Under the Radar Game of the Day – Saturday, January 2: Howard at Hawai’i

Under the Radar Game of the Day: Howard at Hawai’i, 10:30 PM Eastern, OC Sports/bigwest.tv

If you have not checked out Jon Teitel’s Mid-Season Conference Awards yet, CLICK HERE.

Conference play is beginning to gear up, but for today’s UTR Game of the Day, we slip back into non-conference mode as the Rainbow Warriors of Hawai’i host their final non-conference opponent of the season, the MEAC’s Howard Bison.  The Bows enter today’s game with a record of 10-2, including having taken the championship in the Rainbow Classic to start the season and Third Place in the Diamond Head Classic last week.  Their only losses came in the Diamond Head semifinal to Oklahoma and on their lone road trip of the season so far, at Texas Tech.  Hawai’i, despite only one road game on the season, does enter play with a KenPom rating of 65 — solid enough that there is a chance they could be in the at-large bid discussion if they can dominate Big West play this season (and pick up a win today as well).  They are led by Stefan Jankovic, Roderick Bobbitt and Aaron Valdes.  Bobbitt led the way during the final two games in the Diamond Head Classic, scoring 32 against Oklahoma and 30 against Auburn, leading him to be honored as our colleague Jon Teitel’s Big West Mid-Season Player of the Year.  If the three of them and their teammates can continue to play at the level they have the past few weeks, there is a great chance that this team will finish right at the top of their conference standings this year.

Tonight’s opponent for the Rainbow Warriors is the Howard Bison, visiting the islands for the New Year all the way from Washington, DC.  Howard enters play at 7-7 on the season and 1-1 in early MEAC play.  Although 7-7 is normally not impressive, especially with two of those wins coming over non-D1 competition, the Bison are the only .500 or better team in the MEAC at the moment.  They also hold one of the conference’s best wins on the season so far — a home win back on November 28 against William & Mary.  The Bison are led by Jon Teitel’s MEAC Mid-Season Player of the Year, James Daniel.  Daniel has already topped the 30-point mark six times this season including scoring 39 in the William & Mary game.  He is one of, if not the most exciting player in the MEAC and will be trying to lead his Bison to the Big Dance for the first time since 1992.  A second notable non-conference win today could certainly send a message to the rest of the conference that the Bison are a legitimate contender.