Under The Radar Game of the Day: Thursday, February 13th

Posted on February 13, 2020 by John Stalica

For last night’s Under The Radar podcast – CLICK HERE

For Jon Teitel’s interview with Fritz Mitchell and Gary Link about Hall of Fame head coach Norm Stewart – CLICK HERE

Murray State (18-6, 11-1) at Austin Peay (16-9, 10-2) – 9:00 PM EST (ESPNU)

Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day takes place in Clarksville, Tennessee where the Governors of Austin Peay will host the Murray State Racers in a matchup of the top two teams in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Govs started out league play with a ten game winning streak, but they came up shorthanded last week when they were swept on their Nashville road trip at Belmont and Tennessee State last week. Terry Taylor is averaging a double-double (22.3 PPG/10.4 RPG) in all games for Austin Peay this year.

Much like their aforementioned travel partners, Murray State also started the season 10-0 in the OVC. While the Racers had their streak snapped at Belmont (also bringing the Bruins within 2 games of first place and a single game from 2nd place), they did win at Tennessee State 73-65 last Saturday. Tevin Brown had a game-high 28 points for the Racers in the previous victory. This will be the first of two matchups between these two teams; the return game will take place at Murray State for the final regular season game between both teams.

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Under the Radar: February 12th

Posted on February 12, 2020 by David Griggs

Tonight we feature the Summit League, which is once again logjammed at the top with South Dakota, South Dakota State, and North Dakota State all within a game of each other and running away from the rest of the league.  All three teams are playing well, and all have pivotal weeks coming up.

After that we run through the other 21 UTR conferences and discuss how Vermont is very close to clinching home court advantage, the parity at the top of the Colonial with Hofstra trying to pull away, Liberty in a two way race with North Florida in the Atlantic Sun with home court advantage on the line, Northern Iowa and East Tennessee State trying to win out and be in a position to earn at-large bids, and a lot more.

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

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Happy Tourney-versary!: HoopsHD interviews Fritz Mitchell and Gary Link about Hall of Fame coach Norm Stewart

Posted on February 12, 2020 by Jon Teitel

With the 2020 NCAA tourney tipping off next month, we will spend this month taking a walk down memory lane with a choice collection of players/coaches who are celebrating an awesome anniversary this year. From some game-winning FTs in the 1955 tourney (65th anniversary) through a 17-PT comeback win in the 2015 1st 4 (5th anniversary), these legends have all carved out a little piece of history in past Marches. We continue our series with Hall of Famer Norm Stewart, who was an All-American basketball player at Missouri in 1956 and later spent more than 30 years as head coach at his alma mater until retiring in 1999. He won 8 Big 8 regular season championships, made 16 NCAA tourney appearances, and was a 2-time national COY before being inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Fritz Mitchell (who directed the SEC Storied film “Norm”) and radio announcer Gary Link (who was co-captain under Norm in 1974) about the 40th anniversary of Norm beating Notre Dame in the 1980 NCAA tourney and the 25th anniversary of being on the wrong side of 1 of the most famous plays in tourney history.

As a senior at Missouri he was named All-American after scoring 24.1 PPG: how good a player was he back in the day? FRITZ MITCHELL: I have been told that he was a very good player. He was a local boy who made good from a small town in Missouri. He was very good in baseball as well: he even pitched for a College World Series championship team! He tried to make a pro career in baseball but it did not go anywhere. He played in a dank/dark gym that no longer exists and eventually became a coach. GARY LINK: He is from a small town called Shelbyville and was a tenacious player on both ends of the floor. He was not the prettiest player in the world but he would attack the basket and willed the ball to go in.

As head coach at Missouri when his team played road games against Kansas he refused to spend a dime on food/hotels/gas because of the taxes that would support his neighbor to the West: how heated was the rivalry back in the day before the Tigers joined the SEC? FM: It has always been heated, as it goes back to the Civil War: when Missouri moved to the SEC they lost their most precious rivalry. Norm loved to bait Roy Williams and the other Jayhawk coaches he faced: there was always one-upmanship. He recruited Anthony Peeler from Kansas City: “Border War” was an understatement. It is a casualty of realignment. I think that Norm got the better of the rivalry during his playing days because Kansas was in a down period. GL: That is a little wrong: it was more that we would not spend a dime in Lawrence because the rivalry with KU was a fierce “Border War”. We would bus to Kansas City and stay there the night before, then fill up with gas and drive to Lawrence to play the game, then come right back and eat/fill up in Kansas City.

