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Saturday’s Pregame Shootaround: Duke and North Carolina highlights final Saturday of regular season

Duke v North Carolina

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Grant Halverson

GAME OF THE DAY: No. 14 North Carolina at No. 4 Duke, 9:00 p.m., ESPN

CBT’s own Rob Dauster broke down this weekend’s top matchups in our weekend preview:

It really doesn’t get better than the Duke-Carolina on the final weekend of the regular season. The only odd part about it is that there really isn’t all that much on the line anymore. Virginia’s already locked up the ACC regular season title. Duke pretty much cost themselves a shot at a No. 1 seed by losing to Wake Forest on Wednesday. North Carolina did the same with their struggles earlier this season. If anything, this game will be a chance for the Blue Devils to prove that they actually are a Final Four contender.

THE OTHER GAME OF THE DAY: No. 21 New Mexico at No. 10 San Diego State, 10:00 p.m., CBSSN

This will be fun. The two best programs in the Mountain West will square off in arguably the rowdiest environment on the west coast for the right to call themselves Mountain West regular season champions. The Aztecs have long been considered the favorite to win the league title, with their win at Kansas and New Mexico’s struggles earlier in the season. But the Lobos are peaking at the right time. Like I said, this will be fun.

RELATED: Our latest bracket projections -- is your team in?

WHO’S GETTING UPSET? Oklahoma State at No. 16 Iowa State , 2:00 p.m., ESPN

Oklahoma State has won four straight games and they’ll look to to avenge a triple overtime home loss to No. 16 Iowa State from earlier in the season when the Cowboys were in the midst of their seven-game losing streak. The Cyclones, meanwhile, have lost back-to-back games and appear to be trending a bit in the opposite direction. Marcus Smart and the Cowboys are playing very good ball since his return and a win here would give them a lot of momentum going into posteseason play.

MID-MAJOR GAME OF THE DAY: Western Kentucky at Georgia State 2:30 p.m., ESPN3

The best regular season mid-major contest of the day features the top two teams in the Sun Belt colliding as Western Kentucky travels to face Georgia State. Georgia State won this contest with ease on the road on January 9th but the Hilltoppers shot the ball poorly and should have a better showing this time around.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

1) Two great battles between top-25 teams in the American on Saturday as No. 19 UConn travels to No. 11 Louisville and No. 18 SMU travels to No. 20 Memphis. Louisville will look to wrap up the AAC regular season title with a home win while SMU will try to pick up a big road win at a tough place to play in Memphis.

2) How will No. 25 Kentucky respond to its recent sluggish play when they travel to Gainesville to face the No. 1 Gators? Florida will be looking to finish the regular season unbeaten in the SEC while the Wildcats could use a confidence boost heading into postseason play.

3) While Creighton is celebrating Senior Night for Doug McDermott, Providence will try to bolster its NCAA Tournament resume with a win -- and a regular-season sweep -- over Creighton. Can Providence win its second big game of the week after the double-overtime victory over Marquette earlier this week?

4) After struggling on Wednesday night at Oregon State, can No. 3 Arizona win on the road at surging Oregon? The Ducks have won six straight games and Mike Moser is playing out of his mind lately. Oregon lost by a bucket the last time these two teams faced, so this should be a good one.

5) What does Georgetown have in-store after Tuesday night’s huge Big East home win over No. 13 Creighton? The Hoyas travel to Philly to face No. 6 Villanova and Georgetown needs all the wins they can get at this point in the season.

THE REST OF THE TOP 25:


  • Missouri State at No. 2 Wichita State, 2:30 p.m., ESPN3
  • No. 8 Kansas at West Virginia, 12:00 p.m., ESPN
  • Indiana at No. 12 Michigan, 6:00 p.m., ESPN
  • No. 15 Cincinnati at Rutgers, 12:00 p.m., ESPNN
  • No. 23 Oklahoma at TCU, 4:00 p.m., ESPN3
  • Illinois at No. 24 Iowa, 8:30 p.m., BTN

NOTABLES:


  • Utah at Stanford, 2:30 p.m.
  • Missouri at Tennessee, 4:00 p.m.
  • Colorado at Cal, 6:30 p.m.
  • Pitt at Clemson, 4:00 p.m.
  • Arkansas at Alabama, 4:00 p.m.
  • Arizona State at Oregon State, 4:30 p.m.
  • Indiana at No. 12 Michigan, 6:00 p.m.
  • Richmond at Dayton, 7:00 p.m.

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