College basketball never disappoints. Fans flocked to the court in Madison, Wisconsin last week when the Badgers took down No. 9 Arizona. Meanwhile, in Charleston, South Carolina, Florida Atlantic and Charleston gave fans a double-overtime thriller in which Charleston hit a 3-pointer to win 119-116.
What will happen this week? Here are five games to watch:
No. 6 Purdue (4-0) vs. No. 15 Marquette (4-0) | tuesday
Both teams are coming off huge wins. The Boilermakers took down No. 2 Alabama and Marquette earned a hard-fought win at Maryland. Two great guards highlight this matchup. Purdue’s Braden Smith was the magician in Friday’s win, finishing with 17 points, six rebounds and 10 assists. Marquette’s Kam Jones, averaging 24 points, is an electric scorer. If Purdue can slow down Jones, Milwaukee will win.
prediction: It will be close the entire time, but I think it would be foolish to doubt coach Matt Painter and Purdue. The Boilermakers would find a way to win 87-81.
No. 25 Illinois (3-0) vs. No. 25 Illinois (3-0) 8 Alabama (3-1) | wednesday
Illinois became an unknown team early this season after revamping its entire roster. Alabama suffered a blowout loss at Purdue on Friday night. The Illini’s highly touted freshman class (ranked 15th nationally by 247Sports) are you ready for the spotlight? The Illini’s Wednesday night game is against No. 1 before Christmas. 20 Arkansas, No. 11 Tennessee, No. It’s the start of a tough stretch of games that includes a game against 19 Wisconsin.
prediction: Alabama is in a different class than Illinois and will come away with an 84-70 win at home.
No. 13 Baylor (3-1) vs. No. 22 St. John’s (4-0) | thursday
Rick Pitino is in St. I’ve ranked St. John’s nationally and look like a Big East contender. Keep an eye on RJ Luis Jr. for the Red Storm. The 6-foot-7 guard had 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in Sunday’s win over New Mexico. He will face off against Baylor’s 6-foot-7 Norchard Omier, who is averaging 16 points and 10.3 rebounds.
prediction: The Bears would win 74-64 because they had too many weapons.
No. 12 Duke (3-1) vs. No. 17 Arizona (2-1) | friday
This week’s game. Arizona is aiming to get back in the win column after losing at Wisconsin on Friday. Duke freshman Cooper Flagg leads the Blue Devils in scoring (16.3), rebounds (9.5) and assists (4.0). If he emerges from the raucous McKale Center environment, his legend will only grow. Expect from him. His best game of the young season came against No. 19 Kentucky (26 points, 11 rebounds). He was made for this moment. But the same goes for Arizona’s Caleb Love, who faces an old foe at Duke after transferring from North Carolina. His heroics in 2022 are still not forgotten by Duke fans. Both teams have a good chance of being Sweet 16 teams.
prediction: Duke would get its signature win on the road 92-85.
Bahamas Championship Game | friday
The winner of Baylor-St. St. John’s will face the winner of Virginia-Tennessee on Friday night. Perhaps this is a tough Baylor team or an upcoming St. Petersburg team. It will be the Vols against St. John’s team. Anyway, I think I’ll be able to finish this week on a high note. Tennessee’s Jakai Ziegler (14.3 points, 7.7 rebounds) is a playmaker who chases down opponents.
prediction: Tennessee should leave the Bahamas with two wins.
