NEWS AND NOTES:
Due to the FAA Ground Stop on Friday, the following games have been postponed:
UNC-Greensboro at Cornell – No New date
Air Force at Pacific – No New date
Idaho State at Seattle – moved to Sunday Nov 15 at 4:00 PM Eastern
Washington at Utah – moved to Sunday Nov 15 at 2:00 PM Eastern
Louisiana at UNC-Wilmington – postponed due to Louisiana personnel issues, UNCW has scheduled non-D1 Montreat for today instead.
As for yesterday’s action on the court:
-Kentucky escaped (and I DO mean escaped) a major upset bid by Northern Arizona; the Lumberjacks missed a pair of front ends of 1-and-1 free throws and the Wildcats were able to hit a game-winning 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds remaining to pull out a 1-point win at Rupp Arena. In case you’re wondering if Northern Arizona is expected to be one of those scrappy-good teams from a smaller league, they absolutely are not. In fact they’re picked to finish last in the Big Sky.
-Tennessee also had a bit of a tough victory against in-state rival Tennessee State; the Vols had a 15-point lead cut down to 5 points in the final minute. However, the Tigers couldn’t get any closer than that – but they did look a lot better than when they were blown out in their season opener.
-Ohio State was able to overcome an early double-digit deficit at UConn, but the Huskies turned a small 2-point lead into an 84-68 home win against the Buckeyes. This was Nik Khamemia’s first missed game for the Huskies; he is expected to be out of their lineup until at least January.
-Maryland jumped out to a 47-36 lead at home against their old ACC rival Virginia, but the Hoos would take the lead for good in the final 5 minutes of regulation en route to an 87-83 victory. Combined with the Georgetown loss, it’s been a tough week for the Terps.
-Auburn had won 69 straight home games against nonconference opponents, but with Arizona coming to town it wasn’t a complete shock to see that streak come to an end. The Wildcats ended up with an 80-69 victory in a homecoming game for freshman Caleb Holt; he scored 24 points to lead Arizona.
-Seton Hall nearly erased an early 17-point deficit against Alabama, but the Tide held on to defeat The Hall 82-76. If Big East fans were expecting the Pirates to be a pushover in conference play, it ain’t happening. (Butler, on the other hand, looks like they’ll be in the doghouse all season long). Seton Hall, despite the loss, definitely has our attention now.
-Georgetown jumped out to a 19-point lead on the road at Clemson and ended up hanging on for an 85-78 victory at Littlejohn Coliseum. It was a much-needed win for the Big East who had mainly done nothing but win buy games at home so far.
-Xavier also gave the Big East a boost with an 81-63 win against Mississippi State in the Greenbrier Tip-Off Classic. This is perhaps Xavier’s most impressive performance since…well…several years ago at least. There is a good chance the Musketeers could be undefeated going into the Battle 4 Atlantis with home games against Cleveland State and Iowa looming next week.
-Another Big East team to keep an eye on is DePaul. Northwestern is not a tournament caliber team. I know that. But for DePaul to go into their building and win by 20 is a statement. DePaul did what you would expect a solid tournament caliber team to do in that game. Chris Holtmann has the Blue Demons rolling!
-Georgia also gave themselves and the SEC a boost with a road win at North Carolina. Will the Dawgs be a factor late in the season, or will they be a team that once again flames out in their NCAA Tournament opener? Again, just making the Round of 64 is no longer a stone cold lock with the Dirty Dozen preceding that round.
-East Texas A&M is now undefeated on the road after a come-from-behind win at Portland in overtime.
-UIC was unbeaten going into last night and we thought they would put up more of a fight at Saint Mary’s. The Gaels were having none of it and ended up putting out the Flames early and often in a 23-point romp.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-LSU AT GONZAGA. LSU has looked impressive in their buy games and has had a lot of off the court wins in terms of their roster, but this is their first real test and it’s a massive one. Gonzaga already has a notable win against Purdue and should be able to roll through this one.
-NEW MEXICO AT SANTA CLARA. The late game is a good one!! Both teams are good enough to make the NCAA Tournament, but both also have somewhat limited opportunities at notable wins, so this is a really good opportunity for both of these teams.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Tulane @ Akron – Akron should be able to stay unbeaten on the year
-Bradley @ George Mason (Showdown in St. Pete). I like this George Mason team. They haven’t lost yet and this is another winnable game for them
-Loyola Chicago @ Colorado State – this isn’t a buy game, but given how Loyola Chicago has been playing it may end up looking like one. I really like this Colorado State team and think they can make it to the NCAA Tournament
-Miami OH @ Evansville – this is a tricky road game for the Red Hawks. It’s definitely one they should win, which would be their second of the year, but it’s certainly more challenging than a home buy game
-Wyoming @ Denver (Front Range) – We at Hoops HD love the Front Range!!!
-South Dakota State @ Northern Colorado – South Dakota State is 3-0 with an impresive early resume that includes a win at Kansas State and a home win against Valparaiso, who was coming off a big win at Purdue. They’ll have another tough road test today.
-South Alabama @ North Texas – neither team is likely to land inside the bubble, but it’s a solid UTR matchup
-Colorado @ Providence – not a huge believer in either team, but it’s still a good early season matchup for both of them and it’s Colorado’s first road game
-Pennsylvania @ Saint Joseph’s (Big 5) – Penn is the favorites to win the Ivy League, but they’ve gotten off to a rough start. Saint Joe’s wasn’t expected to do much this year, but they’ve looked pretty good so far and can improve to 4-0 with a win today
-Cincinnati @ Dayton – Cincinnati is coming off a frustrating loss to Minnesota, but I still think they can have a big year and this is a winnable road game for them. Dayton has lost two straight home buy games and is looking for anything that can help get their season jumpstarted. This is also a fun regional match-up
-Utah Valley @ Nevada – Nevada looking to bounce back from their loss at UC Santa Barbara
BUY GAMES:
-Stonehill @ Texas Tech
-Rice @ Stephen F Austin
-Coppin State @ South Florida
-Gardner Webb @ South Carolina
-UNC Asheville @ Georgia Tech
-Southern Utah @ Wake Forest – not a bad start for Southern Utah so far
-Howard @ Davidson – Davidson looking to get to 4-0
-Rider @ Villanova
-Portland State @ San Francisco
-Austin Peay @ Wichita State
-Binghamton @ Duquesne – Duquesne can get to 4-0
-UL Monroe @ Grand Canyon
