NEWS AND NOTES:
-For the latest UNDER THE RADAR Video Podcast – CLICK HERE
-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
-Creighton remains unbeaten and continues to pick up big wins. They took care of 9th ranked Arkansas yesterday 90-87. They led for most of the game, but Arkansas came back late and had a chance to steal it, but the Bluejays held on out in Maui.
-In the other big game out in Maui, Arizona ran away from San Diego State in the second half for the 87-70 win in what was one of the more impressive showings and overall wins we’ve seen this season. It was a decisive win against a ranked team on a neutral floor. That’s always gonna look good! Arizona and Creighton will face each other later today (more on that below).
-The other two Maui games were blowouts. Texas Tech blew out Louisville and Ohio State blitzed Cincinnati.
-Toledo dropped their second straight game to a team that isn’t likely to end up anywhere near the NIT. It’s hard to say Toledo is a tournament caliber team when they twice in a row fall to sub-level NIT teams East Carolina got the win 86-75 down in the Gulf Coast Showcase.
-LSU knocked off a pretty good Akron team 73-58 in the Cayman Islands Classic after totally dominating the second half. The Tigers may have more life in them than what we realized.
-San Francisco improved to 6-0 with a 67-63 win over a Wichita State team that had been playing really well. The Dons have now gotten our attention! This was a team that went through tremendous turnover, but seems to once again be really good.
-Southern Miss got a nice win against Winthrop to remain unbeaten, and UAB blew out Georgia in the Sunshine Slam. Those are two UTR teams that deserve attention as well. Both are playing REALLY well.
-Louisiana is another Under the Radar team that’s starting to make a name for themselves. They are 5-0 on the season with some pretty decent wins, and won at SMU in overtime last night 76-72.
-Saint John’s, who not very many here at Hoops HD were big on coming into the year, is still unbeaten and picked up a decent win against Syracuse in overtime yesterday. Since these are two old and long time rivals that don’t normally play anymore, this was probably more important off paper than it was on paper. Syracuse probably isn’t a tournament team. But it’s still very much a feel-good win for the Johnnies!!
-Kansas State needed overtime to get by Nevada down in the Cayman Islands, but ended up picking up the win and remaining unbeaten on the year. We weren’t all that big on Nevada or K State coming into the season, but both have played well so far and are worth continuing to watch.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-KENT STATE AT CHARLESTON (***SPOTLIGHT GAME***). Yes, this is the game I am spotlighting! It is the one I’m looking forward to the most, and in many ways feels it is the most important because of how good both the teams are, but yet how limited each team’s chances are for notable wins in the future. It is a ridiculously good game between a Kent State team that’s unbeaten and that has looked really good, and a Charleston team whose only loss is at North Carolina, and who just won the Charleston Classic by knocking off some pretty good teams. Both these teams could end up in the NCAA Tournament, and even inside the bubble, so today’s match-up his HUGE!
-NC STATE VS KANSAS (Battle 4 Atlantis, Nassau Bahamas). Both teams come into this unbeaten, but Kansas clearly has the higher expectations and has already managed a really big win against Duke. NC State will be tested for the first time today, and it is a chance to go from zero to a hundred on the national radar.
-WESTERN KENTUCKY VS TULANE (Cayman Islands Classic, George Town Cayman Islands). Both teams have lost a game in this event, but both still have a very high ceiling and this is one of those games that’s kind of buried from the spotlight now, but that could be a very pivotal game come March when the committee is looking at these resumes because both could potentially end up on the bubble.
-TEXAS TECH VS OHIO STATE (Maui Invitational, Maui HI). Both these teams won lopsided games yesterday, both look like solid Tournament teams, and this is an early season resume building opportunity.
-DAYTON VS WISCONSIN (Battle 4 Atlantis, Bassau, Bahamas). This event is important for Dayton In regards to getting early quality wins and making a case that they were an at-large caliber team. They are without a key player, and that will obviously effect them. Wisconsin is unbeaten and is a team we think was a little undervalued coming into the season. Doing well in this event would really help both teams, as would a win today.
-CREIGHTON VS ARIZONA (Maui Invitational, Maui HI). Arizona looked really impressive against San Diego State yesterday, and Creighton held on to beat Arkansas after holding a lead for much of the game, but then having it come down to the final seconds. Both teams are looking like potential protected seeds, and this would be a signature win for the resume of whoever ends up pulling this one off.
