– Vermont fell to Maine 76-70. We’ve been questioning Vermont all season and now there may be no further need to question them. They just aren’t that good and are incapable of dominating the America East.
-UNC Wilmington also suffered a surprising loss to William & Mary 85-78. Bill & Mary can be hard to play against, especially when they are hitting from the outside, but it was still a bit of a shock to see them go on the road and win at UNCW and hand them just their second conference loss.
-North Dakota State suffered their first Summit League loss. It came against Denver 78-71. We probably figured that NDSU would lose eventually, but I don’t think any of us figured that first loss would be to Denver at home.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-CONNECTICUT AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East). These are the two best teams in the Big East. UConn has been solid all season and the Johnnies have improved as the season has gone on and may be close to UConn’s level. This will be a huge litmus test tonight to see if the UConn can pick up a massive road win and keep themselves up on the 1-line in our projections, or to see if Saint John’s can continue to climb the seedlist.
–Dayton @ VCU (Atlantic 10) – VCU is inching closer to the bubble and if they can blow through the rest of their schedule the committee should give them a serious look
-Bown @ Yale (Ivy League) – The Ivy League standings are gummed up halfway through conference play and Yale is fighting to stay on top
-Belmont @ UIC (Missouri Valley) – this is a tough road test for a Belmont team that’s trying to land on the bubble and needs to win out to do it
-The most shocking result of the night, and one of the more shocking results of the season, was Portland’s 87-80 upset win over Gonzaga. Portland basically had a lead for the entire game and the Zags just slept through their alarm and then never bothered to get out of bed. The two teams were separated by over 200 spots in the NET, which is a much bigger difference than any of the times a 16 seed has upset a 1 seed, so it was no small thing. Granted, the stakes were nowhere near the same as a 1 vs 16 game, but as far as how improbable it was it was about on that scale.
-Michigan State trailed Minnesota for the entire game and while they made a run at them in the final minute of the game, they still fell 76-73 in a loss that was somewhat shocking, but not nearly as shocking as Portland over Gonzaga. That’s now two straight losses for Michigan State.
-BYU lost their third straight game (and now four of their last five) as they couldn’t get it done on the road at Oklahoma State and fell 99-92. The other three losses in that stretch were against solid protected seeds, but this one was a bit of a shock despite being on the road.
-Clemson got a huge battle from Stanford, but managed to escape with a 66-64 win and another road win for their profile.
-George Mason fell at home to Duquesne 71-65 and it now appears that their only path to the NCAA Tournament will be to win the A10 Tournament.
Texas A&M and Alabama seesawed back and forth in a thriller. Texas A&M had a shot at the buzzer to force OT, but it didn’t go down and Alabama escaped with a big 100-97 win.
-Utah State, who has had their share of slip-ups throughout the year, did not slip up last night. They blew out New Mexico 86-66 in what was probably their most impressive single game showing of the year. New Mexico is a good team that is hard to beat on the road and Utah State just basically blew them out.
-Iowa has now won five straight after their 84-74 win at Washington, and three of those wins came on the road. I have been converted. I am now a believer in the Hawkeyes.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-Penn State @ Michigan (Big Ten) – Michigan is cruising and is coming off a stretch of really difficult games. They should be able to take a breath tonight and cruise at home over Penn State
-West Virginia @ Cincinnati (Big 12) – West Virginia has strung together some wins and is starting to climb the Big 12 standings
-Ohio State @ Maryland (Big Ten) – if Ohio State is going to finish up inside the bubble they need to start stringing together wins and they can’t afford a loss in a game like this
UTR WATCH:
-Vermont @ Maine (America East) – Vermont is in a 3-way tie for 1st place and can’t afford to slip up on the road
-Merrimack @ Mount Saint Mary’s (Metro Atlantic) – Merrimack can hold on to 1st place in the MAAC
-Long Island @ Newhaven (Northeast Conference) – Long Island is in sole possession of 1st place in the NEC
-William & Mary @ UNC Wilmington (CAA) – There are a lot of good teams in the CAA, but for now UNCW is alone in 1st place and has another winnable home game tonight
-Denver @ North Dakota State (Summit League) – North Dakota State should be able to remain unbeaten and atop the standings in the Summit League
-Southern Indiana @ UT Martin (Ohio Valley) – UT Martin is starting to distance themselves from the rest of the OVC and should be able to hold serve tonight
-Cal State Bakersfield @ UC Irvine (Big West) – UC Irvine is in a race with Hawaii and UC Santa Barbara for 1st place in the Big West. They’ve been playing well and should be able to hold serve at home
-Tarlton State @ California Baptist (WAC) – Cal Baptist is in a 3-way tie for 1st place
This week’s feature conference is the WAC and it isn’t entirely because of what is happening on the court. Utah Valley has been declared ineligible by the conference due to a dispute over an exit fee the conference feels they are owed. On the court, it’s an exciting race between Utah Valley and Cal Baptist. The top four teams are separated by just one game.
