Hoops HD Daily Rundown – Sunday, Dec 29th

NEWS AND NOTES:

-Gonzaga and UCLA came down to the last shot of the game, as they seem to commonly do whenever they play each other. With 8 secs to go, the Zags hit a layup and got an and-1 with a chance to tie the game, but missed the freethrow, and then missed a heave in the final seconds after two made UCLA freethrows, and the Bruins picked up a massive 65-62 win. Gonzaga is now 9-4 on the season, and while they’ve had some really nice wins it’s still not quite as good as what many were expecting. Still, if you look at their losses, two have been in overtime (one of which was to Kentucky), another was to a very solid UConn team, and the fourth was yesterday. So, they still have a very high ceiling and when you look at the rest of their schedule it looks as though they’ll be favored in all their remaining games. As for UCLA, it was a huge bounce back win after their close loss to North Carolina, and considering they also have a couple nice wins against Arizona and Oregon they are very well positioned as they head into conference play.

-Utah State pulled off an exciting finish at San Diego State 67-66. They trailed by 7 with under 2 minutes to go, but finished the game on a 9-1 run which included the game winning 3 with less than 10 seconds to go. Utah State is now 12-1 on the year with wins over Iowa, Saint Bonaventure (who has just one loss), and Saint Mary’s. The win at San Diego State is probably their most impressive of the season so far, and we should see the Aggies in the Top 25 next week.

-Memphis ran away from Ole Miss 87-70. While Ole Miss did make some runs at times to keep themselves in it, at no point did it feel like Memphis was not in control of the game. The Tigers are now 10-3 with a very strong resume as they are about to begin conference play, and it looks like they’ll be favored in all of their remaining games. I think they are on track to end up with a protected seed come March.

-Louisville barely escaped Eastern Kentucky. They seemed to be in control at the half, but then a poor shooting second half allowed EKU to get back in it and actually take the lead with less than 10 seconds to go. A go-ahead basket in the final seconds (and then a foul) allowed Louisville to hold on 78-76. I don’t know if Louisville had any time off for the Holidays, but if they did I bet they don’t get any time off next year.

-New Mexico picked up their first road win of the season as they knocked off Colorado State 76-68. They are now 10-3 on the year with and have a nice win over UCLA from earlier, so the Lobos are well positioned.

-Boise State barely escaped San Jose State, but held on 73-71 for a conference road win. Boise State was the preseason conference favorite (at least among our group), but with San Diego State, Utah State, and New Mexico all looking strong they certainly have their work cut out for them.

.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-INDIANA STATE AT OHIO STATE. It’s a buy game, but it’s interesting enough to go ahead and highlight. After a very slow start and a lot of roster turnover, Indiana State is starting to hit their stride with five straight wins. This is a much bigger test than any of the previous five games, though, as Ohio State is coming off a very impressive win against Kentucky, which ranks up there as one of the more impressive single game performances any team has this season.

-NORTHEASTERN AT NORTHWESTERN. Again, this is a buy game, but Northeastern may be just good enough to make this one interesting. They’ll need to do better than they did against UMass, though. Northwestern has several solid wins, and of their three losses they were all against good teams by five points or less, so you don’t want to just overlook the Wildcats.

-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT ALABAMA. This is a good South Dakota State that has gotten better as the season has gone along, but they’re probably way overmatched in this one. Alabama is a probable protected seed, and while the Jackrabbits will be a force in the Summit League, beating a protected seed on their floor is probably too tall of an order.

-BELMONT AT DRAKE (Missouri Valley). Belmont is good, but Drake has just been fantastic this year and are one of the few remaining unbeaten teams. They are inching closer and closer to the top 25 and may be just a week or two away from breaking into it if they can keep winning. They will be tested today, but it’s still a game they should be able to win.

-WESTERN KENTUCKY AT MICHIGAN. This is a talented WKU team that got off to a big of a slow start, but since losing to Kentucky has won six straight. I don’t know if they’re good enough to win at Michigan, but the Wolverines (who are having a damn good year themselves) better not overlook them.

BUY GAMES (and other games of note):

-Northwestern State @ Texas
-Stetson @ Florida
-Penn @ Penn State
-Prairie View A&M @ Oklahoma
-Chicago State @ Illinois
-Norfolk State @ High Point – these look like two conference frontrunners, but High Point looks to have more talent and they are playing at home
-South Carolina State @ Georgia
-Longwood @ SMU – Longwood has a very respectable 11-3 record with 3 true road wins, but they’re probably way overmatched in this one
-Valparaiso @ Bradley (Mountain West) – a win for Bradley gets them to 11-2 on the year and keeps them unbeaten in league play
-Winthrop @ Indiana
-Weber State @ Oregon
-Toledo @ Purdue
-Mississippi Valley State @ LSU
-Campbell @ North Carolina

This entry was posted in Daily Rundown, News and Notes. Bookmark the permalink.