Hoops HD Daily Rundown – Friday, Feb 17th

Posted on February 17, 2023 by David Griggs

For the latest HOOPS HD BRACKET RUNDOWN where the seedlists of all the staff members are cross country scored and ranked to create a master seedlist which is then bracketed, and that bracket is revealed via Selection Sunday Style – CLICK HERE

 

SURVIVAL BOARD UPDATE:

-IVY LEAGUE – Harvard is 3 games back of 4th place with 4 games to go.  If they lose tonigh to Columbia (not likely), and if both Penn and Brown win their games tonight they will be eliminated tonight.  I’m expecting them to make it through tonight, but not through Saturday.

 

NEWS, NOTES, AND HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

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

-College basketball has been on one hell of a bender this week!  The whole thing is just drunk!!

-It was as if Purdue forgot to come out for the second half in their game at Maryland.  The Terps just got complete control and ran the Boilers off the floor.  Purdue, as good as they are, have now lost three of their last four and are showing that they can absolutely be beaten.

-Florida Atlantic suffered their third loss of the season as they fell to Middle Tennessee.  It was close for most of the game, but MTSU was in the lead the whole way, and held on to win 74-70.  This is a setback for FAU, but I still think they are inside the bubbler.

-Memphis had a lead over UCF for most of the game, but almost blew it in the final minutes, and It actually came down to the final possession after a sloppy second half, but Memphis escaped 64-63.

-Oral Roberts, who all year long had been destroying the Summit League in their sleep, got a big scare from a rather underwhelming North Dakota State team yesterday, but managed to hold on 73-70 after blowing a huge second half lead.

-Saint Mary’s BARELY escaped at San Diego 62-59.  This would have been a loss that would have likely knocked them down several seed lines.

-LMU made a huge mistake when they beat Gonzaga earlier this season.  It made the Zags REALLY mad!!  They absolutely blew LMU off the floor, and dominated the first half in a way that we really haven’t seen since some of the ridiculously mismatched buy games from early in the year.

-Southern Miss, who we really liked as an Under the Radar team, and who we thought even might get some sort of look from the committee if they didn’t win the auto-bid even if they weren’t selected, has basically no shot of being selected now.  They were blown to the moon by South Alabama 85-54 in a game that has me scratching my head as much as any others that we’ve seen this week, and we’ve seen some CRAZY stuff this week!

-Morehead State and UNC Asheville both won their games, and both can clinch a share of first place in their conferences if they win on Saturday.

-Kennesaw State also came from behind to beat Liberty, which gives them a one game lead in the standings with three games to go.  They have not clinched yet, but they have the tiebreaker if the two teams end up tied, which means they are on track to have home court advantage throughout the entire ASun Tournament.

-NEW MEXICO AT SAN JOSE STATE (Mountain West).  After a great start to the season, New Mexico has gone into a tailspin and is at risk of missing the NCAA Tournament entirely if they can’t get things turned back around.  Tonight’s game won’t be easy against a San Jose State team that’s been playing really well these past few weeks and is actually ahead of them in the standings.

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Happy Anniversary: HoopsHD interviews UMBC legend Larry Simmons

Posted on February 17, 2023 by Jon Teitel

Most people think that the history of UMBC basketball began in 2018 when the Retrievers upset #1-seed Virginia in the NCAA tourney…but most people are wrong. Larry Simmons played at UMBC back in the 1980s and finished his career with a school-record 1805 PTS. He finished 3rd in the nation with 90.2 FT% as a junior, was named to the D-1 All-Independent Team as a senior, and even played 2 years of varsity soccer during his free time. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Larry about playing multiple sports and being a great scorer. Today marks the 33rd anniversary of Larry breaking the school’s scoring record on February 17, 1990, so we take this time to remember his remarkable accomplishment.

You grew up in Indiana: what made you choose UMBC? That is very simple to answer: Coach Jeff Bzdelik. I had received many offers but narrowed my choices down to 5 schools. I visited Alabama, Northwestern, UNC-Wilmington, Ball State, and UMBC. Most of the larger schools had upperclassmen so I knew that I would have to probably redshirt during my 1st year. Being the competitive person that I am, I wanted the opportunity to play right away and make a significant impact at the school I was going to go to, plus I wanted to make sure it was a great fit with the coach who was going to be leading the program. I really enjoyed the time I got to spend with Coach Bzdelik before I made my decision. I knew I could trust that my aspirations to play D-1 basketball and his desire to excel as a D-1 head coach would be a perfect fit at UMBC as they were entering D-1 for the first time in 1986.

