-4
Season: 364-336