Under The Radar Game of the Day: Friday, December 13th (and other News and Notes)

Posted on December 13, 2019 by John Stalica

For last night’s weekly UTR Video Podcast – CLICK HERE

Prairie View A&M (3-6, 2-6 D1) at Loyola Marymount (4-5, 3-5 D1) – 10:00 PM EST (Live Stream)

Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day takes us out to Los Angeles where the Lions of Loyola Marymount will host the Panthers of Prairie View A&M. After a tough trip to the Bahamas where LMU managed 1 win in 3 games in the Junkanoo Jam, the Lions rebounded with home wins against Southern Utah and Grambling sandwiched around a loss at Colorado. Eli Scott leads the Lions with 15.8 points a game and 7.0 rebounds a game.

While it is no longer normal protocol to put a WCC team in the UTR Game of the Day, it does at least represent a potential winning opportunity for one of the favorites in the SWAC. The Panthers have managed a win on a neutral court against Central Arkansas (at the 2K Subregional hosted by California Baptist) and a win at UT-San Antonio thus far this season. This is the 2nd game of Prairie View’s current road trip this week that already saw a loss at Arizona State. Gerard Andrus leads the Panthers with 13.8 points a game.

 

OTHER NEWS, NOTES, AND GAMES

-The state of Iowa was on the center stage of college basketball, and they gave us two rather boring games.  But to be fair, we saw some really impressive showings.  Iowa went into a bonkers atmosphere at Iowa State, and it seems like they were up by 15 before the ball was even tipped off.  Minus one run right out of halftime, Iowa never took their foot of Iowa State’s throat.

-Northern Iowa, who may actually be the best team in Iowa, went on the road against a Grand Canyon team that’s not great, but that’s still tough to beat in their on campus arena, and totally blew them out of the building.  UNI has had a great week with a win at Colorado, and then following that up with their blowout road win last night.

-COLORADO AT COLORADO STATE (Front Range).  Colorado is coming off a loss to Northern Iowa, and while their resume is decent, it still needs some work.  A win tonight wouldn’t be great, but it is the kind of game that you would expect a top 25 team to be able to win.  Plus, it’s a rivalry game, so that should give them some momentum as well.

-NEBRASKA AT INDIANA (Big Ten).  Indiana has looked okay on the road, and great at home.  They still have a lot of work to do so it’s important that they hold serve in this one.

-UTRGV @ Creighton

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Under the Radar: December 12th

Posted on December 12, 2019 by David Griggs

Conference USA is tonight’s featured conference and we discuss Louisiana Tech’s big win at Mississippi State last week, as well as their somewhat surprising lost against Sam Houston State.  We also discuss what we feel is a huge miscarriage of justice! And that’s the fact that Incarnate Word and UTSA have never played since UIW began their transition to div1!

From there, we run through the rest of the 22 UTR conferences and discuss how dominant we think Liberty will be in the ASun, how strong the MAC and SoCon look from top to bottom, what a good year Northern Iowa is having, and much more.  And as always, we close with this week’s UTR Top Ten.

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

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Under The Radar Game of the Day: Thursday, December 12th (and other News, Notes, and Games)

Posted on December 12, 2019 by John Stalica

Northern Iowa (9-1, 7-1 D1) at Grand Canyon (4-7, 4-6 D1) – 9:00 PM EST (ESPN3)

Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to the Valley of the Sun where the hometown Grand Canyon Antelopes will host the Northern Iowa Panthers. UNI is coming off of a signature win at Colorado on Tuesday night thanks to a steal and layup from Spencer Haldeman that put the Panthers up for good. UNI also split a pair of games in the Cancun Challenge – they had a loss against West Virginia and a win against South Carolina.

To say that Grand Canyon’s season has been a disappointment would be an understatement. The Lopes started with a non-D1 loss to Davenport and have struggled to find any consistency since that game. They also finished 7th place in the Paradise Jam thanks to early losses against Valpo and Fordham, but they were able to salvage at least one win against Illinois State. Alessandro Lever leads the Lopes with 14.7 points a game through their first 11 games.

