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Thursday’s slate and what to watch

spt-111219-mizzou

Mike Miller

Yet another day of watching college basketball all day. This is the sport’s holiday gift to us.

So what shouldn’t you miss tonight? Plenty. And good luck to those of you on the East Coast. The late, late games may be the best of the night.

(All times ET; TV info courtesy of HDSportsGuide.com)

Missouri vs. Illinois at St. Louis, Mo., 9 p.m. (ESPN2)
Though let’s start with this, one of the few rivalry games on the slate, featuring two teams with combined records of 22-1. But those records are a little deceiving. The Illini aren’t in Missouri’s class, mostly because the two are polar opposites on offense – only Florida boats a more efficient offense than the Tigers – while Illinois’ defense is its calling card. We’ll see if Mizzou’s overwhelming edge at guard is too much for Illinois to withstand.

Memphis at Georgetown, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
What to make of these Tigers? Loaded with talent, but unable to beat a marquee team, this could be their best chance. They already lost once to Georgetown this season, but it was an overtime thriller and the Hoyas (9-1) have done little to test themselves since. Maybe this is finally the point Memphis plays a little defense.

Florida State at Florida, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
Unstoppable force (Florida’s offense) meets immovable object (Florida State’s defense). Buckle up.

Northwestern at Creighton, 8 p.m. (Action3News)
Action3News is an Omaha station. If you can dial it up, do it. The odds of Doug McDermott staging an epic shootout with Northwestern’s John Shurna is pretty high. In fact, the odds of seeing an all-offense, no-defense are better than Kim Kardashian hooking up with an athlete in the next month.

Butler at Stanford, 9 p.m. (FSN)
The Cardinal (10-1) should dominate this game. Butler’s offense will have issues scoring against a solid defense and it’s the last of what’s been a trying non-conference schedule for the Bulldogs (5-7). Then again, Butler had no business beating Purdue, either.

Baylor vs. St. Mary’s in Las Vegas Invite, 10 p.m. (ESPN3)
The first of two potentially fantastic games. St. Mary’s (10-1) hasn’t played much of a schedule yet, but the Gaels have what Baylor doesn’t – guards who know how to run an offense. Plus, St. Mary’s frontcourt is actually a little underrated. The Bears (10-0) should feast on the boards with their massive frontline, but I bet the Gaels’ rebounding keeps this one close. And if it’s close, I like their odds if Matthews Dellavedova gets a chance at the final shot.

Long Beach State vs. Xavier in Diamond Head Classic, 11 p.m. (ESPNU)
Last one. And it’s a good one. LBS has played the nation’s second-toughest non-conference schedule, and this marks the end of a long, trying stretch to prepare for Big West play. The 49ers get the added benefit of facing a depleted Xavier team, too. Starting guard Mark Lyons and wing Dezmine Wells are still sitting for suspensions earned during their brawl against Cincinnati, which leaves Tu Holloway to do all the heavy lifting – and try to slow down Casper Ware. Xavier (8-1) was a mess in it s last game, a 22-point loss to Oral Roberts. Holloway’s back, but LBS is a far superior foe. Who knows what to expect here?

EAST

Drexel at Binghamton, 7 p.m.

Bucknell at Boston U., 7 p.m.

La Salle at CCSU, 7 p.m.

Texas St. at Fordham, 7 p.m.

James Madison at George Washington, 7 p.m.

Memphis at Georgetown, 7 p.m.

FAU at Harvard, 7 p.m.

Colgate at Hofstra, 7 p.m.

San Francisco at Holy Cross, 7 p.m.

Rider at Monmouth (NJ), 7 p.m.

Niagara at Quinnipiac, 7 p.m.

Princeton at Siena, 7 p.m.

Tulane at Syracuse, 7 p.m.

Fairfield at UConn, 7 p.m.

Davidson at UMass, 7 p.m.

American U. at Villanova, 7 p.m.

Loyola of Chicago at Canisius, 7:30 p.m.

NJIT at Rutgers, 7:30 p.m.

Texas-Arlington at St. Peter’s, 7:30 p.m.

SOUTH

Loyola (Md.) at Kentucky, 1 p.m.

Mount St. Mary’s at Savannah St., 6 p.m.

