Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES

-Arizona State had a shot at the buzzer that would have tied the game against Virginia, but missed it.  The game was an absolute rock fight, but Virignia’s defense continues to suffocate basically anything that comes up against it, and they went on to win 48-45.

-Louisville held on to beat Akron 72-66.  They were never in danger of losing the game, but they didn’t exactly bury them either.  I know Akron ain’t bad, but Louisville is ranked #2 in the nation.  They have a nice win at Miami FL and five buy game wins on top of that.  Their next game against Western Kentucky in Nashville will probably be their biggest challenge of the season up to that point.  There are certainly bigger ones later on.

-Florida snapped out of whatever early season funk they were win by knocking off Xavier and winning The Charleston Classic.  Florida had a lead as big as 15pts in the second half, but Xavier fought back and actually had a shot in the final seconds to tie the game, but it didn’t go down and the Gators held on.  I now think that the Gators just hit the snooze bar when the season started, and that’s why they looked sub-par in their first four or five gamse.  They’re awake now!

-Utah State held on to win against North Texas in yet another game that was more of a challenge than you would expect, but they did get the win.

-Baylor picked up a really nice win against Villanova down in Myrtle Beach, and that is easily the biggest win of the season for the Bears up to this point.  Nova is still looking for their first really big win, although they did get a pretty good one against Mississippi State.

-Colorado stayed unbeaten after beating their Front Range rivals in the Las Vegas Something-or-Other tournament.  If you didn’t see this game, don’t bother to go back and watch it!

-Ron Hunter is off to a fantastic start at Tulane.  They knocked off Utah yesterday to improve to 5-1 on the year, and picked up a few neutral floor wins in the process.  By no means do I think Tulane has improved to the point of being a tournament caliber team, but they have improved.  It will be fun to watch what Ron Hunter does with this program in the coming years.

-LSU picked up a nice neutral floor win down in Jamaica against a Rhode Island team that had been playing pretty well.

-Saint John’s got by a UMass team that had done a little better than expected out of the gate to improve to 5-2.

-Duquesne blew out LMU in the finals of the Junkanoo Jam to remain unbeaten on the year.

-Bowling Green picked up their second really nice win in 24hrs after coming from behind to beat Cincinnati down in the Paradise Jam.  BGSU is now 5-1 on the season with neutral floor wins against Western Kentucky and Cincinnati.  This is a really fun team to watch and we will certainly have our eyes on them moving forward.

-Clemson needed overtime, but got by TCU, which was the first loss for the Horned Frogs and Clemson’s fifth straight win since they lost their season opener.

-UConn blasted past Miami FL to finish with two wins down in the Charleston Classic.  Their only loss was the double overtime thriller to Xavier, so UConn is certainly looking much improved this season.

-Vermont fell at home to Rider.  This is right after we were singing their praises and saying that we thought they were an at-large caliber team.  They are still very good, and nothing against Rider, but this was a rather inexplicable loss.

-Last, and probably least, Evansville snapped a three game losing streak with a triple overtime win, against Morgan State, in the 7th place game of the Island of the Bahamas Showcase.  They haven’t exactly been lighting the world on fire since their big win at Kentucky.  I’m now ready to simply call that win a fluke.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-COLORADO STATE VS NEW MEXICO STATE (Cayman Islands Classic).  I still think that at the end of the season New Mexico State will be a top 25 caliber team.  The problem is that they’ve been so beat up with injuries that they’re out to just a 2-3 start against so-so competition, so one of the games that they need to win is that last conference tournament game because without it they won’t make The Dance.  They have a chance to even up their record today and pick up some wins away from home in this event.

-GRAND CANYON VS ILLINOIS STATE (Paradise Jam).  A matchup between two teams that have really underachieved so far this season.  At least one of them will walk out of here with a semi-decent win away from home.

-GEORGIA VS DAYTON (Maui Invitational).  Both teams come in unbeaten, but up to this point Dayton hasn’t won anything but home buy games.  Georgia at least has a nice win against Georgia Tech under their belts.  It’s a chance at a notable neutral floor win and a chance to move on and likely play better competition in the next two rounds, which means more opportunities.

-FORDHAM VS WESTERN KENTUCKY (Paradise Jam).  Both teams have just one loss.  This is a very talented WKU team, but that has a rather small margin for error so they’re going to want to pick this one up and add another neutral floor win to their resume.  Fordham may rescind back into being Fordham, but at least for now they are 4-1 and if they were somehow able to win this game then they’d have more early season momentum built up than they have in quite some time.

