SIU-Edwardsville (2-2, 1-2 D1) at South Dakota (4-0, 4-0 D1) – 8:00 PM EST
Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to Vermilion, South Dakota – home of the South Dakota Coyotes. The ‘Yotes have already won the season-opening Rainbow Classic with 3 wins against Pacific, Florida A&M and Hawai’i. they also followed that up with a home win against Texas Southern. Tyler Hagedorn currently leads South Dakota with 21 points a game through their first four games.
The Cougars recently got their first Division I win in the Brian Barone regime with a 57-55 win at Incarnate Word last Saturday. They trailed by 11 points in the second half, but a pair of Mike Adewumni free throws in the closing seconds put SIU-E over the hump. Cam Williams is averaging over 12 points a game through the Cougars’ first four games.
OTHER NEWS, NOTES, AND HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-As our good friend Lee Delvecchio put it yesterday, Florida has been so bad offensively this year that it’s probably in violation of federal law. The Gators went into UConn, and once again looked ugly in a losing effort. As for UConn, it was a huge bounce back game after losing to Saint Joseph’s earlier in the week.
-Wisconsin had no trouble with in-state rival Marquette. They’re now 3-1 with the only loss being the opener to Saint Mary’s.
-UCF picked up a big road win at Illinois State, and is maybe worth keeping an eye on. They lost so much that no one expected them to be any good, but they’ve at least proven that they aren’t likely to be the doormat of the league.
-Charlotte knocked off Wake Forest in a game that came down to the final possession yesterday. Charlotte may or may not be good, but they’ve at least shown that they can be a home court hero against teams like Davidson and Wake Forest.
-SMU AT EVANSVILLE. Both teams come into this without a loss, and Evansville is in the unique situation of just recently beating the #1 team in the country on the road. Was it just a complete anomaly, or is this team for real and will they be able to keep it going?
-WILLIAM & MARY AT OKLAHOMA. I know this is a buy game, and chances are it will end up playing out that way, but W&M is undefeated and has looked a lot better than we expected them to so far. I guess the same can be said for Oklahoma.
-MIDDLE TENNESSEE @ COASTAL CAROLINA. A win gets Middle Tennessee to 4-0.
-UC IRVINE AT COLORADO. I know this is technically a buy game, but it practically isn’t. UC Irvine had a really strong team a year ago and while they’re faced with having to replace a lot of big pieces this year, they’re not off to a bad start with wins at San Diego and at Boise State. Colorado is in the rankings with a nice win over Arizona State. Tonight’s game should be fun. It’s actually one of the better games of the day.
-Charleston Southern @ Michigan State
-Utah Valley @ Kentucky – last week I would have told you Utah Valley was better than Evansville.
-Northern Colorado @ West Virginia
-Presbyterian @ Notre Dame
-Monmouth @ Pittsburgh
-High Point @ Belmont – not technically a buy game, but it’s practically one
-Colgate @ Auburn
-Hawaii @ Illinois – could be moderately interesting
-Wofford @ Missouri – a year ago I would have said Wofford would dominate this one
-SIUE @ South Dakota – not technically a buy game, but practically one. Yotes trying to get to 5-0.
-Stetson @ Ohio State
-UTSA @ Utah State
-Air Force @ TCU – TCU can get to 3-0
-Prairie View A&M @ California – Cal can get to 4-0
-Southern Utah @ UCLA – UCLA can get to 4-0