December is the month to buy to Christmas presents, hang lights, high school football state title games, determine NFL playoff teams, watch the last episodes of Cutthroat, go to Florida. December is also a month of compelling college hoops non-conference matchups, so as you are finishing up the holiday preparations and reviewing your Cutthroat draft strategy don't forget to catch these matchups below.
(12/1) Michigan State @ Duke: The top two teams in the pre-season rankings play each other in the most intriguing game of the annual Big 10/ACC shootout. Duke has looked every bit like the pre-season #1 so far this season highlighted by a convincing win over Kansas State in Kansas City. Much heralded PG recruit Kyle Irving showed defensive skills not generally seen from freshmen as he forced K State star Jacob Pullen into one of his worst shooting performances of his career. Seniors Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith combine with Irving and Seth Curry to give the Blue Devils more firepower than last year's title team and it will be interesting to see how Michigan State and coach Tom Izzo try to slow them down. Mich State is coming off an uneven performance in Maui, loss to UConn and win over Wash, in their loss they were unable to slow guard Kemba Walker. PG Kalin Lucas has had a slow start after missing most of the summer due to injury and Mich St. has stuggled team wide with turnovers, foul shooting, and Durrell Summer's stretches of inactivity. Interesting below the radar matchup will be Mich St. big man Delvon Roe vs. Duke's Mason Plumlee, Roe is healthy and physical and Plumlee has a lot of upside as evidenced by his (25/12/6) in a win over Marquette.
(12/4) Kentucky @ UNC: Harrison Barnes was the consensus best high school player in the country last year and was supposed to be the player to lead Carolina back to national prominence during his one year in college prior to being the #1 pick in the NBA draft. So far this season he has shown flashes of brilliance, but has been unable to maintain consistency especially with his shot to make up for Carolina's other deficiencies most notably guard play and team defense. Meanwhile Kentucky freshman PF Terrence Jones has surpassed Barnes as the best college prospect with his overall point forward and athletic game. Jones showed in Maui the ability to score from everywhere, rebound, and lead the break, skills rarely seen for a player who is 6'9". Kentucky is coming off a no show in the Maui finals vs. UConn and Carolina lost back to back games vs. Minnesota and Vanderbilt in Puerto Rico and had a close call at home on Sunday vs. College of Charlestown. This is an important game for Kentucky and their young team as Jones and PG Brandon Knight learn to play together, but more important for the home team as Carolina looks to rebound from a 5-11 ACC record last season while missing the tournament. This game should go a long way in determining if Kentucky is a contender and if UNC is a tourney team.
(12/7) Jimmy V Classic @ NYC: Memphis vs. Kansas and Michigan State vs. Syracuse:
The best college basketball tournament because of what it means and the money it raises. Jimmy V's 1993 ESPY speech, which is shown in between games of this tournament, is one of the most profound speeches on life ever given and it has spawned a foundation that has raised over 100 million dollars for cancer research and is truly one of the good things ESPN is closely involved in. The Jimmy V foundation and raising money for cancer research should also be Dick Vitale's legacy as his work for both has far exceeded his sub-par game analysis which should be limited to this event only.
In the first game Memphis and coach Josh Pastner (who looks like a teenager who broke into his father's closest and is wearing his suit) will test their top recruiting class against an experienced and deep Kansas team. Kansas can go five deep at the guard position and freshman distributor Josh Selby should fit in well with slasher Tyshawn Taylor and shooter Brady Morningstar. Marcus Morris is the more polished Morris brother down low for the Jayhawks and held up fairly well in a home win vs. a solid Arizona team and PF Derrick Williams which bodes well for KU long term prospects.
In the second game Michigan State continues their always brutal non-conference schedule in New York vs. Syracuse. Mich. State's battle tested play in the NCAA tournament can always be traced back to the non-conference slate they play in November and December, while Syracuse doesn't play a true road game until Big East play begins in January. With the departures of Andy Rautins and Wesley Johnson Syracuse turns to PG Scoop Jardine and C's Kris Joseph and freshman 7 footer Fab Melo, who should contribute immediately, an early season test against Mich. State should be a good indicator to see how tough the new Cuse crew is.
(12/11) Tennessee vs. Pittsburgh @ Pittsburgh's Consol Energy Center:
What is it with Tennessee and coaches; in football they had to endure the end of the Phillip Fullmer era and Lane Kiffin and in hoops it was the Buzz Peterson show and now Bruce Pearl's antics. Since this is an out of conference game Bruce Pearl will be allowed to coach and his antics really are a shame since his team has talent as they proved by beating Nova to win the pre-season NIT. As for Pittsburgh, Jaime Dixon continues to get more than the sum of his parts and no program has more extremes between coaches than Pittsburgh with Dixon and Wannstedt. Not only does Dixon coach a top five hoops program, but he saved Big East football by recruiting his alma mater TCU into the conference over the past month. This game will be a defensive slugfest with UT's Harris and Hopson and Pittsburgh's Gary McGhee and overall team defense and could be lower scoring than a Pen's game in this venue.
(12/22) Illinois vs. Missouri in St. Louis: Illinois brings back their top 6 players from last year, a statement that becomes harder to make each year in the college game. Senior PG Demetri McCamey should be as capable as any point guard of handling the Mizzou full court press and the Illini will get a conditioning test against the deepest Mizzou team that Mike Anderson has coached in his 5 years. Community college transfer PF Ricardo Ratliffe gives Mizzou a bruising presence in the post that they have lacked in recent seasons. This is always a good rivalry game and with both teams ranked in the top 20 and expected to make noise in March it will always be a good barometer game for a conference strengths and tourney time.
(12/30) Temple @ Villanova: Contrasting styles collide in this Big 5 matchup as Nova looks for revenge after losing to Temple last year. Nova will look to push the pace and get shots for their guard heavy lineup and as Corey Stokes and Corey Fisher go so go the Cats. In their loss to Tennessee Fisher and Stokes were held to 4-19 shooting and that will be the blueprint Temple tries to follow. Temple has more size and plays good overall team defense, but his been unable to score regularly enough so far this season. Through 5 games this season Temple is averaging in the mid 50's and Nova is more explosive than the likes of Texas A&M and Cal.
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