Campbell at Appalachian St., 7 p.m.

Coll. of Charleston at Coastal Carolina, 7 p.m.

Gardner-Webb at East Carolina, 7 p.m.

Florida St. at Florida, 7 p.m.

Georgia Southern at Georgia St., 7 p.m.

Mercer at Georgia Tech, 7 p.m.

Delaware at Howard, 7 p.m.

Northeastern at NC State, 7 p.m.

VMI at Old Dominion, 7 p.m.

Navy at Presbyterian, 7 p.m.

VCU at UNC Greensboro, 7 p.m.

E. Michigan at Virginia Tech, 7 p.m.

Toledo at Florida Gulf Coast, 7:05 p.m.

Miami at Charlotte, 7:30 p.m.

Bowling Green at FIU, 7:30 p.m.

Northwestern St. at Mississippi St., 8 p.m.

South Florida at Southern Miss., 8 p.m.

UTSA at Troy, 8 p.m.

Jacksonville at UAB, 8 p.m.

MIDWEST

UMBC at Indiana, 6 p.m.

Bradley at Michigan, 6:30 p.m.

Sam Houston St. at Cleveland St., 7 p.m.

Alabama St. at Detroit, 7 p.m.

Cent. Michigan at Wright St., 7 p.m.

Robert Morris at Youngstown St., 7:05 p.m.

Idaho at Green Bay, 8 p.m.

N. Dakota St. at Minnesota, 8 p.m.

Arkansas St. at Saint Louis, 8 p.m.

North Dakota at W. Illinois, 8 p.m.

Northwestern at Creighton, 8:05 p.m.

Boise St. at Iowa, 8:30 p.m.

Miami (Ohio) at Ohio St., 8:30 p.m.

Milwaukee at Marquette, 9 p.m.

Lehigh at Michigan St., 9 p.m.

Illinois at Missouri, 9 p.m.

SOUTHWEST

NC Central at Prairie View, 7:30 p.m.

Louisiana Tech at Arkansas, 8 p.m.

LSU at North Texas, 8 p.m.

Dallas Christian at SMU, 8 p.m.

Grambling St. at TCU, 8 p.m.

Rice at Texas A&M, 8 p.m.

Texas Tech at Oral Roberts, 8:05 p.m.

FAR WEST

Bethune-Cookman vs. Texas A&M-CC at Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, 3 p.m.

South Alabama at San Diego, 5 p.m.

Tennessee Tech vs. Kennesaw St. at Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, 5:30 p.m.

Bryant at Arizona, 7 p.m.

Elon at San Diego St., 7:30 p.m.

Missouri St. vs. West Virginia at Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, 8 p.m.

UC Santa Barbara at BYU, 9 p.m.

Texas Southern at Colorado, 9 p.m.

The Citadel at Denver, 9 p.m.

Air Force at Gonzaga, 9 p.m.

Utah Valley at Montana, 9 p.m.

UMKC at New Mexico, 9 p.m.

UC Davis at S. Utah, 9 p.m.

Butler at Stanford, 9 p.m.

Utah at Weber St., 9 p.m.

Wyoming at Idaho St., 9:05 p.m.

Colorado St. at N. Colorado, 9:05 p.m.

Pacific at CS Bakersfield, 10 p.m.

Portland at Nevada, 10 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin at Oregon, 10 p.m.

Hope International at UC Irvine, 10 p.m.

San Jose St. at UC Riverside, 10 p.m.

CS Northridge at Washington, 10 p.m.

Pepperdine at Washington St., 10 p.m.

Portland St. at Cal St.-Fullerton, 10:05 p.m.

SE Missouri at Sacramento St., 10:05 p.m.

Kent St. at Utah St., 10:05 p.m.

Saint Mary’s (Cal) vs. Baylor at Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, 10:30 p.m.

Kansas at Southern Cal, 11 p.m.

TOURNAMENTS

Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic

At Honolulu

First Round

UTEP vs. Clemson, 2:30 p.m.

Kansas St. vs. S. Illinois, 5 p.m.

Long Beach St. vs. Xavier, 11 p.m.

Auburn at Hawaii, 1:30 a.m.

You also can follow me on Twitter @MikeMillerNBC.