Eastern Washington at Northern Colorado, 8:30 PM Eastern, pluto.tv
The Under the Radar Game of the Day turns its attention to Greeley, CO tonight for one of our favorite Big Sky rivalries — the NoCoEWU Cup between hosts Northern Colorado and Eastern Washington. This rivalry series (completely invented by us here at HoopsHD) will be played tonight and Saturday night — and if either team can pick up the sweep, they will be able to display the non-existent NoCoEWU Cup trophy until next year!
The Northern Colorado Bears enter tonight’s game at 7-6 overall and 4-4 in Big Sky play. They are led by Bodie Hume, who is averaging a team high 15.7 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Also keep an eye on Matt Johnson II, who averaged 18 points in last week’s sweep of Idaho. The Bears are especially strong on defense, where they are ranked fourth in the Big Sky so far this season.
Eastern Washington, one of the preseason favorites in the Big Sky, enters this tough rivalry series at 3-5 overall and 2-1 in conference play, just a game behind Montana State in the loss column in the standings. The Eagles are a deep, dangerous team. Tanner Groves leads the way with 16.6 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, but also keep an eye on Kim Aiken Jr (11.8 points, 8 rebounds per game) and Jacob Davison (14.6 points per game). All three will need to bring their A-games this week as they take on one of the better defensive teams in the conference.