From there we run through the other 22 Under the Radar conferences as a lot of the races are getting exciting. East Tennessee held on to remain in 1st place in the SoCon, Austin Peay appears to be in control in the ASun. Akron is chasing Miami OH in the MAC, the Sun Belt is completely logjammed again, the CAA seemingly has about eight different teams who appear good enough to win the conference, and Stephen F Austin has overtaken McNeese in the Southland. We discuss all that and more! And as 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…
HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel has spent the past few months covering several Georgetown basketball home games, and as a result there will be a very special reward coming in March. He was in attendance Wednesday evening for the Hoyas’ game at Capital 1 Arena and prepared this photo essay about their matchup against Creighton.
Another great pregame meal: lamb skewers/chicken/spinach/rice/pita bread/brownies! Let’s tip it off as Georgetown tries to win its 4th in a row:
I did not have high hopes for the Hoyas after learning that 7-footer Julius Halaifonua would be missing his 2nd straight game due to a back injury, but PG Malik Mack picked up the slack with a 3 and a layup:
Creighton PF Jasen Green was the 1st half hero, making several wide-open layups, a bank shot, and an alleyoop dunk for 10 quick PTS on 5-7 FG (which is all the more impressive because he is averaging under 11 PPG):
The teams went back and forth for 20 minutes with some underwhelming shooting until PG Nik Graves made a fadeaway jumper with 1 second left to give his team a 29-27 lead entering intermission:
Georgetown came out strong in the 2nd half with KJ Lewis (left) making a 3 and a pull-up jump shot in the lane to cap off a quick 10-0 run in just 78 seconds, and big man Vince Iwuchukwu (right) had several put-backs/dunks to finish with a double-double:
I missed the final 10 minutes while visiting an old friend who was sitting up in Section 218 (worth it!), but it did not seem to bother the home team as they held on to win it 76-68. In the postgame press conference I asked Creighton coach Greg McDermott about how stressful this week’s trade deadline is for him considering that his son Doug plays in the NBA. He said that Doug has been moved a couple of times at the deadline during his career, but after 12 years in the league it is not as stressful now as it was in the past:
I asked Georgetown coach Ed Cooley how it feels now that the Hoyas have a 4-game Big East regular season winning streak for the 1st time since JT3 was coach back in January 2015. He said the food is good and you look better…but it is still 1 game at a time. He is proud that they have won 3 conference road games this year, but they still have to take care of their homecourt because when you win, everything is fine:
That is a wrap for tonight but check back later this month to see if the home team can keep the streak alive!
-Miami OH needed late game heroics (again) to remain unbeaten, but they got a defensive stop on Buffalo’s last possession and held on to win 63-61.
-Akron, who I believe to be as good (better) than Miami OH and is my pick to win the MAC, did not look it last night against an exceptionally weak Eastern Michigan team, but they did hold on to win 66-64 after being behind late in the second half.
-NC State got a big road win at SMU 84-83, which is one of their better wins of the season. NC State has won five straight, four of those five came on the road, and two of them were at SMU and at Clemson. The Wolfpack were a little late to the party, but they have definitely arrived at the party!
