For Chad’s UTR Game of the Day featuring Wagner at Saint Francis University (PA) – CLICK HERE
For the latest Bracket Rundown podcast – CLICK HERE
For Jon Teitel’s interviews with a pair of McDonald’s All-Americans:
CLICK HERE for Reggie Perry (Mississippi State commit)
CLICK HERE for Coby White (North Carolina commit)
NEWS AND NOTES
-While we expected to see one showcase game in the Big Ten last night, we ended up getting two for the price of one. Purdue completed a season sweep over Michigan in a game that was close throughout the night. We did not expect Penn State to win at Ohio State, but that is what they did thanks to a buzzer-beating three pointer to give the Buckeyes their first loss in Big Ten play. The Nittany Lions shot a sizzling 11-14 from 3-point territory, yet almost let the game go to waste after blowing a 13-point lead in the 2nd half. The Nittany Lions have a loooooooong way to go to get back to the bubble, but winning in Columbus is a great start.
-Arizona State’s hot start in November and December has become your typical desert mirage. They ended up losing in overtime at home to Utah – they also became the latest team to fall victim to not fouling before a 3-point shot was taken to end regulation. As for the Utes, they’ll get a chance to sweep their Arizona roadie against an Arizona team that had to scratch and claw their way to a home win against Colorado.
-Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s continued their winning ways last night – the Gaels also earned a season sweep of BYU in the process.
-The American also cannibalized itself further last night. UConn had a good night ON the floor with a win that damaged SMU’s resume and Wichita State got back on track with a relatively easy win at home against Central Florida. There is also a nasty rumor that South Florida won at Tulane last night.
-As for the UTR conferences, the Colonial now has 3 teams in serious contention. Northeastern got a nice win at Hofstra to claim sole possession of first place. Charleston won their first road game in conference play and are now sitting one game back at 6-3. Towson finally won a home game of note and knocked William & Mary out of first place last night.
-No other UTR surprises took place with Middle Tennessee, Montana, Louisiana and Belmont all winning last night.
-Last and certainly not least, the Team of the People got their biggest win of the regular season with an 84-74 victory at Azusa Pacific last night. Kalidou Diouf has now reached the 1,000 point/500 rebound plateau in his Cal Baptist career in the process. They are a game and a half behind Dixie State in the Pac West and a game behind Azusa Pacific, but they own any tiebreaker over Azusa since they now have a season sweep.
-UPDATE (4:15 PM): Michigan State AD Mark Hollis announced that he will retire effective Wednesday, January 31. Michigan State as a university is not only dealing with the Larry Nassar fallout, but there is now a report from ESPN’s Outside The Lines that has some pretty damning information as it relates to MSU’s football and basketball programs as well. CLICK HERE to read that report in its entirety.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-BUFFALO AT OHIO (MAC). The Bobcats had one moment in the sun at home against Western Kentucky back in December, but they’re probably over their heads against a Buffalo team that is dominating #MACtion this season.
-SACRED HEART AT ROBERT MORRIS (Northeast). Listed not only because Robert Morris is a co-leader in the Northeast Conference, but also because this game will be played downtown at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh tonight. (Note: This is one of 3 games being played at PPG Paints Arena that are needed for this to be a host site for the NCAA Tournament, but RMU is not hosting those games. Duquesne is the actual host.)
-HARVARD AT YALE (Ivy). There’s more of a sense of urgency for Yale to hold serve at home given that they’re already a game behind Harvard in the standings. It’s still unlikely they would finish in the bottom half of the Ivy, though.
-DETROIT MERCY AT WRIGHT STATE (Horizon). The Raiders had a surprising loss at Milwaukee last week, but they get an easy opportunity to bounce back into the win column tonight at home.
-WISCONSIN AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten). This is the only game involving major conferences tonight, but doesn’t seem to be nearly as worth watching (for reasons on the court, anyway) as we expected at the beginning of the season.
-OAKLAND AT NORTHERN KENTUCKY (Horizon). This is Oakland’s final opportunity to get back into the regular season race – they have to sweep this roadie after losing at home to both NKU and Wright State a few weeks ago. However, NKU has yet to beat Oakland at home in their first two tries since joining the Horizon League.