Under the Radar Game of the Day – Saturday, February 13

Posted on February 13, 2021 by Chad

Morehead State at Belmont, 5:00 PM Eastern, espn+

Only seven teams remain undefeated in conference play, and one of those seven is going to be facing their toughest conference test of the season to date this afternoon as the Belmont Bruins put their 15-0 OVC record on the line at home against second-place Morehead State.  Belmont currently sits at an impressive 21-1 overall and a win today could have this team seriously contending for a spot inn the Top 25 polls.  In fact, but for a somewhat puzzling home loss to Samford back in December, they might already be there.  The Bruins have five players averaging 10 or more points per game led my Nick Muszynski’s 15.1 points per game.  Grayson Murphy, while being fifth on the team in scoring at 10.3, leads the team in rebounds (7.6) and assists (5.1).  Also keep an eye on Ben Sheppard who had 25 points and 10 boards for the double-double earlier this week in a dominating 92-74 win over third place Eastern Kentucky.

Belmont’s 18 game winning streak (second best in the nation to Gonzaga) will be put to a serious test against the team with the nation’s fourth longest streak, as Morehead State has reeled off 12 wins in a row, and most of them in commanding fashion.  Only one of the Eagles’ last nine opponents has held the final margin under 10 points (a one point overtime win over Austin Peay last week).  Morehead is led by freshman Johni Broome, who is averaging 12.7 points and 7.9 rebounds, both tops on the team.  DeVon Cooper and Skyelar Potter are both averaging over 11 points to complement Johni.  However, Broome is clearly the key to the Eagles’ success so far, with 7 double-doubles in his young career already.  If he can have that kind of success today, and the Eagles can find a way to slow down Belmont’s high-powered offense, an upset could definitely be in the making.

Posted in CBB, Commentary, Under the Radar | Comments Off on Under the Radar Game of the Day – Saturday, February 13

News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Friday, Feb 12th

Posted on February 12, 2021 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

CLICK HERE for the latest HOOPS HD BRACKET RUNDOWN where we build a seedlist on the air and assess, discuss, and debate each team as we go

-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE

-Purdue had a lead at Minnesota for the whole game and seemed poised to pick up a major road win, but Minney pulled it out in the final minute.  Purdue had a chance to force overtime in the final seconds, but couldn’t get up much of a shot and the Gophers held on for a 71-68 win.

-Winthrop, who has just one loss, began a stretch of back to back road games at Radford last night, and totally ran away with it.  If they can do the same thing tonight and win out we may see them crawl inside the bubble.

-Colorado has been up and down this year, but they were definitely up last night with a decisive road win at Stanford.  Stanford is still hovering around the bubble, but I think they are on the right side of it.  Colorado gave their resume a nice boost last night.

-Belmont is now 20-1 on the year after their decisive win against Eastern Kentucky last night.  The problem for Belmont is that none of their wins have come against anyone in the top 150 of the NET, so it’s still a weak case for an at-large bid, but they should at least get a look from the committee.

-Washington State ran away from UCLA last night in a bit of a surprising result.  UCLA made a run late to cut it to 81-73, but for most of the game the lead was bigger than that.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-SAINT BONAVENTURE AT VCU (Atlantic Ten).  Both teams are hovering around the bubble, and both desperately need this win.  They both pretty much need to dominate their schedules the rest of the way to secure a spot inside the bubble.

-WINTHROP AT RADFORD (Big South).  Winthrop won convincingly the other night and if they can do the same tonight there will probably be some talk of them belonging inside the bubble if the can win out.

-GEORGIA TECH AT CLEMSON (ACC).  Clemson is safely inside the bubble and can climb up the seedlist if they can continue to string together wins down the stretch.  Georgia Tech is outside of our bubble, but they have played like a tournament team at times and they do have the opportunities they need between now and the end to play their way into the field.

-RICE AT WESTERN KENTUCKY (Conference USA).  WKU pretty much has to win out through the regular season to get inside the bubble, but they are good enough to do that.  Having said that, they seemingly have a history of slipping up and losing games that they should win, so they don’t want to overlook a Rice team that’s having a decent year.

-ILLINOIS AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten).  Illinois has been on a roll lately and shouldn’t have too much trouble keeping that up on the road tonight.

Posted in Daily Rundown, News and Notes | Comments Off on News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Friday, Feb 12th

Under the Radar Game of the Day – Friday, February 12

Posted on February 12, 2021 by Chad

UAB at Louisiana Tech, 7:30 PM Eastern, STADIUM

A huge showdown is set for the next two days in the West Division of Conference USA as the UAB Blazers (16-2 overall, 9-1 CUSA) head to Ruston, LA to take on the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (15-6 overall, 8-4 CUSA).  Despite UAB’s impressive overall record, the Blazers have only played four games against teams not in the bottom quadrant of the NCAA team sheets, and are only 2-2 against those teams.  In fact, by NET ratings, the games today and tomorrow will be the Blazers’ two toughest games of the season to date.  UAB features a balanced scoring attack, with four players averaging double-figures, led by Michael Ertel’s 13.1 points per game.  They also have the second best defense in Conference USA, according to KenPom.

UAB may be the second best defensive team in the conference, but Louisiana Tech is the best.  The Bulldogs have been a tough team to beat all season, having picked up splits already at Western Kentucky and North Texas and at home against Marshall (all teams that UAB has not even played so far this season).  Much like UAB, La Tech has four players averaging double figures in scoring, led by Isaiah Crawford’s 12 points per game.  Also keep an eye on Kenneth Lofton Jr who is averaging 10.3 points and 7.1 rebounds.  Given that this is a battle of two teams with balanced scoring and strong defense, tonight and tomorrow afternoon’s games both have a chance to come right down to the wire, and are must watch for anyone that loves defensive basketball.