-USC got a nice 81-75 win over Indiana as the Hoosiers could not complete the LA road trip. Still, Indiana is well positioned and while this was a missed opportunity, I wouldn’t necessarily call it a setback.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-SETON HALL AT VILLANOVA (Big East). Seton Hall’s tournament chances are still very much in play, but they’ll need a win in a game like this to make it a reality. In fact this could make the difference of whether or not they end up safely inside the bubble. They’re on the road against a Villanova team that appears to be in the top half of the bracket and who should be able to hold serve at home.
-UCF AT HOUSTON (Big 12). UCF has won some big games, but beating a solid protected seed in a true road game would put them on a whole other level. This would basically fault them into the top half of the bracket. Houston is one of the toughest arenas in the country to win at. The Cougars are a solid protected seed and are perhaps still within reach of a #1 seed.
-TEXAS A&M AT ALABAMA (SEC). Bama has dropped two of their last three games and is starting to slide down the SEC standings and down the seedlist some. Texas A&M is atop the SEC, but they’ve got a backloaded schedule so their toughest games are still ahead of them and that includes this game tonight. In fact this may be their toughest game of the season so far. If TAMU can win it, they can start to argue that they are good enough to deserve a protected seed.
-UTAH STATE AT NEW MEXICO (Mountain West). This is a massively important game. For Utah State it would be their best win on paper of the season so far being that it’s a road game against a very strong opponent. For New Mexico, we have them squarely on the bubble which gives every game a pivotal feel to it. This would help strengthen their resume, which is something they need to do.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Michigan State @ Minnesota (Big Ten) – you can’t take any road win for granted, but Michigan State is clearly the superior team and should be able to rebound from their loss to Michigan
-Notre Dame @ Louisville (ACC) – the Cardinals shouldn’t have too much trouble holding serve at home
-Duquesne @ George Mason (Atlantic 10) – George Mason can still land inside the bubble, but they pretty much need to win out to do it
-Tulsa @ Florida Atlantic (American) – Tulsa is having a great year overall and can get to 20-3 on the season. They are outside our bubble right now but may be able to get there if they can win out
-Georgia Tech @ California (ACC) – Cal is right on our bubble. It is important that they hold serve at home against teams that are nowhere near the bubble
-Northwestern @ Illinois (Big Ten) – Illinois is playing as well as anyone in the country right now and they should cruise tonight
-BYU @ Oklahoma State (Big 12) – BYU has dropped two straight and while they were against big time opponents it is still important that they get things turned back around with a win tonight
-Oklahoma @ Kentucky (SEC) – Kentucky is coming off their best win of the year at Arkansas and has been playing really well these past few weeks (minus a blowout loss at Vanderbilt). They should be able to keep that going tonight
-Gonzaga @ Portland (West Coast) – it’s a conference road game, and you never want to take those for granted, but the Zags are way undermatched tonight
-Clemson @ Stanford (ACC) – Stanford just hasn’t been the same since they were hit with injuries. Clemson is solidly in the field and this is the kind of road game that isn’t easy to win, but that they should still be able to win
-San Diego @ Saint Mary’s (West Coast) – SMC should be able to hold serve at home
-Iowa @ Washington (Big Ten) – this could be a tough road game to win, but Iowa should still be good enough to win it. They could use a few more true road wins on their profile
UTR WATCH:
-Winthrop @ Radford (Big South) – Winthrop is deadlocked with High Point atop the Big South standings and will face a tough road test tonight
-Charleston Southern @ High Point (Big South) – High Point and Winthrop are neck and neck in the Big South
-Navy @ Lafayette (Patriot League) – Navy has a two game lead in the PL standings as we enter the last half of conference play
-Wright State @ Robert Morris (Horizon League) – Wright State is trying to hold on to a half-game lead over Oakland
-Furman @ East Tennessee State (SoCon) – The top of the SoCon standings are tight. ETSU has a one game lead over Furman, Wofford, and Mercer. They have the chance to put some distance between themselves and Furman tonight
