Under the Radar Game of the Day – Wednesday, November 25 – Grambling State at Texas-Arlington

Under the Radar Game of the Day: Grambling State at Texas-Arlington, 8:00 PM Eastern

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13 days into the 2015-16 regular season, one of the last cities that the UTR Game of the Day expected to be heading to was Arlington, Texas.  UT-Arlington was chosen to finish in 9th place in the Sun Belt this season.  The Mavericks lost their top three players off of last season’s team and the only good news heading into the year was the lack of any seniors on the roster — meaning that next year they might have a chance to succeed based on experience they would gain this one.  Of course, the game is played on the court and not on paper (or websites).

On Friday night, Arlington went to Columbus, Ohio to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes.  When the dust had settled, the upset was complete and UTA was walking away with a 73-68 victory.  As if that was not enough, the Mavs then head to Memphis Monday night to battle the Tigers — and walked out with another win, this time by a score of 68-64.  Kevin Hervey led the way in both games, with 18 points against the Buckeyes and 22 points (plus 11 rebounds) against the Tigers.  Arlington now stands at 3-1 (having lost at Louisiana Tech and beaten Fordham at home) heading into tonight’s contest.

Tonight’s opponent for the Mavericks is the only two-time winner of the coveted HOOPS HD Centenary Award — the award given at the end of each college basketball season to the worst team in Division I.  Grambling State captured the title last season following a 2-27 campaign (with neither win coming against D1 competition).  The Tigers are 1-4 so far this year, with their lone win again coming outside of Division I.  1-5 after tonight is likely as the Tigers have really not even been close in their four losses so far, including a 19 point home loss to Louisiana Tech on Saturday.  They will need a huge effort from Nigel Riberio if they want any shot at the upset tonight.  Riberio provided the biggest highlight for the Tigers in the La Tech loss, dropping 28 points on the Bulldogs.