<\/o:p><\/span><\/h3>\nFlorida State has won 10 of its first 11 home games of the
\n2006-07 season and has won 18 of its last 22 (.818 winning percentage) since
\ndefeating Virginia Tech at the Donald L. Tucker Center on Jan. 7, 2006. The
\nSeminoles won seven of their last eight homes games of the 05-06 season<\/span> with their only loss coming to South
\nCarolina<\/st1:place><\/st1:State> in the second round of the NIT.<\/o:p><\/p>\nBowling<\/span><\/st1:PlaceName> <\/span>Green-Kent<\/span><\/st1:PlaceName> <\/span>State<\/span><\/st1:PlaceType><\/st1:place><\/o:p><\/span><\/h2>\nPress Notes <\/o:p><\/span><\/h3>\nThe Falcons are in a stretch where they will have played
\neight of their last 11 away from home since December 16. The Falcons fell at Miami<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>,
\n66-60, on Wednesday night. Kent<\/st1:PlaceName> State<\/st1:PlaceName><\/st1:place>
\nis coming off a 78-68 loss at Akron<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>.
\nBGSU<\/span> has won three of the last four meetings in Kent<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\ncapturing a 79-74 contest a year ago. BGSU<\/span> also won
\nat KSU<\/span>, 77-73, in 2005 and 78-74, in 2003. The Golden
\nFlashes are 5-1 at home this season.<\/o:p><\/p>\nRice-Central Florida<\/span><\/st1:place><\/o:p><\/span><\/h2>\nPress Notes <\/o:p><\/span><\/h3>\nThe UCF<\/span> men\u2019s basketball team
\nwill be seeking its 11th<\/sup>-straight win at home. The Golden Knights
\nhave won two-straight contests and are 13-4 overall. The squad is off to a 2-1
\nstart in league play. Rice is 3-0 in C-USA action and 9-7 on the year. UCF<\/span> and Rice will be meeting for the third time overall and
\nfor the first time in Orlando<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>. The
\nall-time series is tied, 1-1. Last year, the teams played once as Conference USA<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\nrivals and the Golden Knights claimed a 77-64 victory in Houston<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>
\non Feb. 25, 2006<\/st1:date>. UCF<\/span> has won 10-straight contests at home and is 9-0 at the UCF<\/span> Arena this season. In their nine games in Orlando<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>,
\nthe Golden Knights are averaging 81.2 points and have a +22.2 scoring margin
\nand a +12.7 rebound margin. UCF<\/span> has outrebounded<\/span><\/span> all nine of its
\nopponents at the UCF<\/span> Arena. Last season, UCF<\/span> scored more than 70 points in a contest only five
\ntimes. In 2006-07, the Golden Knights have already eclipsed the 70-point mark
\n12 times in 17 games. After averaging just 63.3 points per game last season,
\nthe Golden Knights are scoring 76.4 points per contest this year. The squad
\neclipsed the 80-point mark only once a year ago, but has already scored more
\nthan 80 points in a game on seven occasions this season. UCF<\/span>
\nowns a +11.2 scoring margin.<\/o:p><\/p>\nUW Green Bay-Butler<\/o:p><\/span><\/h2>\nPress Notes <\/o:p><\/span><\/h3>\nButler<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>, ranked
\nin the \u201cTop 25\u201d for eight consecutive weeks and looking to reclaim a share of
\nfirst place in the Horizon League, will wrap up a three-game homestand<\/span> against one of the league\u2019s hottest teams when it
\nhosts UW-Green<\/st1:PlaceName> Bay<\/st1:PlaceType><\/st1:place>.
