NEWS AND NOTES:
-The game of the day, and probably the game of the season so far, was Charleston’s 119-116 double overtime win against Florida Atlantic. This game had so many exciting moments, and so many runs for each team, and so many momentum shifts, and was so good overall that when Charleston hit a dramatic 3pt shot at the buzzer at the end of the second overtime, I kind of felt disappointed that it went in!! I wanted them to keep playing!! Props and congrats to the guys at The Field of 68!! This game was part of their event, and it was INCREDIBLE!!! Now I expect every game they put on to be as good as this one!!!!!
-Purdue might not be quite as good as they were last year, but they are still pretty damn good! And it’s still one of the toughest places for road teams to win. Last night they took down 2nd ranked Alabama 87-78 in a really fun game to watch that went back and forth. Purdue did get control in the final minutes and Alabama, who was pretty good offensively for a lot of the night, came up empty on some key possessions late in the game.
-It’s hard to win at Wisconsin as well. Arizona fell 103-88 in what would have been an uncharacteristically high scoring game a few years ago for the Badgers. Wisky held a lead for most of the game, and every time Arizona came back they would go on a run and regain control.
-Marquette picked up a huge 78-74 road win at Maryland in front of a high energy crowd. The fans were in mid-season form! This game was just a blast to watch. Both teams made key plays at pivotal moments, the momentum felt like it was always shifting, and even in the final minute of the game when it looked like Marquette was putting it away Maryland forced some big plays and nearly tied it.
-Ohio State, who already had a nice win against Texas, just could not get their motors started last night on the road at Texas A&M. It was a sluggish first half for the Bucks, and while they weren’t blown out in the 78-64 loss, it never really felt like they were in the game either.
-High Point is an Under the Radar team to keep a very close eye on, and UAB is a team that is in trouble even though it’s just November. High Point knocked off UAB 68-65 on their home court yesterday in a game that was close for most of the way, but where High Point did seem to have the lead for most of the time. UAB, who had a razor thin margin for error due to their weak schedule, is now just 2-2 on the season. Their losses aren’t bad in the sense that they are going to be huge setbacks, but they are in the sense that those two losses were the kinds of games they needed to be winning in order to build up their NCAA Tournament resume. Some teams’ schedules don’t have the luxury of being able to improve as the season goes on. They need to start winning in November.
-Loyola Chicago got a really big 73-68 road win against Princeton. Like the rest of Princeton’s games, it was close and came down to the final minute of play, but unlike those other ones Princeton wasn’t able to hold on this time. Princeton has a ton of potential, and I think February-Princeton will be much better than November-Princeton, and that this will actually end up being a really valued road win for Loyola Chicago come March.
-Florida had very little trouble on the road against rivals Florida State. The Gators won 87-74.
-Virginia improves to 3-0 after their 70-60 win over Villanova. Nova is now just 2-3 on the year and leaking all kinds of oil.
-Michigan picked up their first notable win of the season as they knocked off TCU 76-64.
-Northwestern needed overtime to get by Eastern Illinois 67-58. That result is a little more than slightly discouraging for the Wildcats.
-Iowa knocked off Washington State 76-66 in a game where both teams came in 3-0. Obviously the Hawkeyes are now 4-0.
-DePaul is now 4-0 on the season after knocking off Duquesne 84-58 last night. They are MUCH better under Chris Holtmann as head coach this year.
-Florida had very little trouble on the road against rivals Florida State. The Gators won 87-74.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-WAKE FOREST AT XAVIER. Both teams are unbeaten. Wake had a very nice win against Michigan a little bit ago, but Xavier has only played home buy games and they didn’t exactly blow those teams off the floor. X should have the advantage playing at home, but it’s still their toughest test of the season by far up to this point.
-GEORGETOWN AT NOTRE DAME. Both teams are 2-0, but neither team has faced a real test, and we are still a LOOOONG way from declaring either one of them worthy of national attention. But, it’s a good early season game for two teams that have a long way to go, and a win would get each of them closer to where they want to be.
-LA SALLE AT DREXEL (Big 5). La Salle has shown some early promise, and will be tested on the road (at least somewhat) tonight against Drexel in the Big 5 Classic. It’s their first true road game (even though they’re not going all that far), so a win would be a nice addition to their early resume.
-SOUTH CAROLINA AT INDIANA. This is a game that the Hoosiers should hold on and win. It’s their first non-buy game, so it is a bit of a test, but it isn’t quite a HUGE test.
-COLORADO STATE AT OLE MISS. Ole Miss has won their three buy games, but they nearly lost to Grambling and didn’t exactly bury South Alabama, so for a team that came into the season with high expectations they are leaking quite a bit of oil. Colorado State has also had to sweat out some buy games, so they haven’t looked all that impressive either. It’s the first real test for two teams that have potential, but who have struggled on their early quizzes coming into this first test.
-SANTA CLARA AT NEVADA. Santa Clara has shown some promise despite being just 1-2 so far. They have a win against Saint Louis, and close losses to Arizona State and North Dakota State, so they could REALLY use a win like this to help even out their record and give their resume a boost early on. Nevada has a nice win against Washington, but I think this may be an even slightly tougher test.
BUY GAMES (and other notable games):
-Wofford @ Duke
-Mercychurst @ Columbia – Columbia can get to 5-0
-Youngstown State @ Syracuse – PENGUIN FEVER LIVES!!
-UT Martin @ Longwood – 2 UTR teams off to better than expected starts
-Tulsa @ Missouri State – Tulsa’s 1st road game, and can get to 4-0
-Stetson @ Oklahoma
-Stephen F Austin @ Arkansas State – I like this Arkansas State team, and a win gets them to 3-1
-Jackson State @ Vanderbilt – Vandy can remain unbeaten
-Idaho @ BYU
-Texas State @ Abilene Christian – a moderately interesting UTR game. It’s a winnable road game for Texas State
-Murray State @ Middle Tennessee – a win for MTSU gets them to 4-0
-LeMoyne @ Saint Bonaventure
-George Mason @ East Carolina – GMU is off to a bit of a slow start, and ECU is unbeaten so far
-Yale @ Minnesota
-East Tennessee State @ Davidson
-Green Bay @ Providence
-Mississippi Valley State @ Texas
-Oakland @ Kansas
-Northeastern @ Central Connecticut – two UTR teams that already have some notable wins
-Bowling Green @ Michigan State
-Kansas City @ Creighton
-Siena @ UAlbany – Siena is off to a 3-0 start and can pick up their second road win today if they can knock off their crosstown rivals
-Hofstra @ UMass – Hofstra has a win against Seton Hall already and can get another nice road win and stay unbeaten today
-Capital (nonD1) @ Dayton
-Loyola MD @ VCU
-James Madison @ Towson – two solid UTR teams
-Northern Illinois @ Bradley – both teams off to nice 2-1 starts
-LMU @ Saint Louis
-Omaha @ Southern Utah – Southern Utah can improve to 4-0
-Chicago State @ San Francisco – San Francisco can get to 4-0
-Pepperdine @ UC Irvine