Under the Radar Game of the Day – Wednesday, December 30: Georgia State at Texas-Arlington

Under the Radar Game of the Day: Georgia State at Texas-Arlington, 8:15 PM Eastern

Conference play is finally here.  Over the next week few days, the majority of teams will be finishing their non-conference schedules and starting the true meat of their seasons — conference play.  For the major conference teams, this is where you truly earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament and your seeding within it.  For most Under the Radar schools, it is about trying to capture a regular season title and giving yourself the best chance to win the conference tournament and an automatic bid.  However, for a few teams from the mid-major leagues, an at-large bid could still be possible.  One such conference is the Sun Belt, where Arkansas-Little Rock and Texas-Arlington both put together solid non-conference resumes.  Little Rock went 10-1 including winning games at San Diego State and at Tulsa.  UTA went 9-2 with wins at Ohio State and Memphis.  If both teams can dominate in Sun Belt play and finish in the top two spots, there is a realistic chance for the Sun Belt to put multiple teams into the field this year.  However, there are a few teams looking to prevent that from happening.

Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day is Arlington’s conference opener against last season’s NCAA Tournament darlings from Georgia State.  The Panthers won the Sun Belt regular season and conference tournament titles last year, and then pulled the stunning upset of Baylor in the Round of 64.  Head coach Ron Hunter’s spill that broke his foot in the final moments of the game after his son R.J.’s game winning shot was one of last year’s most memorable scenes.  Unfortunately for the Panthers, stars R.J. Hunter and Ryan Harrow are both gone from that team.  However, they still have Markus Crider and Kevin Ware (the later of whom won the national championship three years ago with Louisville).  The Panthers are a solid 7-2 on the season so far and should cause trouble all season for the top teams in the league.

Texas-Arlington has been led so far by Kevin Hervey.  Hervey is a 6-7 sophomore who has already recorded six double-doubles on the season.  His best game came against North Texas where he scored 20 points while pulling down 15 rebounds and dishing out 7 assists.  Also keep an eye on Drew Charles who scored 17 points against Bradley behind 5 made 3-pointers.  If Hervey, Charles and the rest of their teammates can come together for another strong performance tonight, they have a great chance to start conference play with a win.  If not, Georgia State will be sending a message that this may be more than just a two-team race in the Sun Belt.