NEWS AND NOTES
-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Western Kentucky and Indiana State – CLICK HERE
-For Jon Teitel’s account of his day at the BB&T Classic – CLICK HERE
-I’d like to thank the Hoops HD editing team for reading over my write up from yesterday. I was in a rush, and at times butchered the English Language, as well as got some of the game locations wrong. (Editor’s Note – the Puppet also thanks us for today’s edits as well.)
-Villanova is having fantastic luck against teams from Indiana away from home! For that matter, they’re having fantastic luck against everyone. They had a big win at Purdue earlier this season, and came from behind to pick up another win against what looks to be a very good Notre Dame team yesterday. There is no shame in this loss for Notre Dame. If anything, it was a huge statement that they are a solid top 25 team that was deserving of their ranking, and could even contend for a protected seed. They led the #1 team for most of the game on a neutral floor.
-The last time Duke and UNLV met, it was in the 1991 Final Four and was one of the classic NCAA Tournament games of all time! They finally met again yesterday! It was NOT a classic!
-Butler rebounded from their loss at Indiana State to pick up a nice home win against a very good Cincinnati team. After the game Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin was unhappy, which I suppose is as normal as saying that after the game, it was still Saturday. He also complained about Butler and the Big East being more “physical” than his team, which is downright hilarious for a coach and a program that pride themselves on toughness.
-Wisconsin opened it up against Marquette in the second half to pick up a very impressive looking road win against their in-state rivals. Marquette isn’t a great team, but they are a fringe tournament team who came into this unbeaten at home, so it was a somewhat notable win.
-Rhode Island really needed to win at Houston yesterday. Rhode Island did not win at Houston yesterday. Rhody falls to 6-4, they’re winless on the road, and have lost three of their last four games.
-Dayton winning at home against East Tennessee State isn’t particularly surprising or noteworthy, but how good they looked against a pretty good Under the Radar team is perhaps worth noting. In my opinion it was their most impressive performance of the year, and they now look like one of the best teams in the Atlantic Ten.
-Ohio U really needed to win at Iona yesterday. Ohio U did not win at Iona yesterday. We still believe this team to be good, but they have a very small margin for error and need to be able to beat UTR teams, even good ones, on the road.
-Wichita State picked up a (mostly) road win that they really needed. They took down Oklahoma in Oklahoma City in a close one.
-UNC Wilmington picked up a big road win at Saint Bonaventure in a game we spotlighted yesterday. After leading the Bonnies for most of the game, they let the lead slip away and needed a shot in the final minutes to pick up the one point win. UNC Wilmington is now 8-1 on the year with three true road wins, and although Saint Bonaventure probably doesn’t pop out at you yet, they are a team that’s tough to beat at home and could make some noise in the Atlantic Ten.
-San Diego State lost at home to Arizona State. This may be the last time we mention them for a while.
-Colorado followed up their big home win against Xavier with a road loss at BYU. It was a game BYU really did kind of need, and even with it they still have a lot of work to do.
-UCLA followed up their effort at Kentucky with a home win against Michigan. This game was very competitive in the first half, but the Bruins ultimately pulled away with Lonzo Ball putting UCLA on his back.
-Perhaps we do need to pay attention to Providence again – Rodney Bullock is the latest in an assembly line of superstars for the Friars. They trailed against UMass by as many as 9 in the first half, but Providence was able to hold serve at home against a hard-luck UMass team.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-OLE MISS AT VIRGINIA TECH. Ole Miss comes into this game with a rather respectable 6-2 record, but they haven’t won a game that’s as tough as this one will be to win. VA Tech can improve to 8-1 on the year and remain on what appears to be a solid path to the NCAA Tournament.
-ALABAMA AT OREGON. Alabama doesn’t have anything bad or damaging on their profile just yet, but they really don’t have anything good on it either. And, for that matter, Oregon could use a little meat on their profile. We still believe them to be a very good team, but they haven’t shown it all the time like we expected them to.
-FLORIDA AT FLORIDA STATE. This is a big rivalry game that for the first time in several seasons features two teams that look to be on a solid pace to make the NCAA Tournament. Bragging rights are on the line, as well as a quality win.
-NEVADA AT WASHINGTON. Nevada needs this. Pure and simple. They have limited chances, they have a good looking record but haven’t always looked good when they needed to, and this is the kind of road game they need to pick up if they want to get noticed by the selection committee.
-HOFSTRA VS. KENTUCKY (Barclays Center). Hofstra is capable of making some noise in the Colonial, but isn’t likely to put up any sort of a fight today. For Kentucky, this is their annual “showcase” for Big Blue Nation in New York.
-TENNESSEE AT NORTH CAROLINA. This isn’t a buy game, but it is probably as big of a mismatch as most buy games.
-NORTHERN ILLINOIS AT MINNESOTA. Buy game
-NEW ORLEANS AT NORTHWESTERN. Buy game
-UC IRVINE AT SAINT MARY’S. Buy game
-PEPPERDINE AT USC. Buy game.