HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel will spend the upcoming months covering several Georgetown basketball home games, with (hopefully) a very special reward coming in March. He was in attendance Saturday afternoon for the Hoyas’ game at Capital 1 Arena and prepared this photo essay about their matchup against Clemson.
My pregame birthday lunch was…underwhelming: lukewarm chicken strips/fries/toast from Raising Cane’s. The biggest non-conference home game in 2 years = the biggest flag they could find for the national anthem:
I was hoping for a huge turnout, and props to the student section which was at full-capacity…but the rest of the arena did not make it in time for the 12PM tip-off:
Let’s tip off the battle of the unbeatens:
I was not the only person in the house celebrating his big day, as it was also Clemson coach Brad Brownell’s birthday!
1 person I was surprised to NOT see (which is why he is not pictured) was Georgetown G Kayvaun Mulready: he has been a poor shooter this season (4-16 FG), but since he was tied for the conference lead with 7 STL, I assumed (incorrectly) that he would at least get some quality minutes on the defensive end. Speaking of poor shooting, the Hoyas are 1 of the worst shooting teams in the country from behind the arc (20 3P%), but F Caleb Williams knocked down a 3 on their opening possession and then another 3 later in the half:
His teammate Malik Mack went scoreless during the opening stanza of their game vs. Binghamton last Wednesday, but got off to a strong start today with a 3 and a pull-up J in the lane:
In contrast, the Tigers relied on their Twin Towers early on. 6’10” Nick Davidson (left) made a lefty layup off the glass, a baseline jumper, and a 3, while 6’11” Carter Welling (right) made a pair of layups, a lefty hook in the lane, and a 3 from the top of the key to help give the team in orange a 36-33 halftime lead:
Davidson showcased his entire array of offense around the rim in the 2nd half with a scoop, a put-back, and then backed down his opponent for a baby hook in the lane. 1 reason for his low-post success was that both of Georgetown’s big men were in serious foul trouble. 7’1″ Vince Iwuchukwu picked up his 4th foul with 16 minutes left, while 7-footer Julius Halaifonua fouled out with 14 minutes left. However, Iwuchukwu was able to play smart and made 2 key baskets down the stretch: an alleyoop dunk from Mack to give his team a 72-68 lead with 3 minutes left, and a jump shot in the lane with 14 seconds left to seal the deal:
The hero of the day was Georgetown G KJ Lewis. I did not think he could improve on his performance from the previous game (20 PTS/10 REB for his 1st career double-double)…but somehow he did. He made a STL that he turned into a dunk, then made a jumper from the FT line, a drive/scoop, and a 3-PT play that brought the crowd to its feet as the Hoyas hung on to win it 79-74. The stats of the Arizona transfer were simply spectacular: a career-high 26 PTS, a career-high 11-14 FTM, and tied a career-high with 5 STL while not committing a single turnover despite playing 37 minutes:
In the postgame press conference, I asked Coach Brownell whether seeing his family tonight after he heads home could still save his big day or if he would just be in a bad mood for the rest of the night (he entered today 6-1 as a head coach in the 7 career games that took place on his birthday). He said it would challenge him for sure: the 1 he lost was on his 40th birthday when he was head coach at Wright State. His wife had scheduled a party for him that night…and it ended up getting canceled(!), “but hopefully I am a little more mature for my 57th”:
With the win Geogetown became 1 of just 13 power-conference teams in the country with a 4-0 record, so I wondered if Coach Ed Cooley felt that his team deserved to be ranked in the top-25 when the next poll came out. He explained that polls do not mean much to him and that a high ranking is not his goal. If the voters feel his team is worthy then he certainly appreciates their vote, but he thinks we should get rid of preseason rankings and follow the example of college football where the playoff committee waits several weeks before announcing their picks. Of course they want to be ranked, but their focus is on their next game. That being said, “if you look at our body of work, we have some flaws…but I think that we are 1 of the best teams in America”:
That is a wrap for now, but check back next weekend when winless Wagner visits undefeated Georgetown!
-Arizona now has two major wins on their profile and the season isn’t even two full weeks old. They knocked off UCLA in an exciting 69-65 game that was close all throughout. It was UCLA’s first real test, and while they didn’t win it, and while it can take some time for the bad taste of a hard fought loss to a rival to wash out of your mouth, I think the Bruins are going to be fine. If anything I feel they’re better about how good they can be this year than I did before the game.
