Click here for Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Akron and Youngstown State
As of yesterday at noon EST, college basketball began in earnest with Middle Tennessee and Milligan tipping off. While a 102-64 Blue Raider win was hardly game-of-the-day material, the Armed Forces doubleheader in Hawai’i certainly lived up to its billing. Michigan State got off to a red-hot 17-2 start against Arizona, but ultimately Arizona would come back and also get a game-winning shot from Kadeem Allen to secure a 65-63 victory. In the nightcap, Indiana and Kansas went to overtime and the Hoosiers got a signature 103-99 win thanks to 26 points from James Blackmon Jr.
In honor of Veterans Day, there was another doubleheader that was played at Alumni Hall on Navy’s campus last night. Vandy led Marquette by a point at the half, but it was all Golden Eagles in the 2nd half as Marquette ran away with a 95-71 victory. In the nightcap, Navy got off to a good start against Ohio State, but the Buckeyes ultimately pulled away with a 78-68 win.
I would also be remiss if we did not again highlight the 2016-17 Team of the People – New Hampshire also tipped off early in the afternoon with an 85-60 win over non D-I Lesley College. Jaleen Smith had a triple-double with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Wildcats.
There were also quite a few teams that survived opening-night scares and one team that did not. Xavier started off the night hot against Lehigh, but ultimately a missed 3 at the buzzer by the Mountain Hawks enabled Xavier to survive with an 84-81 victory. (For our UTR fans, remember the name Tim Kempton – he had 25 points and 7 rebounds last night). Texas trailed Incarnate Word with 2 minutes to play, but escaped with a 78-73 win. Creighton and Maryland also had close wins against UMKC and American, respectively. UConn was not as lucky – Wagner pulled off the stunner of the night with a 67-58 win on the road. Mike Aaman and Romone Saunders had 15 points apiece for the Seahawks.
Saint Mary’s certainly looked like a team on Opening Night to be reckoned with – they got a surprisingly easy 81-63 win at home against Nevada. Clemson also opened a renovated Littlejohn Coliseum with a 74-64 win over Georgia. While Fort Wayne missed an opportunity to get a signature road win (Arkansas defeated Fort Wayne 92-83), Chattanooga was able to cash in with a win at Tennessee 82-69 last night. Casey Jones returned to action for the Mocs, and they also learned just prior to the game that Makinde London would indeed be eligible to immediately play this season after getting a hardship transfer waiver (he played at Xavier last season, but transferred to be closer to home to an ailing relative). Eastern Michigan also missed an opportunity to get a road win at Pittsburgh, but there was no shame in losing 93-90 in double overtime. NC State also survived against Georgia Southern; they trailed a long time before escaping with an 81-79 victory. Stanford would also defeat Harvard 80-70 in a game played in China.
As for other notable upsets last night, Jacksonville State went on the road and beat Tulsa 84-73. Nicholls State went up to Chestnut Hill and were able to beat Boston College 79-73 thanks to 28 points and 7 boards from DeAndre Harris. Albany did not get the memo that they were supposed to be rebuilding this season; they beat Penn State in a game where the Great Danes led by as many as 19 points on the road.
The Atlantic 10 also had a tough night last night. While Dayton, VCU and Rhode Island won comfortably, La Salle missed an opportunity to get a Big 5 road win after falling at Temple 97-92. While Fordham losing at East Tennessee State wasn’t a shock, losing by 37 on the road couldn’t have been a promising omen for the Rams. And as the puppet has alluded to many times on Opening Night, Saint Louis started off with a toy pop gun start with a 21-point loss at home to Ball State. Even George Washington was fortunate to survive with a 75-71 win at home against Maryland-Eastern Shore to begin the post-Mike Lonergan era.
As for other notable UTR games, Murray State added what should be a nice scalp for the Ohio Valley with a 73-70 win at home against Illinois State. Utah State (while not technically under-the-radar themselves) got a very nice 72-56 win on the road at UC-Irvine. Northeastern also defeated fellow Beanpot member Boston University by an 87-77 score. Detroit finally got a win after losing a pair of exhibition games against Wayne State and Ferris State. Unfortunately for the Titans, it was against D-III Adrian.
TODAY’S NOTABLE BUY GAMES (as listed by David Griggs yesterday):
-Grand Canyon @ Duke (Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Tipoff Classic – Campus)
-North Carolina Central @ Marshall (Global Sports Classic – Campus)
-Bryant @ Notre Dame (Legends Classic – Campus)
-Southern @ Ohio (Global Sports Shootout – Campus)
-Alabama State @ Western Kentucky (Global Sports Classic – Campus)
-UC Davis @ Santa Clara (Cable Car Classic)
-South Carolina Upstate @ Georgetown
-Charleston Southern @ Florida State
-NW Nazarene (Non D-I) @ Utah
-Northern Colorado @ Butler
-Appalachian State @ Davidson
-Trinity (Non D-I) @ Valparaiso
And a special shoutout goes to people hearing about our website courtesy of WIBG 1020 AM in Southern New Jersey – Chad Sherwood appears on the 2nd and 4th Saturday mornings from 9 AM – 10 AM (you can listen here for Chad’s commentary).