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Under The Radar: Monday, December 23rd (and other News, Notes, and Games)

Posted on December 23, 2019 by John Stalica

For our weekly and belated UTR Podcast recorded last night – CLICK HERE

For Jon Teitel’s coverage of the GW-Harvard game – CLICK HERE

Canisius (5-5, 0-0) at Siena (3-5, 0-0) – 6:00 PM EST (ESPN3)

Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to Albany, New York for the MAAC opener between the Canisius Golden Griffins and the hometown Siena Saints. After winning four straight games towards the end of November, Canisius has stumbled of late with losses in three of their last four games. All of those losses were on the road – which may not bode well for the Griffs tonight. Malik Johnson is averaging 14.4 points a game and 5.3 assists a game.

Both Siena and Canisius have wins against St. Bonaventure and Bucknell thus far, although the Saints have played a tougher schedule that also includes losses at Xavier, Harvard and Yale so far. The win at home against Bucknell also broke a four-game losing streak that included losses at Colgate and Cal Poly. Elijah Burns has averaged 16 points a game and 6.3 rebounds a game through the first eight games for the Saints.

We will also be taking our Holiday Break from this column after today – our next UTR game will be on Friday this week. That said, be on the lookout for our regular Hoops HD Report podcast later tonight and enjoy your holidays!

OTHER NEWS NOTES AND GAMES

-Virginia fell at home to South Carolina. Although they were ranked in the top ten, when you look at Virginia’s profile it is suddenly lacking, at least by top ten/protected seed standards. I think they’ll end up kicking it into gear after Christmas, but they have had their struggles so far.

-Xavier picked up a really nice road win at TCU. It was probably their best win of the year when you consider that it was a true road game, and how good they looked yesterday. It was the first time all season they’d looked like a tournament caliber team.

-Duquesne is no longer unbeaten. They fell to UAB in the Saint Pete’s Shootout by a score of 77-68.

-The second round of the Diamond Head Classic is today. Houston and Washington both won yesterday and are still on pace to meet in the championship game Wednesday. Washington will get a bit of a test from a pretty good Hawaii team tonight, so that one will be worth staying up to watch. The final round of the tournament will be on Christmas Day.

-GEORGIA STATE AT SMU. SMU has an impressive 8-2 record, but as of now they don’t have much meat on their resume and need to make sure they hold serve tonight.

-SAN FRANCISCO AT FRESNO STATE. It’s a winnable road game for the Dons, and if they can continue to string together wins they could end up hovering somewhere around the bubble come March.

-GRAMBLING AT DAYTON – buy game

Posted in CBB on TV, Daily Rundown, Under the Radar | Tagged canisius, MAAC, Siena, under the radar | Comments Off

Under the Radar: December 22nd

Posted on December 22, 2019 by David Griggs

Tonight’s highlighted conference is the SoCon, which contains three teams that have a really good shot at landing inside the bubble and making a lot of noise in March. East Tennessee State just got a big win at LSU, and Furman and UNC Greensboro are having big years as well.

After that we look at the other 21 UTR conferences and discuss how the America East and Big West are kind of fading, how Rider has been a bit of a surprise in the Metro Atlantic, how tough the MAC is looking, and how we expect Northern Iowa, Stephen F Austin, and Liberty to dominate their leagues. And as always, we finish off with this week’s UTR Top Ten

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

Posted in Podcasts, Under the Radar, Videocasts | Comments Off

Crimson Peaking: HoopsHD is in the house for Harvard-GW

Posted on December 22, 2019 by Jon Teitel

HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel took a break from the Georgetown beat to check out the Harvard-GW game yesterday:

The pregame meal was Domino’s and a bottle of water: it may not be fancy but it certainly got the job done on a cold Saturday afternoon. Winter break at GW meant there were plenty of good seats available but at least the band played on while the mascot danced:

Let’s tip things off:

My perch up in the 200 level meant that I could peek right into the Colonials huddle: I feel like a real Patriot! I will not give away any secret strategy but 1 innovation that caught my eye is how Coach Jamion Christian’s staff uses a chart of their opponent’s players during timeouts. It is a simple thing but for a visual learner like me it seems simply ingenious:

