Big East Basketball: Preview of all week 1 matchups for 2021-22 season

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 13: The Big East logo on the floor before the Big East Men's Basketball Tournament Championship college basketball game between the Georgetown Hoyas and the Creighton Bluejays at Madison Square Garden on March 13, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /

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Big East Basketball Villanova Wildcats (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

Big East Basketball matchups to watch on Friday

Friday, November 12th

Kent State @ Xavier
5:30 PM on FS1
Cintas Center, Cincinnati, OH

Central Arkansas @ Butler
5:30 PM on FS2
Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN

New Hampshire @ Marquette
7:30 PM on FS2
Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, WI

#4 Villanova @ #2 UCLA
10:30 PM on ESPN 2
Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA

Game of the day: Well, I’ll give you one guess as to what the game of the day here will be. The Villanova Wildcats taking on the UCLA Bruins at Pauley Pavilion. These are two of the most fun teams to watch across the country, and all eyes will be here on Friday night. Collin Gillespie coming off an MCL tear than kept him out of the Big East and NCAA Tournaments taking on another heady guard for UCLA in Tyger Campbell.

The Bruins surely have the upper hand inside with the addition of Myles Johnson (Rutgers) to pair with Cody Riley down low. The Wildcats will also have to contend with Johnny Juzang, who made a major name for himself after a red-hot shooting performance in the Big Dance.

Mick Cronin’s teams love playing hard defense and causing turnovers, but they’ll have a little less luck doing that against a team like Villanova. The Wildcats had a +3.1 turnover margin in the Big East last year despite forcing the fewest turnovers in the Big East. This means that you’re more likely finding a needle in a haystack than getting Gillespie and Justin Moore (12.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg) to turn the ball over a whole lot. Of Moore, coach Jay Wright said he expects him to be a “dominant guard in every aspect of the game” this season. Strap in, folks! Should be a really, really good one.

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