What made Bzdelik such a good coach, and could you have ever imagined that he would keep going strong in the NBA for the next 3 decades? I absolutely could see him coaching to this day! His love for the game of basketball is unquestioned. His passion/dedication/ability to have a strong connection with all of the players that he coached was an incredible asset. He had an incredible desire to see his players not only excel on the basketball court but also in life.

You played both basketball/soccer in college: which sport were you best at and which 1 did you enjoy the most? That is a very hard question to answer as I absolutely love both sports. I think that if they would have let me play soccer for the 1st 2 years then I might have had a chance at being the leading scorer in both soccer AND basketball! I was All-State in basketball/soccer/football and enjoyed playing all sports. However, basketball and soccer were definitely my 2 favorites, by far.

As a junior you finished #3 in the nation with 90.2 FT%: what is the secret to making FTs? It took many years of being taught the correct fundamentals and practicing every day how to shoot the basketball. I would spend extra time at every practice shooting hundreds of free throws and jump shots. I was also fortunate enough to grow up in the town of Noblesville, IN, which had a great high school basketball program. Noblesville had a great high school coach named Dave Nicholson who was very passionate about focusing on the fundamentals of basketball so we worked on free throws every night. I believe that Scott Haffner, 1 of my high school teammates (who ended up making it to the NBA) was 1 of the best in the nation that year as well (90.1 FT%)!

Your PPG/SPG/FG% increased during each of your 4 years on campus: how were you able to keep improving every single year? With a lot of hard work and off-season practice! I cannot tell you how many days/afternoons/nights that Bobby Mills and I were out practicing our shooting, playing 1-on-1, looking for pick-up games, etc. I also think that as I matured throughout my 4 years of playing D-1 basketball: the game started to slow down for me. I was able to see/understand what was happening quicker and my ability to perform steadily improved each year.

In 1990 you were named an All-American: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It was an awesome honor for all of the hard work I had put in during my entire life. Just being blessed to play D-1 basketball and then to be recognized for all of the hard work/dedication I had put in over the years as an All-American felt amazing. I never had the opportunity to play in a conference as UMBC was just entering D-1, so that made the honor even more special!

In 1996 you were inducted into your school’s Hall of Fame: where does that rank among the highlights of your career? I have been very fortunate to be inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the Silver Anniversary Team, the UMBC Athletic Hall of Fame, the Hamilton County Basketball Hall of Fame, and Noblesville’s Athletic Hall of Fame. I feel very blessed to have been given the opportunity to play both basketball and soccer at UMBC. To be recognized for all of my hard work at such a great institution is right there at the top: Go Retrievers!

You remain the all-time leading scorer in school history: did you realize at the time how prolific a player you were, and do you think that anyone will ever break your record? Did I ever think that I would be the all-time leading scorer at UMBC when I 1st started: absolutely not! All I knew was that if I worked hard every day to improve my game, I would be given the same opportunity as every other player who was on the team. I was fortunate enough to never miss a game during my 4 years of playing at UMBC but I am amazed that the record has lasted this long. I was so rooting for Jairus Lyles to break the record with the amazing run UMBC had in the 2018 NCAA tourney! Since we were not in a conference during my 4 years at UMBC we only played 28 games/year. Now that UMBC is in the America East and has a conference tournament they can play 32+ games/year. They also had an incredible coach in Ryan Odom who developed a formidable program so I am sure that someone will break the record.

You also have the most STL in school history: how did you balance your offense with your defense? I have always been a very competitive person: if my opponent had the ball then I wanted it! I think that playing both basketball/soccer gave me the ability to see offenses/defenses/plays before they happened. I believe this gave me the ability to put myself in situations where I had the opportunity to steal the ball from the opposing player. I have never really believed in luck: I believe that if you work hard, have the right fundamentals, and put yourself in the right situation then success will happen.

What have you been up to since retiring from basketball, and what do you hope to do in the future? It is hard to believe that it has been almost 3 decades since I graduated from UMBC! I have been working in the world of banking for most of that time and am currently back home again in the great Hoosier state of Indiana! I have coached both youth basketball/soccer for the last quarter century and my wife made me “officially” stop playing both sports when I turned 50: wow, life goes fast! I have 4 beautiful children/2 grandchildren and just plan on watching them all grow up. Who knows: maybe I will go into coaching high school basketball here in Indiana?!

