>>College Basketball Roundup
(Undated) — Kentucky welcomes Arkansas to Lexington, Pre-Game at 6:30 on 98.7 Lite FM. The Wildcats beat Florida in their last game and improved to 16-and-7. Louisville is back in the losing column after a recent defeat to Florida State. The Cardinals are 3-and-20 and are on the road playing Pitt tonight. Number-5 Tennessee is coming off a win over Auburn. The Vols improved to 19-and-4 and will hit the road to play Vanderbilt tomorrow. The Commodores won a close game against Ole Miss and are 11-and-12. Memphis lost its last game to Tulane. The Tigers dropped to 17-and-6 and will head to South Florida tomorrow night.
MSU Showdown With Drake At The Bank
The Murray State Racers (13-11, 8-6 MVC) are down to only three remaining home games as they host the Drake Bulldogs (19-6, 10-4 MVC) Tuesday in a 7 p.m. tip on MSU Greek Night at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky. This is the second meeting between the two in the Racers’ inaugural season in the Missouri Valley Conference. The first meeting was MSU’s first trip to the Knapp Center in Des Moines, Iowa with the Bulldogs getting the best of the Racers 82-64 on Jan. 7.JaCobi Wood led the Racers with 20 points. This marks the first visit to the CFSB Center for the Bulldogs.
Cason Wallace Repeats as SEC Freshman of the Week
Cason Wallace repeated as the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week. After missing the Ole Miss game, Wallace returned to the starting lineup and led the Cats with 20 points in a 72-67 win over the Gators. He also added three rebounds, three blocks and a pair of assists. The freshman from Dallas scored 10 of Kentucky’s final 16 points in the game, including seven of the final 10. The contest was Wallace’s 14th double-figure scoring game of the season and the second 20-point performance. The award is the fourth weekly SEC honor and third in as many weeks for a Wildcat. Oscar Tshiebwe earned SEC Player of the Week honors Jan. 23, while Wallace picked up his first conference Freshman of the Week award Dec. 27. Wallace ranks among the league leaders in steals per game (6th/2.00), assists per game (7th/3.5) and assist-to-turnover ratio (7th/1.90-to-1). He sits third on the team with 11.7 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.
Allen Becomes Third Hilltopper to be Named C-USA Player of the Week
WKU Hilltopper Basketball redshirt junior Dontaie Allen earned his first two collegiate starts this week for WKU and made the most of his opportunity averaging 23.5 points and seven rebounds, earning him Conference USA Player of the Week, the league announced Monday afternoon. Along with his 20-plus points and action on the glass, Allen averaged 1.5 assists, 1.0 steals and shot a 50% clip from the general field and from beyond the arc in the two victories. His back-to-back games with 22 points or more, just the second time a Hilltopper has accomplished that feat this year. Allen becomes the third Hilltopper this season to be named Player of the Week, joining Dayvion McKnight (Dec. 12 & Jan. 16) and Luke Frampton (Nov. 14). This is the second season in a row that WKU has had three different players earn that title in a single season. WKU also had four players named to the honor in the 2019-20 season. No other men’s basketball program in Conference USA has had at least three players earn the honor in a single season since 2017-18.
Cards Visit Pitt in Tuesday Night Clash
Louisville men’s basketball is back on the road this week for two games, starting at Pitt at 7 p.m. ET Wednesday in Pittsburgh, Pa. The game will air on ACC Network. The Cardinals nearly earned their second straight ACC win Saturday, but their comeback effort against Florida State fell short in an 81-78 defeat. Pitt has been off since a 65-64 win at North Carolina on Feb. 1. The Panthers have won five of their last six. Louisville leads the all-time series against Pitt 21-8. The Cardinals have won 17 of the last 19 meetings, but the Panthers won this year’s first meeting 75-54 on Jan. 18 in Louisville.