News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Sunday, Jan 24th

Posted on January 24, 2021 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Albany and New Hampshire – CLICK HERE

-Oklahoma State really hung tough with Baylor, and actually had a lead all the way up until early in the second half, but then the Bears got control and the Pokes just couldn’t catch up.  It was a very impressive road win against a really good team for Baylor.  They remain unbeaten and belong in the conversation with Gonzaga for the nation’s best team.

-Missouri got another huge win on their resume as they knocked off the Vols in impressive fashion in a game that they pretty much controlled all the way through.  That’s two straight losses for the Vols, whereas Mizzou is looking more and more like a solid protected seed.

-Oklahoma needed a big win, and they definitely got it against Kansas yesterday knocking the off 75-68.  It really improves the complexion of Oklahoma’s profile, while at the same time making a #1 seed much less likely for Kansas.

-Ohio State continues to look better and better as the season goes on, and yesterday they knocked off a top ten team on the road at Wisconsin, which is arguably their best win of the year so far.

-Georgia Tech could not hold on to upset Virginia on the road, but they are definitely a team worth keeping an eye on.  They fall to 7-4 on the year, but two of those losses were in a bad week early in the season where they lost to both Georgia State and Mercer, and another was a very close loss at Virginia after winning four straight.  They’ll definitely have the opportunities they need down the stretch to put together a solid resume.

-Syracuse really came to life yesterday and blitzed a Virginia Tech team that had been playing really well and appeared to be making a run for a protected seed.  It was a much needed win for the Orange that may put them inside the bubble for now.

-Minnesota had looked fantastic at home all year, but suffered their first home loss of the season to a Maryland team that desperately needed a big win.  The Terps have a few good wins at the top of their resume, but they need to string together a few more and win more consistently if they want to end up safely inside the bubble.  Still, yesterday was a huge step forward.

-Clemson has hit a mountain.  They were blown out for the third straight game yesterday as Florida State totally shredded them 80-61.  As for the Noles, they are starting to look like one of the best teams in the ACC and should be considered for a protected seed when we do the brackets next week.

-Oregon State shocked rival Oregon last night 75-64.  Oregon State had, on their best days, looked decent whereas Oregon was a team that appeared to be a solid top 25 team.  Now when you look at Oregon you realize that their best win is against a Seton Hall team that’s on the bubble, and you start to think that it is now them who needs to start stringing together wins.

-One of the more thrilling games of the day was Stanford’s overtime win against UCLA, that literally came with less than a second to go in overtime.  The game was close all the way through, and down the stretch when you thought one team had control of it, the other team would make big plays.  It is UCLA’s first Pac 12 loss, and it is perhaps Stanford’s biggest win of the season, and it comes at a time where they desperately needed it.

-Marquette’s schizophrenia continues.  They lost at home to DePaul yesterday.  On one hand they have two huge wins against the likes of Wisconsin and Creighton, but on the other they have some very questionable and concerning losses.

-Pittsburgh, who had also been on a roll, fell at Wake Forest yesterday 76-75 after missing a chance in the final seconds to get the win.  It was one that the Panthers kind of let get away.

-LSU, who we keep saying is probably better than their resume, didn’t show it yesterday.  They fell at Kentucky 82-69 and were never really in the game.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-RUTGERS AT INDIANA (Big Ten).  Indiana is coming off a huge, perhaps season-turnaround win against Iowa and can keep that momentum going with a win today against a Rutgers team that got off to a good start, but that’s in a complete tailspin right now and needs to string together some wins just to get back inside the bubble.

-WESTERN KENTUCKY AT MIDDLE TENNESSEE (Conference USA).  I think there is room for WKU inside the bubble, but they pretty much need to win out the rest of the way.

-LOYOLA CHICAGO AT BRADLEY (Missouri Valley).  A win for Loyola Chicago will get them to 12-3 on the year and keep them within a game of Drake.

