Thursday's Pregame Beat: Purdue-Minnesota headlines a busy night

7:00 pm: No. 8 Purdue @ No. 25 Minnesota: The biggest reason that Purdue is where they are right now -- 15-1, 4-0 in the Big Ten, eighth in the country -- is due to the most efficient 1-2 punch in the country in JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore. But the reason that they are out performing everyone's expectations this year has been the emergence of Ryne Smith. Smith has not been capable of missing during Big Ten play, as he is averaging 17.0 ppg in league and shooting an unreal 19-27, or 70.4%, from three in those four games. Prior to the start of league play, Smith was averaging just 4.5 ppg on 37.1% 3PT.

Minnesota will have a different look tonight as Trevor Mbakwe will be coming off the bench in favor of Colton Iverson tonight thanks to his arrest earlier in the week. It has to be comforting for Tubby Smith to know that he can bench a guy averaging a double-double and insert a big man capable of starting at 80% of the schools around the country in Iverson. If Minnesota is going to win tonight, they would be smart to take advantage of their strength inside. Johnson is not a powerful player in the paint, and the Gophers probably have the second best front line in the league.

10:00 pm: No. 18 Washington @ Stanford: The Cardinal are currently 2-1 in league play, which is surprising simply because no one expected anything out of this team this season. Jeremy Green is one of the country's hidden gems.

That said, Washington might be better than they are being given credit for. Anyone that reads this blog likely already knows about their status as Kenpom's fifth ranked team, but did you know that Isaiah Thomas is currently leading the conference in assists? Maybe the loss of Abdul Gaddy won't hurt as much as we all thought it would.

9:00 pm: Virginia Tech @ North Carolina: Ironically, this game was one that we had circled on our calender in the preseason. Most expected these two teams to compete for the second spot in the ACC, and while that still may be the case, UNC has proven to be further away from the elite level than most anticipated while injuries have derailed Tech's promising season.

9:00 pm: Mississippi State @ Ole Miss: If you want to check in to see Renardo Sidney play, that's your prerogative. But if you are going to watch this game, check out Chris Warren. He's been one of the most unheralded players in the country throughout his career with the Rebels.

10:30 pm: Utah State @ Boise State: The WAC is down a bit this season, as Nevada and New Mexico State have not been as good as people expected. In fact, Boise State's basketball team has emerged as the Aggie's biggest rival in the conference. Tonight's game will be for first place in the league.

10:30 pm: St. Mary's @ San Francisco: Yup, St. Mary's can shoot.

Other Notable Games:

• 7:00 pm: Rhode Island @ Richmond
• 7:00 pm: Providence @ West Virginia
• 7:00 pm: Old Dominion @ Drexel
• 8:30 pm: UCLA @ Oregon State
• 8:30 pm: Lipscomb @ Belmont
• 9:00 pm: Pepperdine @ Gonzaga
• 10:30 pm: Washington State @ Cal
• 10:30 pm: USC @ Oregon