What to watch in college basketball this weekend: Dayton-Cincinnati, Purdue-Auburn and more

Theres no shortage of content this time of the year NCAA bowl games, NFL playoff pushes, the NBA and NHL (generally), and any of the many Frasier Christmas episodes.

But this weeks college basketball is no slouch.

Weve got a slew of worthwhile matchups, headlined by an intrastate Ohio duel and a Saturday square-off between Auburn and Purdue .

You can stream college basketball on Fubo ( try for free ).

Venue: Heritage Bank Center Cincinnati Time: 8:30 p.m.

ET Friday TV: ESPNU The universities of Dayton and Cincinnati are separated by just a 50-mile stretch of Interstate 75.

Both programs are ranked and rolling ahead of a primetime Friday broadcast.

To paraphrase Camron, its time to get it in Ohio.

Advertisement The Flyers are, well, flying.

They already have two signature wins, trouncing then-No.

2 UConn in Maui and topping then-No.

6 Marquette last weekend.

Friday will be their fifth game against a ranked opponent.

Anthony Grants group is fearless.

The Flyers are certainly fun on offense 14th in adjusted rating, and theyve scored at least 70 points in every game except their last one, a rock fight against UNLV .

Three of Daytons top four scorers shoot better than 50 percent from the field.

And Enoch Cheeks is a high-motor, two-way lead option.

The Athletic s CJ Moore wrote : Anthony Grant has had some great offensive teams at Dayton, but usually its the shooting that is the separator.

This group is good in that category ranking 24th in effective field goal percentage but these Flyers take care of the basketball better than any of his previous teams.

They are turning it over on only 13.1 percent of their possessions, and their aversion to turnovers helped them knock off Marquette.

So yeah, Dayton doesnt look intimidated by elite competition.

But the Bearcats at home are a very tough out.

Plus, its the first time since 2019 that Cincy is ranked and facing a ranked team.

Wes Miller has his guys seventh in adjusted defense rating.

They are impressive off the glass and thoroughly irritating in contesting jumpers.

Dillon Mitchell , a fleet-footed and hellacious forward, leads the team in defensive rating and defensive win shares.

Hes one of three Bearcats to make Sam Vecenies NBA Draft Big Board from earlier this month.

The other two are senior scorer Simas Lukosius , who has been a total bucket at 68 percent true shooting, and Jizzle James , who has a solid 2.8 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Memorable matchup: On Dec.

28, 1998, No.

4 Cincinnati survived a scare and improved to 11-0 with a 53-51 win over Dayton.

Bob Huggins side won what was then called the Rock-n-Roll Shootout behind a stout defense and a clutch Kenyon Martin stuff under the basket.

Venue: Legacy Arena Birmingham, Ala.

Time: 4:30 p.m.

ET Saturday TV: ESPN This contest is an intriguing acid test for two of the best teams in the country.

It should be a fun watch with both sides top-10 in adjusted offense.

The Boilermakers have the fourth-hardest strength of schedule thus far, and the Tigers are first in KenPom rating.

If theres any relief for Purdue here, it lies on the right shoulder of Johni Broome the clubhouse leader for National Player of the Year sustained an injury on Tuesday, and his status isnt yet clear for Saturdays game.

Advertisement Matt Painter and company have a pair of stately wins over Alabama and Ole Miss , and theyve suffered two ranked losses to Marquette and Texas A&M.

All three of this teams defeats came outside the confines of Mackey Arena.

In Broomes potential absence, 6-foot-9 forward Trey Kaufman-Renn will be expected to produce mightily for Purdue.

He made 39 starts as a sophomore during the Boilermakers national runner-up campaign but only averaged 17 minutes of playing time.

Hes up to 30.6 minutes this season, yielding a team-best 18.2 points per game on 57 percent from the floor.

Hes scoring almost 20 per win but only 14 in losses.

A win on Saturday would be massive for the Boilermakers, who are still fine-tuning their small-ball identity in a post- Zach Edey world.

But Auburn will also be eager to prove something without its best player as it chases the top poll spot.

It fields five capable scorers aside from Broome, four of which are hitting at least 1.5 3-pointers per game.

Chad Baker-Mazara leads the regulars in offensive rating hes fifth in minutes but second in scoring.

And Denver Jones hit 4-of-5 tries from deep in last weekends dismantling of Ohio State .

From The Athletic s CJ Moore : How good has Auburn been? After running previously Top 25 Ohio State off the floor in a 91-53 win in Atlanta on Saturday, Auburn now has an efficiency margin of 35.01 at KenPom.

KenPom has this fun sorting tool that allows you to see the ratings at any point in the season dating back to the 2011-12 season.