-Troy @ Georgia Southern (Sun Belt) – Troy appeared to be running away from the rest of the SBC, but after two straight losses the standings are logjammed at the top. They really need to win this one on the road tonight
-Liberty @ Delaware (Conference USA) – Liberty is running away from CUSA and if they can win out, which they are good enough to do, they probably deserve to be inside the bubble
-Lipscomb @ Austin Peay (Atlantic Sun) – these are the two best teams in the ASun and this is a pivotal game that will likely determine the 1st place finisher. That’s not quite as important anymore since the tournament is no longer at campus sites, which ruins what used to be a fun regular season storyline, but it’s still a big game
-Kansas was pretty good for the first half of the season. Since they’re loss at West Virginia on Jan 10th, they’ve gone from being pretty good to being outstanding. They followed up a big win against BYU over the weekend with a 64-61 road win at Texas Tech last night, which may be their best of the season to date. Texas Tech has now dropped two straight and needs to rebound if they want to end up as a protected seed.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-NC STATE AT SMU (ACC). Both of these teams are good, and NC State in particular has been playing a lot better these past couple of weeks, but both still have work to do and both could use this win tonight. For NC State it’s a quality conference road win that would elevate their profile. For SMU it’s a notable win that could help keep them inside the bubble.
-INDIANA AT USC (Big Ten). Indiana is coming off a strong week where they’ve really been able to add some big wins to their profile and they’ve got a chance to pick up another big one tonight against USC. The Trojans could really use this one as well. In short, both teams are fighting to get into the NCAA Tournament and a win tonight would be helpful.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Miami OH @ Buffalo (MAC) – Miami needed overtime to win the first meeting between these two and they’re on the road tonight. Having said that, Buffalo has been struggling having lost six of their last seven, but they should be way up for this one
-Xavier @ Connecticut (Big East) – UConn is good enough to win out and if they do they should be on the #1 line
-Boston College @ Duke (ACC) – this might as well be a buy game
-Ole Miss @ Tennessee (SEC) – Tennessee has won four of their last five, including two big road games, and is playing better now than they have at any point in the season. They should be able to hold serve tonight
-VCU @ Fordham (Atlantic 10) – people have kind of forgotten about VCU, but they have strung together quite a few wins and may have a path to the bubble
-South Carolina @ Texas (SEC) – Texas is right on the bubble and cannot afford to lose these types of games.
-Saint John’s @ DePaul – The Johnnies are really rolling and have lost just one game since Dec 20th and are keeping pace with UConn in the Big East standings. They should be able to win this one
-Pittsburgh @ Virginia (ACC) – Virginia is still within reach of a protected seed. They should be able to hold serve tonight
-Saint Louis @ Davidson (Atlantic 10) – SLU is good enough to win out and if they do they may be flirting with a protected seed
-Drake @ Belmont (Missouri Valley) – I will keep banging this drum! Belmont should be inside the bubble and if they win out until the end of the regular season they should be in the field regardless of what happens in the conference tournament!!
-Rutgers @ UCLA (Big Ten) – UCLA is just outside our bubble and needs to hold serve in games like this where they’re playing teams nowhere near the field at home
Wyoming @ San Diego State – San Diego State is coming off a rough loss to Utah State and needs to bounce back tonight to keep themselves within reach of making the field
UNDER THE RADAR WATCH:
-Stephen F Austin now has a two game lead over McNeese in the Southland standings after a solid 67-60 win against the Cowboys last night. Unfortunately, all that really means is that they’d get to wear white jerseys on McNeese’s floor since McNeese is hosting the conference tournament, but up to this point SFA has looked like the better team.
-Bethune Cookman won handily at Alabama A&M 80-62 and remains on top of the SWAC standings
-Portland State had no trouble with Idaho State and is still in control of the Big Sky
-Little Rock @ UT Martin (Ohio Valley) – UT Martin is alone in 1st place and appears to be the best team in what has been a very competitive OVC this year