-VIRGINIA TECH VS MICHIGAN STATE (Maui Invitational).  VA Tech comes in with a somewhat impressive 5-0 record.  They haven’t played top level competition, but we were expecting them to be in such a rebuilding mode that the 5-0 start still looks pretty good.  Michigan State has won three straight since losing their opener to Kentucky and can pick up some really nice wins in this event.

-GEORGE MASON VS OLD DOMINION (Cayman Islands Classic).  George Mason is out to a 5-1 start and if they can do well in this event then they will continue to build on what is a pretty good early season resume.  They may be at team to keep an eye on throughout the season.

-CINCINNATI VS VALPARAISO (Paradise Jam).  Cincinnati lost to Bowling Green the other night and is just trying to pick up another win in this event.  Valpo has played pretty well this season, so it may not be a cakewalk.

-PITTSBURGH VS KANSAS STATE (Fort Myers Classic).  K State is off to a 4-0 start, but this will probably be their biggest test of the season so far.  Having said that, Pitt, while better this year, hasn’t exactly been setting the world on fire.  If K State is  a tournament caliber team then this is the kind of game that they need to be able to win.

-KENT STATE AT OHIO STATE.  It’s a buy game, but Kent State is unbeaten and one of the better teams in the MAC.  This is a huge opportunity for them to pick up a quality win, but it’s far easier said than done.  Ohio State is ranked in the top ten, and they’ve certainly earned it based on some of the games they’ve won.

-BUTLER VS MISSOURI (Hall of Fame Classic).  The game is in Kansas City, and features two teams that are out to pretty good starts.  Mizzou’s only loss was a close one at Xavier, and it was close despite the fact that they really didn’t play well.  Butler has dealt with injuries, but has still won all of their games and appears to be better than expected this year.  This should be a really fun match-up.

-WISCONSIN VS RICHMOND (Legends Classic).  Richmond is 4-0, and I do think the Spiders have a decent team this year, but this is far and away their toughest test of the season so far.  Wisconsin has won four straight since losing their season opener in overtime and can build on their resume during this event.

-ARKANSAS AT GEORGIA TECH.  Arkansas is unbeaten and can pick up a pretty nice road win today against a Georgia Tech team that has played well at times.

-WASHINGTON STATE VS NEBRASKA (Cayman Islands Classic).  This game is only highlighted because of the Stallings Award implications that it has.  That is the award that Hoops HD gives out each year to the worst non-UTR team!

-LA SALLE VS MURRAY STATE (Gulf Coast Showcase).  If Murray State wants any chance at all of landing inside the bubble then they are going to need to continue to rack up wins.

-NEVADA VS BOWLING GREEN (Paradise Jam).  Bowling Green has already picked up two pretty decent wins against Western Kentucky and Cincinnati.  If they can get a third then their resume is suddenly looking very good, at least for the month of November.  More importantly, they are creating a path for themselves to land inside the bubble if they can continue to make noise throughout the season.

-BRADLEY VS NORTHWESTERN (Fort Meyers Tip-Off).  Bradley is 4-1 and has a winnable game today against Northwestern.

-KANSAS VS CHAMINADE (nondiv1) (Maui Invitational).  Kansas has a chance to pick up some really good wins in this event.  After today.

-AUBURN VS NEW MEXICO (Legends Classic).  Auburn comes in unbeaten, but this game will hardly be a cakewalk.  New Mexico has just one loss, and it was a close one at UTEP.  New Mexico has been kind of dormant for the past several season, but if they can get a win in a game like this then their fanbase and program will be re-energized.

-STANFORD VS OKLAHOMA (Hall of Fame Classic).  Both teams come into this game without a loss, and while both have looked good there are still question marks about both of them.  Still, it’s a good early season match-up between two teams that have played well up to this point.

-BYU VS UCLA (Maui Invitational).  As we discussed on a previous Hoops HD Report, this is a really big game because the winner gets a quality win on a neutral floor and gets to go on to most likely play Kansas.  The loser gets Chaminade in the loser’s bracket and really only ends up with one chance at a decent win before the end of the event.