-AKRON VS NEVADA (Cayman Islands Classic, George Town Cayman Islands). Both have picked up a smattering of decent wins lately and are beginning to make a case for themselves. Watching them square off today against each other should be fun, and for a team like Akron that really needs these early season wins it’s actually a rather important opportunity.
-BYU VS USC (Battle 4 Atlantis, Nassau Bahamas). USC has won three straight since dropping their opener to FGCU, and BYU comes in with just one loss as well. Neither team really has any big signature wins yet, so this event is an important early opportunity for both of them to get those.
-BUTLER VS TENNESSEE (Battle 4 Atlantis, Nassau Bahamas). Tennessee has an early loss to Colorado, but doing well in this tournament should more than offset that. They’ve got a winnable game today against Butler, who is a respectable 3-1, but that hasn’t managed any notable wins yet. Of course, if Butler wins this one, that suddenly changes.
-LSU VS KANSAS STATE (Cayman Islands Classic, George Town Cayman Islands). We didn’t expect much out of either team this year, but both are unbeaten and both have won some notable games. No real signature wins, but a few decent ones. It’ll be interesting to see what they do against each other today.
-AUBURN VS NORTHWESTERN (Cancun Challenge, Cancun Mexico). Northwestern is unbeaten, but also largely untested. That changes today as they face what appears to be a very good Auburn team. Having said that, up until now Auburn really hasn’t been tested either.
-UTAH VS MISSISSIPPI STATE (Fort Meyers Tip-Off, Fort Meyers FL). Utah comes in at 4-1 and Mississippi State comes in at 5-0. Both have played well and shown some potential, but neither team has been super tested yet.
-ARKANSAS VS SAN DIEGO STATE (Maui Invitational, Maui HI). The fact that this is a third place game does not matter. It’s a neutral floor game between two top 20 teams, and will look very good on the resume of the team that manages the win. Because the Mountain West isn’t quite as strong as the SEC and won’t provide as many opportunities at big wins later on this probably means a little more to San Diego State, but no matter the outcome both of these teams look like solid tournament teams.
-PEPPERDINE AT UCLA. Pepperdine is a decent team that could end up having a big year, but to win at UCLA may be too far over their heads. This is actually a bit of a get-well game for the Bruins, who have lost two in a row. Both were good games against highly ranked teams, but it’s still important to bounce back.
-MINNESOTA VS UNLV (SoCal Challenge, Los Angeles CA). UNLV is unbeaten and actually has a few decent wins, but most of what they’ve done has been at home. Minnesota has one loss and most aren’t expecting them to stay on the radar, but doing well in this event can change people’s minds.
-SAINT MARY’S VS VANDERBILT (Wooden Legacy, Anaheim CA). I think this Saint Mary’s team is a top 25 caliber team and am a little surprised they aren’t in the rankings yet. If they keep stringing together wins they’ll get there soon enough.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Toledo vs Northern Kentucky (Gulf Coast Showcase) – the game we were expecting to see in the championship game is now the 7th place game
-Charlotte @ Detroit Mercy – Charlotte is coming off a good showing in their MTE and has a chance to pick up a true road win today
-Sam Houston vs South Dakota ( Fort Meyers Tip-Off). Sam Houston is unbeaten with some notable wins already, and this event is a chance for them to keep building their profile
-Valparaiso @ Samford – Samford is unbeaten
-Purdue Fort Wayne vs Southern Miss (Cancun Challenge) – Southern Miss is unbeaten with some nice early wins
-Georgia Tech vs Marquette (Fort Meyers Tip Off) – both teams need to start stringing together wins if they want to avoid falling off the radar
-UMass Lowell @ Brown – UMass Lowell has just one loss on the season, and may be tested on the road tonight
-Louisville vs Cincinnati (Maui Invitational) – 7th place game between two long time rivals that don’t normally play anymore
-Cal State Bakersfield @ UTEP – both teams with just one loss
-Fresno State @ Washington – Washington trying to get to 4-1
-North Alabama @ UC Santa Barbara – both teams with one loss
BUY GAMES:
-McNeese @ Baylor
-North Florida @ Kentucky
-Little Rock @ Indiana
-Saint Francis Brooklyn @ Miami FL
-Evansville @ UCF
-Alabama State @ Duquesne
-Merrimack @ Providence
-Coastal Carolina @ Missouri – Mizzou is still unbeaten
-Paul Quinn (nonD1) @ Saint Louis
-Jackson State @ Michigan
-South Carolina State @ Wake Forest
-Pacific Luthern (nonD1) @ Seattle U