Hoops HD Daily Rundown – Thursday, Nov 13th

UNDER THE RADAR NEWS AND NOTES:

-To watch and/or listen to our latest UNDER THE RADAR Video Podcast – CLICK HERE

-We will begin with an Under the Radar note. Longwood from the Big South is a team worth paying attention to. They held a double digit lead for most of the game against James Madison last night in their 82-72 win. The show was recorded before the game went final, so we give them much of a mention or even consider them for the UTR Top Ten this week, but they do have our attention.

-We will continue with a second UTR note – UT Martin now has wins at UNLV and at Bradley. The Bradley win also happened as we were recording the show, so little mention was given to them and they were also not considered for the UTR Top Ten, but they do have our attention.

-Maybe we should just start recording Under the Radar at Midnight!!

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OTHER NEWS AND NOTES:

-North Texas played a great game for about 39:56 at Oregon State. Then they committed a foul with about 3 seconds to go while up 2. Oregon State hit both freethrows to tie the game 64-64. With one final shot at winning, North Texas called timeout to draw up a play. The problem was they were out of them. Two technicals later Oregon State ended up winning 66-64. As for North Texas, I know this was a kick in the teeth and a major missed opportunity at a notable road win, but they did demonstrate that they can play solid basketball on the road, and I think they’ll make some noise in the American. They are good enough to bounce back from this.

-Virginia Tech blew Saint Joseph’s doors off 94-59. I know it’s not surprising at all that they beat Saint Joe’s, but VA Tech is now 3-0, only one of those wins was a home buy game, and they blew Saint Joe’s out the way you would expect a tournament caliber team to do it.

-Missouri had no problems with Minnesota and easly got the 83-60 win.

-Southern Illinois played a solid game at Nevada in a great game that went back and forth. They had a lead late, but couldn’t hold on and the game went to overtime. Then Southern Illinois just went ice cold from the line and missed (I think) six straight freethrows. Nevada escaped 86-81, and Southern Illinois missed out on what would have been a very solid road win.

-Last, but not least, it was 49-23 at the half of Hawaii vs Mississippi Valley State. It was also almost 1am. I did not watch the second half. Hawaii won 88-56.

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HIGLIGHTED GAMES:

-PITTSBURGH AT WEST VIRGINIA. The Backyard Brawl!!! Another great college sports rivalry!! The Steel Workers vs The Coal Miners!! On the court, neither team has a loss yet, but neither team has really been tested either. This one almost always delivers, so it will be worth tuning in to.

-PURDUE AT ALABAMA. Both teams are ranked in the top ten, so there’s that. Alabama has already shown they can win against tough teams as they recently won at Saint John’s. Purdue did play a big exhibition game at Kentucky, but this is their first real test of the regular season. Both are good. Both are likely protected seeds come March. This will be a huge profile win for whichever team can pull it off.

-CALIFORNIAT AT KANSAS STATE. Both teams are unbeaten, but this is also the first non-home buy game for each of them. K State is expected by some of us to make some noise in the Big 12 this year and we should learn at least a little something about them tonight.

OTHER GAMES OF NOTE:

-Central Michigan vs South Alabama (Showdown in Saint Pete) – South Alabama can imrove to 4-0 on the season
-San Jose State @ Michigan State
-Monmouth @ Seton Hall – Seton Hall can get to 4-0
-Loyola Chicago @ Wichita State – Wichita can get to 3-0
-Florida International @ LSU