\nThe Bulldogs (16-2, 4-1 Horizon League), successful in the first two games of
\nthe current homestand<\/span> including a 67-39 decison<\/span> over Youngstown State on Wednesday (Jan. 17), trail
\nWright State by one-half game in the league standings. The Raiders (12-7, 5-1
\nHL), who won at Cleveland<\/st1:PlaceName> State<\/st1:PlaceType><\/st1:place>
\non Thursday (Jan. 18), play at UW-Milwaukee on Sunday (Jan. 21). UW-Green<\/st1:PlaceName>
\nBay<\/st1:PlaceType><\/st1:place> (10-8, 2-3 HL), boasting wins
\nin eight of its last 11 outings, is ending a seven-day layoff when it visits
\nHinkle Fieldhouse<\/span>. Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>
\nhas won 18 consecutive games in Hinkle Fieldhouse<\/span>,
\nincluding eight wins this season. The Bulldogs have won 89 of the past 100
\ngames played in the Fieldhouse<\/span>, and Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>\u2019s
\nhome record over the past decade (1996-present) is 128-17. The Bulldogs\u2019
\nhomecourt winning streak is the ninth-longest active homecourt streak in the
\nNCAA Division I. The Bulldogs have held eight opponents to an average of just
\n51.9 points in Hinkle Fieldhouse<\/span>. Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>
\nlimited its last three home foes – Youngstown<\/st1:PlaceName>
\nState<\/st1:PlaceType><\/st1:place> (39), South
\nDakota<\/st1:PlaceName> State<\/st1:PlaceType><\/st1:place> (47)
\nand Wright<\/st1:PlaceName> State<\/st1:PlaceType><\/st1:place>
\n(42) to season-low scoring totals and kept both Cleveland<\/st1:PlaceName>
\nState<\/st1:PlaceType><\/st1:place> and Ball<\/st1:PlaceName>
\nState<\/st1:PlaceType><\/st1:place> below 50 points at home. Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>\u2019s
\nfoes are shooting just .386 from the field and .323 from the three-point arc in
\nthe Fieldhouse<\/span>.<\/o:p><\/p>\nCharlotte-George<\/span><\/st1:City> <\/span>Washington<\/span><\/st1:State><\/st1:place><\/o:p><\/span><\/h2>\nPress Notes <\/o:p><\/span><\/h3>\nCharlotte<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>
\ndropped both meetings last year as GW<\/span> went 16-0 in
\nA-10 play. At GW<\/span> in the regular-seaon<\/span>
\nfinale, Mar. 4, Charlotte<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> led in OT
\nin the closing seconds, but GW\u2019s<\/span> Carl Elliott
\nfollowed up a miss with a put back at the buzzer to snag the win. The Charlotte<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>
\n49ers (8-8; 2-2) head to George Washington (12-4; 3-1) in search of their third
\nstraight win, after posting back-to-back A-10 victories over Richmond<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>
\nand Dayton<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>. In four A-10 games, Charlotte<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>
\nis shoting<\/span> 46% from the floor and 42% from
\nthree-point land. Charlotte\u2019s improving defense has held opponents to less than
\n70 points in six of the last eight games, with Richmond (51) and Dayton (59)
\nbeing held to the fewest points allowed by the 49ers this year. Only one
\nopponent was held to less than 70 in the first eight games.<\/o:p><\/p>\nMarshall-Tulane<\/o:p><\/span><\/h2>\nPress Notes <\/o:p><\/span><\/h3>\nMarshall<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>
\n(6-11, 1-2) and Tulane (8-7, 1-2) will meet for the third time Saturday
\nevening. The Green Wave lead<\/span> the all-time series, 2-0,
\nafter claiming both games in 2006-07. Tulane enters the game with an 8-7
\nrecord, 1-2 in league play. Like the Herd, the Green Wave claimed its first
\nconference win of the season Wednesday when it defeated East
\nCarolina<\/st1:place>. Marshall won its first Conference USA game of the
\n2006-07 season with a 65-53 win over Tulsa in its last time out Wednesday night
