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Great news! You made it to the weekend. Even better? It’s another spectacular weekend of college hoops.

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1. Kentucky has a must-win game vs Gonzaga

The weekend opens with a marquee matchup tonight between No. 11 Gonzaga and No. 18 Kentucky — the first of six Top 25 matchups.

Whether Kentucky coach Mark Pope is happy to see the Zags is another question. He’s just 2-10 against Gonzaga, dating back to his time when BYU was in the WCC.

The odds don’t favor him, either. The Wildcats (5-3) are coming off a home to loss to North Carolina and are 4.5-point underdogs despite playing closer to home (it’s in Nashville) because they just haven’t met expectations yet this season. They have yet to beat a Top 100 KenPom team.

One of the biggest issues? Injuries. Any team will struggle without three starters.

Arizona State transfer Jayden Quaintance (ACL) remains out but continues to recover, while forward Mouhamed Dioubate (11.6 ppg and 5.8 rpg) will miss tonight due to an ankle injury. Point guard Jaland Lowe, who has been dealing with a shoulder issue, remains day-to-day, but there’s a chance he’ll play.

Pope says that beyond injuries, ball movement is key to the team’s improvement. He said that’s the primary difference between last season. “If we grow, which we will, then we’re going to be an excellent team.”

Kentucky will need as many bodies as possible against Gonzaga (7-1), one of the nation’s deepest teams. Even after losing by 40 points to Michigan in the Players Era Festival, the Bulldogs remained a Top 5 KenPom team and every bit of a Final Four contender. The big area to watch will be in the frontcourt, where both Graham Ike and Braden Huff each average over 15 ppg on the season. Henri Veesar and Caleb Wilson combined for 32 points and 22 rebounds for UNC vs. Kentucky earlier this week, and that was without Dioubate.

If the Cats don’t find a way to win tonight, expect the noise around this roster to grow even louder.

2. We’re down to 15 unbeaten teams + more results

Easily the top game of the slate was South Florida hosting Utah State, a battle of preseason contenders in their respective leagues.

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