Lipscomb at Belmont, 7:30 PM Eastern, OVC Digital Network
It is time, once again, for the first round of this year’s Battle of the Boulevard! This rivalry, between two schools separated by just a few miles in Nashville, dates back to 1953, with Lipscomb holding a 73-67 series lead. The two teams still meet twice every season, despite being in different conferences, and both games were nail-biters pulled out by Belmont last season. In fact, Belmont has now won 11 straight games in this series, having won every single game since Casey Alexander (a former player and assistant at Belmont for their head coach Rick Byrd) took over as head coach at Lipscomb.
Belmont enters today’s game at 4-2 on the season, coming off of a game that they lost at Providence on a buzzer-beating three-pointer. Dylan Windler had a great effort in that loss, scoring a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Lipscomb enters tonight’s matchup at 3-2, with the losses having come at Alabama and at Texas. Their last game, a win over Abilene Christian, featured 17 points from Rob Marberry and 13 rebounds from Eli Pepper. However stats and records will not matter tonight. Tonight is all about one of our favorite Under the Radar rivalries, and the game should once again be a great one!
OTHER NEWS AND NOTES
-We are coming off what was the busiest week of the season. The PK-80 gave us multiple games that will likely impact who ends up as protected seeds, and even who ends up as #1 seeds. Texas came up just short on two occasions where they had a chance to get a big win, and although they came up empty I think they showed that it is within their capability and they’ll win some big games this year. We saw the emergence of a good UTR team in Northern Iowa, and a rough start for teams like Arizona and Purdue. We also have our surprise team of the year (at least so far) in Wazzu!! I didn’t think they’d win as many games all season as they’ve already won in November. We will be going over all of this on tonight’s HOOPS HD REPORT, so be sure and tune in (or download) it either tonight or tomorrow.
OTHERHIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-MARYLAND AT SYRACUSE (Big Ten/ACC Challenge). I hate that Maryland is playing Syracuse and not Duke. Having said that, Syracuse comes into this game at 5-0 and while their wins have been in buy games, they’ve actually come in convincing fashion against good UTR teams, so I’m not going to entirely discredit what they’ve done. Maryland could really use a road win like this to help legitimize their resume, so it’s a good game for both teams.
-WISCONSIN AT VIRGINIA (Big Ten/ACC Challenge). Yet again, Virginia is exceeding expectations. I’m starting to think that Tony Bennett is pretty good. They are coming off an impressive showing in the NIT and are now at 6-0. Wiscy’s start has been a little more rocky. I think they’ll get it turned around eventually. A win tonight would certainly get it going in that direction.
-SOUTH CAROLINA AT FIU. Reverse buy game?? Well, they say you need road wins. This is perhaps the easiest way to get them.
-ALBANY AT MONMOUTH. This is not the easiest road game even though Monmouth is rebuilding and has struggled early. This would be Albany’s 4th true road win if they’re able to pick this up. You can’t completely ignore that.
-Saint Mary’s MD (nondiv1) @ Towson – buy game
-Alabama State @ Cincinnati – buy game
-UMES @ Old Dominion – buy game
-Eastern Illinois @ Marquette – buy game
-UT Dallas (nondiv1) @ UT Arlington – buy game