Morehead State (3-5, 1-5 D1) at Marshall (5-4) – 7:00 PM EST (ESPN+)
Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day actually features the Ellis Johnson traveling trophy featuring a pair of teams separated by 63 miles of Interstate 64 – the Morehead State Eagles and the Marshall Thundering Herd. Morehead actually pulled off an upset against the Herd at home last season with an 86-83 victory. This season, Morehead comes into the game with a 3-game losing streak against D-1 competition (with a field trip win against non-D1 Ohio-Chillicothe sandwiched in between). While Jordan Walker currently leads Morehead with 14 points a game through 8 games, Lamontray Harris is the main leader of this team. He averages 12.6 PPG and 9.9 rebounds a game (and is also on pace to reach the 1,000-point mark later this season).
Marshall also started the season with higher expectations after a season that saw them beat Wichita State in the NCAA Tournament, but the Herd have hit the skids of late with a 3-game losing streak of their own against Ohio, Duquesne and Toledo. Marshall still has a 2-headed offensive monster that includes Jon Elmore (20.3 points a game) and CJ Burks (19.4 points a game), but their defense has allowed a whopping 81 points a game so far this season.
NEWS AND NOTES
-One of the most exciting games of the year yesterday was Tennessee v Gonzaga. It saw a lead that seesawed back and forth, one of the greatest defensive blocks I have ever seen in my life in any basketball game, big shots, big plays, and a last second shot that would have sent the game to overtime had it gone in. It was also a huge win by Tennessee. So far this season, Tennessee has taken Kansas to overtime, and beaten Gonzaga. They have to be thought of as a #1 seed caliber team and included in that conversation. They aren’t likely to lose too many the rest of the way.
-Virginia had to sweat a little bit against VCU at home, but ended up pulling it out in the final few minutes.
-Alabama got a really nice home win against Arizona. They’ve still got a lot of work to do, but this was a big step in the right direction.
-Saint Louis picked up a home win against an Oregon State team with a bloated record, but without any big wins.
-Texas got things turned around after back to back losses with a big home win over Purdue. Purdue still has some work to do, but they’re a good team and will have the chances they need to land safely inside the bubble come March.