NEWS AND NOTES:
-For all the In-Season Tournament Brackets – CLICK HERE
-The 77-62 final score of the Tennessee v Baylor game down in the Bahamas probably doesn’t properly illustrate just how dominant Tennessee was in this game. The game was out of hand well before the half. Tennessee continues to blow out everyone they play. Baylor is probably the strongest team they’ve played so far, and the Vols didn’t sweat at all.
-Saint John’s bounced back from their double OT loss to Baylor by blowing Virginia off the floor 80-55. Virginia may not be returning to the Bahamas anytime soon. They were blown out of the building two nights in a row.
-Duke got a massively impressive road win out at Arizona 69-55. It’s hard to not be impressed with how much they seemed to improve since the game against Kentucky. Arizona was a true road game against a higher ranked team, and they not only won it, but won it in a way where they were in control of it for the latter part of the 2nd half.
-Nebraska went into Creighton and won 74-63 in a game where it never felt like they weren’t in complete control. It was a very impressive performance and game plan by the Huskers, and an equally discouraging performance by Creighton. Steven Ashworth of Creighton also had to leave the game with an ankle injury. We certainly hope he is okay.
-UCF, who I was really big on, got beaten pretty handily by Wisconsin 86-70 in the Greenbrier Tip-Off. It’s probably Wisky’s best performance of the year considering that it was away from home and against a UCF team that appears to have proven itself.
-Drake has emerged as a surprise team this year! They knocked off a pretty good Florida Atlantic team 75-63 in the Charleston Classic to stay unbeaten on the season. This followed up a very impressive win over Miami FL just the day before. Speaking of Miami FL…
-The Canes lost for the second day in a row, this time 80-74 to Oklahoma State. They were actually way behind in this game and came back to make the final score look respectable. Miami FL was one of my sleeper teams in the preseason. Well…they’ve certainly been asleep!!
-Vanderbilt has also been a bit of a surprise this year. they remain unbeaten after their 76-60 win over Seton Hall, which was also in the Charleston Classic. This event has been…well…eventful!
-Saint Joseph’s, who had a loss to Central Connecticut earlier in the year, was starting to come on strong. They had a nice win against Texas Tech last night and played well against Texas for much of the game tonight, but just went cold down the stretch and the Horns ended up with a 67-58 win in the Legends Classic Championship game. I think Saint Joseph’s is much improved, but now they need to start actually finishing some of these games off so they can build up their profile.
-Nevada also knocked off VCU 64-61, which is another tough and close loss for a VCU team that we really felt it was important for to pick up some notable wins in this event. They’re not going to leave here with much.
-Wichita State blew Saint Louis off the floor 88-63 in the Hall of Fame Classic. Wichita improves to 5-0 and is certainly a team that has our attention.
-Notre Dame, who had looked pretty impressive against Georgetown just a few days ago, did not look impressive last night as they fell at home to Elon 84-77. Elon, who is a CAA team that we weren’t expecting much out of, has now won 2 straight road games and was reasonably competitive with North Carolina in their opener. They are certainly high on our UTR radar now!
-Longwood is now 6-0 after knocking off UAB in the Paradise Jam. UAB has been a huge disappointment this year, whereas Longwood is turning out to be a really good surprise.
-Pittsburgh remains unbeaten with a nice 73-64 win over LSU in the Greenbrier Tip-Off.
-Mississippi State went on the road to SMU and picked up a nice 84-79 win.
-Last but not least, the finish of the night was UC Riverside’s overtime win at Colorado State. The end of regulation featured a game tying shot, what appeared to be a game winning 3, and then another game tying shot at the buzzer from just beyond half court!
.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-MARQUETTE VS GEORGIA (Nassau, Bahamas). Both teams come in unbeaten, but Marquette is clearly the more challenged and proven team as they have managed wins over Maryland and Purdue. Still, it’s a chance for Georgia to really make some noise if they can somehow pull off the upset win.
-CINCINNATI AT GEORGIA TECH. Cincinnati is coming off a road win at Northern Kentucky, which wasn’t that big of a test, but was at least a road win. This shouldn’t be that much of a test either. While it’s not a home buy game, and while it’s not at home, it’s still a game that a top 20 team should win without too much trouble.
-NEW MEXICO STATE AT UNLV. Both teams come in 3-1, but both still have work to do if they want to build up their resumes. This would likely turn out to be a nice win for whoever is able to pull this one out tonight.
-La Salle vs Stetson (Boardwalk Battle) – a chance for La Salle to get another win away from home
-Marshall @ Purdue – Marshall is 3-1 but is probably way overmatched in this one
-Saint Francis U @ Georgetown
-UIC vs East Carolina (Boardwalk Battle) – it hasn’t been a bad showing in this event at all for these two teams, and if ECU can get to 6-1 with a win today
-Northeastern @ FGCU – a win for Northeastern gets them to 5-1 as well as their 2nd true road win
-UMES @ Illinois
-Detroit Mercy @ Wake Forest
-Southern Utah vs Idaho (San Diego) – Southern Utah can improve to 6-1 and pick up their 2nd win away from home
-Northern Illinois @ DePaul – DePaul can get to 6-0
-Louisiana vs George Washington (Paradise Jam) – GW is 4-1 but with no real wins of note
-UC San Diego vs Toledo (Boardwalk Battle) – it’s the championship game, and Toledo can finish off a really good run in this tournament
-Stony Brook @ Columbia – Columbia can get to 7-0
-Cal Poly @ Saint Mary’s
-Mississippi Valley State @ BYU
-Stanford @ Santa Clara – Stanford is 5-0, but this is their first road game