Jackson State (4-13, 4-0) at Texas Southern (6-11, 3-1) – 4:00 PM ET (YouTube TV)
Today’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to Houston, Texas in advance of a rare snowfall event expected to take place tomorrow. The Jackson State Tigers visit town with wins in their first four games in league play; today is the second leg of their Texas trip coming off of a 79-70 win at Prairie View on Saturday. Daeshun Ruffin had 26 points in the victory over the Panthers.
Texas Southern opened up league play with a 9-point loss at home to Southern, but have since won three straight games to remain within a game of first-place Jackson State. On Saturday, Zaire Hayes led TSU with 16 points in a 66-57 victory against Alcorn State.
OTHER NEWS, NOTES, AND GAMES FROM DAVID GRIGGS:
-Check out our latest Hoops HD Bracket Rundown Video Podcast – CLICK HERE
-Michigan State edged out Illinois in an 80-78 thriller to keep their winning streak alive. The Spartans have not lost since the Maui Invitational, which was before Thanksgiving.
-Baylor, who had some head scratching losses coming into yesterday, now has another one. They lost at home to a decent TCU team 74-71. All the credit to TCU for winning a tough road game, but this is the kind of game that Baylor really needs to routinely win if they want to land in the top half of the bracket.
-Nebraska lost a tight one at Maryland 69-66, and now the Huskers are starting to sweat a little bit as they fall to just 2-5 in Big Ten play.
-GEORGETOWN AT VILLANOVA (Big East). Nova is within reach of the bubble, but they need to keep stringing together wins in order to get there, and that certainly means holding serve at home against teams like Georgetown.
-RUTRGERS AT PENN STATE (Big Ten). Both teams are outside the bubble, but both may be good enough to reach it. They need to start winning games to make that happen.
-COLUMBIA AT PRINCETON (Ivy League). Columbia had a nice OOC run, but is still looking for their first Ivy League win. Princeton may be the best team in the conference, but they had to sweat out their last game and don’t want to overlook the Lions today
Chad is joined by a full panel that builds this week’s seedlist line by line! They debate, discuss, assess, and sometimes strongly argue about each team as they go. Find out who they have on the #1 lines so far, who is safely in, who still has work to do, and who on the bubble just made it in and just missed it.
Below is a final copy of The Bracket, but don’t look at it until you’ve watched the show!!
And, for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…
We are only 8 weeks away from Selection Sunday as we begin to make our NCAA tourney predictions. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel correctly picked 67 of the 68 teams that made the 2024 tourney: 62 of his 67 were within 1 spot of their actual seed and 41 were right on the money. He will spend the upcoming months predicting which 68 teams will hear their names called on March 16th. See below for his list of who would make the cut if they picked the field today and if you agree or disagree then feel free to tweet us. To see how he stacks up with other websites (ranked 7th out of 179 bracket veterans over the past 5 years), check out: www.bracketmatrix.com
SEED: TEAM (CONFERENCE) 1: Auburn (SEC) 1: Duke (ACC) 1: Alabama (SEC) 1: Iowa State (Big 12)
-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
-So, yesterday was extremely chalky and there was no real big results or upsets at all. I’m kidding, of course. It was CRAZY!
-Auburn did escape Georgia with a win and should hold on to their #1 ranking, but it wasn’t easy. Auburn led by as much as 10 with less than 8 minutes to go. Georgia had a chance to tie the game and force OT on their last possession, but came up just short and the Tigers escaped 70-68.
-Iowa State, who we just got done praising as being every bit as good as Auburn, went on the road to West Virginia and lost a defensive battle 64-57. It was just Iowa State’s second loss of the year, and it’s another huge win for a West Virginia team that’s starting to build up a pretty nice resume.
-Alabama and Kentucky was exciting and high scoring from tip to buzzer with several lead changes and momentum shifts, but Alabama got it done 102-97, which is another massive road win for the Tide.
-Tennessee, who had shown they could win tough games on the road earlier this season, did not get the win yesterday at Vanderbilt. They were behind for much of the game, but overcame a 16pt deficit and were at the freethrow line in the final second of the game with a chance tie and force overtime. He made the first, but missed the second, and the Dores got a huge 76-75 upset. They will also be writing a check to the SEC office after storming the court in victory.
-Marquette had been blowing through their schedule and no one was expecting them to have much trouble with Xavier yesterday, but the Musketeers had a great first half, and were able to hold on to their lead throughout the second half and pull off a 59-57 road upset. Not many teams have beaten a top ten team in a true road game, but now Xavier has. They still have a lot of work to do and getting into the NCAA Tournament is still a long shot, but this was a huge step in the right direction. (Note from Stalica – this is the first game of a 4-game stretch for Xavier where they go to St. John’s, host UConn and then go to Creighton. They might be in if they can pick off 2 of those games.) Also in the Big East…
-Connecticut had been on fire and wasn’t expected to have much trouble at all at home with Creighton, so of course the Bluejays picked up a massive 68-63 upset road win which is a fantastic resume-boost for them. It’s the kind of win Creighton really needed to get the committee to take them seriously and greatly increases their chances of making the NCAAs. (Note from Stalica – And yet Creighton is 8-2 all time against UConn.)