Harvard will only play 1 home game from November 15-January 3 and it showed during the 1st half as the team looked a bit ragged at times. They were both inaccurate (1-7 from behind the arc) and unaggressive (2-4 from the FT line) as Harvard coach Tommy Amaker tried to do some problem-solving during a timeout:

The player who kept them in the game on offense was PF Chris Lewis, who dominated inside with dunks/layups/old-fashioned 3-PT plays:

On defense the key guy was SG Rio Haskett, who collected a trio of STL and was even able to convert some of them into PTS on the other end. For a player who comes off the bench he has very active hands and always appears to be having fun on the court.

1 familiar name on the GW roster is FR PG Jameer Nelson Jr. (son of the 2004 national POY at St. Joe’s). The good news is that he is not just living off of his father’s name: he can actually play and his layup at the buzzer gave his team a 39-37 halftime lead. The bad news is that he went 0-3 from the FT line despite entering the day as an 81.5% FT shooter:

The shooting star for the Colonials was SG Maceo Jack, who made a 3-PT shot on 3 straight possessions during 1 stretch to really get the crowd into the game. The passing star was SR PG Armel Potter: in addition to using his speed to get into the lane and make a bunch of layups, he also tied his career-high for a game with 7 AST in the 1st half. Coach Christian began the 2nd half with a quick heart-to-heart with Potter on the bench:

Coach Christian has a very short rotation so when his super-sub Justin Williams collided with Harvard’s Bryce Aiken with 13 minutes left in the game and had to go to the locker room you got the sense that the starting 5 would have to play even more minutes than usual. The other big injury occurred off the court, as 6’10” PF Ace Stallings had a huge BLK that sent the ball into the stands…and right into the face of a helpless member of the GW dance team. She jogged off the baseline to collect herself and thankfully it did not appear to require a trip to the ER: no photo available.

The refs helped out with about 10 minutes by whistling 4 different Crimson players for fouls during a 19-second span: needless to say Coach Amaker looked like he had received a lump of coal in his stocking:

Jack went ice-cold in the 2nd half (a scoreless 20 minutes due to 0-5 shooting from behind the arc) but his teammates both young and old picked up the slack. FR SF Jamison Battle continued his weekly improvement with a trio of 2nd half threes to tie his career-high of 18 PTS:

Potter kept making both layups and smart passes to finish with 22 PTS/10 AST in what has to be the best all-around game of his career. Unfortunately, big man Arnaldo Toro was unable to provide much interior assistance after picking up his 3rd foul just 2 minutes into the 2nd stanza and then his 4th foul with 12 minutes remaining in the game. With Toro on the bench Lewis was able to keep making dunk after layup while finishing with an efficient 22 PTS/10-13 FG and not a single turnover. He also got help from his fellow SR big man Robert Baker, who converted a pretty alleyoop from Aiken and a couple of REB/putbacks to end up with 14 PTS/6-8 FG/3 BLK. Harvard only made 2 threes all day but won 88-75 thanks to superb FT shooting (16-18), a ton of PTS in the paint (62-28 advantage), and some great bench scoring (26-2 advantage).

Coach Amaker did not hold a postgame press conference but I asked Coach Christian how he balances his desire to have his best players in the game while also keeping them somewhat rested, as his 3 top scorers each played the full 40 minutes. He said that it is a battle every game due to a variety of factors: who is healthy, how much time off they have before their next game, etc. He lamented that having Williams pick up 3 fouls in less than 3 minutes of action before getting injured hurt his team because when he is on the floor he provides such great understanding of the game. He also admitted that he would love to get his starters’ minutes down to 32/game as his optimal #:

That’s it for now: happy holidays to all!