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Under The Radar Game of the Day – Friday, February 17th

Posted on February 17, 2023 by John Stalica

Yale (17-6, 7-3) at Pennsylvania (14-11, 6-4) – 7:00 PM ET (ESPNEWS)

Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to the historic Palestra in Philadelphia where the Penn Quakers will host the Yale Bulldogs in a pivotal Ivy League matchup. Yale is tied with Princeton for first place in the Ivy and brings a 6-game winning streak into what has been one of the most difficult road trips in all of college basketball: the Princeton-Penn back-to-back doubleheader. Matt Knowling averages 14.9 points a game and 5.2 rebounds a game for the Bulldogs.

Penn had a 3-game losing streak in midseason against Dartmouth, Princeton and Yale, but now they get a chance to avenge all three losses in the final 4 games of the regular season. The Quakers have since won 5 straight games, most recent was a win at Harvard last weekend. Jordan Dingle is one of the most prolific scorers in the NCAA – he averages 24 points a game.

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Bracket Rundown 2-16-2023

Posted on February 16, 2023 by Chad

The HoopsHD panel gets together again to reveal their current consensus NCAA Tournament bracket heading into the day on February 16, 2023, as well as discussing how the upsets tonight would change the results.  The final bracket is below, but don’t look at it until you have watched the podcast!

Here is the bracket:

And here is an audio only version:

Posted in News and Notes | 1 Comment

Hoops HD Daily Rundown – Thursday, Feb 16th

Posted on February 16, 2023 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES:

-For our latest UNDER THE RADAR Video Podcast, where we discuss and assess all of the non-major D1 conferences – CLICK HERE

-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day, which has major first place implications in the Atlantic Sun – CLICK HERE

-The bad taste of losing back to back games on last second buzzer beaters was probably washed out of Tennessee’s mouths last night as they got a huge win at home against top ranked Alabama 68-59.  Defensively they just controlled the game, especially in the second half.  I know it was a home game, but it was still an impressive performance and it will help move them back up the seedlist after the last two losses.

-Louisville almost pulled off what may have been the most improbable upset in the history of American Sports.  Virginia just barely escaped with a 61-58 win.  To put this into perspective, the two teams are further apart in the NET Rankings than any other upset we could ever come up with in the history of either the NET or the RPI.  Some will say “Well, it wasn’t as big as the time Chaminade beat Virginia.”  I disagree!  That Chaminade team was a highly ranked D2 team.  Louisville lost an exhibition game to a D2 team with a losing record, and nearly lost another one.  This Louisville team probably wouldn’t even qualify for the D2 NCAA Tournament if they were to transition down for a year, so for them to nearly beat Virginia, that may have not just been the biggest upset of the year, or of the decade, or in the history of college basketball, but it may have been the biggest upset in the history of EVERYTHING!!

-Xavier went into Marquette, and after multiple lead changes in the final minute of play Marquette escaped with a 69-68 win.  It seems as though the Big East has given us more thrilling games this year than most of the rest of the conferences, and Xavier has been in a fair number of them.  As for Marquette, they once again look to be the Big East frontrunners.

-Northwestern sprinted out to a big first half lead and lead by 19 at the half, but Indiana put together a very impressive second half and came all the way back against a really good team, and did it on their floor.  Unfortunately for the Hoosiers Northwestern managed to escape and pick up yet another big win after hitting a shot at the buzzer.

-Iowa State and TCU were both in a bit of a tailspin, so it was kind of a big game for both teams when they faced each other last night, and Iowa State got the 70-59 win.  After looking as strong as any team in the country for a while, TCU has been plagued with injuries.

-San Diego State really had to sweat on the road at Fresno State, but barely held on in a rock fight 45-43.

-Remember when people were saying Virginia Tech could make the Tournament??  Well…they can’t!  They lost at Georgia Tech last night 77-70.  They’ve been absolutely pitiful on the road, and this should pretty much cement their place outside the bubble minus a complete turnaround and run to the ACC Championship game.

-Kentucky needed a big win in the most desperate way, and got it at Mississippi State 71-68.  Mississippi State had been playing really well, especially at home, so it’s a win that Kentucky should get a fair amount of credit for, and I think it puts them back on the right side of the bubble for now.

