Under the Radar Game of the Day – Monday, January 18: Arkansas-Little Rock at Arkansas State

Under the Radar Game of the Day: Arkansas-Little Rock at Arkansas State, 8:30 PM Eastern, espn3

Most bracket projections, including almost all of ours here at HoopsHD, have had two Sun Belt teams in them since early December.  Texas-Arlington made headlines with wins at Ohio State and Memphis, and only 2 overall losses heading into Sun Belt play.  UALR won games at San Diego State, Tulsa and DePaul, while only falling once.  Arlington had their first conference stumble over the weekend, losing a game at South Alabama that put the Mavericks squarely on the bubble for any postseason tournament discussions.  UALR is still continuing to win, though tonight they will certainly be challenged in Jonesboro by the Arkansas State Red Wolves.

UALR currently sits at 15-1 overall, 5-0 in Sun Belt play.  The Trojans have a decent RPI (66) and KenPom rating (42).  Those numbers would both be stronger if they were not also sitting there with the 301 Strength of Schedule in the nation.  That being said, their win over San Diego State may be growing in value as the Aztecs have begun to turn their season around.  We are still predicting Little Rock to land inside the bubble, but they need to avoid any bad losses (which may mean a loss to any team not named Texas-Arlington).  The Trojans have a balanced scoring attack, featuring Josh Hagins, Marcus Johnson, Roger Woods, Lis Soshi, Jalen Jackson, and a fairly deep bench.  Head coach Chris Beard’s team is made up almost entirely of juniors and seniors, giving them the veteran leadership and experience they need to keep winning games and advance to the NCAA Tournament.

Tonight, Little Rock will be heading to in-state rival Arkansas State.  The Red Wolves are out to a solid 4-1 start in league play, but only 8-8 overall with an RPI of 255.  Although Arkansas State only won two games against D1 opponents during the non-conference part of their schedule, the slate did get wiped clean when they entered conference play.  Donte Thomas is worth keeping an eye on for this team.  He has scored in double figured in his last eight games and most notably picked up a triple-double in a win over South Alabama, scoring 14 points while grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing out 11 assists.  If he and his teammates play like that again, UALR could be in for a tough battle tonight.