In 1978 he made the NCAA tourney despite having a 14-15 record: how was he able to win the Big 8 tourney after such a rough regular season? FM: The salient point is that as successful as he was he was never able to win the Big 1, which always haunted him. He was a great motivator so it hardly surprises me that he had a team that was on the uptick and improved so much during the course of the season. GL: He really was just a guy who focused on the next game at hand. He never focused on long-term goals: when you start a conference tourney you are 0-0 regardless of how well or poor you played in the regular season. He did not make any game too big or discount any game as too small. Everybody talks about March Madness and I hope that they never change it…but all you have to do is win 4 games in a row at the right time whether you are a #1 seed or not.

In the 1980 NCAA tourney Mark Dressler scored a career-high 32 PTS (13-16 FG) in a 3-PT OT win over Notre Dame (in only his 6th start of the season): was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot he put up seemed to go in because he was “in the zone”? GL: That was another 1 of those games where if you look at his shot chart he did not take a lot of shots outside 5 feet. They were keying on our 2 other stars (Steve Stipanovich/Jon Sundvold) but Mark was a Coach Stewart-type of player: if he was open then his teammates were taught to give the ball up.

In the 1990 NCAA tourney Maurice Newby scored 9 PTS including a 22-footer with 2 seconds left in a 3-PT upset by #14-seed Northern Iowa: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of his career? FM: That was high on the list but there was also a 3-PT loss to Syracuse in the 1989 Sweet 16. GL: Coach never got to the Final 4 but his teams played every game as if it was the Final 4. We may have been worn down a little bit at the end after a long regular season but I guarantee you that we did not take them lightly or look past them. That is the great thing about the NCAA tourney: you have to be ready every night. If you had the exact same teams play 1 month later you could have a completely different winner.

In the 1995 NCAA tourney Tyus Edney scored 15 PTS including a coast-to-coast layup at the buzzer in a 1-PT win by eventual champion UCLA: what kind of defense did he draw up, and how was Edney able to break it? FM: They had UCLA on the ropes before they came back to win it. The reason he made the layup is because Norm told everyone not to foul so they gave him a little too much leeway. GL: We have watched it hundreds of times. We played it straight up and we probably needed to make him turn 1 more time. You do not want to foul him and the problem is that he had a head of steam and was going 100 miles/hour. I recall it being a contested layup and he made a heck of a play: that is basketball.

He was a 2-time national COY: what did it mean to him to win such outstanding honors? FM: Norm has a lot of pride in his university/state but he would always deflect those honors to the people around him. He was an incredibly humble man so the honors did not mean as much as the journey. GL: I guarantee you that he would be the 1st to give his credit to his players and that he did not coach any better that year than he had the 5 years before or after that. He was a humble guy who took care of all the nonsense off the court. He said he would take care of the fans/refs/band and just prepared us to take care of the 5 guys on the court. He did not over-coach or under-coach: he just let us play.

His 700+ career wins remain in the top-50 in NCAA history, and in 2007 he was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame: how was he able to be so successful for such a long stretch of time? FM: He used to be ranked in the top-6 or 7. He hated to lose and had a competitive streak so he would do anything within the rules to win. He was incredibly competitive and you would see the “Stormin’ Norman” during games occasionally. GL: Not only did he succeed for more than 30 years but he did it with a bunch of Missouri kids. If you were a D-1 caliber player in the state then he would try to give you an opportunity. The 1st great recruit he had was John Brown from Dixon, MO. He liked those tough blue-collar players similar to him who played the right way. Later he brought in players from outside the state like Doug Smith from Detroit and Derrick Chievous from NYC and we all played the same way. He said that if we ran the play correctly then someone would be open for a good shot. His teams played defense every single year, which was a big adjustment for some guys who had been primarily offensive stars in high school. Most of the players who left here were very good offensive players but poor defenders: very rarely did any of his transfers light it up elsewhere.