-Michigan, for the second game in a row, struggled to beat a team that I would have expected them to beat easily. They hung on to win at TCU 67-63. It was a road win, but it came down to the final seconds against a TCU team that has struggled this year. Michigan has not looked anything like the 6th best team despite still being unbeaten.
-I was expecting High Point to win at UAB and then sail through the rest of their schedule. They did not win at UAB. In fact, UAB pulled away late and the final score wasn’t even close. The 91-74 win for the Blazers makes me think UAB is better than I thought after they lost to Alabama State, and while High Point is good, they’re not quite as good as I thought prior to yesterday. This was a game High Point sort of needed because there aren’t really any other notable games remaining on their schedule. They could blow through the rest of the season and still not have any top 100 wins.
-UCF pulled away from Texas A&M in the second half to win 86-74. TAMU is off to a very rough start with two double digit home losses to Oklahoma State (who blew them out) and now UCF last night.
-One of the most exciting games of the night was Northwestern’s 81-79 win at DePaul. Northwestern is now 4-0 with a true road win on their resume. I don’t think they’ll be anywhere close to the bubble come March, but for now they’re off to a good start.
-Georgia got a battle from rival Georgia Tech at home, but finally pulled away in the final couple of minutes for the 92-87 win.
-Saint Mary’s absolutely destroyed North Texas 80-49. It was over about five minutes in. I had praised UNT for how well they had played against Oregon State prior to the boneheaded ending to that game, but they were absolutely dump-trucked last night.
-Last, but not least, Utah Tech knocked off Mississippi Valley State in a double overtime thriiller out in the Rainbow Classic. It was exciting! It was intense! But it was also NOT ON TV!!!!!!!!! WHY WASN’T THIS GAME STREAMED???!!!!!
(Bonus Note from Stalica)
-If we’re highlighting the Duke-West Virginia women’s game in the Greenbrier Classic from yesterday, either a) something good happened; b) something bad happened; c) something incredible happened. All of the above were correct – West Virginia upset #15 Duke 57-49 despite only having 5 players available for the second half. That would be because of a fight between the teams at halftime; most of the WVU players were ejected for leaving the bench to participate in said fight.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-BYU VS UCONN (Boston, MA) (***SPOTLIGHT GAME***). We learned on Friday that BYU will likely be without a key player due to an off the court incident. Everyone reading this knows what that is and who that is, so I’ll just leave it at that. That aside (and I know it’s a lot to set aside) it is a fantastic early season match-up between two top ten teams that are likely protected seeds and a chance for each to pick up a high caliber win that will undoubtedly boost the resume of whoever pulls this off. BYU did get a challenge from Villanova on opening night, which was a bit of a surprise, and UConn really hasn’t been tested at all yet, so it’s clearly the biggest gaem either team has played so far.
-CLEMSON AT GEORGETOWN. Both are unbeaten and Georgetown already has a big road win on their resume at Maryland, so they have proven they can play. Clemson has won three buy games and this is their first real test. Both are potential tournament teams, so this is a chance for an early season notable win. The energy around this game is more than what we’ve seen from Georgetown fans in a while. Are the Hoyas back??
-MARYLAND AT MARQUETTE. Even though it’s early there seems to be a sense of urgency to this game. Maryland lost at home to Georgetown and Marquette was beaten handily by Indiana. Both teams have potential, but neither has passed a real test yet.
-BUTLER AT SMU. I’m not yet sold on either team, but both are unbeaten and while they’ve only played buy games, they’ve both looked decent. SMU beat a fairly sold Murray State team the other night and Butler has blown out their opponents. We’ll learn something about both of them today.
-YOUNGSTOWNS TATE AT SAINT BONAVENTURE. I’m very excited about this one. In the young season, both teams have already managed statement wins. Youngstown went to Grand Canyon and won on the road, and Saint Bonaventure managed a good win against Bradley in the Field of 68 game. Both are unbeaten and it’s a chance to continue the early season momentum. If Youngstown wins this one, everyone will have to acknowledge that they’ve got a damn good early season resume!