-Houston barely escaped UCF with a 69-68 win. This was a tough fought game where UCF led for much of the way, but Houston kept it within reach and then scored the game winner in the final seconds to keep their streak going and pick up another true road win.
-Purdue picked up what may be their biggest win of the season so far as the went across the country to Oregon and got the 65-58 win on the road. Both teams are looking like possible/probable protected seeds.
-Mississippi State and Ole Miss was intense, exciting, and insane just as you would expect. Mississippi State managed to get the big win in OT 84-81. Ole Miss had a shot to force a second OT, but could not convert.
-Gonzaga lost again to a team that’s nowhere near the field as they fell at home to Santa Clara 103-99. It’s okay to start questioning Gonzaga. I still think they belong in the field, but their resume barely suggests that they belong in the top half of the bracket right now and they certainly don’t look like the Final Four caliber team we thought they were at the beginning of the year. (Note from Stalica – another loss right now by Gonzaga would drop them to SIXTH place in the WCC. The last time they were fifth was 1996-97; the last time they were as low as sixth was 1990-91.)
-Clemson got a really nice, and somewhat needed, road win at Pitt as they won in a 78-75 thriller. Clemson was not in any real danger, but a road win like this certainly shores up their resume. (Note from Stalica – Pitt did take a brief lead in the closing minutes of regulation, but Clemson did survive in overtime.)
-Cincinnati, who we were beating up on pretty hard prior to this week, has now won two straight games as they knocked off Arizona State 67-60 yesterday. Arizona State is now just 1-5 in Big 12 play and needs to start picking up wins soon. Also in the Big 12…
-Arizona, who we were heavily praising prior to this week for how well they had been playing recently, did not play well yesterday. They were blown off the court by a rather blah-level Texas Tech team 70-54.
-Wake Forest keeps winning! When are people going to start to pay attention! They pulled off a 72-63 win at Virginia Tech and are now 6-1 in conference play and 14-4 on the year.
-North Carolina, who had also been winning a lot, did not win yesterday. They fell at home to Stanford 72-71 in what would have been the biggest upset of the day on most normal days, but kind of just got lost in the shuffle today.
-Missouri is on fire. They blew Arkansas off the court 83-65 yesterday and this follows up a huge win on the road at Florida earlier in the week. Arkansas is also on fire, but they are more like a burning dumpster. They’ve shown no signs at any point this season of belonging in the NCAA Tournament.
-UNLV has had a hell of a week ruining things for their opponents. After going on the road and knocking off Utah State, they followed that up last night with a win at San Diego State. UNLV has looked…well…let’s just say ‘not great’ for most of the season, so for them to go on that road trip and get both those wins is perhaps the most improbable thing that happened all week. As for San Diego State, the 76-68 home loss is a setback, but they should still be inside the bubble and will remain there so long as they don’t stub their toes like that too many more times.
-Furman is a good team. They will win a lot of games. But, after yesterday’s 75-71 home loss to Chattanooga, which is now their third loss in SoCon play, one of those wins better be that last SoCon Tournament game if they want to make the NCAAs.
-The home loss UC San Diego had to UC Irvine was a missed opportunity. The 85-81 road loss last night to UC Riverside might mean that UCSD will need to win the Big West Tournament in order to play in the NCAA Tournament. This one hurt. UCR is a good team, but that’s just it. Teams have to beat good teams to make it to the NCAAs.
-Oregon State followed up their big home win against Gonzaga with a tough road loss to San Francisco. This is a really good San Francisco team that people aren’t talking all that much about. They could definitely end up making the NCAA Tournament this March.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-ILLINOIS AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten). Both teams are ranked in the top 20 and both are playing at a high level right now. Illinois has won six out if seven, including some really tough road win sin that stretch, and Michigan State hasn’t lost since Maui over Thanksgiving, and is a perfect 9-0 at home. Both could end up as protected seeds, and this would be a huge resume win today.
-NEBRASKA AT MARYLAND (Big Ten). Nebraska has lost three straight, is in a bit of a tailspin, and is in danger of falling outside of the bubble if it continues. A win today would really help them get things turned around. Maryland is in failry good shape, but needs to hold serve in games like this.
-NORTHWESTERN AT MICHIGAN (Big Ten). Michigan had been red hot, but is coming off a somewhat surprising loss on the road to Minnesota. This is a good bounce back game for them as Northwestern is a decent team, but certainly one they can beat at home. As for Northwestern, they’re coming off a home win against Maryland that they desperately needed, but they still have work to do and a win today would help them out a ton.
-MEMPHIS AT CHARLOTTE (American). This should be a rather easy win for Memphis, but they are coming off a somewhat surprising loss to Temple, so as good as they are they can’t just show up and go through the motions.
