NCAA Basketball: Top 10 “must see” December games for 2023-24 season
By Jay George
No. 7 – #24 Illinois at #10 Tennessee
Saturday, December 9th – 12:00pm EST
Where: Thompson-Boling Arena – Knoxville, Tennessee
Tennessee is looking like an offensive powerhouse themselves which has not always been the case for the Vols. They did just suffer a loss to UNC which speaks a lot to the Tarheels scoring abilities more than anything, but will come into this home game with a favorable matchup against George Mason. Dalton Knecht has been the man to beat on the squad, but after an injury against UNC, there’s no telling his timeline and production if he’s back on the court then giving the Vols a test in depth.
Illinois has slowly made their way into the top 25 and look as expected led by Terrence Shannon. They will come into this game following a matchup with FAU who seems to be everywhere in some top matchups this coming month. Nonetheless these teams have very similar builds and with Dalton Knecht potentially being out, there is a lot for Illinois to capitalize on here.
No. 6 – #17 Alabama v. #2 Purdue
When: Saturday, December 9th – 1:30pm EST
Where: Coca-Cola Coliseum – Toronto, Ontario (Naismith Hall of Fame Series)
Everyone knows what makes Purdue so great. While they might not blow teams out in every metric, they play a clean and efficient game. Teddy drawing so much attention to the middle leaves shooters open left and right or if they choose to play him one-on-one, it’s usually a productive day under the basket.
Grant Nelson will likely be facing Edey one-on-one the most, and although he’s been one of Alabama’s best players to date, there is a different gear he’ll need to find with Edey. As with most Purdue games, it’ll come down to how they decide to defend and give and take on that end of the court. Luckily, they can push the tempo a bit faster than Purdue typically likes, and although the Boilermakers should adjust, it could give Alabama a slight competitive boost.
No. 5 – #8 Creighton at #4 Marquette
When: Saturday, December 30th – 2:00pm EST
Where: Fiserv Forum – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The Big East team from out west heads east.. make sense? Seriously though the Big East has made a resurgence and the Creighton Blue Jays head out to Wisconsin to face the Marquette Golden Eagles will showcase some of the best the conference has to offer.
Marquette has gotten off to a hot start with a win against Illinois and an impressive display in the Allstate Maui Invitation beating UCLA, then #1 Kansas by 14 points and playing an extremely close game against Purdue. Thus, with these matchups we have seen the ceiling or lack thereof for this team which looks promising so far being one of the most defensively efficient teams to this point. The Golden Eagles look like one of the early elites in College Basketball so far led by Kam Jones averaging over 16 points per game, Oso Ighodaro dominating the glass at 7 RPG, and a stacked roster behind them.
Creighton has had a quieter start to the season, but have been very highly touted from the get-go. Their one loss comes to a really promising Colorado State Rams squad during the Hall of Fame Classic where they had an uncharacteristic night from the floor shooting only 20.7% from three and 27.9% overall. Senior guard Baylor Scheierman is the star of the show for the Blue Jays leading the team with 18.2 PPG and 7 RPG. One of Crieghton’s other major pieces is senior Center Ryan Kalkbrenner. At 7′ 1″, he gives the Bluejays 15 PPG and 5.5 RPG which will be a great individual battle with Iso Ighodaro of Marquette.