-SAN DIEOGO STATE AT AIR FORCE (Mountain West).  San Diego State has stubbed their toes a few times this season, but they should still be able to land inside the bubble if they finish strong and avoid losses in games like this.

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Under the Radar Game of the Day: Sunday, January 24

Posted on January 24, 2021 by Chad

Albany at New Hampshire, 2:00 PM Eastern, espn3

The Under the Radar Game of the Day heads to the Granite State this afternoon for an America East battle between the visiting Great Danes of UAlbany and the host Wildcats of New Hampshire.  Albany enters today’s game at 3-6 overall and 3-4 in conference play, though notably having won a road game earlier this season at Vermont.  New Hampshire, on the other hand, is 7-5 overall and 5-2 in conference, placing them in a tie for second place (with Vermont) half a game behind league-leader UMBC.  The Wildcats have onw three straight, including a road sweep last weekend at Stony Brook and a home win yesterday over this same Albany team by a score of 71-64.

The Great Danes are led offensively by Antonio Rizzuto and CJ Kelly, both of whom are averaging 12.6 points per game.  New Hampshire is led by the pair of Nick Guadarrama (16.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, along with a 93% free throw shooting percentage) and Jayden Martinez (13.4 points and 9.0 rebounds per game).  Guadarrama was the star in yesterday’s game, scoring 25 points and pulling down 7 boards, while teammate Nick Johnson notched a double-double for the ‘cats.  Efforts like that again today could give New Hampshire its fourth consecutive win and a shot at moving closer towards first place in the league standings.

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Under the Radar Game of the Day: Saturday, January 23

Posted on January 23, 2021 by Chad

Army West Point at Navy, 2:30 PM Eastern, CBS Sports Network

One of the top rivalries in all of college sports is the feature for today’s Under the Radar Game of the Day — the Black Knights of Army taking on the Midshipmen of Navy.  Unlike most years when this matchup is about not much more than the rivalry itself,, this season’s first of what will be at least four head-to-head matchups has major implications in the Patriot League standings as well.  Army enters this afternoon’s contest at 8-3 overall and 4-2 in league play, while Navy is 9-1 overall and 6-0 in conference.  Today’s contest will also serve as the annual Star contest between the two long-time rivals (Army currently leads this year’s Star Series 3-1 with wins in Women’s Cross-Country, Sprint Football and Football, while Navy won Men’s Cross-Country).

The Cadets have three players averaging double figures in scoring. led by Lonnie Grayson at 12.8 points per game, followed by Josh Caldwell (12.1) and Alex King (11.8).  Army already has a handful of notable wins on the season including a win against Buffalo and a road win at Colgate.  The Black Knights swept defending Patriot League champion Boston U on the road last weekend, and will loo to continue their winning ways in today’s huge matchup.

Navy is currently on an 8 game winning streak, having only lost once all season, back on November 27 at Maryland.  The Midshipmen’s impressive start includes a win at Georgetown and conference sweeps of American, Bucknell and Lehigh.  Cam Davis leads the way for Navy at 18-6 points per game.  The Mids will be looking to add to their impressive all-time 80-53 record against Army and 58-39 lead in the annual Star games.

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Happy Anniversary!: HoopsHD interviews Mark Montieth about Hall of Famer Mel Daniels

Posted on January 23, 2021 by Jon Teitel

Many great players have overcome serious injuries: Tiger Woods is still having back problems, Michael Jordan missed most of 1 season with a broken foot, and even Tom Brady only played a few minutes in 2008 due to an ACL tear. 1 of the worst injuries you may never have heard of was suffered by Mel Daniels: after putting his arm through a glass door in his college gym he needed 352 stitches to stop the bleeding! He bounced back in a big way throughout the rest of his career: All-American in 1967, ABA ROY in 1968, a pair of ABA MVP awards, and 3 ABA titles with Indiana during a 4-year span from 1970-1973. He was named to the ABA All-Time Team in 1997 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012. Mel passed away in 2015 but HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with longtime Indiana sportswriter Mark Montieth about Mel’s life and legacy. Today makes the 50th anniversary of Mel being named MVP of the 1971 ABA All-Star Game after finishing with 29 PTS/13 REB.

