For the early bird Hoops HD Report podcast – CLICK HERE
For Jon Teitel’s latest chapter in Hanging With the Hoyas (and the Cuse) – CLICK HERE
Kent State (8-1, 6-1 D1) vs. UC-Irvine (6-5, 4-5 D1) – 4:00 PM EST
Today’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to El Paso, Texas for the first game of the Sun Bowl Invitational hosted by UTEP. This is NOT an exempt event, but it does count as a pair of games for both teams. Kent State comes into today’s game with 6 D1 wins, two of which came away from home. They have beaten Towson and Wright State and were competitive with Ohio State for 30 minutes before eventually losing that game. Javlin Walker has averaged over 21 points a game through the first 9 games for the Golden Flashes.
UC-Irvine began their season with their first seven games of the season against D1 competition all being played on the road. They went 3-4 in those games that included road wins against San Diego and Boise State and a win against Louisiana in the undercard portion of the MGM Event Classic in Las Vegas. The Anteaters have already played one team from the MAC – they were victorious against Eastern Michigan two weeks ago and handed the Eagles their first loss of the season. Collin Welp has averaged 14.2 points a game and 6.5 rebounds a game thus far for Irvine.