College basketball scouting reports
Ohio St. (19-6, 9-3) at Illinois (17-8, 9-3)
When: noon at Assembly Hall
TV: Channel 2
Radio: WIND 560-AM
The skinny: The winner of this impromptu St. Joseph High School reunion between OSU's Evan Turner and Illinois' Demetri McCamey retains a share of first place alongside Michigan State in the Big Ten standings. Turner, now a point guard, looks like he'll become the first player in Big Ten history (since the conference started tracking assists in 1983-84) to finish among the top two in scoring, rebounding and assists. Turner leads the Big Ten in rebounding (9.3 rpg), ranks behind Talor Battle in scoring (19.2 ppg) and trails only McCamey in assists (5.7 apg). McCamey, meanwhile, has become the league's most dominant force who's not Turner. He'll need another monstrous game against the 13th-ranked Buckeyes if the Illini are to beat their third ranked foe in as many games. The program hasn't done that since the 1999 Big Ten tournament.
Minnesota (14-9, 5-6) at Northwestern (16-8, 5-7)
When: 4 p.m. at Welsh-Ryan Arena
TV: BTN
Radio: WCPT 92.5-, 92.7- and 99.9-FM
The skinny: The Wildcats' NCAA Tournament at-large hopes dimmed with their loss Wednesday at Iowa, but it's still important to even the season series with the Gophers. When Minnesota won the first meeting 65-61 on Jan. 26, junior shooter Blake Hoffarber buried a few of his 5 3-pointers late to overturn NU's second-half rally. The Wildcats need to track him better and they can't be tentative in the post on offense, regardless of the fact the Gophers blocked 11 shots in their first meeting.
DePaul (8-15, 1-10) at Seton Hall (13-9, 4-7)
When: 11 a.m. at Prudential Center
TV: Comcast Channel 245, WOW Channel 195, Channel 26.4
Radio: WSCR 670-AM
The skinny: The Demons have enjoyed a full week (their longest break of the season) to prepare for the Pirates. Seton Hall, on the other hand, edged Notre Dame 90-87 on Thursday night. As you can tell by that score, the Pirates would much prefer to fly up and down the floor. Junior guard Jeremy Hazell averages 22.6 points per game while transfer Herb Pope has a profile (11.5 ppg, 10.8 rpg) similar to DePaul's Mac Koshwal (13.7 ppg, 9.7 rpg). Here's a crazy stat: The Demons tried 12 lineups in their first 23 games. That's both a function of injuries and interim head coach Tracy Webster's willingness to give his guys the best possible matchups in order to get a win.
- Lindsey Willhite