Saturday’s National College Basketball Games to Watch
Arkansas vs. No. 17 Baylor
Eric Musselman’s talented squad heads to Waco looking to continue coming out of their scuffle. The Razorbacks have a 3-5 record in conference play but are coming off back-to-back home wins against Mississippi and LSU. The two wins come after they dropped four straight contests and five of six overall.
One of the big reasons for the Razorbacks’ slide has been the absence of projected lottery pick Nick Smith Jr. Smith has only played in five games this season but is expected to be back sometime in February.
The Bears have really started to heat up since starting 0-3 in Big-12 conference play. They have won five-straight games including a 75-69 win at home against No. 9 Kansas. Their back court continues to play like one of the top units in the nation and Scott Drew has put his team in position to have a shot at a conference regular season title.
Tip-off is at 3:00 p.m. CT and you can watch on ESPN.
Florida vs. No. 5 Kansas State
Florida forward Keyontae Johnson (11) smiles after being introduced as a starter before the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Kentucky, on March 5, 2022, in Gainesville, Fla. Johnson was the Southeastern Conference’s preseason player of the year in 2020-21 but collapsed during a game in December 2020 and hasn’t played since.
As the Wildcats continue to look like a national contender even coming off a loss to No. 12 Iowa State, this game is about one man, Keyontae Johnson. He is facing his former team where he had an impact both on and off the court.
Johnson transferred to Kansas State this offseason from Florida and has been the leading scorer and rebounder for the Wildcats. At Florida, Johnson was SEC preseason player of the year in 2020 before collapsing on the court in a game against Florida State December 12, 2020. It took nearly two years for Johnson to see the court again and he has taken his opportunity at Kansas State and ran with it.
The Gators come into this game fifth place in the SEC, but they are about to go through a gauntlet. Including Saturday, three of their next four games are against top five teams.
Tip-off is at 5:00 p.m. CT and you can watch on ESPN 2.
No. 10 Texas vs. No. 4 Tennessee
This top ten matchup is the most anticipated of the SEC-Big-12 challenge. It will also feature Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes hosting his former squad, where he coached from 1998-2015.
The longhorns head into Saturday tied for first place in the Big-12 with Kansas State, while Tennessee is looking to continue their role this season as one of the top teams in the SEC.
Tennessee is 7-1 in conference play with their lone loss coming at the hands of Kentucky. They trail No. 2 Alabama by only one game, but they face a tough task with a top ten team coming into their house.
The backbone of this Tennessee team is their defense. Barnes has his squad locked in on that side of the ball, leading the nation in defensive efficiency allowing .773 points per possession according to teamrankings.com.
Tip-off is at 5:00 p.m. CT and you can watch on ESPN.
Want to join the discussion? Click here to become a member of the Killer Frogs message board community today!
Follow KillerFrogs on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest TCU news! Follow KillerFrogs on Facebook and Instagram as well. Download the KillerFrogs app on Google Play or in the Apple App Store.