Posted in CBB | Tagged GW, Harvard | Comments Off

News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Sunday, Dec 22nd

Posted on December 22, 2019 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE

-Number One went down! Again! Kansas was behind Villanova for most of the game, but it was close. In the end, the Jayhawks missed a game winning opportunity in the final seconds and Nova held on for the upset and for their biggest win of the season. This is the 5th time a #1 team has lost this year, which means Gonzaga will likely be the 6th #1 team of the season when the rankings come out on Monday. Chances are Gonzaga will remain ranked #1 for much longer than anyone else has. No one remaining on the Zags’s schedule is currently in the rankings.

-Ohio State knocked off Kentucky yesterday in another good game between top ten teams. Kentucky does appear to be improving, particularly when it comes to shooting the ball, but they came up short against a very good Ohio State team, which was their second straight loss. Kentucky’s next game is against Louisville. In the past we’ve seen them struggle, then play well and win that game, and then be on solid ground the rest of the season. Once again, that will be a big one next week for Kentucky.

-Colorado got a huge win in an overtime thriller against Dayton, which is hands down the biggest win of the season for the Buffs so far. Dayton has lost two games this year, and both were overtime thrillers. As good as the Flyers are, they still haven’t beaten a team that looks like they will decisively be inside the bubble, which could end up hurting them when it comes to seeding later on.

-Saint John’s knocked off Arizona in the Al Attles Hall of Fame Classic in what was one of the more surprising results of the day (especially with Mustapha Heron not playing). The Johnnies jumped out to a big first half lead and were able to hold on as Arizona made a run at them, but couldn’t get the win.

-Butler picked up yet another impressive win as they knocked off Purdue in a game where they really never had to sweat. Butler is ranked in the teens, and will likely continue to rise in the polls.

-San Diego State improved to 12-0 after absolutely blowing Utah off the court. This is the same Utah team that just beat Kentucky a few nights ago. San Diego State is DAMN good!

-Indiana held on to beat Notre Dame and improve to 11-1. They did blow a big lead in this game, but what’s important is that they held on to win, and it was a win that was (mostly) away from home.

-Wichita State is now 10-1 after their home win against a really good VCU team. People forgot about the Shockers last year. Well, they are back! Here’s the thing. They finished last season 14-4 with all four of those losses being by ten points or less. Two were against ranked teams. So, they’re really 24-5 in their last 29 games, yet people STILL seem to be overlooking them because of how poor they were at the beginning of last season. I would advise not overlooking them anymore!!

-Illinois continues to be a Jekyll and Hyde story. Some nights they look great and beat ranked teams. Other nights they lose to teams like Missouri, who have struggled all year long.

-Providence blew Texas off the floor. It was a complete 180 from everything the Friars have done this season up until yesterday! I guess the same can be said for the Longhorns, only their 180 was good to bad instead of bad to good. Is this a sign that Providence may actually turn out to be the team we thought they were after all?

-Utah State picked up a really nice win against Florida in the Orange Bowl Classic. They really needed this for their resume. Florida, on the other hand, continues to show signs of being really good, but never consistently looking really good.

-Minnesota got a really nice road win against Oklahoma State. The Gophers are a modest 6-5, but they’ve also won three of their last four and knocked off Ohio State and Oklahoma State during that stretch.

-Saint Louis is another team that’s quietly flying under the radar, but that people need to sit up and look at. They picked up a road win at Kansas State yesterday, which improved them to 10-2, gave them their first true road win, and their third win away from home.

-Creighton picked up a really big road win at Arizona State yesterday, which is probably their signature win of the season. The Bluejays are now 10-2 and you have to start paying attention to them.

-USC knocked off LSU in a close game to improve to 10-2 on the season. They are a team that’s kind of flying under the radar as well.

-Iowa blew a 15-point 2nd half lead against Cincinnati, but came back to hold off the Bearcats in a neutral-court game in Chicago. The Hawkeyes continue to look like a potential noisemaker in the Big 10. Cincinnati has a lot of work to do in the American this year if they want to get back to the NCAA Tournament this year.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-SOUTH CAROLINA AT VIRGINIA. South Carolina has looked good at times this season, and is actually 2-0 in true road games. Virginia has just one loss, but has struggled offensively this year. UVA should hold serve and get the win, but it may be more competitive than what some are expecting.

