Cal State-Bakersfield at UC-Santa Barbara, 10:00 PM Eastern, bigwest.tv
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The Under the Radar Game of the Day heads to Santa Barbara, California tonight for a non-conference matchup between a pair of teams that made the postseason last year. The host Gauchos of UCSB (CBI last season) have struggled so far this season and enter play tonight at 1-9, 0-9 against D1 competition. Despite their struggles, the Gauchos played a very solid game last time out, falling by one point to Nevada, the Mountain West’s top team so far this year, in a game played in Las Vegas. Gabe Vincent led the way with 23 points for his team in that loss. Tonight, the Gauchos host Cal State Bakersfield in the second of two matchups between these teams this season. UCSB lost the first game, 77-70, on the road back on November 19. Jalen Canty had one of his best games of the season, despite the loss, in that game with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Bakersfield, the defending WAC Tournament champions and NCAA Tournament participant, enters tonight’s game at 8-5 overall, 5-5 against D1 teams. The Roadrunners have the second best RPI (177) and the top KenPom rating (106) in the WAC. Sophomore Damiyne Durham has been leading the way so far this season for this team, having topped the 20 point mark six times already this season, including each of the last three games. He had a career high 30 points in his team’s earlier win over UCSB, and if he can play that good again tonight, the Roadrunners have a real chance to sweep the season series and pick up some serious momentum heading into their final non-conference game and the start of WAC play next week.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-NORTHWESTERN AT PENN STATE (Big Ten). Northwestern is off to a great start, but they still don’t have a true road win on their profile. This is certainly a winnable road game and it’s one they need to be able to pick up if they really are a tournament caliber team.
-RUTGERS AT WISCONSIN. Rutgers, despite the loss, played well at Seton Hall earlier in the week. This is a much tougher assignment for a program that is definitely showing signs of improving, but is probably not their yet. Wisky looks like they are going to be a force in the Big Ten and will likely end up with a protected seed.
-ILLINOIS AT MARYLAND (Big Ten). Both have bloated records, but both need meat on their profile.
-KENT STATE AT TEXAS. The Longhorns have struggled, but they’ve still been tough at home and should pick this one up today.
-MICHIGAN STATE AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten). Michigan State has struggled and needs a win like this to get their season turned back around. Minney hasn’t struggled, but they really haven’t played anyone that would cause them to struggle. They have a bloated record, but it’s still hard to say whether or not they are for real.
-SMU AT MEMPHIS (American). These are two of the better teams in the American and this is the kind of win that helps both on and off paper.
-CORNELL AT SYRACUSE. If Syracuse doesn’t win this one, they’re no longer relevant.
-LANDER (nondiv1 ) AT SOUTH CAROLINA. Buy game
-HOWARD AT VCU. Buy game