Following a two-day delay due to the effects of Winter Storm Juno, DePaul and Providence will finally tangle in a rare Thursday matinee in the snow-weary Rhode Island capital. The game, which pits two of the five Big East teams separated by a half-game atop the standings, was originally scheduled for Tuesday night, before nearly 20 inches of snow fell in Providence. The extra two days gives the Friars a full week of rest since their 69-66 overtime win against Xavier at home last Thursday.

Michigan State doesn’t appear to be in jeopardy of missing the NCAA Tournament, although its recent inability to play through adversity has coach Tom Izzo a bit concerned. The Spartans hope to snap a two-game road losing streak Thursday when they visit Rutgers in a game pushed back two days due to the blizzard in the Northeast. Despite generating 24 second-chance points off 24 offensive rebounds, Michigan State trailed by as much as 17 on Saturday before coming up short, 79-77, at Nebraska.

Maryland is trying to chase down first-place Wisconsin, while host Ohio State is striving to go on a sustained run as the two teams clash in Thursday’s Big Ten contest. The No. 13 Terrapins are a half-game behind the Badgers, and coach Mark Turgeon knows his club has little margin for error to move atop the conference. “Every night is going to be a battle for us because we aren’t a team that can just show up and beat teams,” Turgeon told reporters.

Points will be at a premium when defending national champion Connecticut visits Cincinnati on Thursday. The teams turned in a physical and defensive battle when they met on Jan. 10 - a 62-56 UConn victory - and Bearcats interim coach Larry Davis expects more of the same. "It's going to be a rock fight," Davis told reporters at practice. "They're really good defensively, hopefully we'll be really good defensively, and it will come down to making some shots and winning the rebounding battle."

Third-ranked Gonzaga, winners of 13 of the last 14 West Coast Conference regular season titles, starts the second half of WCC play by hosting Portland on Thursday, holding a one-game lead over Saint Mary's. The Bulldogs, off to the best start in school history, bring a 13-game win streak into the contest with the Pilots, who are in a three-way tie for sixth place in the WCC with San Diego and San Francisco. Gonzaga also brings in a 36-game home win streak into the contest.

After a pair of close calls to begin January, No. 1 Kentucky has regained its dominant form by mostly having its way against the teams in the SEC basement. The Wildcats, who visit Missouri on Thursday, will wrap up a stretch in which four of their five games come against an opponent with one conference win. Since recovering from consecutive overtime victories to open 2015, Kentucky has blitzed three of its next four foes, with only Vanderbilt keeping the final margin below 15 points.

Optimism is stunningly rampant as USC hosts Colorado on Thursday because the Trojans will have the opportunity to show just how much they've improved since losing to the Buffaloes 86-65 on Jan. 4. Although USC has lost four consecutive games - three by a total of 14 points - and owns only one victory in seven Pac-12 contests, coach Andy Enfield is pleased with the progress of his Trojans.

Delon Wright might feel like he still has something to prove to UCLA, and the Utah point guard will get another chance Thursday when the No. 10 Utes visit the Bruins in a Pac-12 game. Wright attended Leuzinger High School in the Los Angeles area, the same as former UCLA and current NBA star Russell Westbrook, but wasn't recruited by the Bruins. Wright went on to play two years at San Francisco City College and has developed into one of the top point guards in the nation.

Two teams in desperate need of a win meet Thursday when California visits Washington State, whose feel-good story has turned sour with three straight losses by an average of 23 points. The Cougars won’t receive any sympathy from the Golden Bears, who have lost six in a row, including five straight by double digits. First-year coach Cuonzo Martin’s team started 10-1, but the Golden Bears’ offensive weaknesses have been exposed in league play.