Mock Draft NBA Prospects Playing In Top 25 Ranked Games Today
As we slide into December, the NCAA basketball schedule of games gradually grows in intensity. Teams begin to prepare for holiday tournaments, and we start to get a better feel for the NBA mock draft prospects and how talented they could really become at the next level.
There are prospects playing on teams ranked outside the top-25 playing college basketball games tonight. However, we’ll concentrate our focus on those future stars hitting the courts Wednesday who play for ranked NCAA basketball teams.
Here’s your NBA draft basketball reference for the NCAA basketball TV schedule ahead of top-25 games for Wednesday, December 4. We’ll follow the order of the current NCAA basketball top-25 AP Poll.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish @ #3 Maryland Terrapins 7:30PM ET ESPN
Jalen Smith, Aaron Wiggins and Anthony Cowan
We jump in Wednesday night on the NCAA basketball schedule and get immediately into a serious, high-profile game. A one-loss Fighting Irish team will roll into Xfinity Center to play the third-ranked Terrapins. Notre Dame’s only defeat came against a North Carolina team with their own set of 2020 NBA draft stars.
Maryland’s lofty current ranking isn’t surprising at all when you consider they boast three prize players navigating their way on most 2020 NBA draft boards. The highest projected player is big man Jalen Smith. The 6′ 10″ sophomore is off to an excellent start, filling the stat sheet at just below a double-double per game.
Fellow sophomore Aaron Wiggins hasn’t quite found his three-point stroke yet, but he’s averaging close to 30 minutes per game and 10.8 points per night.
The Maryland offense is led by the ferociously competitive senior point guard Anthony Cowan. Cowan drifted off a few early NBA draft sheets, but he’s leading the Terrapins in minutes per game. Cowan is using that court time to net 17 a night to go with 4½ dimes per game.
If you can’t make it to the Xfinity Center to watch this big game live, you can catch all the action as the prime game on ESPN. Tipoff is at 7:30PM.
#5 Virginia Cavaliers @ Purdue Boilermakers 7:15PM ESPN2
Mamadi Diakite – Virginia
Three of the nation’s current top-10 teams will square off as part of the Big 10/ACC Challenge. Virginia will take their undefeated record on the road to Indiana, where they’ll face the 4-3 Purdue Boilermakers at Mackey Arena. The defending national champion Cavaliers have now reeled off victories in 13 consecutive NCAA basketball games. Virginia last lost in March of last year to Florida State in the ACC Tournament semi-finals.
Virginia has been led by Mamadi Diakite. The lanky senior has continued to improve as he assumes a leadership role on this year’s Cavalier team. Diakite has nearly doubled his scoring and rebounding production, thus far in 2019. He’s also gradually added a three-point threat to his game, already having launched one shy of his total during the championship season.
Make sure your last channel button works on the remote control, because you can flip back and forth between this game on ESPN2 and the Notre Dame/Maryland game on ESPN.
#6 The Ohio State Buckeyes @ #7 North Carolina Tar Heels 9:30PM ET ESPN
Cole Anthony and Armando Bacot – North Carolina
Of all the college basketball games on tonight, the Tar Heels vs. the Buckeyes battle is undoubtedly going to get the most attention. Ohio State jumped over North Carolina to steal the number six spot in the AP top-25. North Carolina will get a true test from a Buckeye defense that has yet to give up 60 points in any game this season. While there are no Buckeyes listed on most NBA draft boards, they have six players scoring more than eight-points per game.
The two highest prizes on the Tar Heel roster are both slotted to be taken in the first-round next June. Both are freshmen as well. Point guard Cole Anthony is even pegged as the first pick in some mock drafts, depending on which NBA team wins the lottery.
Anthony is going to be hounded by a pair of Buckeye point guards, DJ Carton and starter CJ Walker. His 20-plus scoring average and over 7 rebound clip will both be challenged Wednesday night. Armando Bacot will see a lot of two brothers, Andre and Kaleb Wesson.
Bacot will be called upon to find some offense to help North Carolina score against the Buckeyes. He’s hitting just under a dozen points per night. Bacot has been most impressive on the boards, hauling in close to 10 rebounds per game. He’s also averaging close to two rejections.
North Carolina lost by nine to a fellow Big Ten Conference team, Michigan less than a week ago. The Tar Heels will be judging not only the talent of their future NBA stars, but the whole team. Ohio State will also play their first game away from the comfortable home court advantage at the Value City Arena in Columbus.
If you can’t get over to the Dean Smith Center on the North Carolina campus to watch the Buckeyes challenge the Tar Heels, leave your TV set tuned to ESPN. This epic battle between two top-10 ranked teams follows the Notre Dame vs. Maryland game, tipoff scheduled for 9:30PM. This is certainly the game in college basketball today with the most national impact.
Texas Southern Tigers @ #9 Gonzaga Bulldogs 9:00PM ET Root Sports NW
Filip Petrusev and Killian Tillie – Gonzaga
Gonzaga suffered their first loss of the season against the same Michigan Wolverines team that took down North Carolina. The Zags get a little breather Wednesday night when the play host to the Tigers.
Texas Southern represents the Southwest Athletic Conference and shouldn’t provide much of a challenge for the eighth-ranked Bulldogs. A pair of NBA draft prospects will get a chance to remove the bad taste the Friday loss to Michigan certainly left.
