Norfolk State (13-6, 3-1) at Morgan State (10-9, 3-1) – 7:30 PM ET (ESPNU)
Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day heads to Charm City in Baltimore where the Morgan State Bears host the Norfolk State Spartans in a battle of MEAC leaders. The Spartans have won their first two road games in conference play, but those were against Delaware State and Coppin State. Sandwiched in between those two wins was a tough home loss against Howard – while it appeared that Joe Bryant Jr. hit a game-winning shot against Howard, a subsequent foul led to the Bison hitting 3 free throws in the final seconds to escape with an 86-84 victory.
Morgan State was on a 6-game winning streak that included wins in their first 3 conference games; that streak also came to an abrupt end against Howard. But one of the 3 wins did come against NC Central; Morgan State is one of 5 teams tied for first in the conference along with Norfolk State, Howard, NC Central and Maryland-Eastern Shore. Malik Miller averages 17.5 points a game and 9.8 rebounds a game for the Bears.
HOOPS HD DAILY RUNDOWN (From the Puppet):
-The most jaw dropping result from yesterday was Temple’s win at top ranked Houston 56-55. Despite managing one of the best singular wins that any team will manage this season, Temple is probably still far too far from the bubble to actually reach it, but they have won six of their last eight and are playing really well, so they may be a dangerous team in the conference tournament. Houston was terrible from the freethrow line and wasn’t all that much better from the floor. They could still end up with a #1 seed if they win out, but as Rocco Miller observed, regardless of what seed they get, they will not be a fun tteam to face at any point of the NCAA Tournament.
-Purdue got a scare from Maryland at home, but held on to win 58-55, and Indiana got another nice win as they held of Michigan State 82-69.
-WISCONSIN AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten). Northwestern is hovering around getting a protected seed, and winning a game like this on the road should help give their NET a boost as well as boost their overall profile. Northwestern is inside our bubble, but a win like this could certainly help to move them further inside of it.
-DUKE AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC). Duke has just one road win on the season, so even though beating VA Tech may not seem all that exciting, it actually does add something to their resume that needs adding.
-KANSAS AT BAYLOR (Big 12). Kansas has lost two straight and will be challenged again tonight, but even with the two losses they are still one of the top teams in the country and can still end up earning a #1 seed. Baylor has been playing really well and is among the many teams in the Big 12 that’s within reach of a protected seed. A win today puts it even more within reach.
-NEW MEXICO AT NEVADA (Mountain West). New Mexico has been playing really well and is coming off a come from behind overtime win against a pretty good Boise State team. They’ll really be challenged tonight by a Nevada team that’s unbeaten at home and that’s sitting squarely on the bubble. A win like this could help make the difference as to whether or not they make the NCAA Tournament.