In the 1962 Class A state semifinals his Pershing High School team had a 10-PT loss to eventual undefeated champion Saginaw: how big a deal was it for a team from outside the Detroit Public Schools League to be playing a Detroit team in the state tourney for the 1st time? I was unaware that Pershing played outside of the public schools league. I always thought of it as a city school, as Mel lived inside the city limits. I do not know if that was a big deal or not, but Mel probably did not have much of a feel for it. He never even touched a basketball until his sophomore year of high school after his coach saw him walking down the hall, so obviously he had not followed the game.

In his senior year at New Mexico he was named an All-American (the 1st in school history): what did it mean to him to receive such an outstanding honor? His high school coach (Will Robinson) helped land the scholarship for him. I think it must have meant a lot to him to become an All-American, but he did not have a big ego. He began playing the game later than most kids and was not very highly recruited out of high school so he did not have great expectations. He must have felt honored to receive the recognition, but still humble about it.

In the summer of 1967 he was picked 9th overall by Cincinnati in the NBA draft (4 spots behind Walt Frazier), but decided to sign with Minnesota after they picked him in the ABA draft: why did he choose the ABA over the NBA? The money was much better in the ABA: he probably made $10,000-15,000 more with Minnesota than he would have in Cincinnati. He received a bonus as well so it was simple economics. He was the only first-round draft pick in the NBA that year to sign with an ABA team.

In the inaugural 1968 ABA All-Star Game he had 22 PTS/15 REB in 6-PT win by the East, but Larry Brown won MVP after scoring 17 PTS for the losing West team: did you feel like he was robbed? He was robbed because they took the vote with about 5 minutes left in the game, and by the time Mel helped lead the comeback in the final minutes it was too late to change the vote. The reward at the time was a new car…and Larry ended up selling it to someone. Mel said Larry apologized to him after the game because he knew he had been cheated.

At the end of that season he was named ROY, then subsequently traded to Indiana: how was he able to come in and be so successful so quickly, and why did he get traded after such a great season? The Muskies were probably better than the Pacers that year and Mel had quite a bit of freedom to shoot. The franchise ended up moving to Miami due to some dire financial consequences and the Pacers bought him for $100,000. If they had not acquired Mel that year I honestly believe that they would not be in existence today: he helped put them over the top and made them a championship contender. I would even argue that the ABA might have folded sooner than it did because the Pacers were the star franchise of the league. The other key was bringing in Slick Leonard as coach, which helped them to thrive.

In the 1970 Finals Roger Brown averaged over 45 PPG in the final 3 games of the series (including a playoff-record 53 PTS in Game 4) to beat LA and win the title: how unstoppable was Brown in that series, and what did it mean to him to win the title? That was the peak of Roger’s career: he was older by the time he joined the ABA. He had graduated from high school in 1960 but was banned from NCAA competition and from the NBA. Mel was an emotional guy who loved Roger because he was the cool guy in the room who made everything look easy. Mel said one of the highlights of his career came after the last game in Los Angeles, when Roger walked over and kissed him on the forehead in the locker room after they won.

In the 1971 ABA All-Star Game he had 29 PTS/13 REB for the West en route to being named MVP despite a 4-PT loss to East: how was he able to play his best against the best? He was probably the best ABA center at that time and played harder than most other guys. He was a strong/intense guy who could score in a variety of ways. Spencer Haywood/Connie Hawkins might have been more talented but they moved on to the NBA.

