College Basketball Viewer's Guide For December 16

Wednesday night of exam week offered up just one upset, as UC Santa Barbara, the defending Big West champion, took advantage of a poor shooting night by UNLV (29% from the field and 58.8% from the line), to stun the 22nd-ranked Runnin' Rebels, 68-62--their second setback in a row. The Gauchos got 23 from James Nunnally, who has been battling an ankle injury of late.

There are just two games on (kind of) national television tonight.

Oral Roberts at Missouri, Mizzou Sports/FS Midwest/ESPN3/Full Court (8 p.m. ET): The Tigers hope to pick up a second straight comfortable win, after going 2-1 in three close contests (the epic OT loss to Georgetown, a three-point win at Oregon, and a three-point OT victory against Vanderbilt); however, they'll have to do it without point guard Michael Dixon, who was suspended indefinitely for the always popular "unspecified violation of team rules." Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles have dropped two road games against Big 12 opponents so far this season (Texas Tech and Oklahoma).

Northern Arizona at Arizona, KWBA/FS Arizona/FCS Pacific (9:30 p.m. ET): Remember when the Fiesta Bowl Classic was a tournament? (I'm going to guess, probably not.) Now, it's a one-game showcase, this season featuring a game against an in-state opponent. Both teams are coming off defeats. The Lumberjacks' expected setback at USC snapped a seven-game win streak for the Lumberjacks (though two of those victories came against non-Division I opponents). Meanwhile, the Wildcats were outclassed by BYU in Salt Lake City Saturday. However, look for Arizona to bounce back, as they have won 26 straight in this series.

For broadcast information for games that are set to be aired locally, like Austin Peay at Memphis and McNeese State at LSU, visit Matt Sarz's College Sports on TV site. Another good resource is the schedule page at BB State.

Please share your thoughts about tonight's action in the comments, after you sign up for a free SB Nation account, of course.

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