He has battled cancer/heart problems over the past few decades: what has he been up to since retiring, and how is his health doing these days? FM: He is hanging in there. He continues to bounce back and forth between Palm Springs and Columbia. He likes to attend games to see his old team. He has been cancer-free for years and is driven by this urge to help people who have battled cancer. He lost his parents to the disease and it became his passion after he retired. He might not have won an NCAA title but what he has contributed afterward is far greater. He touched a lot of young men’s lives and raised millions of dollars through Coaches vs. Cancer. He loves to meet people/tell stories and he rolls with the punches. GL: He is doing well. He has a beautiful home in California where he spends half the year but is back in Columbia during the summertime. He comes to a lot of football games in the fall and a few basketball games before heading west. He is 1 of the toughest guys I know: he looked cancer right in the eye and fought back. He wants to win whether we are playing pool/ping pong.

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

Posted on February 12, 2020 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day between Western Carolina and UNC Greensboro – CLICK HERE

-San Diego State pulled away from New Mexico last night for the 82-59 win, and to become the first team to clinch a first place finish in their conference.  Congrats to them for winning the regular season Mountain West, broought to you by ConExpo Con/AGG!!

-Dayton jumped out to a 17-0 lead on Rhode Island, and that was pretty much it.  The Rams were never really in the game, and Dayton won impressively 81-67.

-Maryland REALLY had to sweat at home against Nebraska, but ended up hanging on for a less than impressive 72-70 wins.  Still, a win is a win, and the Terps were able to hold serve and stay well within the range of a protected seed.

-They weren’t the only ones.  LSU had to sweat out Missouri, and actually needed to come from behind in the second half to pull out an 82-78 win, but did manage to avoid their third straight loss.

-Penn State picked up another very impressive road win as they knocked off Purdue yesterday.  The Nittany Lions look to me like they are the best team in the Big Ten now that they’ve won seven straight.

-Illinois limped through the entire first half against Michigan State, but came from behind in the second half, got the lead, and were in a position to win the game, but couldn’t quite get it done.  The Spartans picked up a 70-69 huge road win that they desperately needed after being in a bit of a free-fall prior to last night.

-Arkansas went on the road to Tennessee and got blown out.  That’s not good when you’re on the bubble.

Syracuse dropped a bubblicious game to NC State 79-74, which seems like it will knock the Orange further outside the bubble while it inches NC State back towards it.

-Virginia won in overtime against a Notre Dame team that was looking for its fifth straight win and a big road win on their resume.  From our estimation this helps UVA stay inside the bubble, and keeps Notre Dame outside of it for now.

-Utah State picked up a tough road win at Colorado State that they probably deserve a little more credit for than what they will actually get.  Colorado State’s resume is unimpressive, but they had won seven of eight going into last night and had been playing really well.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-CREIGHTON AT SETON HALL (Big East).  Creighton continues to play well as they go through the conference, and their resume keeps improving.  This is probably their toughest remaining game, so if they can pick up a win here, the skies the limit.  Seton Hall continues to look like a top ten team and is on pace to end up as a #2 seed, especially if they can continue to blow through the conference.

-XAVIER AT BUTLER (Big East).  Xavier has won three straight and completely turned their season around.  They can take yet another big step forward and improve their resume and seeding even more with another road win.  Butler has slipped a little bit, and lost rather handily to Marquette in their last game, but they are still really strong overall and a win today will help them maintain that.

-KANSAS AT WEST VIRGINIA (Big 12).  Kansas is still being projected solidly on the #1 line, but this is a very tough test for them tonight.  A win on the road against another protected seed is the kind of thing that can cement them onto the #1 line.  West Virginia is coming off a loss, and with their next two games against Kansas and Baylor they could end up dropping three in a row.  It wouldn’t hurt them that much, but if they can win one of the next two they’ll prove that they belong as a protected seed.

