The season continues with three Big Ten games scattered across the day, highlighted by a showdown between Indiana and Marquette in Chicago.
Indiana Hoosiers vs Marquette Golden Eagles
- Time/TV: 1:00 PM ET ESPN
- Line: Indiana -2.5
- Waterkeeper Alliance Invitational – Chicago, Illinois
Two top 50 teams will face off today in Chicago as part of the
Waterkeeper Alliance Invitational with Indiana and Marquette providing some counterprogramming from the NFL Sunday afternoon.
Marquette has largely rolled in their first two games, knocking off Albany 80-53 and Southern 100-82. Indiana had a tune-up of their own earlier in the week against Alabama A&M, winning 98-51. The Bulldogs are a member of the SWAC and were 333rd in the KenPom rankings, shooting 34% from the field, 33% from three and 53% from the line. Indiana rolled, hitting 62% of their shots, 42% from three and 100% from the line.
The Hoosiers moved on from Mike Woodson and the first game of the Darian DeVries era got off to a good start. A win today would be a huge victory early in the season and would help Indiana towards building some much needed early momentum. The team under Woodson essentially ran back the trainwreck that was Archie Miller and while they should be improved this year, the question is if they will finally get over the hump. Today marks a good early season match to see if Indiana could be looking to right the ship straight from the drop under DeVries (pulling a card from the recent success of the football program).
Marquette, a consistent contender in the Big East and routinely in the NCAA Tournament, is an old fashioned squad that includes a roster built entirely around returning players and freshmen. That of course has rapidly became an outlier in the current NIL environment, but Shaka Smart has built a solid program at Marquette. Occasionally the team has came up short, but their experience and playing with each other for so long should give the Golden Eagles an advantage over the fresh face Hoosiers.
Pick: Marquette
Manhattan Jaspers at USC Trojans
- Time/TV: 6:00 PM ET BTN Plus
- Line: USC -27.5
USC looks to improve to 2-0 tonight if they can win a home game against Manhattan. The Trojans rolled past Cal Poly 94-64 in their season opener and will continue to have a string of tune-ups rolling into Feast Week towards the end of the month. Their opponent is a Jaspers program that is 255th in KenPom rankings. They won their open 125-59, however it was against a lower level program in St. Joseph Brooklyn. The Trojans had three players with at least 20 points in the opener and will look to continue their offensive success against another cupcake.
Pick: USC
Washington Huskies at Baylor Bears
- Time/TV: 8:30 PM ET ESPN
- Line: Baylor -6.5
The Huskies will play their third game of the season tonight, heading on the road to face Baylor. It will be a decisive increase in competition after facing off against Arkansas Pine Bluff and Denver in the opener. While Washington has six players averaging double figures, it comes with the territory of playing two teams outside of the top 320 in the KenPom ratings. Hannes Steinbach has thrived so far with 17 points, 11.5 rebounds and 5 assists per game. It’ll be interesting to see if Washington’s rotation deepens at some point, with the team only going about eight deep even without much of a challenge the first week of the season.
In Baylor’s opener they knocked off Rio Grande Valley 96-81. The Bears shot 49.2% from the field, but only 36.7% from three and 65.6% on 32 free throw attempts. Cameron Carr led the team with 28 points while the Bears outrebounded the Vaqueros 42-26. Rio Grande Valley managed to stay in the game by hitting 40.7% of their shots from beyond the arc.
Baylor went 13-3 at home last season and is coming off of an NCAA Tournament appearance. The Bears have a considerable offensive advantage and get the game on their home court. There is hope that Washington will make a sizable improvement this winter after a dreadful 13-18 season last year, but they’re at a talent disadvantage and an upset tonight would be a tough task for the Huskies.
Pick: Baylor
