NEWS AND NOTES
-For last Nights Under the Radar Video Podcast – CLICK HERE
-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Montana State and Weber State – CLICK HERE
-Last night was crazy! We saw five ranked teams lose to teams that aren’t just outside the rankings, but in some cases aren’t really anywhere near the bubble, and a Saint Louis team go down to La Salle.
-Houston went into East Carolina thinking it would be an easy win (and rightfully so) but ended up in a first half battle, then they were behind for most of the second half, and then ECU was actually in control in the latter part of the game. This certainly doesn’t knock Houston out of being a protected seed, but any hopes for a #1 seed are likely gone.
-Villanova was ranked 3rd and was pretty much a unanimous #1 seed in everyone’s brackets, but they fell to Saint John’s last night 70-59. The Johnnies pretty much led from tip to buzzer, and had a lead as big as 17 in the second half. I laughed at this earlier in the week, but the Johnnies really are getting close to the bubble.
-Creighton, who hadn’t looked lights out in their last few games but was still managing to win most of them, didn’t win last night. They lost at home to a Georgetown team that has been awful all year. Creighton seems to have a history of limping in the latter part of the season. Could it be happening again?
-Pittsburgh can’t decide if they want to be good or not. Whenever I get excited about them they seem to drop several winnable games. Whenever I get up on them, they knock off a really good team. Last night they knocked off Virginia Tech 83-72 and looked as good as they have all year.
-Florida, who had seemingly snapped out of whatever funk they were in, went down at home to a South Carolina team that hasn’t shown all that much this year.
-Alabama and Missouri played against unranked teams and won. That’s normally not notable, but it happened so rarely last night that I felt the need to mention it.
-Saint Louis looked to have a good team coming into the year, but has been hit hard by shutdowns, and after last night’s 82-75 loss to La Salle I’m not all that confident that they are going to pull themselves out of it.
-Seton Hall got a much needed 60-43 win on the road against Providence, and definitely passed the eye test while doing it.
-VCU, who really couldn’t afford a loss, got a huge scare from Rhode Island, and committed a really stupid foul about 50ft from the basket in the final seconds while up by one, but fortunately (for them) Rhody missed the front end of a one-and-one, VCU got the rebound, and time ran out.
-Oklahoma State, who isn’t in the rankings but likely would be if not for the NCAA Tournament ban (which is under appeal) also suffered an upset last night as they fell to TCU 81-78. TCU’s resume isn’t impressive, but they have played a lot of teams close this year and were finally able to pick up the win.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-OHIO STATE AT IOWA. I’ve been knocking Iowa for a while about how they don’t have a protected seed caliber win. Well, this is another chance for them to get one. Ohio State does have several big wins on their resume and can also pick up another one today and make a case that they belong as high as the #2 line.
-BELMONT AT EASTERN ILLINOIS (Ohio Valley). It’s possible that there will be room for Belmont inside the bubble if they win out, but anything short of that and they’ll need the auto-bid.
-GONZAGA AT PACIFIC (West Coast). Gonzaga continues to bowl over everyone they face, and will remain in one of the top two spots so long as they continue to do so.
-STANFORD AT CALIFORNIA (Pac 12). It’s a rivalry game, and it’s also a game that has as very pivotal feel for Stanford right now. They’re squarely on the bubble and can’t seem to get safely inside of it. A loss in a game like this will set them back even more.
-MINNESOTA AT RUTGERS (Big Ten). Both teams are inside the bubble, but both also have holes in their resumes. Minnesota needs a road win, and Rutgers just needs to start stringing together wins after hitting a bit of a slump.
-COLORADO STATE AT WYOMING (Mountain West) (Front Range). We at Hoops HD Love the Front Range!!! This game is particularly important because Colorado State is straddling the bubble and a road win in a game like this will really help them out.
-WASHINGTON STATE AT OREGON (Pac 12). Oregon has had a lot of stop and go this season with COVID, and it’s definitely had an effect on them. They need to hold serve tonight against an improving (but still not NCAA caliber) Wazzu team.
Under the Radar Game of the Day – Friday, February 5
South Dakota at South Dakota State, 8:30 PM Eastern, MIDCOSN2/espn3
The Under the Radar Game of the Day features an absolutely huge rivalry matchup in the state of South Dakota tonight as a pair of teams that are undefeated so far in Summit League play matchup head to head. The Yotes of South Dakota (10-6 overall, 8-0 in Summit League play) will be travelling to Brookings, SD to take on their rival Jackrabbits of South Dakota State (10-3 overall, 4-0 in conference). This is actually the second of at least three matchups between these two teams, as South Dakota puled off an upset 91-78 win back on December 12 during an all-Dakotas round-robin event that did not count towards conference standings.
The South Dakota Coyotes have been red hot, winning 9 straight games. In fact, they have only lost once since their earlier win over the Jackrabbits, and that was against an undefeated Drake team. Stanley Umude has been leading the way, averaging 20.5 points and 7.3 boards per game, while A.J. Plitzuweit is adding 16.3 points per game. The Jackrabbits will need to find a way to slow down this two-headed monster if they want to avoid a second loss to the Yotes. This was something they completely failed to do last time out, as Umude exploded for 41 points and 11 rebounds!
The Jackrabbits have also been playing very well since the teams last met, and have not lost a game in that time. Unfortunately, with COVID shutdowns, they have only gotten on the floor 5 times in that stretch. They do, however, hold fairy impressive wins already on the season against Utah State, at Bradley and at Iowa State. Noah Friedel leads the team with 17.6 points per game, and three other players are also averaging double figures. Most notably, perhaps, Baylor Scheierman is averaging close to a double-double, with 13.8 points and 9.2 rebounds. South Dakota State has a on of offensive firepower, and will need to be hitting on all cylinders, especially after not having played a game in almost two weeks, if they want to move into sole possession of first place tonight. Regardless of who wins tonight, however, there will be a chance for revenge tomorrow, as the teams will go at it one more time.