College Basketball on Sling: 'Nova Stays Atop an Unchanged Top 10

Dec 12, 2016 by Sling Staff

Villanova remains atop the college basketball world, in fact the top 11 teams remain unchanged from last week, as they all held serve. What’re the chance that happens twice in a row? Not sure, but it’s approaching zero.

Monday

#16 South Carolina (8-0) vs Seton Hall (7-2)
9pm ET on FS1

Tuesday

Temple (7-3) vs #1 Villanova (10-0)
7pm ET on FS1

The Temple Owls blew past the DePaul Blue Demons on Saturday, winning 74-65 after having gone up by 25 midway through the second half. It was a game won from beyond the arc, as Temple hit 9 of 20 from downtown, while DePaul drained just 1 of 14. Shizz Alston Jr. and Obi Enechionyia led the Owls with 15 points and 7 rebounds apiece. Enechionyia, a junior forward, leads the team with 18.6 ppg, and with 7.7 rpg.

The Villanova Wildcats just keep winning, running their streak to 16 straight dating back to last year’s NCAA Tournament. Their latest victim was Notre Dame, who suffered their first loss of the season, 74-66, as the ‘Cats’ Josh Hart dropped 37 points, hitting 10 of 14 from the floor and 14 of 14 from the charity stripe, and still finding time to grab a game-high 11 rebounds. Hart is averaging 19.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists, and is already generating Wooden Award buzz. You should watch him if you’re into that kind of thing.

Texas Southern (4-5) vs #25 Cincinnati (7-2)
7pm ET on ESPN3

Montana (3-7) vs #22 Oregon (8-2)
10pm ET on Pac-12

Wednesday

Southern (4-5) vs #4 Baylor (8-0)
7pm ET on ESPNU

UC Santa Barbara (1-6) vs #2 UCLA (10-0) 10:30pm ET on Pac-12

The UCSB Gauchos finally notched their first win of the season back on December 1, and then took the next nine days off, before losing Sunday to San Diego 77-68. A Jalen Canty layup with 7:27 to play would pull the Gauchos within 3 points at 60-57, but that was as close as they would get, as the Toreros responded with a 9-2 run to pull away. Gabe Vincent led the Gauchos in scoring and rebounds with 23-7, and is averaging a team-high 16.3 ppg this season, though he’s hitting on just 35.6% – kid my wanna take his finger off the trigger.

Freshman TJ Leaf has taken the UCLA Bruins by storm, ranking second on the team in points (17.6) and rebounds (9.3), and leading the team to 10 straight wins, following a season in which they went 15-17. On Saturday Leaf scored a game-high 21 and grabbed a game-high 8 boards to lead the Bruins to a 102-84 win over the Michigan Wolverines. The Bruins are loaded with sharpshooters, hitting 56.2% of their field goals attempts, including 47.1% from downtown, and they’ve outrebounded their opponents by 7 boards a game.

Grand Canyon (5-4) vs #19 Arizona (8-2)
11pm ET on ESPNU

Saturday

Texas A&M (7-2) vs #19 Arizona (8-2)
Noon ET on ESPN2

Manhattan (3-7) vs #23 Florida State (10-1)
1:30pm ET on FS2

#15 Purdue (8-2) vs #21 Notre Dame (9-1)
2pm ET on ESPN2

Fairleigh Dickinson (2-7) vs #25 Cincinnati (7-2)
2:30pm ET on ESPN3

Robert Morris (3-8) vs #13 Virginia (8-1)
4:30pm ET on ESPNU

Davidson (5-3) vs #3 Kansas (9-1)
7pm ET on ESPN2

The Davidson Wildcats on Wednesday got beat 83-74 by the then #7 North Carolina Tar Heels, despite 30 points from Jack Gibbs, and 22 more from Peyton Aldridge. Davidson had trouble from 3-point land, hitting on just 8 of 29, and got out-hustled on the glass 38-27. Gibbs, a 5-11 senior guard, is Davidson’s leading scorer with 24.3, while Aldridge, a 6-7 junior forward, is right behind him at 20.0 ppg, and leads the team in rebounding with 6.6 per game.

Since suffering a season-opening defeat at the hands of the Indiana Hoosiers, 103-99, the Kansas Jayhawks have been unstoppable, winning 9 in a row, most recently beating Nebraska Saturday, 89-72. Kansas was unconscious, hitting 46.7% of their 3-pointers, and a ridiculous 64.3 of their 2-pointers – but weirdly sinking just 56% of their freebies. Senior Frank Mason is the team’s high scorer with 20.5 per game, to go along with 4.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists.

Oral Roberts (2-8) vs #10 Creighton (10-0)
8pm ET on FS2

Wake Forest (8-2) vs #17 Xavier (8-2)
8pm ET on FS1

Troy (5-4) VS #24 USC (9-0)
10:30pm ET on Pac-12 Network

UNLV (5-4) vs #22 Oregon (8-2)
11pm ET on ESPN2

Sunday

#8 Gonzaga (10-0) vs Tennessee (4-3)
4pm ET on ESPN2

Watch college basketball on ESPN and ESPN2 by subscribing to Sling Orange, on ESPN3 and ESPNU by subscribing to Sling Orange + Sports Extra, on FS1 and FS2 by subscribing to Sling Blue, and on Pac-12 Network by subscribing to Sling + Sports Extra