Merrimack at St. Francis (Pa), 4:00 PM Eastern, necfrontrow.com
We have fired John Stalica (well not really, he just was unable to post today) so Chad has returned to his old post of UTR Game of the Day author for one day only. And today’s game is the battle for first place in one of our favorite conferences of all, the Northeast Conference. At 4:00 PM Eastern this afternoon, the Merrimack Warriors will be visiting St. Francis University (PA).
Merrimack enters today’s game at 11-8 overall and 5-1 in NEC play. The Warriors, who are only in their first of four transitional years up to the D1 level, have proven that they are up to the task of competing at this level of play. Guard Juvaris Hayes leads the way for this team with an average of over 10 points and 5 assists per game. However, the Warrior have a balanced scoring attack with as many as 9 players seeing significant playing time every game.
St. Francis (PA) enters today’s game at 12-5 overall and tied for first with Merrimack at 5-1 in league play. The Red Flash have won 10 of their last 11 games, with only a slip-up on January 2 at Bryant. Isaiah Blackmon and Keith Braxton are both averaging over 16 points per game. Braxton had 24 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday’s win over Sacred Heart. However, that win was marred by a minor tussle after a hard foul by Sacred Heart’s Koreem Ozier, which was followed up with a more significant scrum during the postgame handshake. Both Braxton and Blackmon were involved in the scrums, along with guard Tyler Stewart. There has been no word as of the moment on any suspensions for today’s game, and the NEC office has said that they assessed appropriate penalties to the schools but, per league policy, will not announce them publicly. For more on the tussle and video of the incident, check out the story here by Jared Kotler.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES
-TEXAS AT WEST VIRGINIA (Big 12). Texas is a bubble team, and West Virginia is looking like a protected seed (despite getting run over at Kansas State in their last game). Texas needs to win a game like this to make a case for themselves, but that is much easier said than done.
-NC STATE AT VIRGINIA (ACC). This is an odd thing to say, but this is a very bubblicious game. Both teams really need this one just to help get them to a point to where they are inside the bubble.
-OKLAHOMA AT BAYLOR (Big 12). Baylor isn’t ranked #1, but they probably should be. (CORRECTION: Baylor is now #1 in today’s AP poll). Oklahoma seems to be reasonably safely inside the bubble for now. A win tonight would obviously make them a lot more safe, and would arguably be the biggest singular win of the season that any team has managed.