 

OTHER NEWS, NOTES, AND GAMES

-Michigan fell on the road at Illinois yesterday.  It is the third time a top five team lost to an unranked team in the span of about 26 hours.  Illinois looked bad in their season opener, but they’ve looked fairly solid in the last week or two, and their resume just got a huge boost to it.  I didn’t think they would be a tournament caliber team before the season started, but they seem to be looking like it now.  As for Michigan….maybe they should consider playing all their home games in the Bahamas?  They looked as good as a team could look in the Battle 4 Atlantis, but haven’t really been at that level since.

-IOWA AT IOWA STATE.  I know most people understand this is a rivalry, but it is still probably far more intense than what most people outside of Iowa realize.  Both teams are potential tournament teams, and this would be a really nice win on paper for whoever picks it up.  But for a lot of fans just winning the rivalry and getting the bragging rights will be the biggest reward.

-Austin Peay @ West Virginia – buy game

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Wednesday, Dec 11th

Posted on December 11, 2019 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day between Arkansas State and Missouri State – CLICK HERE

-For the fourth time this season, the #1 ranked team has lost.  Not only that, it is the third time that the #1 team has lost to an unranked team.  That has got to be some sort of record.  Texas Tech, who we were big on in the preseason but who had a) not looked good all year, and b) was missing their best player, went out there against Louisville, got a lead about midway through the first half, and basically never relinquished it.  Their defense was fantastic, and it is the kind of win that can completely change the complexion of their resume and turn their season around.

We are starting to hear rumblings about how there is no clear cut #1.  While the #1 ranking has changed hands quite a bit, we should not rule out the possibility/probability that there very well may end up being a clear cut #1.  We just don’t know who it is yet.  Our friend David Warlock (@DavidWarlock) tweeted some trivia yesterday about how there have been seven seasons with six different #1 teams.  One of those years was 1982-1983, which is something that history has kind of forgotten because the way people remember that season is that Houston was a clear cut #1 until NC State beat them in the upset of all upsets.  In 2008-2009 there were also six different #1 teams.  That wasn’t that long ago, but I still don’t even remember that.  I just remember North Carolina making the NCAA Tournament look like the Tarheel Invitational.  In 1989-1990, there were five different #1 teams.  History also remembers that year differently.  That was the year UNLV blew everyone off the planet.  So, it could very well be that we end up with one or two clear dominant teams by the end of the year.  We just haven’t recognized who it is yet.  BTW, Ohio State is unbeaten and looking pretty good.  Just sayin…

-Maryland was ranked #4th, and they also went down to an unranked team in Penn State.  This one wasn’t as surprising because Penn State had looked good at times, and they were at home for a showcase game, and Maryland, while good, had to sweat out some of their previous games.

-Northern Iowa got a big road win in Colorado in what was probably the most exciting game of the night.  There were several lead changes, UNI opened up a double digit lead right out of the half, Colorado came back and got the lead and appeared to have momentum, then UNI would counterpunch and get the control back.  Colorado had a chance to tie the game with a three at the buzzer, but came up short.  It is a huge win for UNI’s profile, which is something they needed if they want to land inside the bubble.  Colorado, on the other hand, still looks to be in good shape, but their best win is still a neutral floor non-conference conference win against Arizona State.  They’ll need to take advantage of some future opportunities in order to end up safely inside the bubble.

-Baylor jumped out on Butler at home, but rather than cruising to an easy win, which it looked like they’d do early on in the first half, Butler clawed back in a game where both teams played fantastic defense.  The Bulldogs had a chance to win in the final seconds, but came up just short as Baylor gets one of their better wins of the year, and Butler suffered their first loss of the season.  It would have been a great win for Butler, but it’s hardly a damaging loss.  They’re still in good shape, and if anything they proved that their top 20 ranking was warranted because they played so well on the road against a very good Baylor team.

-Indiana held on to beat UConn, which is their first win of note away from home.  They still got work to do, )and UConn has even more work to do), but last night’s win was a big step in the right direction.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-WISCONSIN AT RUTGERS (Big Ten_.  Wisky really needs this one on the road.  They’re off to a slow start and need to get things turned around in a hurry.  Having said that, it’s much easier said than done.  Rutgers continues to improve as a program and it will not be easy to go on the road and beat them.