-Texas A&M held off Arkansas 62-56, and TAMU continues to win games and continues to look impressive.  They are now 11-2 in SEC play, and by now should be inside most people’s bubbles.  As for Arkansas, they continue to hover around the bubble and are right on the cut line.  Both teams still have work to do between now and the end, but at least TAMU appears to be doing said work.

-Oregon, who is a team that we thought had been playing well and were starting to keep an eye on, gave us a reason to take their eyes back off of them.  They fell on the road to Washington 72-71 in a game they really could not afford to lose.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-PURDUE AT MARYLAND (Big Ten).  This will be a tough road test for Purdue, but if they feel they belong on the #1 line then this is the kind of road game they should be able to win.  Maryland is probably safely inside the bubble, but I personally think their resume is a little flimsy and that a win like this could really help them out.  They are 13-1 at home, but none of their wins have been as good as this one would end up being.

-HOUSTON AT SMU (American).  Should be yet another routine road win for the Cougars, who have a pretty wide path to a #1 seed.

-FLORIDA ATLANTIC AT MIDDLE TENNESSEE (Conference USA).  This could be a bit of a trap game for FAU, but they’ve managed to get it done on in most of their road tests so far.  If they win out through the regular season, which they are good enough to do, they should go into the NCAA Tournament field on the first ballot.

-CHARLESTON AT ELON (Colonial).  If Charleston wins out, they will get a serious look from the selection committee if they don’t win their conference tournament.  The problem is that Hofstra will own the tiebreaker, so CofC will not be an outright first place team.

-UCF AT MEMPHIS (American).  Memphis is squarely on the bubble and absolutely needs to hold serve in all their remaining games when they’re not playing Houston.  UCF can play at a high level, so Memphis needs to be on upset alert tonight.

-COLORADO AT ARIZONA STATE (Pac 12).  Arizona State needs to string together a lot of wins down the stretch just to make it into the field.  Right now we have them on the outside looking in.

-SAINT MARY’S AT SAN DIEGO (West Coast).  SMC is very far inside the bubble and should end up on no worse than the #5 line if they hold serve the rest of the way and don’t lose to anyone other than Gonzaga (whom they have already beaten once).

-OHIO STATE AT IOWA (Big Ten).  Iowa appears to be in good shape as far as a bid goes and will remain that way so long as they don’t tank out down the stretch.  For now, the rest of the regular season is just about maintaining and improving their spot on the seedlist.

-UTAH AT ARIZONA (Pac 12).  Utah has some decent stuff on their resume, but they’ll need a win like this in order to really get the committee’s attention.  They did win the first meeting between these two, but that was at home.  Winning on the road is a completely different deal.

-CALIFORNIA AT USC (Pac 12).  USC is squarely on the bubble.  If they lose at home to a Cal team that is worse than most of the opponents teams typically face in home buy games, they will likely get knocked way off the bubble.

-STANFORD AT UCLA (Pac 12).  I think UCLA is looking like the best team in the Pac 12 right now, and they perhaps even have a shot at ending up as a #1 seed if they’re able to win out.  They should hold serve at home tonight against a Stanford team that did beat Arizona in their last game, but has done pretty much nothing else all season long.

-GONZAGA AT LMU (West Coast).  This one could be a tough one since it’s on the road, and since LMU has managed wins against both Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s already this year.  They will be way up for this one, but I have a feeling the Zags will as well.  Gonzaga still has a really good chance at ending up as a protected seed if they can win out, which they are good enough to do.

UNDER THE RADAR/SURVIVAL BOARD WATCH…

-To see the SURVIVAL BOARD, which was just recently updated last night – CLICK HERE

-FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON AT SACRED HEART (Northeast Conference).  FDU is tied with Stonehill and Merrimack in the NEC standings, but neither of those two teams are eligible for the NCAA Tournament (although they can play in the NEC Conference Tourney).  With just four games to go, FDU has a two game lead over Sacred Heart, SFPA, and Wagner.  They can widen that lead today.

-UNC ASHEVILLE AT RADFORD (Big South).  UNCA has a one game lead on Radford with four games to go, so this one is extremely pivotal.  If UNCA wins they can clinch at least a share of first place this weekend.  If Radford wins it’s deadlocked heading into the final week.

-MILWAUKEE AT YOUNGSTOWN STATE (Horizon League).  Both teams are tied for 1st place with just four games to go, so this one is hugely pivotal

-SOUTHERN MISS AT SOUTH ALABAMA (Sun Belt).  Southern Miss has a two game lead with just four games to go, and can come within a game of clinching at least a share of 1st place with a win tonight.  They should also get a serious look from the committee if they win out, but fail to win the SBC Tournament.