-OKLAHOMA VS NEBRASKA (Sioux Falls SD). Big Red vs Big Red!!! Hello?? Anybody?? Oklahoma was beaten soundly by Gonzaga, but they still have the potential to have a good year, and I think Nebraska may be able to surprise some people as well. I know there isn’t much of a spotlight on this game and it just doesn’t feel right that they’re playing it at the Sanford Pentagon (nothing against that place, but Big Red vs Big Red should be a campus game), but this game could prove to be more important than what anyone realizes right now. It’s a neutral floor game between two potential tournament teams that could both end up near the bubble, and the outcome of this game could be a deciding factor as to whether or not these teams get in.
-NEVADA AT SANTA CLARA. I like both of these teams this year and am starting to think that Santa Clara may be a tournament caliber team. If they are then they need to show they can beat good teams at home, which is why this game feels so important even though it’s early. Both teams are 3-0, Santa Clara had the blowout win at Xavier a few nights ago, whereas Nevada has really had to sweat to win their last two games. If the Wolfpack don’t play better tonight they may get run over.
-GRAND CANYON AT SAINT LOUIS. If either team is going to make a run at the bubble, then this is the kind of game they both need to be able to win. It’s pretty much as simple as that.
-NEW MEXICO AT NEW MEXICO STATE. It’s the Rio Grande Rivalry!!! This is not the biggest rivalry in the country. Far from it. But, in terms of just how bitter it is, few are more bitter. If you know the history, you know it has gotten out of hand at times. It should be exciting this year as both teams come in with perfect records, but neither has been tested and New Mexico State hasn’t even played a D1 game yet. So, on top of everything else, it’s the first time we really get to learn anything about either team.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Ohio U @ Louisville – I think Ohio U can make some noise in the MAC this year, but they’re probably overmatched today
-Marshall @ Virginia – both teams are unbeaten and Marshall has already won two games away from home, but this is by far their toughest test so far
-Vermont @ Northeastern – Vermont is looking for their second road win and trying to stay unbeaten
-Penn State vs La Salle – Penn State is 3-0 and trying to pick up their second win away from home, although neither game will get them all that much credit. The other was at New Haven
-Stony Brook @ Yale – both teams are unbeaten and Yale is really good this year
-Saint Thomas @ SEMO – this is highlighted because these are two solid UTR teams. The Tommies are favored to win the Summit League and SEMO nearly knocked off Missouri the other night and looks to be one of the better teams in the OVC
-Sacred Heart @ Queens – another really good UTR matchup
-Syracuse @ Drexel – an odd road trip for Syracuse, but an effective way to pick up wins away from home
-UTEP @ Utah State – first road game for UTEP. Utah State should hold serve
-Montana State @ Boise State – Montana State is off to a bit of a slow start, but should still be one of the better teams in the Big Sky. Boise State’s resume is still reeling from the loss to Hawaii Pacific and their margin for error is much smaller now.
-Idaho @ UC San Diego – Idaho has a win at Wazzu, and UCSD is trying to stay unbeaten
-William & Mary @ Saint John’s – W&M will be fun to watch this year, but they are likely way too overmatched today
-Bowling Green @ Davidson – not sure what to make of either team yet, but both come in 3-0
-Old Dominion @ George Washington – GW is unbeaten and I think they’re good enough to make a run at the bubble. I think Old Dominion can make some noise in the Sun Belt, so this game does have some appeal to it
-James Madison @ Long Island – two solid UTR programs, both of whom are among the favorites to win their conferences. JMU is looking to bounce back from a tough loss at Longwood and could be in for another tough game tonight
-Duquesne @ Villanova – Duquesne comes in 3-0 and Nova has exceeded expectations. Their only loss was a hard fought game against BYU
-Portland @ Wyoming – I’m not big on either team, but both are 3-0 coming in, so I could be wrong
-Bradley @ San Francisco – Bradley is a good team despite being just 1-2, but this is probably their biggest test so far. San Francisco is a team that I think will land inside the bubble come March and they should be able to hold serve at home in this one.
