NCAA Hoops Weekend Preview: Big Ten In-State Battle, Iowa State Desperately Seeks Win

This weekend is once again full of great NCAA Men’s basketball matchups and two of the more intriguing games will come from the Midwest.

First up is No. 21 Michigan (14-4, 6-0) at No. 3 Michigan State (18-1, 7-0) (Sat. 7:00 p.m.)

In this battle of the Big Ten’s top two teams, Michigan will travel to nearby Lansing with an eight-game win streak. Many believe they’ll arrive as the game’s underdog but are they?

Branden Dawson

The Spartans have been playing for weeks with the injury bug and on Thursday they received disappointing news that Branden Dawson will be out for the next four or five weeks. This comes as the player, while watching film on Thursday, broke a bone in his hand after he slapped a table (obviously not liking what he saw). That evening, Dawson had surgery.

He had been averaging 10.2 points per game and led the team with rebounds (8.7).

Michigan State will also be without Adreian Payne again on Saturday as he is recovering from a sprained foot; this is the fifth game he’s missed and this will leave Sparty without its second-leading scorer (16.2 points per game) and rebounder (7.7).

How will their absences affect the game? Look for Kenny Kaminski and Matt Costello to step up. While the Wolverines lack some size, interesting matchups could come between Keith Appling and Gary Harris as well as Nik Stauskas and Caris LeVert.

Also keep an eye on the Wolverine’s Glenn Robinson III who’s been playing well and aggressively. He could have an advantage without Dawson on the court.

Besides the usual rivalry between these two and win streaks on the line, Saturday’s victor will take sole possession of first place in the conference. That will be Sparty (-4.5).

Big 12 Battle: No. 22 Kansas State at No. 16 Iowa State (1:45 p.m.)

After winning 14 straight games to start the season, No. 16 Iowa State (14-3, 2-3) saw its wheels come off on Jan. 11 with its first loss against Oklahoma. Since then, the skid continued with additional losses versus No. 15 Kansas and then Texas. Now is the time is to make a change as their upcoming schedule gets more competitive (see No. 15 Kansas and Oklahoma again as well as Oklahoma State).

Will the team spiral out to control and land in the NIT? Will they finally hit some 3-pointers on Saturday?

Good luck going up against K-State (14-5, 4-2) on Saturday–tops in the country for defense. This may not be enough as the Cyclones get the win (-9).

Upset Alert

Look for the following top teams to be on upset alert.

• No. 10 Iowa at Northwestern (12:00 p.m.): Iowa is coming off a disappointing loss to rising Michigan while Northwestern has new-found confidence after defeating Indiana last weekend on the road as well as wins against Illinois and Purdue. Iowa gets the win (-9.5).
• No. 2 Syracuse at Miami (1:00 p.m.): In their last game on Jan. 4, Miami led Syracuse in the Carrier Dome for about 35 minutes but the Orange got the win. Miami is pesky and has opponents making jumpers. Can Syracuse keep its season perfect? Yes (-6.5).
• Texas at No. 24 Baylor (1:30 p.m.): Texas is an understated but a good, big team. Baylor’s defense has been MIA lately but they’ll show up Saturday (-5.5).

Tyler Ennis

Longest Streak: Clemson at North Carolina (Sunday 6 p.m.)

And in one final matchup, Clemson (13-5, 4-2) can’t seem to find any success against North Carolina (11-7, 1-4) on the basketball court as it sits 0-56 against them. On the Tar Heels’ home court.

That’s where they’ll be on Sunday and if history has anything to do with it, they’ll walk away with another loss. They’ll come to Chapel Hill with some confidence (they did beat Duke this season) but they’re coming off a Tuesday night 33-point shellacking by Pitt.

North Carolina’s conference play isn’t anything to write home about (it’s only win came against Boston College).

Vegas hasn’t picked the winner yet for this one.