Under the Radar Game of the Day – Saturday, January 27th

Posted on January 27, 2024 by John Stalica

Western Illinois (13-7, 6-1) at Morehead State (15-5, 6-1) – 3:00 PM ET (ESPN+)

Today’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to the mountains of Eastern Kentucky where the hometown Morehead State Eagles host the Western Illinois Leathernecks in a top-2 showdown in the Ohio Valley Conference. Morehead comes into today’s contest having won seven out of their last eight games and has climbed into a tie for first place. Their only stumble was a surprising loss at SIU-Edwardsville two weeks ago. Even without Mark Freeman in the lineup, Riley Minix has emerged as the Eagles’ go-to threat with 18.9 points a game and 8.9 rebounds a game.

Very little was expected of Western Illinois when they abruptly left the Summit League to join the OVC this summer, but the Leathernecks have also vaulted into a first-place tie in the OVC so far. The Leathernecks had won nine straight games overall before Tennessee State halted their winning streak last week. They beat Southern Indiana 73-68 to resume their winning ways; Ryan Myers led the way with 23 points in that game.

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Under the Radar Game of the Day – Friday, January 26th (and other News and Notes)

Posted on January 26, 2024 by John Stalica

Utah Valley (9-10, 4-4) at Seattle (11-8, 4-4) – 9:00 PM ET (ESPN+)

Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day heads to the intimate Redhawk Center on the campus of Seattle University where the Redhawks will host the Wolverines of Utah Valley. Seattle had been on a 3-game losing streak that dropped them to 3-4 in conference play, but they snapped that losing streak in grand fashion with an 86-79 win at home against Grand Canyon last Saturday night. Cameron Tyson had 25 points in the victory against the Lopes.

The Wolverines also have had to overcome a 3-game losing streak in conference play that briefly sent them to a 3-4 conference record. A win against Utah Tech was not only a win in the Beehive standings, but lifted the Wolverines back to .500 in the WAC. Tanner Toolson led UVU with 26 points in the victory against Utah Tech.

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OTHER NEWS AND NOTES (From the Puppet):

-I should have learned a long time ago that in college hoops nights that start off looking to be slow and uneventful usually end up NOT being slow. Arizona, the same team that won at Duke back in November, did not win in Corvallis last night. They fell 83-80 in what should have been a routine road win for the Wildcats. This is their second head-scratching loss of the seasopn, and it will knock them down the seed-line.

-Grand Canyon bounced back from their loss at Seattle (that Stalica mentioned above) with an exciting, but somewhat sloppy 53-51 at Stephen F Austin. The last minute of this game took about 15 minutes to play with all of the timeouts and replays. Even by normal “end of the game standards” it took forever!

-Gonzaga got a challenge from San Francisco, which is something that we were expecting, but got control of the game late and won 77-72.

-MICHIGAN STATE AT WISCONSIN (Big Ten). We have Michigan State inside our bubble, but not solidly in the top half of the bracket. We have Wisconsin as a #2 seed who has kept pace with Purdue in the Big Ten standings so far. They should be able to get this win in Madison tonight.

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Hoops HD Bracket Rundown (Jan 25th)

Posted on January 25, 2024 by David Griggs

PROGRAM NOTE: This was recorded Thursday, Jan 25th at 9pm, est, and the seedlist was built before the show was recorded. None of the games that were played that day were factored in.

The Hoops HD panel have all submitted their own individual seedlists. They were then cross country scored by Chad to form a master seedlist, and it is revealed to the panel Selection Sunday style team by team and line by line. They discuss, assess, and debate each team as they are revealed. See who the #1 seeds are, who the rest of the protected seeds are, who is on the bubble, and who just missed it.

Below is the final 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…

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Hoops HD Daily Rundown – Thursday, Jan 25th

Posted on January 25, 2024 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES:

-For last night’s UNDER THE RADAR Video Podcast – CLICK HERE

-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE

-Auburn v Alabama was delayed because the lights went out, but it was worth the wait. Alabama held a lead all throughout. Auburn fought back on the road and had a chance to win in the final minutes, Bama held on 79-75. Still, I’m impressed with Auburn’s team, and while this would have been a great win on the road, the loss isn’t really that much of a setback for the Tigers.

-Northwestern v Illinois was a thriller with Northwestern getting the big win in overtime. Illinois won in a blowout the first time around, and this would have been a big road win for the Illini’s resume, but they’re still in great shape overall. As for Northwestern’s resume, this win gives it another nice boost.

-Nevada snapped their losing streak with a 77-64 win over Colorado State at home. Colorado State has now lost three of their last five, and they only have two true road wins to date and need to get some more before the season is over, but overall their resume is still very healthy.