BUY GAMES

-Chattanooga @ Tennessee
-Alabama State @ VCU
-Chicago State @ Florida State
-SELA @ Vanderbilt
-Louisiana Tech @ Indiana
-Tennessee State @ San Diego State

For today’s UTR Game of the Day in Maui On The Mainland – CLICK HERE

NEWS AND NOTES

-Ole Miss and Memphis played a thrilling game with Memphis managing to hold on at home to give Ole Miss their first loss.  Of course, it’s worth noting that Memphis isn’t the same team now that they will be in January when Wiseman returns to the lineup, but it was still an impressive showing for an Ole Miss team on the road, and a decent win for Memphis.

-DePaul remains unbeaten after picking up a 72-67 win at Boston College.  This was DePaul’s second true road win of the season, so they are off to a very good start and are not looking like the doormat of the Big East. The Blue Demons have a very winnable game at home against Central Michigan and a road game at The Barn on Friday against Minnesota.

-Penn State got a scare from Yale and needed to come from behind to beat them, but held on for the 58-56 win and is still unbeaten on the year.

-Providence lost at home to Penn.  Penn also beat Alabama so they aren’t bad, but Penn has also lost to teams like Rice and Lafayette, making them perhaps the most schizophrenic team of the season so far.  As for Providence, this is the second loss that really makes you scratch your head and wonder about them.

-Belmont had a chance to pick up what would have been a nice road win at Saint Louis, but they couldn’t get it done.  SLU is now out to an impressive 5-1 start and may be a team that can make some noise in the Atlantic Ten.

-SMU is another team that needs to be on peoples’ radars.  They picked up their second true road win of the year as they beat UNLV, and have improved to 5-0 on the season.  I’m not anointing them a tournament team, but I am saying they are a team that we need to watch right now.

-Since beating Kentucky, Evansville has beaten a div2 team and lost three straight div1 games.  Yesterday’s loss to George Washington may have been the worst one of all.  I now think that Evansville is a sub-par team that had one unbelievable day.  At the end of the season they’ll probably be somewhere below the middle of the MVC.  But hey, for a few days they got to own college basketball!!

-Under The Radar, Part 1 – Texas Southern picked up a solid win at Northern Kentucky last night in double overtime. The Tigers managed to come back from a 6-point deficit in the final minute of regulation and outlasted a Norse team that had two of their starters foul out of the game in overtime. Texas Southern again reminds us why they will be a threat to win the SWAC this year.

-Under The Radar, Part 2 – Should we finally pay attention to Sacramento State? The Hornets overcame an 11-point deficit to win 77-72 at Pepperdine and move to 4-0 for only the third time since 1991 (the beginning of their D-1 era). In D-1 play so far, they also have wins against UC-Riverside and crosstown rival UC-Davis.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-TULANE VS UTAH (Myrtle Beach Invitational, 5th Place).  Both teams enter this game at 4-1 and have the chance to add a neutral floor win to their resume.

-ARIZONA STATE VS VIRGINIA (Hall of Fame Tip-Off, Championship).  Arizona State has won three straight since losing their opener, but none of those games were anywhere close to as big as this one would be.  Virginia comes in at 5-0 and already has some decent wins on their resume.

-MISSISSIPPI STATE AT COASTAL CAROLINA (Myrtle Beach Invitational, 3rd Place).  Mississippi State is off to what is seemingly a quiet 5-1 start, but looks to be an NCAA Tournament caliber team and can add a road win to their resume today.  It’s part of a tournament, but it’s on Coastal Carolina’s floor.  It may not be easy.  Coastal blew out Utah in their first game and then took Baylor to the wall on Friday.

-MIAMI FL VS UCONN (Charleston Classic, 3rd Place).  UConn lost a thriller to Xavier on Friday night, but will still be in relatively good shape if they can pick up another decent win away from home.  The same holds true for Miami.  Neither team was considered a slam dunk NCAA Tournament team, but both are off to decent starts and both could use a win like this on their resume.

-VMI @ UNC GREENSBORO (SoCon).  VERY oddly timed SoCon game, but it is a conference game, and UNCG is one of the three teams that we think can win this league, so we are going to highlight this for that reason.

-UMASS VS SAINT JOHN’S (Hall of Fame Tip-Off, 3rd Place).  UMass is off to a better than expected start, but is coming off a loss to Virginia.  That’s hardly a damaging loss, though, and if they can pick up this neutral floor win against the Johnnies then they’ll be looking pretty good on paper for the month of November.

