Under The Radar Game of the Day – Friday, January 6th

Posted on January 6, 2023 by John Stalica

Akron (9-5, 1-0) at Ball State (10-4, 1-0) – 8:30 PM (CBS Sports Network)

The school that gave us David Letterman will host tonight’s UTR Game of the Day with the Akron Zips traveling to Muncie, Indiana to play the Ball State Cardinals. Following a 3-game losing streak earlier in the season, the Zips have now won 6 of 7 games. Enrique Freeman scored 27 points for Akron in their blowout win at home against Northern Illinois.

Ball State extended their winning streak to 6 games following a 90-83 win on the road against MAC preseason favorite Toledo. Jarron Coleman had 26 points and Demarius Jacobs added 25 points in the victory against the Rockets.

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Hoops HD Bracket Rundown – Jan 5th

Posted on January 5, 2023 by David Griggs

NOTE:  This broadcast was recorded at 10pm, est on Thursday, January 5th.  No games that went final after that were considered when creating this bracket.

Chad and the panel build a seedlist line by line and debate, discuss, and assess 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…

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Hanging with the Hoyas: Part 5

Posted on January 5, 2023 by Jon Teitel

HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel will spend the upcoming months covering several Georgetown basketball home games, with (hopefully) a very special reward coming in March. You can find Parts 1-4 at:

https://hoopshd.com/2022/11/12/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-1-2
https://hoopshd.com/2022/12/03/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-2-3
https://hoopshd.com/2022/12/17/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-3-3
https://hoopshd.com/2023/01/02/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-4-3

See below for his photo essay about the Hoyas’ game last night against Villanova.

Delicious pregame meal: make-your-own chicken/pork BBQ sandwiches with mac and cheese! Let’s tip it off:

I was hoping that Villanova G Justin Moore would get to make his triumphant return to the DMV after starring at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, MD, but he is still recovering from surgery last March to repair his torn Achilles tendon. The injuries continued piling up for the Wildcats when Jordan Longino crumpled to the court with 2 minutes left in the 1st half and then had to be carried off by his teammates because he could not put any weight on his left leg:

I was excited to see 2022 McDonald’s All-American Cam Whitmore in person. There were certainly some flashes of offense/athleticism…but 4-11 FG/0 FTA/0 AST/0 BLK/0 STL did not give me the impression that he will be a 1st round pick…yet:

The more impressive freshman was his teammate Mark Armstrong. After scoring just 12 combined PTS in his past 4 games and getting demoted from starter to sub, he bounced back in a big way with a career-high 14 PTS off the bench and continued his perfection at the FT line, where he is now 13-13 in his short college career:

Georgetown G Brandon Murray was able to get to the basket at will and provided the dunk of the night:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2BPdVgmNK0
In contrast, Villanova G Caleb Daniels did damage from the outside, knocking down a trio of trifectas in the 1st half: more on him later. Hoyas’ F Akok Akok has an inside game so nice they named him twice, and his layup/pair of dunks kept it close as the score was tied 35-all at halftime:

With his teammate Primo Spears continuing his trend of being a great facilitator (25 AST in past 3 games) but poor shooter (8-28 FG in past 3 games), I expected Murray to try to win this 1 all by himself. Unfortunately, he injured his right shoulder early in the 2nd half and was taken to the locker room after the under-16 media timeout with his team trailing 42-38. The Wildcats went on an immediate 15-5 run to extend their lead to 57-43 and by the time Murray was back in the huddle for the under-4 media timeout it was too late:

Daniels kept raining in threes and tied his career-high with 6-13 3PM after making just 10-38 3PM during his previous 6 games:

Villanova also continued its fantastic FT shooting: after missing just 1 FT in each of its past 4 games (48-52) they knocked down all 18 of their attempts from the charity stripe vs. Georgetown and are now an unthinkable 66-70 (94.3 FT%) since mid-December! The Wildcats won 73-57 and gave the Hoyas’ their 25th straight Big East loss to break the record for the longest losing streak in conference history.

In the postgame press conference I asked Villanova coach Kyle Neptune how he has been able to assemble the greatest FT shooting team in the history of the sport. I expected him to sing the praises of his team’s intense focus or detail the long hours of practice spent in the gym…but all I got were 3 words: “Really good recruiting!” When he saw the stunned response on my face he followed up with “That’s it.”

