NEWS AND NOTES:
CLICK HERE for the latest HOOPS HD REPORT Video Podcast
-Gonzaga was able to keep San Diego State at arms length for pretty much the entire game and pull off an 80-67 win on the road. It was the Zags’ first true road win of the season, and it’s one that they should end up getting a lot of credit for seeing as how San Diego State isn’t likely to lose too many at home.
-Wisconsin barely, and i mean BARELY held on to beat UTRGV 87-84. The lead seesawed back and forth for the entire second half, and UTRGV actually had a chance to win on the last possession of the game as they were down by 1 with the ball, but the shot they got up didn’t go in and Wisky escaped after two more freethrows. Still, it was an amazing effort by UTRGV, and when you look at how they won the Greenbrier Tipoff and were also reasonably competitive against Creighton, you start to think that the Vaqueros are a team that can make a lot of noise in the Southland this year.
-Other than that it was a pretty chalky night with most of the teams winning the games you would expect them to win.
-Last, and definitely least, THIS HAPPENED yesterday…
.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-HOFSTRA AT FLORIDA STATE. Hofstra has already racked up a neutral floor win over Seton Hall, and a road win at UMass. They’ve outperformed Florida State up to this point, and while this is probably Hofstra’s toughest test of the season so far, it’s also true that Hofstra is probably better than anyone Florida State has managed to beat so far. Also, if Hofstra does pull this off, then their early resume is going to look pretty good.
-PURDUE AT MARQUETTE. Both teams are ranked in the top 15 and both have already won really big games to earn it. Marquette got a huge road win at Maryland, and Purdue just knocked off Alabama, so both have been tested and both have passed the tests. Simply put, this should be a great basketball game in front of a crazy fun crowd and will likely be a protected seed caliber win come March.
BUY GAMES (and others worth noting):
-Loyola MD @ Boston College
-East Texas A&M @ UConn – ETAMU rolls out its new branding!!!
-Lipscomb @ Kentucky
-Cincinnati @ Northern Kentucky – The BATTLE OF THE BIG MAC BRIDGE!! It’s a road game for Cincinnati, but it will probably end up looking like a home buy game
-Florida A&M @ Florida
-North Dakota @ Notre Dame
-Tennessee Tech @ UCF
-Delaware State @ Providence
-Evansville @ Ohio State
-Cleveland State @ Minnesota
-Alabama A&M @ Georgia
-Canisius @ Maryland
-Western Carolina @ Wake Forest
-Bellarmine @ Louisville
-Bethune Cookman @ Tulane
-UNC Wilmington @ Kansas – both teams are unbeaten, and UNCW already has a road win, but it still appears to be a very big mismatch
-Samford @ Michigan State
-Charleston Southern @ LSU
-Alcorn State @ TCU
-Mississippi Valley State @ Kansas State
-Rider @ Iowa – Rider is 3-1 in road games, but was blown out against UCLA, which was their only real test
-Southern Utah @ Loyola Chicago – both teams are unbeaten, but Loyola Chicago has clearly been more tested
-Eastern Illinois @ DePaul
-Montana State @ Northwestern