Under the Radar Game of the Day: Monmouth at Iona, 9:00 PM Eastern, ESPNU
It may be the Game of the Year in the Metro Atlantic tonight. Heading into the season, the Iona Gaels were the pick to win the conference. By the time non-conference play ended, the Monmouth Hawks, with their always-entertaining bench, became the clear favorite. Tonight, the two teams meet in New Rochelle, New York, for a game that could have major implications on the MAAC regular season championship — and on Monmouth’s chances for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Monmouth enters tonight’s game with a record of 12-4 overall and 4-1 in conference play. They have won a very impressive 7 true road games and 9 times overall away from home. Their wins include UCLA, USC, Notre Dame and Georgetown. Unfortunately, their resume is tarnished by a pair of road losses — at Canisius and at Army. If the Hawks had been able to win those two games, they would be looking like a lock, at this point at least, to make the Big Dance. They would probably even be flirting with the Top 25 nationally. Here at HOOPS HD, we are still projecting Monmouth as a tournament team, regardless of whether or not they win their league’s automatic bid. However, they probably will need to find a way to win the MAAC regular season title, and falling two games behind Iona with a loss tonight would not help that cause at all.
Iona currently sits at 9-6 overall, but in first place in the MAAC at 6-0. The Gaels struggled during the non-conference portion of their schedule, losing disappointing games to UC-Santa Babara and Akron during a trip to Las Vegas. However, they were also without their star player for those two games. A.J. English is back healthy now, and proving he can dominate a game. He scored 24 points in each of his team’s last two games, and came close to a double-double both times with 7 assists against Rider and 8 against Marist. If the Hawks do not find a way to contain him tonight, they may not be heading back to New Jersey with a win, and will have very little margin for error left the rest of the season.
Other Highlighted Games
– George Washington at Dayton: This may be one of the top games this season in the A-10. Both teams looked like solid tournament locks about a month ago, but some questionable road losses have made things more dicey. GW lost at DePaul and at Saint Louis while Dayton has a bad loss at La Salle. The winner of tonight’s game will have another nice feather in their cap as we move towards the end of January.
– Evansville at Illinois State: The Aces are still on the radar for an at-large bid, but cannot afford any missteps the rest of the way. That makes wining the game tonight, on the road against a solid Illinois State team, almost a must-win.
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