#24 Harvard vs. #9 UCONN

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     Harvard is the first team from the Ivy League to ever be ranked in the top 25.  They have a very deep team that can compete in games and stay close.  This matchup against UCONN though is going to be tough game to win.  UCONN is playing at home where they have a 38 game non-conference winning streak.  UCONN will be facing a team in the top 25 for the second time this year as they took #20 Florida State to overtime a couple weeks ago and ended up winning by two.  I think this game might be close for a while because UCONN tends to let teams stick around.  They will be able to beat Harvard tonight though.  Although Harvard has a very deep team, they do not match up well against Connecticut.  Harvard's numbers are not in line with their national ranking.  They are 191st in the country in scoring and 252nd in the nation in rebounding.  Connecticut on the other hand ranks 63rd and 22nd in those categories.
     Look for Freshman Andre Drummond to rebound from a bad game against Arkansas.  His previous two games before Arkansas were his best of the year, so look for him to get back into form at home tonight.  Lamb continues to play well, so look for another good game from him.  The wild card for UCONN is Shabazz Napier, he continues to be inconsistent.  His last five games points totals: 22,23,4,26,9.  He will have to have more consistent games going forward.  In his 4 point game, he turned the ball over 7 times, which can't happen with a team who is defending the national title.  Tyler Olander, who really started to stand out during the Big East tournament last year, is having a good season for the Huskies.  He leads the team in rebounds with 6.6 per game and has been playing solid, useful minutes all year.  This game tonight will be exciting and it will be interesting to see just how good Harvard is as they play the national champs in Storrs tonight.

UCONN Suffers First Defeat

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     UCONN saw their 16 game win streak dating back to last year, end today in a loss to UCF in the "Battle 4 Atlantis" tournament in the Bahamas.  This early season loss does not surprise me.  They have played close games against teams they probably should have blown out this year.  I don't feel as though they have the best team in the NCAA this year, and believe their #4 ranking was based on their success last year.  I still think they are a top 10 team however, but they have to learn one important thing this season...how to play without Kemba.  They have the talent on the team to win, Lamb and Nappier leading the way, who's ability we saw last year as they got better and better as the season went on.  Along with Olander and Oriakhi who have looked good thus far, and the star rookie Andre Drummond, who needs some time to mature, I believe this team will start to click and get on another roll.  They have looked shaky at times, but I think this will change.  They are going to have another good season, it's just a matter of time before they click all around.