-VILLANOVA VS BAYLOR (Myrtle Beach Invitational, Championship).  It’s two ranked teams who are likely first ballot NCAA Tournament teams with a chance to pick up a quality win on a neutral floor, which is a resume boosting opportunity.

-VALPARAISO VS NEVADA (Paradise Jam, Semifinal).  Valpo has just one loss on the season and is coming off a nice win (at least we think) against Grand Canyon.  Nevada has evened their record at 3-3 and is just trying to hang on through the rough adjustment period.  Like so many exempt tournament games, it’s a chance at a notable neutral floor win for both teams.

-UTAH STATE VS NORTH TEXAS (Jamaica Classic at Montego Bay, Round-Robin). Utah State is coming off an exciting come from behind win against LSU and is still unbeaten on the season.  North Texas has struggled this year and is likely overmatched in this one.

-DUQUESNE VS LMU (Junkanoo Jam, Round-Robin).  Duquesne can improve to 6-0 and pick up their third win away from home.  They haven’t really beaten anyone that will jump out at the committee, but they are a much improved team and worth keeping an eye on the rest of the way.

-CINCINNATI VS BOWLING GREEN (Paradise Jam, Semifinal).  This could be a fun one.  Cincinnati looks like a solid tournament team, and Bowling Green is one of the favorites out of the MAC that’s coming off an exciting win against Western Kentucky.  This is a really good chance for them to pick up a quality win away from home against a quality team.  Cincinnati needed to come from behind and hold on to beat Illinois State in their first game.

-COLORADO VS WYOMING (MGM Resorts Main Event, Semifinal) (Front Range).  We at Hoops HD Love the Front Range!!!!  This is a rather unique edition seeing as how the game is in Las Vegas.  Colorado is unbeaten and is looking to stay that way against a Wyoming team that will likely struggle all season long.

-LIBERTY VS KANSAS CITY (Island of the Bahamas Showcase, Championship).  Liberty will likely win this event.   That’s the good news.  The bad news is that they probably won’t beat anyone along the way that will impress the committee.

-FLORIDA VS XAVIER (Charleston Classic, Championship).  It hasn’t always been impressive, but Xavier has won all of their games and has made it to the championship game as many were expecting them to do.  Florida got off to a kind of slow start to the season, but they’ve won both their games in this event without too much trouble and a win against Xavier will really snap them out of it, and give them a quality neutral floor win for their resume.  It’s a resume building opportunity for both teams.

-TCU VS CLEMSON (MGM Resorts Main Event, Semifinal).  Neither team has any wins that really jump out at you, but TCU is unbeaten and Clemson has won four straight since losing their opener.  It’s a neutral floor test for both teams.

-RIDER VS VERMONT (Hall of Fame TipOff – Naismith Bracket, Championship) – game in Uncasville, CT at the Mohegan Sun Arena.  Vermont can improve to 6-1 on the year.

-SAN DIEGO AT WASHINGTON.  This will probably end up looking very much like a buy game by the time it’s over.

BUY GAMES

-Long Island @ Texas Tech
-North Florida @ Creighton
-Cal Poly @ Iowa
-Akron @ Louisville – Akron has just one loss, but is likely overmatched
-Lamar @ Kentucky
-North Dakota @ Minnesota
-Long Beach State @ Arizona

NEWS AND NOTES

-The game of the day was probably the double overtime thriller between Xavier and UConn.  It was a defensive struggle that went back and fourth.  Xavier hit a game tying shot toward the end of regulation that was way beyond the arc, then UConn converted an and-1 at the end of the first overtime (following a forced TO by the Huskies) to force a second overtime.  Despite three of Xavier’s 3 stars being fouled out by the start of the 2nd overtime, the Musketeers held on for the win, which was another nail-biter.  I think the game would have meant a little bit more for UConn since their program is in the middle of a rebuilding project and beating a ranked team would have really accelerated the energy build up, but this won’t be the last opportunity at a good win for the Huskies.  But, wow! this would have been a good one!

-Georgetown jumped out to an early lead against Duke, but ended up falling to the Blue Devils despite playing really well.  Georgetown did not play anything like the team that limped through those first two buy games in either of their two 2K Empire Classic games.

-Oregon remains unbeaten as they knocked off a pretty good Houston team last night.  Houston is off to a somewhat slow start.  Their only win on the season so far is a buy game.

