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Wednesday’s slate and what to watch

spt-120111-southernmiss

Mike Miller

Raise your hand if you saw Southern Mississippi’s 15-2 start coming. The Golden Eagles have reeled 11 wins in a row and haven’t lost since a double overtime loss to Murray State on Nov. 26. (The Racers have done pretty well since then as well.)

Now raise your hand if you think the Golden Eagles will keep it up.

Well, now’s when we’ll find out. Tonight’s game at Memphis opens an eight-game stretch where Southern Miss could lose five or six games. Larry Eustachy’s team takes care of the ball, hits the offensive glass and makes free throws, so they’ll be in many of those games and probably have a chance at winning Conference USA.

The Tigers and Marshall will have something to say about that, but I’m curious to see how Eustachy’s group plays this out. We’ve been waiting for his team to finally have that breakthrough year.

(All times ET; TV info from HDSportsGuide.com)

Southern Miss at Memphis, 7 p.m. (CSS)
The Tigers (10-5) have won four straight and have seemingly overcome any personal issues affecting its players. They also won their first C-USA game at UAB. Has Memphis finally gotten over the hump? This is a game it needs to win to prove it.

William & Mary at Towson, 7 p.m.
Just keep an eye for the score. This is the Tigers’ best chance at ending their woes (an NCAA record 35 consecutive losses) for a while. Like maybe next season.

Missouri at Iowa State, 8 p.m. (Big 12 HD)
Normally the Tigers (14-1) might come out strong and throttle the first team they faced after a loss. But Hilton Coliseum is one of the nation’s toughest places to play, yet never gets any recognition as such. Also, the Cyclones (12-3) have already beaten Texas and Texas A&M, giving them a healthy dose of confidence for the Tigers. This is a game Royce White can control, simply by grabbing every rebound against the undersized Tigers.

Duquesne at Xavier, 7 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)
The Musketeers (10-5) may be off the schneid. They’d lost five of their last six games since the Cincinnati brawl before beating Fordham on Saturday. It’s promising because Tu Holloway didn’t have to score for it to happen. He’ll almost certainly get on track during one of the next three home games, which may finally get Xavier back on track to being a darkhorse title contender.

Dayton at St. Bonaventure, 7 p.m. (FS Ohio)
Here for two reasons: The Flyers (12-4) are one of the nation’s best teams that don’t get mentioned very often. But this one’s got upset potential written all over it. The Bonnies have an elite player in Andrew Nicholson and seem due for a big win.

Buffalo at Ohio, 7 p.m.
I blame the Flyers and Bonnies for stealing a FS Ohio timeslot. We could’ve seen two of the MAC’s top two teams in action. (Or maybe the Bobcats dropping two in a row was the reason.)

EAST
New Hampshire at Albany (NY), 7 p.m.
Longwood at Brown, 7 p.m.
Colgate at Bucknell, 7 p.m.
Old Dominion at Delaware, 7 p.m.
Rhode Island at George Washington, 7 p.m.
Northeastern at Hofstra, 7 p.m.
Navy at Holy Cross, 7 p.m.
Army at Lafayette, 7 p.m.
American U. at Lehigh, 7 p.m.
Boston U. at Maine, 7 p.m.
Rutgers at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Fordham at Saint Joseph’s, 7 p.m.
Dayton at St. Bonaventure, 7 p.m.
William & Mary at Towson, 7 p.m.
Stony Brook at UMBC, 7 p.m.
Charlotte at UMass, 7 p.m.
Syracuse at Villanova, 7 p.m.

SOUTH
Wake Forest at Maryland, 7 p.m.
Southern Miss. at Memphis, 7 p.m.
Houston at UCF, 7 p.m.
Northwestern St. at Nicholls St., 7:30 p.m.
Kentucky at Auburn, 8 p.m.
Lamar at McNeese St., 8 p.m.
Arkansas at Mississippi, 8 p.m.
Morehead St. at Tennessee St., 8 p.m.
Marshall at UAB, 8 p.m.
LSU at Alabama, 9 p.m.
Georgia Tech at NC State, 9 p.m.

MIDWEST
Northwestern at Michigan, 6:30 p.m.
Akron at Bowling Green, 7 p.m.
Cent. Michigan at E. Michigan, 7 p.m.
Miami (Ohio) at Kent St., 7 p.m.
St. John’s at Marquette, 7 p.m.
Buffalo at Ohio, 7 p.m.
N. Illinois at W. Michigan, 7 p.m.
Duquesne at Xavier, 7 p.m.
Minnesota at Indiana, 8 p.m.
Missouri at Iowa St., 8 p.m.
Penn St. at Nebraska, 8:30 p.m.
Temple at Saint Louis, 9 p.m.

SOUTHWEST
Stephen F. Austin at Cent. Arkansas, 8 p.m.
Rice at SMU, 8 p.m.
Texas-Pan American at TCU, 8 p.m.
Sam Houston St. at Texas-Arlington, 8 p.m.
UTEP at Tulsa, 8 p.m.
Texas A&M-CC at UTSA, 8 p.m.
Texas A&M at Texas, 9 p.m.
Kansas at Texas Tech, 9 p.m.

FAR WEST
Denver at Colorado St., 9 p.m.

You also can follow me on Twitter @MikeMillerNBC.