NEWS AND NOTES:
-Vanderbilt didn’t just win at Wake Forest. They blew their doors off! The 98-67 win for Vandy on the road may be their most impressive showing of the season so far. They remain unbeaten and continue to look like one of the better teams in the SEC.
-Pittsburgh blew Penn State off of their own floor 80-46. Pitt had not looked good at all this season, and Penn State was showing possible signs of promise, so this was a bit of a surprising result. (Note from Stalica – the game was actually played at the Giant Center in Hershey PA – it will be a neutral-court victory for Pitt, silly Puppet)
-Oregon State had not looked all that good at any point this season either, but they went on the road and knocked off a pretty good Arizona State team 78-75. The loss is definitely a setback for Arizona State, but playing in the Big 12 will give them more than enough chances to make up for it if they really are a tournament caliber team.
-Notre Dame, who I was beginning to think wasn’t the worst team in all of the ACC, lost at home to Purdue Fort Wayne 72-69. PFW is a team we were kind of thinking would finish around the middle of the Horizon League, so this was not a result we saw coming.
-Cincinnati completely slept through their alarm against Clemson and fell behind by more than 20 early in the game. They came all the way back and had a chance to win on the final possession, but a 3pt shot that would have forced overtime did not go down at the buzzer. Clemson survived 68-65.
-Georgetown head coach Ed Cooley will serve a one-game suspension tonight for throwing a water bottle in the stands Saturday night after the Hoyas lost to Xavier – the water bottle inadvertently struck a young boy and his mother in the stands. Cooley did immediately apologize after the incident during the Saturday postgame press conference and on Sunday afterwards. Jeff Battle will be the interim head coach tonight when Georgetown hosts Coppin State at McDonough Arena.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-DAVIDSON AT KANSAS. Kansas should be able to hold serve in this one, but Davidson is off to a pretty good start and has an opportunity (albeit a tough one) to get a win that will slingshot them into the spotlight. This is a chance to see what they can do against a high caliber opponent.
-MISSOURI VS ILLINOIS (Saint Louis MO). It’s the Braggin’ Rights Game!!!! Illinois clearly looks to be the superior team. They are looking like a potential protected seed whereas Mizzou is going to have to start playing a lot better just to get anywhere near making the field, but we’ve seen some crazy things happen in this game before. If Missouri were to pull off the upset it may completely turn their season around.
-NORTHERN IOWA AT SAINT MARY’S. Northern Iowa is a solid UTR team that has played (for the most part) a really weak schedule and needs a win like this on their profile to get any sort of attention from the committee. Saint Mary’s is a probable NCAA Tournament team and a win in a game like this will likely end up looking good on their resume.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Seattle U @ UTSA – Seattle can improve to an impressive 11-2 on the year and pick up their third true road win tonight
-Siena @ Indiana – It’s a buy game that Indiana should win, but Siena has a solid record (albeit against a weak schedule) and the Hoosiers don’t want to overlook them
ONE LAST STOP AT THE BAKERY FOR CUPCAKES BEFORE CHRISTMAS:
-Milligan (nonD1) @ Miami OH
-West Georgia @ Georgia
-NJIT @ Butler
-Denver @ Tulsa
-American @ Virginia
-Coppin State @ Georgetown
-Prairie View @ LSU
-Mississippi Valley State @ West Virginia
-Stonehill @ Syracuse
-Rider @ VCU
-East Carolina @ North Carolina
-Central Michigan @ Wisconsin
-UMES @ Texas
-Utah Tech @ Creighton
-Bethune Cookman @ Arizona
-Eastern Washington @ BYU
-Stetson @ Oklahoma
-San Diego @ Washington