-BOISE STATE AT TULSA.  Both of these teams are off to respectable starts, but both still have a ton of work to do if they want to be in the discussion at the end of the year.  A win tonight certainly wouldn’t hurt.

-MICHIGAN AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten).  We’ve all seen what Michigan can do this year, but this game at Illinois tonight is probably tougher than it appears.  Illinois is a very modest 5-3, but two of those losses were by a combined total of just 3pts, and they nearly upset Maryland in their last game.

BUY GAMES

-North Greenville (nondiv1) @ Furman
-Omaha @ Arizona
-Winthrop @ TCU
-Alabama State @ Kansas State
-UTA @ Houston
-Chattanooga @ Virginia Tech
-Prairie View A&M @ Arizona State

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Under The Radar Game of the Day: Wednesday, December 11th

Posted on December 11, 2019 by John Stalica

Arkansas State (7-2, 6-2 D1) at Missouri State (5-5, 5-5 D1) – 8:00 PM EST (ESPN+)

Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to Springfield, Missouri – the home of the Bears of Missouri State. They will be playing host to the neighboring Arkansas State Red Wolves. After losing at home to Stephen F. Austin a couple of weeks ago, Arkansas State rebounded with a home win against Omaha and a 66-63 road win at Tulsa. Jerry Johnson Jr. scored 16 points for the Red Wolves that not only gave the program their first win against a team from the American, it also snapped Tulsa’s 19-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents.

Missouri State is still searching for a signature win out of conference – their notable losses include Xavier, Miami and Buffalo in the Charleston Classic and LSU. In their current homestand, the Bears have beaten Murray State and Mississippi Valley State. Keandre Cook leads the Bears with 17 points a game; Tulio da Silva also averages 11.1 points and 8.4 rebounds a game as well.

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Tuesday, Dec 10th

Posted on December 10, 2019 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for our latest Hoops HD Report Video Podcast

NEWS, NOTES, AND HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day, which is a rivalry between Stony Brook and Hofstra – CLICK HERE

-TEXAS TECH VS LOUISVILLE (Jimmy V Classic).  Louisville is ranked #1 in the country and already has some decent wins on their resume, whereas Texas Tech has battled injuries and is still looking for their first real notable win.  A win in this game would certainly change the entire complexion of their season, but it’s much easier said than done.

-MARYLAND AT PENN STATE (Big Ten).  Penn State is off to a respectable 7-2 start and has a couple of decent wins on their resume, but nothing anywhere close to as strong as this win would be if they’re able to pull it off.  Maryland is unbeaten and looks like a solid top ten team, and is certainly good enough to pick up this conference road win.

-SAINT JOSEPH’S AT TEMPLE (Big 5).  It’s not a buy game, but it may end up looking very much like one.  Temple is off to a strong start, whereas Saint Joe’s is just 2-8 on the year.

-BUTLER AT BAYLOR.  This should be a fun one.  It’s two ranked teams, both of whom have looked really good this year, going at it.  This would be a nice resume builder for whoever gets the win, especially for Butler who’s looked good, but would look even better with a road win against a ranked team on their profile.

-NORTHERN IOWA AT COLORADO.  We really like this Northern Iowa team, but in order for them to land inside the bubble, they need to pull off a win in a game like this.  Colorado is in the rankings, and looks to be good enough to end up in the top half  of the bracket, so a win in a game like this could be a difference maker for Northern Iowa.

-NEVADA AT BYU.  Both teams have been playing better, but both still need to add some wins to their resume.  This is a big week for BYU, and they should have a big sense of urgency going into this game.  They really need to string together some wins.

-INDIANA VS UCONN (Jimmy V Classic).  Indiana has just one loss, and they do have a nice win against Florida State, but up until now all they’ve shown is that they’re capable of being a home court hero.  UConn is improving, but up until now they really don’t look like a solid NCAA Tournament team, so there is a sense of urgency for them coming into this game as well.  In a nutshell, this is a game between two teams who could really use a decent win away from home on their profile.

 

BUY GAMES

-Detroit Mercy @ Notre Dame
-Brown @ Saint John’s
-Milwaukee @ Kansas
-Saint Katherine (nondiv1) @ Utah State

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