BUY GAMES/CRAP GAMES:
-RIT (nonD1) @ Buffalo – Buffalo is unbeaten -South Alabama vs Coppin State (Showdown in Saint Pete) – Coppin State trying to stay unbeaten -Kansas City @ Texas -Princeton @ Kansas -New Hampshire @ George Mason -Miami OH @ Air Force – it’s a road game, but Miami should win as if it were a home buy game -Boston College @ Temple – Temple can get to 3-0 -Arkansas Pine Bluff @ Vanderbilt -SELA @ Mississippi State -Bethune Cookman @ Dayton – Dayton better not overlook them -Belmont @ Oral Roberts – Belmont can get to 3-0 and pick up their first road win -Northern Colorado @ Pepperdine – NOCO can get to 3-0 and pick up their first road win -Sam Houston @ Utah -Utah Valley @ Fresno State – this is a game UVU can win
-Just this past Saturday Alabama won at Saint John’s. I said at the time that would likely be one of the more impressive singular wins any team manages this season given how good the Johnnies were and how they may not lose at home again for the rest of the year. Last night, we saw an even bigger singular win as Purdue went into Alabama and came out with a massive, almost assuredly upper-quad-1 level 87-80 win. It was just an intense game that was played at a high level between two teams that could end up in the Final Four.
-West Virginia blew out Pittsburgh in the Backyard Brawl 71-49. It was both an impressive showing by WVU and a disappointing one by Pitt.
-Kansas State was blowing out California in the first half, and appeared to be skating toward an easy win, but if you turned the game off you missed a furious Cal comeback. K State held on 99-96, but things certainly got way more interesting!
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-HIGH POINT AT UAB. This may be High Point’s toughest remaining test of the year, and considering what UAB did earlier this week in their loss to Alabama State, it may not actually be that tough. This is a good High Point team that is lacking opportunities to build their resume. They may start to become a story as the season plays out. In looking at their schedule I’m not seeing a single remaining game where it doesn’t look like they’ll be favored.
-ILLINOIS STATE VS USC (Las Vegas, NV Intuit Dome, Inglewood, CA). Illinois State has gotten off to a somewhat slow start, but still looks to be among the better teams in the Missouri Valley. They are probably overmatched tonight, but if they could pull this off it will be a very nice early win for their resume. NOTE FROM CHAD: David Griggs has failed his geography lesson again. The Intuit Dome (Home of the LA Clippers) is nowhere near Las Vegas.
-NEW ORLEANS AT TULANE. A fun crosstown match up between two up and coming programs that seem positioned to have good years.
-UCF AT TEXAS A&M. TAMU got blasted in their last game at Oklahoma State and needs to bounce back tonight.
-XAVIER AT IOWA. Xavier doesn’t even look like a top 150 team so far, so this game may end up looking like more of a buy game than a match-up between two major conference teams. Iowa, whose players were mostly wearing Drake uniforms a year ago, has looked good so far and shouldn’t have too much trouble in this one.
-NORTHWESTERN AT DEPAUL. A fun crosstown matchup. Neither team is expected to do much this year, and DePaul already has a loss to Buffalo. Northwestern won their three buy games and is looking for their first road win, so that’s at least a decent start if they can pull it off.
-MICHIGAN AT TCU. Michigan is high in the rankings, but they needed overtime in Detroit to beat Wake Forest earlier this week. TCU is off to a sluggish start having already dropped a game to New Orleans, so neither team is playing at quite the level that we had expected yet, but the key word in that phrase is ‘YET.’
-GEORGIA TECH AT GEORGIA. It’s a rivalry game!! Both teams are unbeaten!! Having said that, both teams are also untested and Georgia Tech has had to sweat out some of their buy games so far.
-ABILENE CHRISTIAN AT STEPHEN F AUSTIN. Both teams are unbeaten, so this game is worth turning on. I’m actually starting to like this SFA team and think they’re an Under the Radar team that may be able to surprise some people this year.
-PROVIDENCE AT COLORADO. These are two major conference teams facing off!! And…well…I’ve got very little else to say.
-ARIZONA AT VS UCLA (Intuit Dome, Inglewood, CA). These are two long time Pac 12 rivals that have kept the series going and it should be a fun one tonight. Arizona already has a huge win this season against Florida and to get another one at UCLA would be the early makings of a #1 seed caliber profile. UCLA has only played buy games, and actually had to struggle to win a couple of them. Still, I don’t think they’ll be overlooking their opponents tonight. NOTE FROM CHAD: This game will be the second game of the doubleheader at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, CA, making it technically (though not realistically) a neutral court game.
