{"id":21325,"date":"2017-02-04T07:19:33","date_gmt":"2017-02-04T07:19:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=21325"},"modified":"2017-02-04T07:19:33","modified_gmt":"2017-02-04T07:19:33","slug":"college-basketball-weekend-preview-arizona-aims-to-keep-rolling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/sports\/college-basketball-weekend-preview-arizona-aims-to-keep-rolling.html","title":{"rendered":"College basketball weekend preview: Arizona aims to keep rolling"},"content":{"rendered":"
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College basketball weekend preview: Arizona aims to keep rolling<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

College basketball weekend preview: Arizona aims to keep rolling:- No matter how the remainder of the winter shapes up, we don\u2019t need a rodent with dubious weather forecasting ability to know that Selection Sunday is six weeks away.<\/span><\/p>\n

February has arrived, meaning college basketball coaches and fans want to see their teams round into postseason form. So before the attention of the sports world turns elsewhere on Sunday, here are a few hardwood matters worthy of attention for the day before.<\/span><\/p>\n

Game of the weekend<\/span><\/p>\n

No. 5 Arizona at No. 13 Oregon, Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, ESPN<\/span><\/p>\n

There are a whole lot of Wildcats hanging around the top of the polls. We\u2019ll look at some other later, but the ones from the Pac-12 headline the slate this weekend. Arizona will be wrapping up its swing through the Beaver State (they faced Oregon State on Thursday), and another conference road win against the highly rated Ducks could enhance the Wildcats\u2019 case for a No.-1 seed.<\/span><\/p>\n

That won\u2019t much interest the Ducks, who would like to protect their home venue before next weekend\u2019s tough L.A. trip.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Wildcats were playing fairly well even before the return of Allonzo Trier from a lengthy suspension, and his insertion into the lineup has been about as smooth as coach Sean Miller could have hoped. Arizona will need contributions from everybody, however, to get by the well-balanced Ducks in Eugene.<\/span><\/p>\n

Isaiah Briscoe, Kentucky<\/span><\/p>\n

Freshman point guard De\u2019Aaron Fox battling the flu as well as a sore ankle, so Brisco has taken on extra responsibilities in the backcourt for the No. 6 Wildcats. If Fox remains sidelined, he\u2019ll be needed again Saturday as Kentucky heads to No. 23 Florida (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN). His opposite number for the Gators, senior Kasey Hill, is averaging a couple of steals a game and could make life difficult for the Wildcats as they continue struggle in half-court sets.<\/span><\/p>\n

Big East<\/span><\/p>\n

Some hard luck on the injury front as well as a few other unexpected results have tightened the conference race considerably in the last couple of weeks. Two of the unlucky ones, Creighton and Xavier, face off for their second meeting of the season Saturday in Omaha (3 p.m. ET, Fox). It was in the first encounter in Cincinnati when the Bluejays lost starting point guard Maurice Watson to a season-ending knee injury. Creighton held on to win that game but has lost twice since. The Musketeers, meanwhile, have also lost their floor leader Edmond Sumner to a torn ACL. They survived with a two-point win in their first full game without him Wednesday night against Seton Hall, but this trip will be a challenge.<\/span><\/p>\n

League leader Villanova has managed to stay healthier, but the Wildcats haven\u2019t exactly looked invincible of late. A huge non-conference win against Virginia last weekend kept them on the top line of most bracket projections, but sandwiched around that victory were a loss at Marquette and a narrow escape from Providence. They\u2019ll try to regain their championship form Saturday at home against St. John\u2019s (8 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network).<\/span><\/p>\n

It is Georgetown that has been rising through the ranks. After a terrible start in conference play, the Hoyas have rattled off three league victories in succession, including an improbable triumph at Butler, that suddenly have them back in the NCAA tournament picture. They\u2019ll try to keep it going Saturday as they host a desperate Seton Hall (noon ET, Fox Sports 1).<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/ncaab\/2017\/02\/04\/college-basketball-weekend-preview-arizona-aims-keep-rolling\/97413340\/<\/span><\/div>\n

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