-TCU AT BAYLOR (Big 12). Baylor looks like a solid team that should end up in the top half of the NCAA Tournament bracket, and will have chances to move up between now and the end. They should be able to hold serve at home against TCU, who looks to be very NIT-ish right now.
Morris Robert Robert Morris (12-7, 4-4) at Milwaukee (13-6, 6-2) – 3:00 PM ET (ESPN+)
Today’s UTR Game of the Day heads to Milwaukee as the host Panthers take on the Robert Morris Colonials in a Horizon League matchup. Milwaukee comes into today’s game a game behind leader Cleveland State and a half game behind Purdue-Fort Wayne for second place. In their last game, the Panthers were unaffected by Penguin Fever as they defeated Youngstown State 79-64; they were led by Faizon Fields’ 21 points in the victory.
Robert Morris is having their best season to date in the Horizon; they have won six of their last eight games overall. After losing at home to Cleveland State a week and a half ago, the Colonials defeated Wright State by 3 points at home and blew out Green Bay on the road. Alvaro Folgueiras averages a double-double (12.8 PPG, 10.3 RPG) for Robert Morris.
HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel will spend the upcoming months covering several Georgetown basketball home games, with (hopefully) a very special reward coming in March. He was in attendance Friday night at Capital 1 Arena and prepared this photo essay about the Hoyas’ matchup against DePaul. If you would like to check out his prior coverage, please go to:
Another great pregame meal: multiple types of pasta/garlic bread/brownie/chocolate chip cookie. The student section is hungry for a win and looks quite packed:
I noticed that the radio analyst for DePaul was Dave Corzine. I got to interview him about his fellow alum George Mikan a couple of years ago and he was super-nice:
Let’s tip off an eventful weekend in DC:
It is hard to feel confident about a DePaul team that has lost 39(!) straight Big East regular-season games over the past 3 seasons, but they certainly have the health advantage as Georgetown was down a pair of starters. Their leading 3-PT shooter (Jayden Epps) was out for the 3rd time in the past 6 games due to a left hamstring injury, while their leading scorer/rebounder/shot-blocker (Thomas Sorber) was out for the 1st time all season due to a right elbow injury:
DePaul coach Chris Holtmann has been waiting even longer for a win, as the last time he beat a Big East team was on 11/22/21 in a 3-PT win at Seton Hall when he was coach at Ohio State:
For a guy whose name sounds primarily like a defensive star, Blue Demons G Layden Blocker displayed his offensive repertoire in the 1st half with a layup, a jumper, and a pair of threes en route to 14 PTS in just 14 minutes of action:
Caleb Williams/Malik Mack tried to pick up the offensive slack for the Hoyas by getting to the basket for layup after layup, but they needed a bit more help:
DePaul entered the locker room up 39-28 at halftime thanks to Georgetown making exactly ONE shot from behind the arc and having just 3 AST. After coming back onto the court, Blue Demons PF NJ Benson missed a dunk but was still strong enough to wreck part of the stanchion, so the maintenance crew had to bring out a stepladder to fix it:
With Sorber out, Benson was able to use his 6’8”/235-pound frame to his advantage in the 2nd stanza with a layup, an alley-oop dunk that thankfully did not do any further damage to the basket, and even a 3 from the top of key to beat the shot clock. His 4 BLK on the defensive end were not too shabby either:
To the Hoyas’ credit, they did not go gently into that good night despite their depleted roster. Drew Fielder made several shots around the basket, a turnaround jumper, and a 3 to finish with 19 PTS:
Both Mack and his teammate Curtis Williams Jr. made a pair of threes down the stretch as they were able to chip away at a 17-PT 1st half deficit and whittle it down to a 1-possesion game in the final minutes. However, DePaul G CJ Gunn gave his team a shot in the arm with a layup, a jumper, and a corner 3 to finish with a team-high 17 PTS and lead his team to a 73-68 victory and their 1st conference road win since beating the Hoyas in DC on 2/24/22:
In the postgame press conference I asked Coach Holtmann (who spent the past 7 years at Ohio State) how close he was to Buckeyes’ football coach Ryan Day and whether he thought Day was 72 hours away from becoming a national champ. He smiled and said that Coach Day is 1 of the best people he knows and a hell of a guy. While he refused to make an official prediction, he admitted that he would like nothing more than for Coach Day and his staff to win it all on Monday night:
I wondered if Georgetown coach Ed Cooley and his team would have time to celebrate Martin Luther King Day on Monday considering he had a game at Villanova at 6PM that evening. He explained that he requested to play on MLK Day because it is something special, and much like King the Hoyas want to be a leader in discussing justice/injustice. He is grateful that the league has allowed him to play on Monday, and that King’s dream is coming true by virtue of Cooley being able to talk to us today:
That is a wrap for now but check back later this month when St. John’s visits DC.
