Morgan State vs Grand Canyon, 9:00 PM Eastern, YUR-Arizona/gcu.tv/espn3
The Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada is the site of tonight’s Under the Radar Game of the Day, as the Morgan State Bears will be taking on the Grand Canyon Antelopes in what may be a lot more exciting of a game than the team’s actual records indicate. Thunder Dan’s Lopes enter tonight’s game at 9-4 overall, ranked 128 in the nation by KenPom, good for second best in the WAC behind New Mexico State. Although they have yet too pick up a notable win on the season, their losses are respectable, including at Louisville and in double overtime at Boise State. Josh Braun was held to only 8 points in the Louisville loss and needs to contribute more tonight to help lead his team.
The Lopes need to be certain not to look past tonight’s game to a matchup this weekend at Illinois, because head coach Todd Bozeman’s Morgan State Bears are a lot more dangerous than their 4-7 record and 272 KenPom rating indicate. This is because the first 10 of their 11 games were played without the services of senior swingman Tiwian Kendley. Kendley made his season debut last time out, in a loss at George Mason, and promptly scored 31 points in an 8 point loss. With Kendley back in the fold, the Bears are primed to make some serious noise in the MEAC this year, and his presence should have GCU fans on upset alert in tonight’s game.