It’s January 2nd, which means there is a full college basketball schedule floating out there among the last remaining bowl games. Since the first weekend in January is the traditional transition period between league and non-conference play, there are plenty of intriguing matchups on the schedule.
Early Saturday Hoops: No. 5 Syracuse And No. 10 Connecticut In Big East Action
Fifth-ranked Syracuse and 10th-ranked Connecticut both play their first Big East home games of the season.
- The Orange, one of the nation's five remaining unbeatens, will need to beat Pittsburgh at the Carrier Dome to remain so. Syracuse rallied to shut down Seton Hall in Newark on Tuesday night, while Pitt had little trouble with DePaul in their opener Monday. Our Orange blog, Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician, will have complete coverage of this game.
- The Huskies, meanwhile, are looking to rebound from their close loss at Cincinnati on Wednesday night, They host Notre Dame, who trounced Providence three nights ago, in Hartford.
CBS has two regional telecasts at 1 p.m. Eastern, one of which is a big non-conference tilt.
- Illinois, who opened their Big Ten slate with a home win over 25th-ranked Northwestern Wednesday night, looks for another good win for their tournament profile, as they step out of conference again to play Gonzaga in Chicago. The Bulldogs also picked up a win last time out, beating Oklahoma in the last game of 2009. That fact was made official by a lengthy delay caused by the Sooners' Tiny Gallon breaking the backboard. You can follow this one at our Gonzaga blog, The Slipper Still Fits, and our Illinois site, Hail To The Orange.
- The other game is a rare 10 a.m. Pacific time start in Los Angeles for Arizona and UCLA. These two had contrasting results in their Pac 10 openers on Thursday. The Bruins nearly collapsed in the second half against Arizona State, but they still earned a two-point win. Meanwhile, the Wildcats rallied furiously against USC, but they fell by six in their opener. Our Arizona blog, Arizona Desert Swarm, and UCLA blog, Bruins Nation, will have full coverage of this contest.
Here’s all the information you’ll need to follow and discuss the early Saturday action here on SB Nation.
FINAL: Pittsburgh 82, No. 5 Syracuse 72
The Panthers knocked the Orange from the ranks of the unbeaten.
Orange game preview and discussion at Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician
FINAL: No. 10 Connecticut 82, Notre Dame 70
The Huskies picked up their first Big East win over a Fighting Irish team who falls to .500 in the league.
Fighting Irish game discussion at Rakes Of Mallow
FINAL: Gonzaga 85, Illinois 83 (OT)
The Illini came back, but Gonzaga got their second wind in overtime to pick up a big non-conference win.
Bulldog game preview and discussion at The Slipper Still Fits
Fighting Illini game preview and discussion at Hail To The Orange
FINAL: Arizona 77, UCLA 63
The Wildcats built on their second half effort against USC Thursday to top the Bruins, who continued their Thursday struggles.
Wildcat game preview and discussion at Arizona Desert Swarm
Bruin game preview and discussion at Bruins Nation
For a full rundown of Saturday’s college basketball TV schedule, visit Blogging The Bracket.
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