-SOUTHERN INDIANA AT LITTLE ROCK (Ohio Valley).  Little Rock is one game out of 8th place with just four remaining.  A loss tonight and a loss to Eastern Illinois on Saturday would eliminate them.

-SELA AT NORTHWESTERN STATE (Southland).  Northwestern State is tied with TAMUCC for first place with five games remaining

-TENNESSEE STATE AT MOREHEAD STATE (Ohio Valley).  Morehead State has a two game lead with just four games to go, and Tennessee State is among five teams that are tied for second behind Morehead.  If Morehead wins tonight and wins Saturday they clinch at least a share.  If they lose tonight then it is potentially a complete logjam heading into the final week.

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Look Hoo’s Talking: HoopsHD interviews Nike Hoop Summit Team USA member Blake Buchanan

Posted on February 16, 2023 by Jon Teitel

We have not even reached the end of the college basketball regular season but can already start wondering about the stars of tomorrow as the best high school players in the country prepare to receive some national exposure. The McDonald’s All-American Game will take place in Houston on March 28th in Houston, TX, and the Nike Hoop Summit will tip off on April 8th in Portland, OR. Several of this year’s college basketball super-freshmen played in last year’s Nike Hoop Summit including Amari Bailey (UCLA)/Gradey Dick (Kansas)/Jarace Walker (Houston). Yesterday HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Blake Buchanan about trying to go undefeated this season and choosing the Cavaliers.

You were born/raised in Idaho: what is the basketball scene like in the great Northwest? It is not as competitive as other states that have a ton of D-1 players but it has gotten a lot better recently. We can still accomplish what we want to get done and have done well on the AAU circuit.

You left Moscow High School after your freshman season: why did you decide to transfer, and what made you choose Lake City High School? The main factor was COVID: Moscow shut down all of its sports but I still wanted to play so we moved 90 minutes away to Coeur d’Alene.

Last year you earned 1st-Team All-State honors and were the North Idaho POY after leading your team to a 23-3 record, then were named Defensive MVP at the 2022 Idaho state tournament: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors? It was great…but at the end of the day we did not reach our goal, which was to win the state tourney. At least I got to showcase all of my hard work.

You received offers from several great schools including Gonzaga/Iowa but signed with Virginia last July: what was the biggest factor in your decision, and how far do you think the Cavaliers will go this March? The biggest factor was the coaching staff: they put a lot of time into me and when I showed up for my visit it just had a family feel. The facilities are great and the academics are also a huge part: it just felt right. Gonzaga is only 30 minutes from my house so that was the main thing keeping me here. I think Virginia can go far next month if they are hitting their shots.

1 of the other highly-ranked recruits heading to Charlottesville this fall is Elijah Gertrude from New Jersey: I know you guys live on opposite ends of the country but how well do you know each other? We took our official visits to Virginia at the same time and we still call/text each other occasionally. We got to play together a little while we were on campus and he is a super-good athlete so I am happy to be in the same class as him.

You are 6’10”: what position do you play now, and what position will you feel most comfortable at in college? Right now I play the 5 because I am the tallest person in Idaho! Once I get to Virginia I think that I will have to become a stretch-4 so I am working on my perimeter game.

Your high school team is currently 21-0: is it too early to start thinking about an undefeated state title? That is the goal! We finished our regular season and just need to keep doing the same thing on defense because the offense will come for us.

Earlier this week you were named to the Nike Hoop Summit roster for Team USA: where does that rank among the highlights of your career so far, and what will it mean to you to represent your country? I think this is the highest honor of my career so far. Just having the chance to wear the USA jersey with my name on the back as 1 of only 12 guys on the team is super-cool.

Many of the other guys on the roster are also McDonald’s All-Americans: do you know any of them or is there any 1 that you are most excited to play with? I have played with a few of them at different camps but do not know any of them too well. We all have the same goals to be playing at a high level so it will be fun to be out there on the court together.

Your mother Debbie earned a volleyball scholarship to USC before a knee injury ended her career, your father Buck played tight end at Idaho, and your brother Austin won an NCAA volleyball title at Hawaii last year: who is the best athlete in the family? That is a tricky 1: my dad had speed and my mom could jump. We are all good athletes but we all do different things. Personally, I think I am better than Austin…but that is what all little brothers would say!

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