After someone else asked Patrick Ewing about his coaching future I played it safe by checking on Murray’s health. He admitted that they were unsure at the moment but that the medical staff would keep looking at it. While it was an uphill battle after Murray and teammate Bryson Mozone both had to be helped off the court due to injury, he was proud that his team did not quit:

That is a wrap for now..and for the foreseeable future. I am going to take a few weeks off to see if my presence is what has been jinxing the Hoyas, but will return later this month when DePaul visits DC.

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Hoops HD Daily Rundown – Thursday, Jan 5th

Posted on January 5, 2023 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES:

-For our latest UNDER THE RADAR VIDEO PODCAST – CLICK HERE

-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day, which may be the OVERALL game of the day – CLICK HERE

-UConn suffered their second straight loss as they fell at Providence 73-61 yesterday.  The Friars pretty much had a lead for the entire game and while it was never really out of reach for UConn until the final minute or so, it never looked like Providence wasn’t in control either.  The Friars are really good.  Again.  As for UConn, while they have lost two in a row, both were on the road to really good teams, so it won’t set them back too badly.

-Miami FL had been one of the hotter teams in the country, but they lost just their second game of the season yesterday in a bit of a surprise at Georgia Tech.  It was close, but GA Tech led for most of the way and ended up pulling it out 76-70.  Winning on the road is tough.

-Missouri had been red hot, but also lost their second game of the year 74-68 on the road against a really good Arkansas team in a highly entertaining game that seesawed back and forth.  While Missouri didn’t win, they were able to be competitive against a really good team on the road, which was one of the questions I had about them, so my opinion of them hasn’t been lowered at all.  If anything, it may have been raised a little bit.

-Duke went on the road to NC State, and WAS NOT competitive.  They were down 16-0 to start the game and never got any closer.  It was actually quite pitiful.  Having said that, it was a nice win for NC State.

-Auburn went on the road to Georgia, and while they weren’t blown out like Duke was, they weren’t really ever in control of the game either.  Georgia picked up a really nice 76-64 win over the Tigers.

-TCU got a monster road win at Baylor 88-87 in a hard fought game that was close the whole way.  Baylor had a chance to win on their last possession, but was unable to convert.  It was a big win for TCU because it came on the road against a ranked team, and it was also their first Big 12 win.

-Iowa State is in the top 25, and showed they were deserving of it after they picked up a really big road win against Oklahoma 63-60.  Any conference road win against a team that’s within reach of the NCAA Tournament is a good win.

-Michigan has now won two straight and looked impressive in both wins since their loss to Central Michigan.  They were in control for pretty much the entire game against a fairly good Penn State team and ended up with a 79-69 win.

-Clemson picked up a hard fought win over Virginia Tech 68-65 and is now off to a 4-0 start in ACC play.  Clemson hasn’t been garnering all that much attention, but at 12-3 overall, and 4-0 in the ACC, and with some pretty solid wins on their resume, they look like an NCAA Tournament team to me.

-Northwestern bounced back from their pitiful showing against Ohio State with a very impressive showing against rival Illinois.  They were at home, but it was still an impressive looking win.  Northwestern looks like they can be in the discussion come March.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-MARYLAND AT RUTGERS (Big Ten).  Rutgers picked up their biggest win of the year at Purdue earlier this week, so I think we now all think of them as being a solid NCAA Tournament team.  Maryland also looks to be on their way to landing in the field, and a road win like this would really help out their resume.  In short, this is a game between two good teams and winning it would look good on either resume.

-PURDUE AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten).  Purdue is coming off their first loss of the season, and this won’t be an easy bounce back by any means.  It’s a game they can win, but it’s against a top 25 team on the road.  Still, if they want a #1 seed, then this is the kind of road game that #1 seeds are expected to be able to win.

-UAB AT FLORIDA ATLANTIC (Conference USA).  This is perhaps the most important game of the day, at least in regards to what the stakes are for making the NCAA Tournament.  Both teams are good enough to make a run at the bubble, but both also have limited chances at the kinds of wins that would impress the committee, which is what makes this game today so important for both of them.