In the 1971 ABA-NBA All-Star Game at the Astrodome he scored 15 PTS and was the only ABA player with fewer than 2 fouls as the NBA had a 5-PT win due to attempting 31 FTs in the 4th quarter: how big a rivalry was there between the 2 leagues back then, and do you think that the fact that both referees were from the NBA affected the outcome of the game? The rivalry was certainly bigger for the ABA guys who were trying to keep their league alive. The NBA guys had nothing to prove, although they grew to respect the talent in the ABA. They appreciated the ABA because the competition for talent drove up their salaries. I cannot speak to the quality of the officiating in the game.

Take me through the 1972 playoffs:
He had a 2-PT win over Denver in Game 7 of the Western Division Semifinals and a 4-PT win over Utah in Game 7 of the Western Division Finals: how does a Game 7 compare to other games in a series? The players give a lot of credit to Slick Leonard because he was good at making adjustments: they would call him the best Game 7 coach ever. They won all 3 of their titles on the road because they were not afraid of their opponents. Leonard inspired confidence in his players. He used to tell them before road games, “Walk out there like you own the damn place.”

The Pacers beat the Nets in the Finals to win the title: how was his team able to play so great despite not having any players on the all-ABA team? They just had great balance with Mel, Roger, Finals MVP Freddie Lewis, and rookie George McGinnis. Nobody had incredible individual stats but they played well together. There are three Naismith Hall of Fame players in that group, and Freddie Lewis is an underrated player.

In the 1973 Finals against Kentucky (“the I-95 Series”) he had a 7-PT win on the road in Game 7 to defend his title: was it extra-special for Mel and 3 of his teammates to become the only 4 players to ever win 3 ABA titles (Billy Keller/Freddie Lewis/Roger Brown)? No doubt. The importance of that kind of thing grows over the years and remains a great memory for the players. Mel got in foul trouble in Game 7 and was not a big factor in the win: it had become McGinnis’ team and he ended up being named MVP, but it remained a great memory for the players involved.

He is 1 of 2 players to be a 7-time ABA All-Star (along with Louie Dampier) and 1 of 2 players to win 2 ABA MVP awards (along with Julius Erving): do you feel like he was 1 of the best players in ABA history? I would not say he was the most talented guy but he was 1 of the best players in the league. He was a great scorer and rebounder. He also got into a lot of fights because players could get away with that in those days. His aggression affected the mental approach of his teammates in a positive way. Overall, he was one of the ABA’s most important players.

His former teammates Keller/Bob Netolicky said that he and some of the other guys went through a “cowboy” phase where they would wear holsters and 6-shooters in the locker room and that 1 time someone was messing around and 1 of the guns went off: what was the gun culture of pro athletes like back in the day? Roger had been deputized as a sheriff so he had the legal right to carry a gun, and Mel and a couple other guys had gun permits. I would not say there was a “gun culture” but it was easier to carry a gun in those days. The Pacers were unique in having a few players carry guns to games, but other players probably owned guns at the time.

Take me through his magical 1979 season at Indiana State:
After retiring as a player he became an assistant for his former college coach Bob King at Indiana State, but after King suffered a stroke and had emergency surgery 4 days before the start of practice Bill Hodges took over as head coach: how was the team able to overcome the last-minute coaching change to go 29-0 in the regular season? The place to start was their star player: Larry Bird. I would guess that Hodges gave Bird free reign and did not over-coach the team. Mel spent a lot of time after practice with Bird working on his game.

In the Final 4 national POY Bird had a triple-double (35 PTS/16 REB/11 TO/9 AST/16-19 FG) in a 2-PT win over DePaul: did he even have to coach Bird or did he just stand back and let him do his thing? Mel definitely helped Larry but I have not heard Larry credit Mel as being a big factor to his success. Mel certainly taught Bird a few things in their one-on-one games after practice, but Bird was given a lot of freedom in games…as he should have been.

