High-Major Men’s Basketball Game Breakdowns 11/18-11/20
This weekend’s schedule among the high-major conferences includes three in-state contests that could be interesting to watch. Battles of teams from Indiana, South Carolina and Illinois dot the landscape for what should be some fun games prior to the Thanksgiving week.
BALL STATE AT INDIANA STATE (5:05 p.m. Friday at Hulman Center in Terre Haute, Indiana)
Granted, the Sycamores are a far cry from the 1979-led Larry Bird team, but any college basketball matchup in Indiana is sure to be a draw during the regular season. Indiana State has wins in its first two games against Eastern Illinois (79-72) and Louisiana-Monroe (71-59), and it leads Ball State 68-57 in the all-time series. The Sycamores, who have not been 2-0 since the fall of 2005, are 47-17 in games played at Terre Haute, so this could be interesting. Indiana State hasn’t beaten Ball State in close to four years. Ball State got off to a rough start in its only game, losing 73-63 to Arizona. This is the first of two games in a row against Indiana opponents, the other one against IUPUI at Indianapolis.
DELAWARE AT VILLANOVA (7 p.m. Friday at The Pavilion in Villanova, Pennsylvania)
In football both schools belong to the Colonial Athletic Association. Basketball is a different story, as Delaware belongs to the CAA and Villanova is in the Big East. Villanova has won all nine matchups against Delaware in the all-time series, including a 78-59 victory last December. A bad sign for Delaware is the school’s 0-8 record against Big East opponents dating back to 1979. Forward Jamelle Hagins’ 17 points and nine rebounds per game are impressive, as are guard Devon Saddler’s 18 points per game. Delaware’s first game was a 58-54 loss to Radford. This is the last of three straight home games for Villanova, which include wins over Monmouth and LaSalle.
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON AT CLEMSON (7 p.m. Saturday at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, South Carolina)
The Southern Conference goes up against the vaunted Atlantic Coast Conference in an in-state rivalry matchup. Charleston’s two victories have come by an average of 12 points, including a 78-69 win over Holy Cross and a 72-57 victory over Morehead State. Charleston heads to the Bahamas after this for three games in the Battle 4 Atlantis before returning for four games at TD Arena. Clemson’s luck has been a little better, including wins over Gardner-Webb (65-44) and The Citadel (73-50). Eight of Clemson’s first 10 games are in South Carolina before the Tigers head to Hawaii for the Diamond Head Classic, so Clemson can relax for a while except for trips to Iowa and Arizona.
UTEP AT NEW MEXICO STATE (9 p.m. Saturday at Pan American Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico)
Conference USA meets the Western Athletic Conference in what could be an interesting intra-state showdown. Las Cruces and El Paso are in neighboring states, and UTEP is off to a slow 1-1 start following a loss to Texas-San Antonio and a win over UC-Riverside. That win was only by 11 points, 52-41, so UTEP may come out lackluster. New Mexico State has two wins over Northern Colorado (89-75) and New Mexico (62-53). Of particular interest to New Mexico State fans is the unveiling of the Pan Am Center’s new floor, meaning there will be something to look forward to as basketball-starved fans get used to a new season.
EASTERN ILLINOIS AT NORTHERN ILLINOIS (2 p.m. Sunday at Convocation Center in DeKalb, Illinois)
Neither of these teams have lit the court on fire coming out, but the fact it’s an interstate matchup merits it for inclusion among the high-major teams. EIU comes from the Ohio Valley and lost to Indiana State 79-72 before scoring a 65-61 win over Loyola Chicago. Northern Illinois is playing a more difficult non-conference schedule which includes lopsided losses to Purdue (96-34) and Iowa (88-55) and a much-closer game against Wisconsin-Milwaukee (59-57). Northern Illinois is still searching for that elusive first victory.
Men’s Basketball Games of the Week Breakdown Page
