Under the Radar Game of the Day – South Dakota State at Illinois State, 8:00 PM Eastern, espn3
For our most recent Under the Radar podcast, CLICK HERE.
Despite last year’s #TeamOfThePeople, NJIT, being in action tonight in their home opener (against Boston U.) and this year’s #TeamOfThePeople, Grand Canyon, hosting Alcorn State, the UTR Game of the Day is heading to Normal, Illinois tonight as the Illinois State Redbirds will be welcoming in the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.
Illinois State enters tonight’s game with a record of 1-1, having lost at San Diego State and won at home against Morehead State. They are coming off of a very strong 22-13 campaign last year that saw them lose in the MVC Tournament title game (despite holding a double-digit second half lead) and then advance to the second round of the NIT. This year the Redbirds have legitimate dreams of their postseason tournament being the NCAA, especially with DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell to lead the way. He led the way in the team’s victory over Morehead State, scoring 23 points while pulling down 4 rebounds.
Tonight’s opponent for the Redbirds is one of the preseason favorites out of the Summit League, South Dakota State. The Jackrabbits are expected to contend with North Dakota State (and based on their huge win at Wisconsin, Western Illinois as well) for the conference regular season title. The ‘rabbits are 2-0 on the young season, including a home win over Weber State, one of the teams expected to contend for the Big Sky championship. They are led by a trio of guards that form one of the more dangerous Under the Radar backcourts in the nation, Deondre Parks, George Marshall and Jake Bittle. All three scored in double figures in their win over Weber State. If they can continue to spread out the offense between the three of them, and get help down low, the Jackrabbits could prove to be one of the nation’s most dangerous teams that noone, other than our UTR crew, is talking about yet.
Pingback: Throwback Thursday: 1979 NCAA Tournament | Hoops HD