News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Sunday, Nov 20th

Below is a rundown of all of today’s action:

-Saint Mary’s got off to a hot start against Dayton on the road yesterday and threatened to run away with the game. They led by as much as 20 points in the 2nd half before Dayton mounted a furious comeback to cut the deficit to 2 in the last minute of the game. They had a chance to tie the game with under 20 seconds to play, but an offensive foul ended the Flyers’ hopes and Saint Mary’s got a critical 61-57 win at UD Arena.

-Texas Southern got another road win for the SWAC last night; they were able to get a game-winning 3-pt shot to pull off a 77-76 win at La Salle. Could this be the year that Mike Davis’s team returns to the NCAA Tournament?

-Wagner’s win at UConn is starting to look more and more like a complete fluke. Fairfield went on the road and beat the Seahawks 70-64 in overtime. That win gives the Stags a 3-0 record to start the season.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-NEW HAMPSHIRE AT WEST VIRGINIA.  The Team of the People’s quest for greatness continues!!  They’re coming off a disappointing loss, but have a tremendous opportunity today against a top 25 team in West Virginia!!  #RankUNH!!  #GoDancingOrDie!!

-ARKANSAS STATE AT CHATTANOOGA.  Both teams come into this game at 3-1.  We like Chattanooga’s tournament chances, but the margin for error is small.

-NORTH DAKOTA STATE AT HIGH POINT.  Neither team will likely be in the picture come March, but both teams come into this game with a pretty good 3-1 start.

-YALE AT VIRGINIA.  This is technically a buy game, but Yale has two fairly nice wins already.  They’re likely overmatched in this one, but we still think they’re a tournament caliber team.

-RHODE ISLAND AND DUKE (Hall of Fame Tip-Off).  Rhody picked up an impressive win against a pretty good Cincinnati team yesterday, and will face a very though Duke team that has been hit hard by injuries, especially down low.  If Duke can get healthy they’ll be one of the best teams in the country, but don’t be surprised to see them struggle in the meantime.

-PRINCETON AT LEHIGH.  Neither team has won a game yet, but Lehigh’s two losses were a missed last second shot at Xavier, and an overtime loss at Yale.  Princeton’s only loss was at BYU.  So, even though both are winless, don’t be surprised if they both end up having big seasons.

-DAVIDSON VS ARIZONA STATE (Tire Pros Invitational).  Both teams are trying to pick up their second win in this tournament and go back home with some momentum.

-EAST TENNESSEE STATE AT UNC WILMINGTON.  Both teams are unbeaten.  East Tennessee State will be one of the better teams in the SoCon along with Chattanooga, and UNCW should be one of the better teams in the Colonial, and we think they may be good enough to make the NCAAs regardless of what happens in the conference tournament.

-CINCINNATI VS PENN STATE (Hall of Fame Tip-Off).  Both teams are looking to rebound after losing their openers.

-UTEP VS MISSISSIPPI STATE (Charleston Classic).  Both teams are looking to pick up their second win in the tournament and walk out with some momentum.

-JACKSONVILLE AT SOUTH ALABAMA.  Both teams are under the radar and will likely remain there for the entire season, but as of now Jacksonville comes in at 3-1 and South Alabama is a perfect 4-0.

-CLEMSON VS OKLAHOMA (Tire Pros Invitational).  This is the third place game, and one more chance to pick up a decent win away from home.

-COLORADO STATE AT STANFORD.  Both teams are unbeaten, and although not many of us were expecting much out of either team, they’ve both looked pretty good in the few games they’ve played.

-SAINT JOSEPH’S VS OLE MISS (Paradise Jam).  Both teams are unbeaten, and although there wasn’t much expected out of either team coming into the season we’ll keep our eyes on them until they give us a reason not to.

-XAVIER VS NORTHERN IOWA (Tire Pros Invitiational).  This is the championship game.  Both teams are unbeaten, and both have knocked off some pretty good teams along the way, so it’s a good opportunity for both teams.

-WAKE FOREST AT CHARLESTON (Charleston Classic).  Both teams come into this at 3-1, and both appear to be much improved from last season.

-NORTH CAROLINA STATE VS CREIGHTON (Paradise Jam).  Creighton already has one big win this season and they can continue to add to their profile by picking up some wins away from home in this tournament.  Some of us like NC State.  Some of us don’t.  Either way, this is a huge chance for them to pick up an early statement win.

-VILLANOVA VS UCF (Charleston Classic).  Both teams have pretty much rolled through this tournament, and through the rest of thier schedules so far.  We expected that from Nova, but not so much from UCF.  If UCF wins this game, they’ll go from not being talked about or thought about at all to being a huge national story.

BUY GAMES

-Niagara @ Rutgers
-Towson @ Maryland.  Both teams unbeaten
-The Citadel @ Iowa State
-UMES @ Wichita State
-Libpscomb @ Fordham
-Florida A&M @ Air Force
-Detroit @ Florida State
-UTRGV @ Iowa
-Hampton @ Kansas State
-Gulf Coast @ Michigan State
-Northern Arizona @ Washington
-Iona @ Nevada
-Duquesne @ Kentucky
-Long Beach State @ UCLA