-ALABAMA AT AUBURN (SEC).  Auburn has been playing really well lately and has a chance to avenge one of their two losses tonight.  The crowd will likely be way up for it, so Bama could be in trouble.

-UCONN AT SMU (American).  If SMU wants any chance at all of being considered for a bid, then they pretty much need to win out the rest of the way.

-GEORGE MASON AT VCU (Atlantic Ten).  I’m personally not as big on VCU as everyone else seems to be, but most have them floating around the bubble and some have them in the field.  Either way, they really can’t afford a loss in a game like this.

-RICHMOND AT LA SALLE (Atlantic Ten).  Richmond is squarely on the bubble, so they need to pick this one up and pretty much avoid losses to sub-tournament teams the rest of the way.

-RUTGERS AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten).  The one thing Rutgers needs on their resume is a notable road win.  They’ve come close several times, but haven’t actually done it.  Tonight may be their best remaining chance.  Having said that, Ohio State is a very good team.  They’re coming off a loss, but they won’t be easy to beat in Columbus.

-THE CITADEL AT EAST TENNESSEE STATE (SoCon).  ETSU has a very good chance of ending up inside the bubble if they win out, which they are good enough to do.

-FURMAN AT SAMFORD (SoCon).  Furman MIGHT get a look from the committee if they win out, but lose in the conference tournament.

-LOUISVILLE AT GEORGIA TECH (ACC).  Louisville continues to roll, and shouldn’t have too much trouble picking up yet another conference road win at Georgia Tech tonight.

-STEPHEN F AUSTIN AT TAMUCC (Southland).  SFA should at least get a look from the committee if they win out.  Tonight they will try to avenge their only conference loss so far.

-ILLINOIS STATE AT NORTHERN IOWA (Missouri Valley).  I think we all feel that Northern Iowa is inside the bubble, and will remain there so long as they hold serve.  Illinois State beat them earlier in the year, but they should be able to avenge that tonight.

-MARQUETTE AT VILLANOVA (Big East).  Marquette is coming off a very impressive blowout win against Butler, but as good as they are they aren’t quite as strong on the road.  This would probably be their most impressive win of the year if they can pull it off, and it should get them into the discussion for a protected seed.  Villanova is coming off a home loss to Seton Hall and should be way up for this one as they try to bounce back and maintain their protected seed caliber profile.

-FLORIDA AT TEXAS A&M (SEC).  An argument could be made that Florida does not belong in the field right now, but most of us still have them in.  That will change if they lose this one.

-HOUSTON AT SOUTH FLORIDA (American).  Houston looks like they’re starting to pull away from the rest of the AAC, and should be safely in the top half of the bracket if they can continue to hold serve.

-IOWA STATE AT OKLAHOMA (Big 12).  Oklahoma remains in the field, but is still hovering around the bubble.  They need to hold serve at home against teams like Iowa State who are very very very far outside of the bubble.

-MICHIGAN AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten).  The one huge knock on Michigan’s resume is a lack of road wins.  This is a very winnable road game, and they need to make sure they get it done.

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Under The Radar Game of the Day: Wednesday, February 12th

Posted on February 12, 2020 by John Stalica

Western Carolina (15-8, 7-5) at UNC-Greensboro (19-6, 9-3) – 7:00 PM EST (ESPN+)

Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to Greensboro, North Carolina where the hometown Spartans host the Western Carolina Catamounts. There is a heightened sense of urgency for UNC-G tonight; they’ve already been swept by East Tennessee State this season and also lost at Wofford in double overtime back in early January. Neither loss is terribly damaging by SoCon standards, but other than a win at Georgetown and a win at Furman, the only other notable wins so far include games at Vermont and at home against Northern Kentucky. Isaiah Miller leads UNC-G with 18.2 points a game.

Western Carolina got off to a fantastic start by recent standards, but they have only gone 3-5 in their last eight games to drop out of the top of the SoCon standings back into the middle of the pack. The Catamounts already lost their first meeting at home against UNC-G, but they do have notable wins at home against Wofford and on the road against Chattanooga and Samford in conference play. While Mason Faulkner (18.1 PPG) continues to lead WCU in scoring, Carlos Dotson has also averaged a double-double (16.2 PPG/11.o RPG) in conference play for the Catamounts.

