9:00 pm: No. 12 Purdue @ No. 1 Ohio State: Tonight's feature game is between the two teams at the top of the Big Ten standings. With a win, OSU moves two games in front of Purdue and Wisconsin in the loss column and three in front of Michigan State, Minnesota, and Illinois. That wouldn't be an insurmountable lead -- seven of their last 11 Big Ten games are against the five teams I just mentioned and they also have road trips to Northwestern and Penn State -- but it would be ... commanding? Yeah, that works better.
I feel like this doesn't actually need to be written, but the key for Purdue will be slowing down Jared Sullinger. Unfortunately, I am not sure that they are capable of it. You have to double the big freshman down low. Its not an option, its a necessity. And that double team has to be close before Sullinger catches the ball. He doesn't have a ton of post moves, but he is incredibly good at establishing position on the block. He's so strong that you can't knock him off of his spot, and once he gets a seal, you aren't getting around it. It doesn't help that Purdue's center JaJuan Johnson is as slender and easily pushed around as Illinois' big men, and Sully went for 27 and 16 against the Illini.
Luckily, Purdue is one of the best teams in the country when it comes to man-to-man rotations. Matt Painter has to be willing to gamble by having a help side defender in position before Ohio State is even thinking about making an entry pass to Sullinger and relying on his perimeter players to rotate and get to the shooters that are left open.
The other benefit for Purdue is that Sullinger will likely have just as difficult a time defending Johnson. Purdue's big man is in the running for the Big Ten and National Players of the Year awards, but his game is nothing like Sullinger's. Johnson has three point range and the ability to use the dribble to get himself open. I see both big men having a big night.
Columbus is a tough place to win, but if the Boilermakers are rotating well defensively and guys like Lewis Jackson and E'Twaun Moore are able to penetrate and score, Purdue has a chance.
9:00 pm: No. 5 UConn @ Marquette: Marquette is always a tough team to play, especially at home. They spread the floor and have scorers at virtually every position. They also have a number of tough guards that can be thrown at Kemba Walker. I can see the Huskies getting upset at the Bradley Center. They have some young role players that have been inconsistent. Road games in the Big East are never easy, and if guys like Jeremy Lamb and Shabazz Napier don't come ready to play tonight, UConn may be heading home with a loss.
7:00 pm: No. 25 Florida @ Georgia: Most pundits around the country are still trying to figure out the SEC East. Not because the teams aren't capable of winning -- Florida and Georgia both have the talent on their rosters to compete with just about anyone -- but because they are inconsistent. I like Georgia tonight. The Gators struggled with Jared Sullinger in their early season matchup with Ohio State, and the Bulldogs have their own big-bodied post in Trey Thompkins.
7:00 pm: Seton Hall @ No. 10 Syracuse: The Orange plummeted in the rankings this week after losing to both Pitt and Villanova, but that doesn't mean this isn't a good Syracuse team, especially now that Kris Joseph appears to be healthy again. Seton Hall is reeling, having blown winnable games against Georgetown and Rutgers, and while they were competitive against the Orange in their first game -- a 61-56 win for the Cuse -- I can't see them competing with an angry Syracuse team in the Carrier Dome.
8:00 pm: No. 6 Kansas @ Colorado: The Jayhawks lost to Texas on Saturday, but that loss didn't do much for my opinion of them. The majority of the team was up all hours of the night trying to console Thomas Robinson, whose mother passed away the day before the game. Fading down the stretch was as much a result of that team being physically and emotionally drained as it was Texas outplaying them (and no, I am not trying to take credit away from the Longhorns. They won that game.)
7:00 pm: Richmond @ Dayton: This is a huge game in the middle of the A-10. Justin Harper and Chris Wright squaring off should be entertaining, but I'm not sure the Flyers have an answer for Kevin Anderson.
Other Notable Games:
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Tuesday's Pregame Beat: A Battle in the Big Ten |
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