Sports
Non-Conference College Basketball Games to Watch Part 1 – Project Spurs
The college basketball season is closer than you might realize and that means there are some great games to look forward to in the coming weeks. Now, there are some tournaments you can watch that will feature some great non-conference matchups. Of course, there are some schools that went ahead and scheduled some great matchups outside of those tournaments. And these are the non-conference college basketball games you need to know about.
The class of their respective conferences, this matchup between Arizona and Duke is the start of a home-and-home series that will begin in North Carolina. The Blue Devils have reloaded with another stellar recruiting class that includes four freshmen ranked in the top-25 of the 2023 class. Jared McCain, TJ Power, Sean Stewart, and Caleb Foster join the likes of Mark Mitchell, Kyle Filipowski, Jeremy Roach, and Tyrese Proctor to make Duke one of the favorites to win the ACC.
Meanwhile, Arizona brought in some freshmen of their own. While those recruits are not as heralded, the Wildcats managed to nab some key transfers in Caleb Love (UNC), Keshad Johnson (San Diego State), and Jaden Bradley (Alabama) who are all immediately eligible. They’ll join Pelle Larson and Oumar Ballo leftover from last year’s squad. Both teams will have a bunch of new faces and quickly gaining good chemistry for such an early-season matchup will be crucial in deciding who wins this game. Especially in front of the Cameron Crazies.
This might be one of the best big men matchups of the season in all of college basketball. UConn returns 7-foot-2 Donovan Clingan while the Jayhawks brought in their own 7-footer in Hunter Dickinson via a transfer from Michigan. KU coach Bill Self will be able to get back to his classic post up offense he likes to run and UConn will surely be running plays through Clingan in the block as well.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a great game without some good guard play as well. And we can expect that with UConn bringing in a top tier recruit like Stephon Castle and Kansas returning Dajuan Harris Jr. and Kevin McCullar Jr. UConn also brought in freshman Solomon Ball as a ball handler to go with Alex Karraban and Hassan Diarra who have big game experience having won a national title with the team last season. With the game in Allen Fieldhouse, you can expect Kansas fans to lose their minds at the chance of defeating the defending champions.
Both of these teams have some experienced players as Wisconsin and Tennessee boast eight upperclassmen each. For Tennessee, their guard play will be the calling card as Santiago Vescovi returns for a fifth year and Zakai Ziegler (when he is back and healthy) will be helping out as well. The Vols have a few backups they can rely on, but Vescovi will see the majority of the minutes as he has the last couple of seasons.
For Wisconsin, their play will likely revolve around senior Chucky Hepburn, sophomore guard Connor Essegian, and senior forward Tyler Wahl. Between the three of them, they averaged about 35 points of the 65 that the Badgers normally scored each night. Look for this game to be a pound-it-out rock fight as both teams like to take turns trying to slug their opponents.
This is a blueblood classic if ever one existed. This one takes place in Chicago at the State Farm Champions Classic. Both teams will be going through some major roster turnover so seeing a high-level opponent like this early in the season will give both coaches an idea of how to manage their lineups and minutes in what should hopefully be a tight game.
The Wildcats brought in the top freshman recruiting class in the country and brought in Tre Mitchell from West Virginia as an insurance policy. With the likes of DJ Wagner, Justin Edwards, Reed Sheppard, Aaron Bradshaw, and Robert Dillingham in tow, expectations have been heaped upon this team to go on a deep March run. Kansas brought in its own impressive class, which includes some heavy-hitting transfers in Hunter Dickinson (Michigan) and Nick Timberlake (Towson).
This will likely be a game of differing styles as Kentucky should look to get up and down the court quickly while Kansas will likely drain the clock on offensive possessions. The Jayhawks will play through Dickinson and be methodical while the Wildcats will surely try to get shots off quickly and from the perimeter.