-NORTH TEXAS AT SAINT MARY’S. North Texas pretty much blew it against Oregon State a couple nights ago committing a foul in the final seconds and then following that up with a technical foul which resulted in them losing the game, but for 39:56 they actually looked very good, and I think they are good, and tonight they have another chance at a notable road win. Having said that, winning at SMC is very hard to do.
-GONZAGA AT ARIZONA STATE. It’s never easy to win on the road, but this is perhaps a not-quite-as-difficult road game for the Zags. They are really good and Arizona State just doesn’t seem to be (although they are 2-0 after two home buy wins).
-WASHINGTON AT WASHINGTON STATE. It’s a rivalry, and I’m glad this series has continued since conference realignment, but this partcular edition of it appears to be a mismatch. Wazzu has struggled all year. They will likely struggle tonight. Those struggles will likely continue all season.
BUY GAMES AND OTHER GAMES OF NOTE:
-Lehigh @ Rutgers -Indiana State @ Duke -Eastern Illinois @ Kentucky -Louisana @ McNeese – regional match-up between two solid UTR teams -Fordham @ Iona – Iona can stay unbeaten -Furman @ Northern Iowa – UNI can get to 3-0. Furman has talent but has disappointed so far -Cal State Bakersfield @ Ole Miss -Milwaukee @ Texas Tech -Samford @ Arkansas -UMES @ Creighton -Colgate @ Illinois -NC Central @ North Carolina -Tarlton State @ Baylor
For today’s Hoops HD Daily Rundown and a link to our latest Under the Radar Video Podcast – CLICK HERE
So I want to start by making sure everyone knows what they are looking at. This IS NOT a ranking of how good I think the teams actually are. My pick to win it all this year is Texas Tech. They are not even in these rankings. This certainly is not a guess of what I think the bracket will look like in March.
This is merely a CHECKPOINT of CURRENT MERIT. It is also more about the exercise of assessing all the teams than it is ranking them accurately. Quite frankly, at this point there is so much hair-splitting that ranking them isn’t even the whole idea. But, the exercise forces me to evaluate teams objectively. The sooner I begin doing this, the more familiar I am with the teams as the season goes on.
And if I’m going to do it, I might as well post it.
And if I’m going to post it, then I might as well bracket it.
Now, for those who complain about how it’s too early for Bracketology, I have two comments…
1) Feel free to ignore it
2) Is it too early for the score bug to show the score and the time? Is this stupid because it’s indicating that Evansville is better? Of course not! It’s just where the game at that stage. And…that’s all this is. If the season were a 40 minute game, we have played about two minutes and this is the score.
Since this is a MERIT ranking, no teams were given any credit for home buy wins if they came against teams that aren’t even notable by Under the Radar Standards. That is why Texas Tech does not even appear. Neither does the current #1 ranked team in the polls. I’m really only asking myself one question. How hard was it for a team to win the games that they’ve won?
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ALABAMA – 2-0, win @ Saint John’s
ARIZONA – 3-0, neutral win vs Florida
DUKE – 3-0, wins vs Texas and @ Army
GEORGETOWN – 2-0, win @ Maryland
ILLINOIS – 3-0, home win vs Texas Tech
Louisville – 2-0, home win vs Kentucky
Michigan State – 2-0, home win vs Arkansas
North Carolina – home win vs Kansas
Indiana – 2-0, neutral win vs Marquette
Oklahoma State – 2-0, home win vs Texas A&M
Iowa State – 3-0, neutral win vs Mississippi State
GONZAGA – 3-0, home wins vs Oklahoma and Creighton
Michigan – 2-0, neutralish win vs Wake Forest
MEMPHIS – 1-1, home win vs San Francisco, loss @ Ole Miss
YOUNGSTOWN STATE – 1-1, win @ Grand Canyon, loss @ Pitt
UTAH STATE – 2-0, neutral win vs VCU
UT MARTIN – 2-0, wins @ UNLV and @ Bradley
Ole Miss – 3-0, home win vs Memphis
Vanderbilt – 3-0, win @ UCF
TROY – 2-0, wins @ Kent State and @ Furman
Marshall – 3-0, wins @ UMass and @ Toledo
CALIFORNIA BAPTIST – 2-0, win @ UC Irvine