Turns out, Auburn is his databases best team on Dec.

15 in the last 14 seasons by a lot.

Memorable matchup: On March 14, 1985, the Tigers eked out a first-round NCAA Tournament victory, 59-58.

Chuck Person had 20 points and eight boards for Auburn.

Troy Lewis scored 19 for Purdue.

St.

Johns vs.

Providence Friday, 8 p.m.

ET, FOX After demolishing DePaul to open Big East play, the Johnnies look to continue building under Rick Pitino.

These programs have played each other every season since 1969-70.

Providences Bryce Hopkins has fought his way back from a torn ACL and is averaging 17 points across his first three games.

Advertisement No.

5 Duke vs.

Georgia Tech Saturday, noon ET, ACC Network Dukes second ACC contest goes down at The Thrillerdome.

Cooper Flagg is 37.1 percent from the field in his last five outings.

Damon Stoudamires Yellow Jackets played UNC to a 3-point game earlier this month.

No.

9 Marquette vs.

Xavier Saturday, noon ET, FOX Kameron Jones has increased his scoring and shooting splits each of the last three years.

Hes now averaging more than 20 points a game on 61.8 percent effective shooting.

He fronts a Marquette group thats top 20 in adjusted offensive and defensive ratings.

Xavier led Cincinnati at halftime last weekend, ultimately putting up a good fight against the formidable Bearcats.

And it put up 89 points on the road at UConn Wednesday, going 13-of-24 from long range.

Maryland vs.

Syracuse Saturday, noon ET, ESPN Brooklyns Barclays Center is the neutral site for Saturdays action.

Maryland is somewhere on the cusp of the AP rankings, and it touts the ninth-best scoring punch in the country right now.

Derik Queen is mesmerizing at the center spot, and the torrid JaKobi Gillespie is on pace for a 50/40/90 season.

Syracuse is seventh in 2-pointers attempted per game and 342nd in 3-pointers taken.

Mississippi State vs.

No.

21 Memphis Saturday, 12:30 p.m.

ET, CBS Tyrese Hunter is a human heat check for 9-2 Memphis thus far, leading the AAC at 48.6 percent behind the arc on team-high volume.

Teammate P.J.

Haggerty is a gamer, averaging more than 22 points and two steals per night.

The Tigers have yet to get beyond the second round of the NCAA Tournament under Anfernee Hardaway.

Mississippi State is 10-1, ranking 22nd in Basketball References weighted SRS.

Josh Hubbard scores 18 points a game and launches more than eight 3-pointers on average.

Wake Forest vs.

No.

25 Clemson Saturday, 2 p.m.

ET, ESPN Advertisement Clemson was 9-1 before incurring consecutive losses to Memphis and South Carolina .

Chase Hunter continues to improve, and hes been in orange and regalia since 2019.

The Deamon Deacons are a nice defensive team, holding opponents to under 39 percent shooting and forcing an average of 14.6 turnovers.

No.

18 UCLA vs.

North Carolina Saturday, 3 p.m.

ET, CBS Two of the winningest programs in college basketball history face off at The Worlds Most Famous Arena.

Cool stuff.

UNC has been on the right side of this head-to-head lately, with six consecutive triumphs over the Bruins.

Mick Cronins 10-1 UCLA squad leads the Big Ten in 3-point prowess.

North Carolinas RJ Davis leads the team in points and minutes, but hes last in true shooting and effective field goal rates.

Ohio State vs.

No.

4 Kentucky Saturday, 5:30 p.m.

ET, CBS Another Madison Square Garden bout between two blue bloods.

No one lights up scoreboards quite like these Wildcats.

All five Kentucky starters average double figures, and galvanizing sixth-man Koby Brea is better than 50 percent on 3-pointer.

The Buckeyes have been smacked by Auburn and Maryland this month, but they beat Rutgers by 14 on Dec.

7.

No.

10 Oregon vs.

Stanford Saturday, 8 p.m.

ET, Big Ten Network Pour one out for a lost Pac-12 rivalry.

Stanford is very much located on a peninsula by the Pacific Ocean, and it now plays in the Atlantic Coast Conference? Sure.

Oregons first season in the Big Ten is going well, at least.

Four Ducks attempt between eight and 10 shots per game.

Illinois vs.

Missouri Sunday, 1 p.m.

ET, ESPN Kasparas Jakucionis is absurdly fun to watch.

The Illini freshman has been good on 50 percent of his 3-pointers in the last five games, a stretch that saw respectable defenses like Tennessee and Arkansas .

The Tigers are 10-1 and convincingly beat Kansas on Dec.

8.

(Photo of Dylan Cardwell : Kevin C.

Cox / Getty Images).

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