-NEW MEXICO STATE AT MISSISSIPPI STATE. New Mexico State still can’t get healthy. If they can, then they will be a force to be reckoned with, but today will most likely end up looking like another buy game.

-HOUSTON VS PORTLAND (Diamond Head Classic). This tournament is a chance for Houston to finally break out onto the national scene. Granted, today’s game won’t end up looking all that impressive, but if they can win the even then their resume should improve.

-XAVIER AT TCU. This is a big game for both teams. Both have good records, but both are lacking in notable wins. This is a resume building opportunity for two teams that need to build up their resumes.

-BALL STATE VS WASHINGTON (Diamond Head Classic). Ball State has looked good at times, but is likely way overmatched today against a really strong Washington team.

-UTEP AT HAWAI’I (Diamond Head Classic). UTEP has shown signs of improvement, but they are still looking for their first win away from home. Both teams will have to beat a team like Washington or Houston in order to make an impression on the committee.

BUY GAMES (and equivalencies)

-Purdue Fort Wayne @ Iowa State
-Lafayette @ Rutgers
-New Hampshire @ UConn
-Marshall @ Northern Iowa
-Houston Baptist @ New Mexico
-Duquesne vs UAB – Saint Pete Shootout
-Richmond vs Radford – DC Holiday Hoops Fest
-Prairie View A&M @ Seton Hall
-The Citadel @ NC State

Posted in News and Notes | Comments Off

Under The Radar Game of the Day: Sunday, December 22nd

Posted on December 22, 2019 by John Stalica

UTEP (8-2, 5-2 D1) at Hawai’i (7-3, 6-3 D1) – approx. 11:30 PM EST (ESPN2)

The last of the major exempt tournaments get underway tonight – the finale of the Diamond Head Classic involves the hometown Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors and the UTEP Miners. Hawai’i has gotten off to a decent start at home with their most notable win coming against San Francisco. Their only losses were against South Dakota in the Rainbow Classic (in November) along with road losses at Illinois and at Oregon. Eddie Stansberry averages close to 20 points a game for Hawai’i.

While UTEP did dabble a bit in the pastry cart back in November, they did get some notable wins at home against both New Mexico and New Mexico State back in November. They also won the Sun Bowl Invitational at home with wins against North Carolina A&T and UC-Irvine, although they did lose at Houston in a nonbracketed game in their most recent outing. Bryson Williams averages 19.6 points a game and 7 rebounds a game for the Miners.

Posted in CBB on TV, Daily Rundown, Under the Radar | Tagged Big West, Conference USA, Diamond Head Classic, Hawaii, under the radar, utep | Comments Off

Under The Radar Game of the Day: Saturday, December 21st

Posted on December 21, 2019 by John Stalica

For today’s News, Notes and Highlighted Games – CLICK HERE

Wright State (9-3, 7-3 D1) at Toledo (8-3, 7-3 D1) – 2:00 PM EST (ESPN+)

Today’s UTR Game of the Day takes place in the Glass City where the hometown Toledo Rockets will host the Wright State Raiders. The Raiders will be playing their second true road game of the year – their first was a win at Tennessee Tech. In addition to a third-place finish at the Gulf Coast Showcase, they also beat Western Kentucky at home earlier this month. The Raiders are without Loudon Love until at least New Year’s because of a fractured elbow, but Bill Wampler (14.5 PPG) has taken over as the team’s leader in his absence.

Toledo comes into today’s game with a bit of a surprising loss against Kansas City, although there is a familiar head coach for the Roos this year (former Wright State head coach Billy Donlon). While the Rockets have won consistently in the noncon portion of their schedule, their biggest missed opportunity came at Notre Dame where they blew a lead at the end of regulation and lost by 2 points in overtime. Toledo does have a very experienced starting lineup led by Marreon Jackson (16.9 PPG) and Luke Knapke (16.8 PPG/8.5 RPG).

Posted in CBB on TV, Daily Rundown, Under the Radar | Tagged Horizon League, Mid-American Conference, Toledo, under the radar, Wright State | Comments Off