GEORGE WASHINGTON – 2-0, neutral win vs South Florida
Byu – 3-0, neutral win vs Villanova
Virginia Tech – 2-0, neutral win vs Providence
Davidson – 2-0, home win vs Washington State, road win @ Charlotte
South Alabama – 2-0, win @ Toledo
YALE – 2-0, wins @ Navy and @ Quinnipiac
Santa Clara– 2-0, win @ Xavier, home win vs McNeese
ALABAMA STATE – 1-1, loss @ Florida State, win @ UAB
Missouri – 4-0, win @ Howard, home win vs Minnesota
Robert Morris – 1-1, win @ Drake, loss @ Iowa
Saint Bonaventure – 2-0, neutral win vs Bradley
Baylor – 2-0, home win vs Washington
Florida – 2-1, home win vs Florida State
Cincinnati – 3-0, home win vs Dayton
Smu – 3-0, home win vs Murray State
WESTERN KENTUCKY – 2-0, win @ Eastern Kentucky
Montana – 1-1, win @ UNLV, loss @ Stanford
IDAHO – 1-1, win @ Washington State, loss @ San Diego
NEW ORLEANS – 1-1, win @ TCU, loss @ LSU
HIGH POINT – 2-0, neutral win vs Furman
Florida Atlantic – 2-1, neutral win vs Charleston, loss @ Liberty
Lmu – 4-0, win @ UTEP
ELON – 1-1, win @ UNC Greensboro, loss @ Marshall
BUFFALO – 3-0, win @ DePaul
North Texas – 2-0, home win vs Loyola Chicago
Idaho State – win @ San Diego, loss @ San Diego State
Stanford – 2-0, home win vs Montana
Pittsburgh – 3-0, home win vs Youngstown State
Stephen F Austin – 2-0, home win vs Arkansas State, win @ Rice
Arkansas State – 2-1, wins @ Ohio U and @ Missouri State, loss @ SFA
DENVER – 1-2, win @ Montana State, losses @ Seattle and @ Washington
Tulsa – 1-0, neutral win vs Rhode Island
UC SANTA BARBARA – 2-0, road win @ Sacramento State
Oregon State– 3-0 home win vs North Texas
NC State – 2-0, home win vs UAB
BOSTON U – 2-1, win @ Northeastern, loss @ Northwestern
Northeastern – 2-1, wins @ Colgate and @ Harvard, home loss to Boston U
Cal Poly – 1-1, win @ Seattle, loss @ USC
VMI – 1-1, win @ Southern Indiana, loss @ Missouri
NORTHERN IOWA – 2-0, home win vs South Dakota State
NJIT – 2-1, 2 road wins @ Fordham, @ Loyola MD
CENTRAL CONNECTICUT – 1-1, win @ Boston College, loss @ Quinnipiac
SIENA – 2-1, win @ Brown, loss @ Saint Bonaventure
Vermont – 1-0, won @ Brown
Akron – 3-0, home win vs James Madison
George Mason -2-0, home win vs Winthrop
Samford – 2-1, win @ Texas Southern
Ohio U – 1-2, home win vs Illinois State, losses @ Arkansas State and @ Saint Mary’s
William & Mary – 1-1, win @ Norfolk State, loss @ Richmond
Usc Upstate – 1-1, win @ Fresno State, loss @ California Baptist
Utah Tech – 1-2, win @ South Dakota, losses @ Arizona and Arizona State
UC Riverside – 1-1, win @ North Dakota, loss @ New Mexico
Long Island – 2-1, wins @ IU Indy and @ AFA, loss @ Notre Dame
Bucknell – 2-1, win @ Mount Saint Mary’s, loss @ Princeton
AUSTIN PEAY – 1-1, win @ Air Force, loss @ Wyoming
Utrgv – 1-2, win @ Southern Utah, road losses to Baylor and Boise State
Siue – 1-1, win @ UTSA, home loss to Indiana State
Georgia Southern – 2-1, won @ FGCU
Niagara – 2-1, win @ Binghamton, loss @ Duquesne
Iona – 2-0, win @ Kansas City
Umbc – 1-1, won @ Morgan State, lost road buy game @ Dayton
Grambling – 1-1, win @ Howard, loss @ Iowa State
Kennesaw State – 1-0, win @ Florida A&M
Fairfield – 1-2, win @ NJIT, losses @ Penn State and @ Seton Hall
Nevada – 2-0, home win vs Pacific
Penn State – 3-0, win @ New Haven, home win vs Navy
Columbia – 1-1, win @ New Haven, loss @ UConn
Cal State Northridge – 1-2, win @ North Dakota, losses @ Northern Iowa and North Dakota State
Toledo – 1-2, win @ Wright State, home losses to South Alabama and Marshall
Drake – 1-1, neutral win vs Northern Arizona
Towson – 1-1, neutral win vs Loyola MD, loss @ Houston
Mount Saint Mary’s – 1-2, win @ Saint Francis, home loss to Bucknell
-To watch and/or listen to our latest UNDER THE RADAR Video Podcast – CLICK HERE
-We will begin with an Under the Radar note. Longwood from the Big South is a team worth paying attention to. They held a double digit lead for most of the game against James Madison last night in their 82-72 win. The show was recorded before the game went final, so we give them much of a mention or even consider them for the UTR Top Ten this week, but they do have our attention.