Posted in CBB, Commentary, Under the Radar | Comments Off on Under the Radar Game of the Day – Friday, February 12

Hoops HD Bracket Rundown: February 11th

Posted on February 11, 2021 by David Griggs

NOTE: This was recorded on Thursday, February 11th at 9pm, est.  Any game that went final after that was not considered.

Chad and the panel are back for this week’s Bracket Rundown.  They build a seedlist line by line and debate, discuss, and assess each team as they put them in the field.  There are debates over whether Gonzaga or Baylor should be the overall #1 team, who the protected seeds should be, whether or not Drake and Loyola Chicago belong in the field, whether a team like Maryland who has big wins against a tough schedule but doesn’t have a winning record belongs in the field, and which bubble teams should be in.

Below is a bracket of the seedlist, but do not look at it until you’ve watched the show!!

And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…

Posted in Bracketology, News and Notes, Podcasts, Videocasts | Comments Off on Hoops HD Bracket Rundown: February 11th

News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Thursday, Feb 11th

Posted on February 11, 2021 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for our latest UNDER THE RADAR Video Podcast

NEWS AND NOTES

-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day, which is a big one between Winthrop and Radford – CLICK HERE

-So when Ole Miss beat Tennessee I thought it was a fluke and was kind of disappointed in the Vols.  Ole Miss has followed that up with a blowout win over Missouri.  Ole Miss went through a stretch where they lost five out of six and it was easy to write them off, but since then they’ve won five of seven, beaten a ranked Tennessee team, and blown a top ten Mizzou team off the floor.  If they can finish strong they will likely end up inside the bubble.

-Iowa had a bit of a bounce back win as they held off Rutgers 79-66.  It wasn’t a blowout, but it was a game where the Hawkeyes were in control pretty much the entire way.

-UConn could have really used a win against Providence last night, but came up short.  I think the Huskies are still inside the bubble, but they are slipping down the seedlist.

-Indiana needed double overtime to get by Northwestern, and had to come from behind both at the end of regulation and in both overtimes to get the win.  Northwestern has lost close games to tournament caliber teams in three of their last four games.  They are nowhere near the NCAA Tournament, but they are probably a little more dangerous than what their record indicates.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-PURDUE AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten).  Purdue is in to the rankings and in good shape overall.  While Minnesota isn’t a protected seed, they play like one at home, so this will be a real test for the Boilermakers and a chance to boost their resume even more.

-IOWA STATE AT KANSAS (Big 12).  After slumping through several games, Kansas finally looked really good their last time out and have a winnable home game tonight so they should be able to keep that momentum going.

-COLORADO AT STANFORD (Pac 12).  We have both teams inside the bubble, but neither team is in a position to just put it on cruise control yet and both could really use this game today.  It actually has a really pivotal feel to it.

-OREGON AT ARIZONA STATE (Pac 12).  Oregon has been effected by COVID protocol, which has probably been a reason why they haven’t hit their stride and played the way we’ve expected them to yet.  They need to pick this one up on the road tonight.

-EASTERN KENTUCKY AT BELMONT (Ohio Valley).  With just one loss, I think there will be room for Belmont inside the bubble if they win out through the regular season.  They should at least be in the discussion.

-USC AT WASHINGTON (Pac 12).  USC is 10-1 since New Year’s Day and even though they’re ranked in the top 25, they’re probably even better than what they’re getting credit for.  This will likely be another conference road win for them.

-UNLV AT BOISE STATE (Mountain West).  Boise State is going through a rough patch where they’ve lost three out of their last four, and they need to pull themselves out of it and finish strong if they want to finish the season inside the bubble.

Posted in News and Notes | Comments Off on News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Thursday, Feb 11th

Under the Radar Game of the Day – Thursday, February 11

Posted on February 11, 2021 by Chad

Winthrop at Radford, 6:00 PM Eastern, espn+

In a normal year, first place Winthrop (13-1 Big South, 16-1 overall) travelling to second place Radford (12-2 Big South, 13-7 overall) would clearly be the game of the season in the Big South conference.  This year, with team’s playing modified schedules due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is actually just part 1 of the games of the year, as the first place Eagles will be in Radford both tonight and tomorrow night.

The Winthrop Eagles have only lost once all season, a somewhat shocking 2 point home loss of UNC-Asheville a couple weeks ago (which was also the last time the Eagles played a game).  Despite an impressive 16-1 record, their wins have come for the most part against teams rated in the bottom quadrant of the NET.  They did pick up a pair of early season notable wins, however, over a pair of teams that have featured in our Under the Radar Game of the Day twice this week alone — Furman and UNC-Greensboro.  Winthrop is led by do-everything Chandler Vaudrin’s 12.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game.  Vaudrin has already notched two triple-doubles this season.   Adonis Arms and Charles Falden should also be watched as they are both also averaging double-digits in scoring.

Radford struggled this season in their 6 non-conference games, only winning against non-D1 Mars Hill, though they were competitive in pretty much every other game, losing to Virginia Tech, James Madison, Vanderbilt, East Carolina and Norfolk State.  However, the Highlanders have won 12 of 14 league games so far, including a thrilling two point home win over South Carolina-Upstate a week ago when the Spartans’ Tommy Bruner appeared to steal a win with a half-court buzzer beater, only to have the basket waived off as having come after the clock expired.  Chyree Walker is the key to Radford’s attack, as he has notched four double-double’s on the season already including a 12 point, 13 rebound effort last time out.

Posted in CBB, Commentary, Under the Radar | Comments Off on Under the Radar Game of the Day – Thursday, February 11