-Providence, despite the injuries and despite all the setbacks, still keeps going!! They picked up a MASSIVE road win at Seton Hall last night 67-63. This Seton Hall team had been as hot as anyone in the Big East, and they were coming off a close loss to Creighton and were looking to bounce back, but Providence still got the win. Can the Friars, after all they’ve been through, still make the NCAA Tournament?

-Samford, who came into last night’s game at Furman with 17 straight wins, did not get to 18. They lost 78-68. While the streak came to an end, Samford is still having an incredible year and can still be very dangerous come March. And, we still love #BuckyBall!!!

-It was a crazy night in the Missouri Valley with Drake falling on the road at Missouri State, who is a team that always seems to give the Bulldogs trouble, and Indiana State barely escaping at UIC.

-Mississippi State, who was a team we liked but also felt they needed some more road wins to help boost their resume, did not win on the road last night. They fell to Florida 76-70 in a game they really could have used.

-Utah, who was a team we liked but who also needed some more road wins, did not win on the road last night. They were actually blown out by a so-so Washington State team 79-57, and now it may be time for us to start asking ourselves about Utah.

-Colorado needed a road win last night…and they actually got it!! They knocked off Washington 98-81 for their first true road win of the season.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-GRAND CANYON AT STEPHEN F AUSTIN (WAC). GCU is coming off a road loss to Seattle U. I still think they can land inside the bubble, but they’ve got what may be perhaps an even tougher road test tonight at SFA. If they can win out until the conference tournament I think they’re safe, but that’s much easier said than done.

-ARIZONA STATE AT OREGON (Pac 12). Oregon is right on our bubble and needs to hold serve in this one tonight.

-SAN FRANCISCO AT GONZAGA (West Coast). I think Gonzaga can land inside the bubble if they blow through the rest of the WCC schedule, and despite struggling from the outside I still think they’re good enough to do it. Having said that, they may be tested at home tonight, and if the Dons can get this one then the committee may start paying some attention to them.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:

–Georgia Southern @ Appalachian State (Sun Belt) – App State just doesn’t want to get caught looking ahead. They still have a shot to make a run at the bubble if they can run the table from here on out, which they may be good enough to do
-Vermont @ UMass Lowell (America East) – these are the top two teams in the America East, and this game could determine home court advantage throughout the conference tournament
-Drexel @ Towson (Coastal Athletic) – Drexel is starting to make quite a bit of noise in the CAA
-Arizona @ Oregon State (Pac 12) – Arizona is a protected seed caliber team and this should be a routine road win
–Pacific @ Saint Mary’s (West Coast) – SMC is hovering around the bubble and needs to hold serve in this one

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Under the Radar Game of the Day – Thursday, January 25th

Posted on January 25, 2024 by John Stalica

Northern Colorado (11-7, 4-1) at Eastern Washington (11-7, 5-0) – 9:00 PM ET

There are four conferences that have matchups worthy of the UTR Game of the Day; we have undefeated UMass-Lowell and Vermont facing off in the America East, we have an Oakland-Green Bay matchup in the Horizon League, and we also have the Black and Blue rivalry between UC-Irvine and Long Beach State in the Big West.

But Hoops HD has a knack for highlighting rivalries that never get any love nationally, and the NoCoEWU Cup is such a game. Northern Colorado (NoCo) travels up to Eastern Washington (EWU) for a matchup of the top 2 teams in the Big Sky tonight. The Eagles completed a 3-game road trip in the Big Sky that includes wins against Idaho, Weber State and Idaho State. The big win was at Weber State; Cedric Coward had 24 points for EWU in that win.

Northern Colorado has been no slouch of late; the Bears have won seven out of their last eight contests. Their only slipup was a 90-81 loss in Bozeman against Montana State. Saint Thomas (not the school) has had back-to-back 20-point games in wins against Sacramento State and Portland State at home.

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Under the Radar (Jan 24th)

Posted on January 24, 2024 by David Griggs

Tonight’s featured conference is the Patriot League and the unbelievable run we’ve seen from Lafayette. After losing all their OOC games against D1 opponents, the Leopards have yet to lose since starting conference play. We discuss that and talk about how it may be tough for Colgate to keep pace with them.

From there we run through the other 21 UTR conferences and talk about how competitive the Big West has been with UC Davis being a sudden surprise as a contender, Drexel who is out to an impressive start in the CAA but who has the toughest part of their schedule still remaining, McNeese who continues to roll, but who also had to come from behind and escape at TAMUCC, Grand Canyon and Samford who suffered rare losses this week, Princeton who continues to look like a solid top 25 caliber team, a big game coming up in the Sun Belt between Appalachian State and James Madison, and more! And, like we do every week, we close with this week’s UTR Top Ten.

And, for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…

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