Hoops HD

CLICK HERE for our latest UNDER THE RADAR Video Podcast. Rocco Miller is so full of insights and information on each of the 22 conferences, that I’m amazed that it all fit into one single show!!!

NEWS AND NOTES:

-A couple of teams sweated more in home buy games than what you would expect. Kentucky actually trailed Colgate in the 2nd half before finally pulling away, and San Diego State had a tough time with Cal Baptist, but both ended up winning those games.

-Louisville was sweating bullets against UTEP, but managed to barely escape 77-74. Two things that I think became clear in this game is that Louisville is not the same team without Kasean Pryor, and UTEP is solid and will be a tough team in Conference USA.

-Nevada pulled away from South Dakota State for a nice 77-63 win. South Dakota State still looks to be the best team in the Summit League, but it’s looking more and more like one of their wins will have to be that Summit League Championship game. They’re now 0-2 in true road games.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-IOWA STATE AT IOWA. There are different ways to measure a rivalry. Duke v UNC and Ohio State v Michigan (at least in football) are probably the biggest showcases and often have national implications, but in terms of only looking at how much the two sides hate each other, this rivalry is amongst the biggest. It really is. Iowa State comes in ranked 3rd in the nation, but this is their first true road game, and BOY are they stepping into a hostile environment! Iowa is a perfect 6-0 at home and they’re coming off an incredibly impressive showing where they just barely lost at Michigan, so they’ve shown they can play, but they could still use a big-time resume boosting win. This one should be fun! It usually is!

-UT Arlington @ Arkansas State – Arkansas State needs to build on their big win against Memphis
-New Mexico State @ Texas – New Mexico State is coming off the huge road win at New Mexico
-Saint Ambrose (nonD1) @ Drake

NEWS AND NOTES:

-It was a crazy night of games considering there were so few of them.

-Miami FL competed with Tennessee in the Jimmy V Classic, but at no point did it ever feel like they were in a position to win it. The Vols cruised 75-62, they remain unbeaten on the year, and the Canes fall to just 3-7.

-In the 2nd game of the Jimmy V Classic, Michigan vs. Arkansas was just one of the craziest games you’ll see all year. Michigan led by as much as 15 in the first half, and then Arkansas went on a run to cut it to just 4 at halftime. Then Arkansas went up by as much as 18 with just 10 minutes to go and they appeared to be cruising, but then Michigan turned up the defense, started making plays, got back into it with an 18-2 run, got as close as 1 with less than a minute to go, but couldn’t quite come all the way back to get the win. For Arkansas, it was a win they really needed and their biggest of the season so far after a few struggles.

-Butler fell all over themselves against North Dakota State and was down 21 at home at the half. They played a fantastic second half, but it wasn’t quite good enough to come all the way back from the awful first half they played. North Dakota State picks up the big road win 71-68, and Butler has now lost two home buy games. That ain’t gonna look so good in March.

-DAVIDSON WINS THE HORNET’S NEST!! The greatest trophy in all of sports! They held off Charlotte 75-71.

-Rutgers had to sweat in the second half as Penn State almost came from behind, but they held on to win 80-76, which ends a three games losing streak and gives them their first Big Ten win of the season.

-Charleston picked up a nice 78-75 win at Saint Joseph’s, which is the second road win of the season for CofC. They have a very small margin for error, but I still think that they can be a dangerous team come March. I also want to like Saint Joe’s, but they keep losing games you feel like a good team should be winning.

-Providence got a nice road win at DePaul. “Nice” is not a word that is often used when describing a win against DePaul, but they came in 7-1 overall on the season and were favorited in this one, but Providence bounced back from their loss at Rhode Island and got the conference road win.

-California, who was a modest 6-3 going into yesterday’s game against Cornell, was run out of their own gym in the first half. They were better in the second half, but couldn’t come all the way back and lost the home buy game to Cornell 88-80.

-Last, but DEFINITELY not least, Brown handed Rhode Island their first loss as they beat the Rams 84-80 in double overtime!! With Rhode Island defeating Providence, and Brown defeating Bryant, this makes Brown this year’s Official Unofficial Ocean State Tournament Champions!!!!!!

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES AND BUY GAMES:

-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT NEVADA. South Dakota State is a really strong UTR team, and while they probably won’t end up inside the bubble, this is the kind of game they need to be able to win if they’re going to have any sort of chance of that happening. Nevada has lost two straight and is in a bit of a tailspin right now, so they need this one as a bounce-back win.

-Dartmouth @ Notre Dame
-Fairleight Dickinson @ Villanova
-Bryant @ Saint John’s
-Eastern Kentucky @ Pittsburgh
-UTEP @ Louisville – UTEP is a respectable 6-2 but is likely overmatched in this one
-Colgate @ Kentucky
-Fresno State @ BYU
-Cal Baptist @ San Diego State

CLICK HERE for the latest HOOPS HD REPORT Video Podcast

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-MIAMI FL VS TENNESSEE (Jimmy V Classic). Coming in this looks like a huge mismatch, and common sense should tell anyone that Tennessee is going to blow the Canes off the floor, but I’m still holding on to some sort of irrational feeling that Miami is capable of playing much better than what they’ve shown us so far and may be able to make this a game.

-CHARLOTTE AT DAVIDSON. Folks, this is for the greatest trophy in all of sports in all the world! The Hornets Nest!! What’s amazing about this is that someone designed it, sculpted it, finished it, looked at it and thought “wow! that looks great”, and them most amazing of all showed it to both Charlotte and Davidson and they both said “Yes! That’s good! That’s our trophy!!” Anyway, as far as the game itself goes…it’s pretty meaningless.

-PENN STATE AT RUTGERS (Big Ten). Penn State is off to a solid start at 8-1 and this would be a really nice conference road win for their resume. Rutgers has underperformed somewhat, but with such a young team it’s understandable that they’d struggle some out of the gate. They need this one for what it means on paper, but they also need a win to get their momentum and confidence built back up.

-RHODE ISLAND AT BROWN. Rhody beat Providence!! Brown beat Bryant! This is for the Ocean State Championship!!!!!

-CHARLESTON AT SAINT JOSEPH’S. Charleston is a UTR team with potential, but they have a lot of work to do and need a win like this away from home to get them anywhere near the discussion of making a run at the bubble. Joe’s has shown some great moments at times, but they’ve also crapped down their legs at other times. Simly put, this is one they really need to win.

-PROVIDENCE AT DEPAUL (Big East). DePaul has bloated out their records on home buy games, and Providence has shown more struggles than successes early on. This is a big game for both of them in the sense that a win would be nice, but a loss would be a big setback.

-MICHIGAN VS ARKANSAS (Jimmy V Classic). Michigan has had a great start to the season, whereas Arkansas is positioned well enough, but hasn’t had that big surge that we oftentimes see out of Calipari teams as we head into Christmas Break and the 20 hour practice weeks become unlimited weeks. This would be a nice win for either team, and probably Arkansas’s best of the season up to this point if they’re able to pull it off.

-WISCONSIN AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten). Illinois has a bit of a tough assignment, but they are at home and they should be able to bounce back from that tough loss to Northwestern. Wisky is a respectable 8-2, but this would be one of their better wins of the season so far if they’re able to pull it off considering that it’s a conference road games.

BUY GAMES:

-North Dakota State @ Butler
-Incarnate Word @ Duke
-Coppin State @ NC State
-Monmouth @ Princeton
-Morgan State @ Xavier
-NC Central @ West Virginia
-UAlbany @ Syracuse
-Troy @ Houston
-Cornell @ California
-Eastern Washington @ Washington