Tourney MOP Magic Johnson had 24 PTS/7 REB in a win by Michigan State in the title game (which remains the most-watched college basketball game ever): could you tell at the time how significant that game would become? I remember watching the game on TV like everyone else because Bird and Magic were huge attractions, but I do not think anyone realized the long-term impact at the time. It was similar to when the Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. The game drew a great rating but the legend has grown over the years. 

In 2012 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame: where does he rank among the best players you have ever seen? He might not be the best center of all-time but he was the most consistent performer in the Pacers’ early success. There certainly have been more talented players, but that does not diminish his contributions to the Pacers and the ABA. I was glad he was the 1st Pacer to make the NBA because he was the most deserving. He set the tone emotionally and was a good-hearted guy who could get into a fight or write a poem: he wrote literally hundreds of poems. He was part enforcer and part den mother. He named his horses after his teammates and had a lot of character to him. I called him when I heard about his induction and he said he felt bad some of his teammates or Slick Leonard had not already been selected.

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Saturday, Jan 23rd

Posted on January 23, 2021 by David Griggs

-Friday was a pretty slow day.  There were some UTR games that turned out to be exciting, but the showcase game between Purdue and Michigan turned out to be a bit of a snoozer with Michigan winning rather convincingly.

-CINCINNATI AT HOUSTON (American).  Houston continues to look like the class of the American and a solid protected seed.  They shouldn’t have too much trouble holding serve against a Cincinnati team that’s really had a rough year.

-KANSAS AT OKLAHOMA (Big 12).  This won’t be the easiest road test for Kansas, but it’s one that they should be able to pass if they want to land on the top two lines.  I think Oklahoma is inside the bubble right now, but their resume is a little flimsy and they can’t just start to coast it on in.  Of course a win today would really help things out.

-UCONN AT CREIGHTON (Big East).  Both teams are in the rankings, both have some pretty good wins on their resumes, but both could help improve them even more if they’re able to pick up this win today.

-VIRGINIA TECH AT SYRACUSE (ACC).  VA Tech continues to look like a really solid team that could easily land in the top half of the bracket and perhaps even contend for a protected seed, but they could still use a few more solid road wins.  Syracuse has a lot of work to do just to get into the discussion.

-AKRANSAS AT VANDERBILT (SEC).  I’m not on the Arkansas bandwagon just yet, but I do think they have a path to the NCAA Tournament.  They just need to start stringing together wins.

-BAYLOR AT OKLAHOMA STATE (Big 12).  I’ve been big on this Pokes team all year, and am really hoping their appeal comes through and that they are able to play in the NCAA Tournament this year.  Right now I think they’re good enough to be a protected seed, and if they can somehow pull off a win against one of the two best teams in the country it would further emphasize that point.

-MARYLAND AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten).  Maryland has some good wins on their resume, and they don’t have much in the way of bad losses, but they do perhaps have a problem (fair or not) with a quantity of losses.  Minnesota continues to be amazing at home, so if the Terps could get this one it would probably move them up several seedlines.

-SMU AT UCF (American).  SMU has a 7-2 record, and I still think they have a pretty good team, but they don’t have much in the way of quality wins.  They have a path to landing inside the bubble, but it’s pretty narrow and has a small margin for error.

-NC STATE AT NORTH CAROLINA (ACC).  Both of these teams could end up in the field, but right now we have them both outside the bubble.  It’s a rivalry game where both teams should come in with a sense of urgency.

-FLORIDA AT GEORGIA (SEC).  Florida is coming off a hugely impressive win against Tennessee and If they can pick this one up at Georgia it will be another win that looks nice on their resume.

-PROVIDENCE AT VILLANOVA (Big East).  After three close and frustrating losses Providence picked up a huge win against Creighton, which gives them a much needed boost.  Nova was a little rusty in their last game after being shut down for a while, but they did get the win and are still looking like a #1 seed caliber team.

-LA SALLE AT RICHMOND (Atlantic Ten).  I think Richmond is on the outside looking in right now and they need to keep stringing together wins.

