Savannah State at North Carolina Central, 7:30 PM Eastern, No TV
While most of the world is busy following some fairly significant football game tonight, we here at Hoops HD will instead be tracking the exciting Under the Radar slate of hoops games tonight, including our Game of the Day, the MEAC battle between Savannah State and North Carolina Central. Savannah State enters tonight’s game at 4-11 on the season, with only 2 of those 4 wins coming over D1 competition. The Tigers are a sub-300 team in the RPI, BPI and KenPom. They have not beaten a Division I team since November 22. Tonight is their second conference game of the season and if they are going to turn the season around, it needs to start right now. Alante Fenner, Terel Hall and Saadiq Muhammad are the key players for the Tigers.
It is, of course, the Tigers’ opponent tonight that is the main reason this game was elevated to the UTR Game of the Day. North Carolina Central enters tonight’s game with a solid 11-5 record, including being 3-0 in early MEAC play. The Eagles hold the best RPI, BPI and KenPom ratings in the conference and are our current pick to represent the MEAC in the NCAA tournament (though it is worth noting that the MEAC tournament has historically been one of the most upset-prone tournaments out there). NC Central has played tough all season, including only losing by 11 to Maryland and by 9 to Cincinnati. The Eagles are led by Dante Holmes and Jordan Parks. Parks has already scored 30 or more points twice this season. Also keep an eye on Nimrod Hilliard, who dropped 25 points earlier this season against Jackson State. As long as this team keeps playing the way they have done so far, they should not only win tonight but be in position for the top seed in the MEAC tournament in March and a solid shot at the conference’s NCAA bid.