-Coastal Carolina actually led Baylor for much of the game, but the Bears finally got control in the second half to pick up the win and move on to the finals of the Myrtle Beach Classic.  We didn’t expect a whole lot from Coastal this year, but they’ve played really well in this tournament.  Mississippi State may be in for a battle in the third place game on Sunday.

-Illinois State had led Cincinnati for most of the game, but Cincinnati came back and it seesawed back and fourth in the final couple of minutes.  Cincinnati needed a shot in the final seconds to get the 66-65 win and move on to the winners side of the bracket in the Paradise Jam.  It’s a rather crushing loss for Illinois State not just because it would have been a good win away from home, but because it denied them the chances of playing better teams in the winners’ bracket and building up their resume even more.

-And speaking of the Paradise Jam, Bowling Green advanced to the semifinals with a thrilling 77-75 victory against Western Kentucky. The Falcons jumped out to an early 14-point lead, but this game ultimately featured numerous lead changes and it took a game winning shot from Justin Turner with 3.8 seconds remaining to give Bowling Green the victory. Either Valpo or Nevada will take on the winner of the UC-BGSU game in the Paradise Jam Invitational.

-Davidson lost at home to Wake Forest.  Davidson is in real trouble.

-Temple went on the road and picked up a really nice win at USC.  The Owls stay unbeaten, and it’s the first loss of the year for the Trojans.

-LSU looked fantastic for about 30 minutes against Utah State, and then just folded up as Utah State came charging back and ended up with a two point win to remain unbeaten and add a real nice neutral floor win in the Jamaica Classic to their resume.

-Evansville, who last week was the biggest story in college basketball, lost their second straight game.  This one was to an East Carolina team that just isn’t any good, and the game wasn’t even close.  Despite the big win at Kentucky, I’m starting to think that was an anomaly.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-VIRGINIA VS UMASS (Hall of Fame Tip-Off).  UMass is unbeaten, and to be fair has looked a lot better than we thought they would so far, but this is a ginormous test for them.  Virginia is also unbeaten with a handful of decent wins.  Picking up a win against UMass on a neutral floor would be another good November win.

-DEPAUL AT BOSTON COLLEGE.  DePaul is unbeaten and already has a win at Iowa.  This could be their second notable road win of the year if they’re able to pick it up.

-OLE MISS AT MEMPHIS.  Ole Miss is unbeaten and we think they could possibly be tournament team.  This is a really big test for them on the road.  Memphis is still pretty solid even without Wiseman, and this game is a fun little rivalry.

-ARIZONA STATE VS SAINT JOHN’S (Hall of Fame Tip-Off).  Both these teams could really use this win.  Up until now both of them have only won buy games.

-PENN AT PROVIDENCE.  Providence is 4-1, but their one loss is rather inexplicable and probably rather damaging.  Northwestern is just a really bad basketball team to lose to.  Penn has a notable win at Alabama, but has been somewhat inconsistent all year long.  This one is hard to predict, but given the start that both are off to it kind of feels like there is a sense of urgency to this one.

-BELMONT AT SAINT LOUIS.  Belmont has won four straight since losing their opener.  If they could pull this one off on the road against a 4-1 Saint Louis team then they’ll be off to a very solid start. The Billikens have won 4 buy games thus far but failed their toughest test when they lost at home to Seton Hall.

-VERMONT AT CENTRAL CONNECTICUT.  This is a Vermont team that we think can land inside the bubble, and this is a very winnable (mostly) road game for them.

-SMU AT UNLV.  We weren’t really big at all on SMU before the season started, but they come into this one unbeaten, have a nice road win agains an Evansville team that won at Kentucky, and have another winnable road game tonight.  That ain’t a bad start!

BUY GAMES

-Florida A&M @ Seton Hall
-Bucknell @ Syracuse
-Little Rock @ NC State
-Saint Francis U @ Florida State
-Delaware State @ East Tennessee State
-Robert Morris @ Marquette
-Grambling @ Oregon State
-Oral Roberts @ Wichita State
-Yale @ Penn State
-FGCU @ VCU
-Cal State Bakersfield @ Gonzaga
-Jacksonville State @ Purdue
-Sam Houston State @ San Francisco
-Hampton @ Illinois
-Lehigh @ Saint Mary’s