TheSpread.com

Trying to Keep Pace

Wisconsin hasn't lost consecutive Big Ten home games in a little over eight years.

The 15th-ranked Badgers look to avoid that from happening while trying to keep pace in the conference race when they meet Minnesota on Saturday afternoon.

Wisconsin (20-4, 10-2) returns home after a dramatic 68-66 win at No. 13 Indiana on Wednesday.

No Lofty Task

Even Rick Pitino thought he was being a little overambitious a few weeks ago when he said Louisville needed to win eight of its final 10 games to have any sort of momentum heading into the postseason.

"People thought that was probably a little too lofty a goal looking at our schedule," Pitino said.

That was before four straight wins - including decisive victories over Marquette and Georgetown - helped push the Cardinals (19-6, 9-3 Big East) back into the Top 25. Suddenly, the task of winning eight of 10 doesn't seem quite so daunting.

Bouncing Back

Kansas bounced back from its first loss of the season by beating Colorado earlier this month.

The third-ranked Jayhawks look to rebound from their most recent defeat by doing the same when they host the Buffaloes in a Big 12 matchup on Saturday afternoon.

Injury Problems

Even if it was just a few days, North Carolina was glad to get a break.

The fifth-ranked Tar Heels are hoping they've had enough time to recover from a rash of injuries Saturday as they host a Virginia Tech team that beat them twice last season.

The Tar Heels (23-2, 8-2 ACC) played the third of a brutal stretch of games on Tuesday, hanging on to win 75-74 at Virginia despite a slew of injuries at the point guard position.

UCONN Goes For No. 9

A.J. Price looks for another strong game on offense, Hasheem Thabeet tries to maintain his impressive play defensively and Connecticut goes for a ninth straight win on Saturday in a Big East matchup at lowly South Florida.

Price scored 26 points and Thabeet blocked six shots to lift the 17th-ranked Huskies (19-5, 8-3) to an 84-78 win over No. 20 Notre Dame on Wednesday. Thabeet keyed UConn holding the Irish to 33 percent from the field in the second half.