Serbian star Filip Petrusev has led five Gonzaga starters averaging in double figures early in this new season. Petrusev grabbed nine rebounds against the Wolverines, but shot a paltry 25 percent from the field, netting only nine points. He also turned the ball over three times.
Maybe the most notable name on the Gonzaga roster is big Frenchman Killian Tillie. Tillie has floated around mock draft boards, going as high as a lottery pick, but coming off the board in one of the two rounds.
Tillie has only played in four games thus far in 2019, so he’s still working into prime form. There isn’t a national TV spot available for this game, but you can get tickets and head over to McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, or catch the game on Root Sports TV.
Loyola Marymount Lions @ #20 Colorado Buffaloes 10:00PM ET Pac-12 Network
Tyler Bey – Colorado
Buffalo wingman, junior Tyler Bey, will lead Colorado against the Lions Wednesday night in a non-conference game at the Coors Event Center in Colorado. The athletic, 6’7″ junior has been the complete package as he’s led the Buffaloes to six victories to begin the season.
Bey is averaging over 14 points per game to go with an impressive 12½ rebounds. He has been the complete player, tallying nearly three assists each night, plus a couple of steals. The Lions and Buffaloes will tip off at 10:00PM ET on the PAC-12 TV Network.
Florida A&M Rattlers @ Tennessee Volunteers 7:00PM SEC Network
Jordan Bowden – Tennessee
Florida A&M will travel to Knoxville to take on the #21 ranked Volunteers in another of the non-conference college basketball games tonight. One key player in this game has started to move his name up the list of potential NBA draftees in 2020.
Jordan Bowden leads Tennessee scoring, but the balance across his stat sheet is what is most impressive. He has been a presence on the defensive end of the court for the Volunteers, plus has shot the ball extremely well. Bowden is in his fourth and final year in Knoxville and is beginning to turn the heads of many NBA scouts.
Tennessee should handle the winless Rattlers with ease, so expect head coach Rick Barnes to take the opportunity to look deep down the Volunteer bench in this game. Tipoff is set for 7:00PM at Thompson-Boling Arena, plus you can catch the game on the SEC Network.
Eastern Washington Eagles @ #22 Washington Huskies
Isaiah Stewart and Jaden McDaniels – Washington
The Huskies only loss of the season came against another top-25 team playing Wednesday night, the Tennessee Volunteers. Tennessee overwhelmed the Huskies in the first half, and then held on for a 13-point win.
Both mock draft prospects on the Huskies played well, but Jaden McDaniels fouled out against the Volunteers putting a damper on any late run Washington might have generated. McDaniels and Isaiah Stewart are each projected to be lottery picks come next June.
The tandem project to keep Washington as a prominent threat all season in the PAC-12. Keep an eye the rest of the season on another Huskie who has surfaced as a potential star. Wingman, 6’6″ Nahziah Carter (Jay-Z’s nephew) is currently second on the team in both scoring and rebounding.
The Eagles don’t appear to pose much of a threat to the favorite in the PAC-12 on Wednesday night. While the game may be part of a PAC-12 TV package deal, there won’t be a national TV spot for this non-conference game.
Pennsylvania Quakers @ #23 Villanova Wildcats 6:30PM ET FoxSports1
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl
The Wildcats will host their cross-town rival Quakers at The William B. Finneran Pavilion on Wednesday night. Tipoff is an early 6:30PM start. While the under-manned Quakers will obviously be healthy underdogs, don’t underestimate the intensity of a Philadelphia court war.
The biggest name on both rosters is Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. The 6’9″ freshman came in with an enormous upside, but has shot the ball poorly in both Wildcat losses. He managed only 20 points collectively in two games against ranked opponents thus far.
While Penn may not be one of the big names in college basketball, the Quakers will give Robinson-Earl a chance to get his game back in the groove. No one can forget that we’re less than a year removed from the Quaker’s first win against their rivals in 16 years. Live TV for this inner-city Philadelphia rivalry game is on FoxSports1.
#25 Utah State Aggies @ San Jose State Spartans 11:15PM ESPN2
Neemias Queta – Utah State (Day-to-day)
If you looking for some late night NCAA hoops, there is a late game to be broadcast live on ESPN2. You’ll get a nice chance to look at one of the more intriguing West Coast college basketball teams.
The #25 ranked Utah State Aggies reeled off seven straight victories to open the season, until losing to a strong Saint Mary’s Gaels team last week. The Aggies have accomplished this without any minutes from another potential future NBA star.
The NCAA basketball TV schedule saw fit to play this Mountain West conference game, possibly because of one player. After injury his knee in an FIBA tournament over the summer, Neemias Queta has yet to suit up this year.
His status is day-to-day, so flip over to ESPN2, tipoff at 11:15PM ET, to see if Queta can get on the court. Even if Queta can’t go Wednesday night, you’ll get a look at a very good Aggie team that has five starters who all average over 10 points per game.
The games we have covered for you are the top-25 NCAA basketball teams with players on NBA mock draft boards playing college basketball games tonight. You can use this schedule of college basketball today as your basketball reference for the best NCAA basketball games. Keep your eye out all season as we help you watch future NBA prospects playing live.
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