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NEWS AND NOTES
-The story of the night seems to be how good Vermont looked at Virginia in a losing effort. After a total defensive grind in the first half, the second half saw more scoring (at least by the standards of playing against Virginia) and with less than five minutes to go Vermont was right in the game. Anthony Lamb hit 7 threes and ended up with 30pts, but there was just a lid on the basket even for him in the final minutes as Virginia held on. Vermont has reason to be optimistic. Just about every remaining game they have appears to be winnable, and although the margin for error for UTR teams is very small due to their limited opportunities at quality wins to impress the committee, it isn’t totally non-existent. If they can blow through the rest of the season and avoid stubbing their toes more than once or twice, they could be inside the bubble at the end.
-East Tennessee State, another UTR team that we’ve got our eyes on, went into Kansas and fell down by 18, but cut it as close as 5 in the second half, but just couldn’t keep pace. Kansas ended up winning 75-63 in an expected result where ETSU played well, but not well enough to beat a top 5 caliber team on the road.
-Gonzaga had more trouble with UT Arlington than one would expect, but held on to win. They had been blowing through their buy games prior to last night.
-Rhode Island trailed for much of the game against Nicholls, and just when I was ready to start praising Nicholls for picking up yet another scalp in a road buy game, Rhody finally got it together in the last three minutes and pulled out the close 70-65 win.
-I thought Furman would go into Alabama and win. I was wrong. They did get a lead in the second half, but Bama was clearly the better looking team and although it was a buy game I still think it was a nice win for the Tide.
-UTEP v New Mexico was a really fun game between two unbeaten teams. UTEP has been really bad for several years in a row now, and I don’t think their fans have quite yet figured out that they are good again and that it will be fun to come to the games again. There was a day where that place was rammed full every night, and we may be seeing that again soon. The game went back and forth, and ended in a 66-63 win for UTEP after a mid court shot to tie the game was waved off due to not getting it off before the buzzer. Had it counted you would have seen it all over SportsCenter this morning.
-Northwestern lost at home. To Radford. Northwestern’s home losses now include UC Riverside, Merrimack, and now Radford. But…they did beat Providence!! That certainly doesn’t have the makings of an NCAA Tournament profile, but it is shaping up to be a profile that is very much unlike any that we have ever seen before. Could this be a Stallings Award winner? Or did the win against Providence hurt their chances at winning the Stallings?
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-GEORGIA TECH AT GEORGIA. Georgia Tech, despite having a postseason ban, won their season/conference opener and comes into this game without a loss. Georgia is also unbeaten, but hasn’t really been tested yet. This is usually a fun game, and I’m glad that the two usually play it early in the season to get some excitement around the basketball programs this early. It should be another fun one tonight.
-BELMONT AT LIPSCOMB. It’s the Battle of the Boulevard!! This is one of the best/most unique UTR rivalries in all of college basketball, and since both teams have been really good in recent years it has made it a lot more fun. Lipscomb is just 1-3 on the season and is having to rebuild quite a bit, partly because their former coach is now the head man at Belmont. Belmont lost their opener, but has won three straight since then, including a decisive win at Boston College. Tonight is a chance to beat their rivals and pick up another road win, even if it is just three miles (I think) down the Boulevard!
-ARKANSAS STATE AT COLORADO STATE. I’m not a betting man, but if I were I wouldn’t bet on either one of these teams long term, but since both come into this game with just one loss then it’s worth paying attention to. For now.
-UC SANTA BARBARA AT OREGON STATE. This game won’t raise too many eyebrows, but it is one of the Big West favorites going on the road to face an Oregon State team that I still think can end up in the NCAA Tournament. So, maybe this is worth paying attention to a little more than what people realize.
-BYU AT BOISE STATE. This is a big game for BYU because it is a winnable road game. It’s a big win for Boise State because they desperately need to bounce back from a bad season last year, and they’ve already lost two games. A win tonight against a pretty good BYU team should help turn things around.
-SAN DIEGO STATE AT SAN DIEGO. I like this San Diego State team and think this is another winnable road game for them, but this is a rivalry and is sometimes more competitive than what most people expect it to be.
-SAINT MARY’S AT FRESNO STATE. SMC can pick up another win away from home, and the more of those a team has the better their resume looks.
BUY GAMES
-Chattanooga @ Florida State
-SC Upstate @ Louisville
-Alabama State @ Tennessee
-Rider @ UMass – Umass can get to 5-0
-SFA @ Rutgers
-Princeton @ Indiana
-Eastern Washington @ Boston College
-Delaware State @ Virginia Tech
-Columbia @ Saint John’s
-Cornell @ Syracuse
-Little Rock @ Memphis – Little Rock has won some road games, but nothing of this caliber
-Morehead State @ Missouri
-Cornell College (nondiv1) @ Northern Iowa
-SELA @ Tulsa
-High Point @ Saint Louis
-Elon @ North Carolina – not technically a buy game, but it practically is
-The Citadel @ Illinois
