Under the Radar Games of the Day: 2K Classic Visitor’s Bracket

Gardner-Webb vs Eastern Michigan, 12:00 PM, no TV/stream
Howard at IUPUI, 2:30 PM, espn3

Last night, SMU defeated Pittsburgh and Michigan rolled over Marquette to advance to this evening’s championship game of the 2K Classic in New York City.  What most casual fans do not know is that the 2K Classic is actually a four game exempt tournament for each participant.  Each of the four teams in New York City this week also host this season two games on their home court against two of Gardner-Webb, Eastern Michigan, Howard and/or IUPUI.  Those four teams are meeting today and tomorrow at IUPUI’s home court in Indianapolis for their own four team tournament, with the semifinals taking place today and standing out as our Under the Radar Games of the Day.

In the first game, Gardner-Webb will be battling our preseason MAC West Division favorite, Eastern Michigan.  Both teams enter the game at 0-2 against D1 teams, with both their losses coming to SMU and Pittsburgh (Eastern Michigan does have a non-D1 win against Rochester).  Gardner-Webb was blown out in both games, though Laquincy Rideau did drop 23 points on Pitt and David Efiayani reached double digits in scoring in both games, coming off the bench.  Eastern Michigan, despite also being handled easily by SMU, played very well against Pittsburgh, taking the Panthers to double overtime before finally falling.  Ray Lee has been incredibly impressive so far, scoring 27 against Pitt and 26 against SMU.  Also keep an eye on James Thompson, who scored 19 points while pulling down an impressive 17 rebounds in the win over Rochester.

The second semifinal features the host team for these four games, IUPUI, against one of the top teams heading into the season in the MEAC, Howard.  IUPUI is 0-2 on the season having lost at Eastern Kentucky and at Michigan (their trip to Marquette is next week).  Darell Combs has been their top scorer, putting up over 20 points in each of his team’s first two games.  The Jaguars have a decent chance at getting their first win today, as Howard’s star player, James “J-Byrd” Daniel, remains out with a foot injury.  Daniel led the nation in scoring last year with a 27.1 points per game average.  However, he has not played yet this season (his team is 0-2, losing at Michigan and at Marquette) and could be out up to four more weeks.  Without J-Byrd, the Bison will need to rely on players like Damon Collins and Solomon Mangham, their top scorers form their first two games.