 

 

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

Posted on February 11, 2020 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for our latest HOOPS HD REPORT

NEWS AND NOTES

-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day between Bowling Green and Akron – CLICK HERE

-For Jon Teitel’s interview with Hall of Fame coach Billie Moore – CLICK HERE

-The Florida State v Duke game was a very well played game that either team could have won, and even though Florida State lost I think I’m more sold on them being a solid #2 seed than I was before the game started.

-Baylor v Texas was a defensive struggle, but Baylor held on to win 52-45.  Texas Tech hosted TCU, and did not treat them nicely.  They totally blew the Horned Frogs out of the building 88-42.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-PENN STATE AT PURDUE (Big Ten).  Penn State didn’t get a protected seed from the actual committee, but I still think they have a path to it that is within their abilities, especially if they can pick up another big road win tonight.  Purdue has been schizophrenic all season long, but are now in a stretch where they have won four out of five, which includes two road wins, so they may finally be reaching  a point of playing consistently well.

-KENTUCKY AT VANDERBILT (SEC).  Kentucky also not getting a protected seed from the committee, and if they didn’t have one before then winning at Vandy isn’t the kind of game that’s going to put them over the top, but I do think they have a reasonable path to get there and are continuing to play better as the season goes along.

-MISSISSIPPI STATE AT OLE MISS (SEC).  It’s a rivalry game that features a Mississippi State team that’s on the bubble and who needs to avoid losing on the road to an Ole Miss team that may be on the NIT bubble.

-ARKANSAS AT TENNESSEE (SEC).  The Razorbacks are on the bubble and need to win this game to show that they can win on the road against sub-tournament caliber teams.

-NC STATE AT SYRACUSE (ACC).  This is the bubblicious game of the night.  Maybe the bubblicious game of the year.  Both teams are right on the bubble, and both really need this win to help distance themselves from the other bubble teams.

-RHODE ISLAND AT DAYTON (Atlantic Ten).  This game deserves far more attention than it is likely to get.  Dayton is unbeaten in conference (10-0) and is beating their opponents by an average of 14.1ppg.  It took Rhody a little longer to get going, but after losing their conference opener, they’ve won ten straight, which is as many wins as Dayton.  Their margin of victory is 12.8ppg.  It’s not as good, but they are playing at a level that is actually closer to Dayton than what most people realize, and if they can somehow win this game I would argue that it not only puts them inside the bubble, but warrants consideration for the first ballot.  It’s the first of two meetings, and perhaps three if they face each other in the A10 Tournament.

-NEBRASKA AT MARYLAND (Big Ten).  Maryland leads the Big Ten and has started to rack up some nice road wins.  They should be able to hold serve tonight and continue to make a strong case that they are a solid protected seed.

-MICHIGAN STATE AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten).  I’m not as big a believer in Michigan State as the committee seems to be.  At least, not right now.  If they can win this game I’ll start to feel a lot better about them.  I do think that they are both going in on the first ballot, and that this is a good resume building opportunity for both of them.

-MISSOURI AT LSU (SEC).  In their last games, LSU has lost a stunner at Vanderbilt, and an overtime thriller at Auburn at the buzzer.  They are still in good shape, and this should be an easy win for them tonight, which would help get their mental health back.

-NOTRE DAME AT VIRGINIA (ACC).  Virginia continues to improve their resume bit by bit.  They nearly upset Louisville over the weekend, which would have improved their resume by quite a bit more than a little bit, but the NCAAs is still within their reach.  They need to take care of business tonight against a Notre Dame team that’s been playing pretty well for the last couple of weeks.

-UTAH STATE AT COLORADO STATE (Mountain West).  On paper, this game doesn’t look like much, but Colorado State has won nine of their last ten, so if Utah State goes on the road and beat them should (HOPEFULLY) get the attention of the committee and get them a little more credit than what it appears to be on the surface.

-NEW MEXICO AT SAN DIEGO STATE (Mountain West).  If San Diego State wins out, they will be a #1 seed.

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