Liberty (6-3) at Oral Roberts (7-3) – 8:00 PM ET (Live Stream)
Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day heads to Tulsa where the hometown Oral Roberts Eagles hosts the Flames of Liberty University. The Flames come into the game ranked 27th in the country at allowing only 60.3 points a game, yet they have one of the top scorers in the country in Darius McGhee (21.3 PPG) who has already cracked the 2,000-point club in his career. The Flames are currently on a 4-game winning streak; their last loss came against Northwestern in the Cancun Challenge.
While Liberty has a stout defense, Oral Roberts will test it with their prolific offense; the Eagles have scored 86 points a game on average and is #8 in the country in that regard. Max Abmas averages about 19 points a game and is the preseason pick for Summit League player of the year; three other players average in double figures in PPG as well. ORU also has a 4-game winning streak that includes a win against Tulsa in the Mayor’s Cup for the second straight season. (Chad will show everyone the trophy for that game on Wednesday night in the UTR Podcast.)
OTHER NEWS, NOTES, AND GAMES (from The Puppet):
-We will be recording our Hoops HD Report Video Podcast tonight, and posting this week’s Bracket Projections tomorrow (a day later than usual). Keep an eye out for both of those.
-Maryland and Tennessee played in a game where the offense wasn’t exactly pretty all the time, but it was still exciting down the stretch. Maryland controlled the first half, Tennessee fought back in the second half, but the Terps held on for a 56-53 win, which is one of their biggest wins of the season so far.
-The offense was also lacking in the Seton Hall @ Rutgers game, although the intensity sure wasn’t. It was down to the wire, Rutgers had mutliple good looks at the basket on their last possession that could have sent the game into overtime, but Seton Hall held on for a huge win both on and off paper 45-43.
-The surprise of the day was Towson, who we thought was a team that may be good enough to make a run at the bubble, losing at home in overtime to Navy 71-69. A loss like this is almost like an arrow through the balloon. It’s going to be VERY hard for Towson to recover to the point of the committee taking a serious look at them. It’s still possible, and they’ve shown this year that they can be a really good team, but this does not help.
-Marquette won decisively at Notre Dame 79-64, which is yet another impressive win for Marquette. They’re not 8-3 on the year, and this was their first true road win.
-Wisconsin picked up yet another impressive win as they knocked off Iowa in overtime 78-75. Wisky appeared to have the game in hand at the end of regulation, but a combination of big plays from Iowa and turnovers from Wisconsin sent the game into overtime. The Badgers got the win in the end, though, and if they aren’t in the Top 25 later today, then we need a new slate of voters!!
-Virginia Tech got a battle from Oklahoma State, but held on for the 70-65 win and improves to 10-1 on the season.
-RICE AT TEXAS. Rice comes in at 6-2, which is a much better year than what we are used to seeing from them, but they are likely way overmatched tonight.
-ARIZONA STATE VS CREIGHTON (Las Vegas NV). Creighton has dropped to 6-4 and is suddenly not looking like the Final Four contender that they were right out of the gate. Arizona State has jumped to 9-1 and not looking like the team that was going to be a total bust that they did right out of the gate. Both teams appear to be going in different directions, and both could really use this win.
-NEW MEXICO VS SAN FRANCISCO (Las Vegas NV). New Mexico is unbeaten on the year with some notable wins on their resume, and they’ve got a chance to pick up another one tonight against a San Francisco team that’s been a bit of a surprise considering all the roster turnover they’ve had, but that’s won some big games and that may be able to make a case that they belong back in the NCAA Tournament.
-Louisiana Christian (nonD1) @ Louisiana – Louisiana can get to 9-1 on the year
-Monmouth @ Syracuse
-Northern Illinois @ Gonzaga
-Kennesaw State @ San Diego State