-CLEMSON AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC).  It looks as though these two teams are going in opposite directions.  Clemson has lost badly in their last two games, whereas Florida State is suddenly looking very impressive.  A win for FSU gets them to 9-2 on the year, it should land them in the rankings, and we may need to start thinking of the Noles as a protected seed caliber team.

-OHIO STATE AT WISCONSIN (Big Ten).  Both teams are ranked in the top 15 and both are potential protected seeds.  A win for either one would be a huge resume boost.

-WEST VIRGINIA AT KANSAS STATE (Big 12).  WVU has had a few struggles, but nothing overly discouraging.  This is a very winnable road game which would get them to 3-3 in conference and keep them within striking distance of a protected seed.

-DUKE AT LOUISVILLE (ACC).  Duke is just 5-4 on the year with no good wins to speak of, and needs wins in games like this just to get inside the bubble.  Louisville is safely in the field, but they haven’t looked good in their last two games.  A win for them today would be as much for their mental health as it would the health of their resume.

-DAYTON AT VCU (Atlantic Ten).  I don’t think either team is inside the bubble, and while one or both of them could get there, they need to really finish strong.  A win today would certainly help.

-UCLA AT STANFORD (Pac 12).  UCLA hasn’t exactly been burying all their opponents, but they have been beating nearly all of them and that’s really all that matters.  They are still unbeaten in Pac 12 play and are 12-2 on the year.  Stanford is a team that has a lot of potential, but hasn’t really shown it yet.  A win in a game like this could help them start to get their season turned around.

-SIUE AT BELMONT (Ohio Valley).  A win for Belmont gets them to 16-1 on the year.  This is a good Belmont team that is worth paying attention to.

-WESTERN KENTUCKY AT MIDDLE TENNESSEE (Conference USA).  WKU has dropped a few games in conference that have really hurt their chances, but they do have a monster win over Alabama and a few other decent ones as well, so if they can dominate the rest of the way there may be room for them inside the bubble.

-MISSISSIPPI STATE AT ALABAMA (SEC).  Alabama is playing like a top ten team, and they’ll eventually be that high in the rankings if they keep it up.  I don’t expect that they’ll have too much trouble in this one at home.

-DEPAUL AT MARQUETTE (Big East).  Marquette has been kind of schizophrenic with some huge wins, but are also just 8-6 overall.  None of their losses are really bad at all, though, and they have won three of their last four, so it could be we are starting to see more consistency out of them and will continue to see it for the rest of the year.

-PITTSBURGH AT WAKE FOREST (ACC).  Pitt continues to play well and string together wins.  This is another winnable game, and it’s on the road against a conference opponent.

-LSU AT KENTUCKY (SEC).  Normally this would be an opportunity for a huge win for LSU, but not this year.  And, that’s a potential problem because LSU’s resume is a little flemsy right now.  I don’t think they’re in any danger of missing the field, but they will need to pick up a few more quad 1 and quad 2 wins before the end of the year.

-GEORGIA TECH AT VIRGINIA (ACC).  At 7-3 overall and 3-1 in ACC play, it’s time to start thinking of Georgia Tech as a potential tournament team, especially when you look at how they’ve improved as the season has gone along.  They handily beat Clemson their last time out.  Having said that, Virginia is a team you’ve got to think about as a potential/likely protected seeded team, and they’ve also been improving as the season has gone on.

-USC AT CALIFORNIA (Pac 12).  USC is having a solid year, they appear to be solidly on their way to making the field, and shouldn’t have too much trouble holding serve tonight.

-COLORADO AT WASHINGTON STATE (Pac 12).  Colorado is a good team with a good overall profile, but they had a really bad game earlier this week when they lost to Washington.  Tonight is a winnable game and a chance for them to bounce back.

-MISSOURI AT TENNESSEE (SEC).  This is a huge showcase game out of the SEC with two teams that are high in the rankings and who already have big wins on their resume.  Tennessee got blasted by Florida in their last game, so this is a good chance for them to bounce back.  For Mizzou, it’s a chance to pick up the kind of win that could put them in the discussion for a protected seed.