-SOUTHERN MISS AT LOUISIANA (Sun Belt).  Southern Miss is off to a fantastic start, and while this is a game they can/should win, it’s not an easy game, and the committee likely knows it.  Louisiana has lost their last two, but they were really strong out of conference and won’t be easy to beat at home.  Then again, if a team wants to make the NCAA Tournament, they need to be able to win games that aren’t easy to win, and that’s what Southern Miss needs to do tonight.

-INDIANA AT IOWA (Big Ten).  Iowa has come completely off the rails.  They don’t even look like an NIT team.  I keep waiting for them to bounce back, but am also questioning whether or not it will actually happen.  This should be a winnable road game for the Hoosiers.

-USC AT UCLA (Pac 12).  It’s a rivalry game between a USC team that’s played really well at times and is overall good enough to make the Tournament, and a UCLA team that’s played outstanding at times and has looked good enough to make a run at the Final Four.  It’s always fun when these two match up, and it should be fun tonight.  I like the contrasting styles, the rivalry, and the stakes of the game!

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:

-Maine @ UMass Lowell (America East) – A win for UMass Lowell gets them to 14-2 on the year
-SMU @ Houston (American) – should be a winnable conference home game for the Cougars
-Texas State @ James Madison (Sun Belt) – James Madison has an outside shot at making a run at the bubble, but their margin for error is basically zero
-Grand Canyon @ Sam Houston (WAC) – I still think Sam Houston can make a run at the bubble despite a recent loss to Utah Valley.  They can’t slip up tonight at home against a GCU team that’s also pretty good
-Washington State @ Arizona State (Pac 12) – Wazzu has shown they can be tough to beat at home, but not so much on the road.  Arizona State should be able to hold serve int his one
-Louisiana Tech @ Rice (Conference USA) – I don’t think Rice will end up inside the bubble, but a win tonight gets them to 12-3 and the conference will give them some opportunities at good wins, so it’s not impossible
-North Texas @ Western Kentucky (Conference USA) – this is a challenging, but winnable, road game for North Texas who has a shot at making a run at the bubble
-Santa Clara @ Pepperdine (West Coast) – a winnable road game for Santa Clara that would get them to 14-4 on the year
-Washington @ Arizona (Pac 12) – Arizona looks to be among the teams that are good enough to make a run at a #1 seed, and they should be able to hold serve at home in this one
-Gonzaga @ San Francisco (West Coast) – I was excited about San Francisco for a while, but they have not looked good lately.  Gonzaga should roll in this one

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Under The Radar Game of the Day – Thursday, January 5th

Posted on January 5, 2023 by John Stalica

UAB (12-2, 3-0) at Florida Atlantic (12-1, 2-0) – 7:00 PM ET (ESPN+)

Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day is a featured Conference USA matchup between the UAB Blazers and the Florida Atlantic Owls. UAB came into the season with expectations of winning the conference and have won their first 3 games in C-USA on their home court against Charlotte, UTEP and UT-San Antonio. This week is their first road trip in conference play and they get their toughest road game right out of the bat. Jordan Walker leads the Blazers with an incredible 25.2 points a game.

The Owls’ winning streak has now reached 11 games and are coming off of a grinding 50-46 victory at North Texas last week. Against the Mean Green, Vladislav Goldin had 11 points and 13 rebounds to give FAU a resume-boosting victory. Tonight’s game is the beginning of a 5-game stretch that includes games against Charlotte, North Texas and a road trip to Western Kentucky.

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Under the Radar – Jan 4th

Posted on January 4, 2023 by David Griggs

This week’s feature conference is the MAC.  We talk about Kent State’s chances of making the bubble if they can dominate the league, but also discuss just how hard it will be for them to dominate it because of all the rivalries and tough road games that exist in this league.

From there we run through the other 22 UTR leagues and discuss how much better Dayton has been playing and how dangerous they could be if they can win the Atlantic Ten and make the NCAA Tournament, the strength of conferences like Conference USA, the Sun Belt, and the WAC and how we could see multiple teams from all of those leagues making runs at the bubble, how disappointing some of the conferences like the Horizon League, the SoCon, and Missouri Valley have been, and more.  And, as we do every week, we close with this week’s UTR Top Ten.

Audio Only version:

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