-We will continue with a second UTR note – UT Martin now has wins at UNLV and at Bradley. The Bradley win also happened as we were recording the show, so little mention was given to them and they were also not considered for the UTR Top Ten, but they do have our attention.
-Maybe we should just start recording Under the Radar at Midnight!!
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OTHER NEWS AND NOTES:
-North Texas played a great game for about 39:56 at Oregon State. Then they committed a foul with about 3 seconds to go while up 2. Oregon State hit both freethrows to tie the game 64-64. With one final shot at winning, North Texas called timeout to draw up a play. The problem was they were out of them. Two technicals later Oregon State ended up winning 66-64. As for North Texas, I know this was a kick in the teeth and a major missed opportunity at a notable road win, but they did demonstrate that they can play solid basketball on the road, and I think they’ll make some noise in the American. They are good enough to bounce back from this.
-Virginia Tech blew Saint Joseph’s doors off 94-59. I know it’s not surprising at all that they beat Saint Joe’s, but VA Tech is now 3-0, only one of those wins was a home buy game, and they blew Saint Joe’s out the way you would expect a tournament caliber team to do it.
-Missouri had no problems with Minnesota and easly got the 83-60 win.
-Southern Illinois played a solid game at Nevada in a great game that went back and forth. They had a lead late, but couldn’t hold on and the game went to overtime. Then Southern Illinois just went ice cold from the line and missed (I think) six straight freethrows. Nevada escaped 86-81, and Southern Illinois missed out on what would have been a very solid road win.
-Last, but not least, it was 49-23 at the half of Hawaii vs Mississippi Valley State. It was also almost 1am. I did not watch the second half. Hawaii won 88-56.
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HIGLIGHTED GAMES:
-PITTSBURGH AT WEST VIRGINIA. The Backyard Brawl!!! Another great college sports rivalry!! The Steel Workers vs The Coal Miners!! On the court, neither team has a loss yet, but neither team has really been tested either. This one almost always delivers, so it will be worth tuning in to.
-PURDUE AT ALABAMA. Both teams are ranked in the top ten, so there’s that. Alabama has already shown they can win against tough teams as they recently won at Saint John’s. Purdue did play a big exhibition game at Kentucky, but this is their first real test of the regular season. Both are good. Both are likely protected seeds come March. This will be a huge profile win for whichever team can pull it off.
-CALIFORNIAT AT KANSAS STATE. Both teams are unbeaten, but this is also the first non-home buy game for each of them. K State is expected by some of us to make some noise in the Big 12 this year and we should learn at least a little something about them tonight.
OTHER GAMES OF NOTE:
-Central Michigan vs South Alabama (Showdown in Saint Pete) – South Alabama can imrove to 4-0 on the season -San Jose State @ Michigan State -Monmouth @ Seton Hall – Seton Hall can get to 4-0 -Loyola Chicago @ Wichita State – Wichita can get to 3-0 -Florida International @ LSU
Chad and David are back for the regular season debut of Under the Radar! We recap a very busy first week and discuss some of the teams that have surprised us so far like Stephen F Austin from the Southland (which was our first featured conference of the season), NJIT who’s managed a couple of road wins, and UT Martin who has looked good out of the OVC. We look at some other teams who are off to strong starts like California Baptist, Yale, and High Point. We run through all 22 UTR conferences, recap last week’s action, and look ahead to this week. 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…