-PACIFIC AT GONZAGA (West Coast).  It’s a conference game, and Pacific isn’t having that bad of a season, but chances are this will still end up looking like a buy game.

-PEPPERDINE AT BYU (West Coast).  BYU is having a very solid year and will safely make the field (and probably land in the top half of the bracket) if they can continue to hold serve.

-OREGON STATE AT OREGON (Pac 12).  This is a big rivalry, but it’s also a big mismatch.  Oregon should roll.

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Under the Radar Game of the Day: Friday, January 22 (and other News and Notes)

Posted on January 22, 2021 by Chad

St. Peter’s at Siena, 7:00 PM, ESPNU

The Under the Radar Game of the Day turns its focus to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tonight for a huge battle between the visiting St. Peter’s Peacocks (6-5 overall, 3-3 in conference) and the undefeated host Siena Saints (6-0 overall and in conference).  The Peacocks are looking to bounce back from a disappointing road sweep loss at Canisius that preceded almost three full weeks of no action due to COVID, while the Saints are looking to remain undefeated in what may end up being a season that only sees them play conference games.

St. Peter’s is led by Fousseyni Drame, the team’s top rebounder (7.4 per game) and third leading scorer behind KC Nedfo and Daryl Banks III.  Given that it has been 20 days since their last game, the Peacocks may have some rust tonight.  St. Peter’s needs to prove that they are game-ready if they want to defeat the current league favorites on the road tonight.

The Siena Saints have been a force ever since getting out of COVID protocols and onto the court.  The team has five players averaging double figures in points, including top scorer Jalen Pickett (17.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per game) and Manny Camper (averaging a double-double at 12.7 points and 10.2 rebounds, along with 4.5 assists per game).  With the NCAA Tournament having been cancelled last season, the Saints actually enter tonight’s game on an overall 16-game winning streak, third longest overall in the country behind Winthrop and Gonzaga.  To continue that streak through this week will require back-to-back wins tonight and tomorrow over the Peacocks.

 

OTHER NEWS AND NOTES

-The big result from last night’s game was Indiana’s huge road win at Iowa.  Indiana actually trailed for about the first 30 minutes or so, and it looked as though Iowa was going to cruise, then it looked like they’d have to sweat a little but that they’d hold them off, and then it looked like Iowa just couldn’t do anything.  Indiana held them to basically no offensive production at all for the last 10 minutes and ended up with an 81-69 win.

-UCLA had to sweat, but they avoided a bad loss to Cal with a 61-57 win on the road.

-Rutgers fell at Penn State 75-67 and needed a valiant effort just to make the final score not look like a blowout.  For all the potential Rutgers had this season (and I guess still has) they have had a very disappointing couple of weeks.

-Wichita State, who I thought was inching closer and closer to being inside the bubble, had their doors blown off by Memphis last night 72-52.  So much for my praise of the Shockers.

-Santa Clara, who had an impressive record and who I had been talking up for a lot of the season, had their doors blown off at home by San Francisco last night 73-50.  So much for my praise of the Broncos

-Colorado State bounced back after a blowout loss to Utah State to get the win on the road last night 84-76 and to keep themselves within reach of the bubble.

-MICHIGAN AT PURDUE (Big Ten).  Michigan has looked like a top ten team all season, but Purdue has looked pretty close to a top ten team in the past week or so.  That makes for a very interesting game tonight.

-FRESNO STATE AT BOISE STATE (Mountain West).  I like this Boise State team and think they will end up safely inside the bubble.  Of course that means being able to hold serve in games like this.

-SAN DIEGO STATE AT AIR FORCE (Mountain West).  San Diego State has taken a bit of a backward slide lately and they can’t afford to lose to anyone that is clearly not in the NCAA Tournament picture.

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