\nat Henderson Center and ended a three-game losing skid in the process.<\/o:p><\/p>\nArizona State-USC<\/o:p><\/span><\/h2>\nPress Notes <\/o:p><\/span><\/h3>\nA young Arizona State University basketball team (6-12;
\n0-7 in Pac-10) under first-year coach Herb Sendek<\/span> has
\na 5 p.m. PT\/6 p.m. MST tip-off at USC ASU<\/span> is giving
\nup just 63.7 points per game, currently the fourth-best mark in ASU<\/span> history and the lowest since the 1949-50 squad gave up
\n59.8, but is trying to replace the points of late summer departures Kevin
\nKruger (transferred to UNLV<\/span> in July) and Bryson
\nKrueger (dismissed from team in August). Kevin Kruger took advantage of a NCAA
\nrule that lasted six months which allowed him to transfer to UNLV<\/span> to play for his father since he had finished his
\ndegree work. With all the changes, four true freshmen are combining to average
\n87.5 minutes, including three at or above the 26-minute mark. <\/o:p><\/p>\nUSC leads the ASU<\/span> series 43-29
\nbut ASU<\/span> has won two of the past three in Los
\nAngeles<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>…ASU<\/span> has posted two
\n100-point outings in its past 134 games, both against USC.<\/o:p><\/p>\nBaylor-Oklahoma<\/o:p><\/span><\/h2>\nPress Notes <\/o:p><\/span><\/h3>\nBaylor is 2-31 in its last 33 true road games (dating to \u201802-03)
\nand has lost 19 straight since a 73-72 win at Purdue 12-30-04<\/st1:date>.
\n<\/span>BU has lost 19 straight Big 12 road games dating to a 67-61 win over TAMU<\/span> 2-25-04<\/st1:date>.
\nBaylor is 4-36 in its last 40 away games (dating to \u201802-03). Baylor has lost 24
\nstraight games to Oklahoma<\/st1:place><\/st1:State>
\n(dating back to a 75-67 win Dec. 6,
\n1977<\/st1:date>), including all 20 since the inception of the Big 12
\nConference. BU is 2-14 all-time vs. Oklahoma<\/st1:place><\/st1:State>
\nin Norman<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>. Baylor is scoring 77.3
\nppg, 14.1 ppg more than last season (4th<\/sup> in 12 rankings), the school\u2019s
\nhighest scoring average since the \u201894-95 squad averaged 81.2 ppg. Oklahoma is
\n10-6, 2-2 under first-year head coach Jeff Capel<\/span> The
\nSooners returned two starters from last season\u2019s 20-9 squad. OU<\/span> is 8-1 this season at home in the Lloyd<\/st1:PlaceName>
\nNoble<\/st1:PlaceName> Center<\/st1:PlaceType><\/st1:place><\/o:p><\/p>\nRichmond-Dayton<\/o:p><\/span><\/h2>\nPress Notes<\/o:p><\/span><\/h3>\nThe youthful Spiders continue to struggle with maintaining
\nconsistency. Over its last five games, the Spiders have played well for the
\nfirst 30 minutes of the game, but in their last four losses the Spiders have
\nfaltered a bit in the game\u2019s final 10 minutes. In three of Richmond<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>\u2019s
\nlast four losses the Spiders have trailed by two with less than three minutes
\nto play. That comes with having a young team, and while that reason may be
\ngetting old, the Spiders do rely on five freshmen who play at least 13.5
\nminutes per game. Richmond<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> has
\nstarted four freshmen in six games and at least three freshmen in 15 of 17
\ngames. <\/o:p><\/p>\nNow the Spiders will try to win for the first time at UD<\/span> Arena, where Richmond<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>
\nis 0-6. The Spiders do play well at UD<\/span> Arena. In Richmond<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>\u2019s
\nlast three trips to Dayton<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>, the
\nSpiders have lost in overtime by five, by two points and by one, 63-62 in their
\nlast visit in 2005. Richmond<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> is
\nfourth in the Atlantic 10 in field goal percentage at 46.4 percent. The Spiders
\nhave shot over 40 percent from the floor in all but four of their 17 games this
\nseason, including four of the last five. Richmond<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>