News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Thursday, Feb 7th

Posted on February 7, 2019 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for our latest Under the Radar Video Podcast

NEWS AND NOTES

-Villanova needed overtime, but survived against Creighton to stay unbeaten in the Big East and hold on to their two game lead. Creighton was without starter Ty-Shon Alexander in this game, but they missed a chance to win in regulation after hitting only one of three free throws following a Nova foul on a 3-point attempt by the Bluejays.

-Wisconsin picked up another nice road win by knocking off Minnesota.  That’s six straight wins for the Badgers.  Whatever was causing them to slump a few weeks ago has been fixed.

-LSU picked up what is arguably their best win of the season by knocking off Mississippi State in overtime in a game that seesawed back and forth.  They now have two really nice road wins on their resume, and their stock is continuing to rise.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-HOUSTON AT UCF (American).  Houston has blown through the season, but this is one of the more challenging games they have left on their schedule.  As good as they’ve been, this would be their best true road win of the season up to this point, so it would help out their resume.  UCF is right on the bubble and could really use a big win like this to help out their resume, so there is quite a bit at stake for both teams.

-CINCINNATI AT MEMPHIS (American).  Cincinnati will likely end up in the top half of the bracket just so long as they continue to hold serve.  Winning at Memphis won’t be easy, but it’s still the kind of win you’d expect a first ballot team to be able to pull off.

-PENN STATE AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten).  Ohio State is in relatively good shape, but only relatively.  If they lose this game, which would be a home loss to a non-tournament team, then it would really hurt them.  It would also drop them to just 4-7 in conference, which is not a good pace to be on, so they really need to hold serve.

-WASHINGTON STATE AT ARIZONA STATE (Pac Twelve).  Arizona State is hovering around the bubble, so it really wouldn’t be good to lose at home to a team that’s as craptacular as Wazzu is.

-SAN FRANCISCO AT GONZAGA (West Coast).  If San Francisco wants any shot at all at an at-large bid, then I think they need to win this game.  If they lose, but win all the rest, that still won’t be enough.  It’s far easier said than done.  Gonzaga started off strong, and appears to be getting even stronger as the season goes along.

-IOWA AT INDIANA (Big Ten).  The Hoosiers ended a seven game losing streak in the most surprising way possible with a win at Michigan State.  They can really get completely turned around in the right direction if they can follow that up with a win tonight against Iowa.  Iowa is a team that’s improved as the year has gone on, and another road win on their resume would raise their stock even more.

-WASHINGTON AT ARIZONA (Pac Twelve).  Washington is unbeaten in the Pac Twelve and playing like they belong in the top half of the bracket.  If they can pick up two wins on this road trip (or really even just one) they’ll be running down hill the rest of the way.

UNDER THE RADAR

SAMFORD AT UNC GREENSBORO (SoCon).  UNCG is still in the hunt for first place, and is just one game back of Wofford.

-WOFFORD AT EAST TENNESSEE STATE (SoCon).  This is one of the tougher games that Wofford has remaining.  If they can pick this one up I think it strengthens (or at least verifies) their case for an at-large bid if they don’t win the SoCon Tournament.

-BELMONT AT EASTERN KENTUCKY (Ohio Valley).  Same story with Belmont.  If they win out I think the committee will take a serious look at them even if they don’t win the conference tournament.

-MARSHALL AT NORTH TEXAS (Conference USA).  CUSA is a logjam, and these are two of the teams that are in the mix.

-EASTERN ILLINOIS AT MURRAY STATE (Ohio Valley).  I’m not as big on Murray State as I was a few weeks ago.  A win tonight would be just their third against a div1 team with a winning record.

-OLD DOMINION AT UAB (Conference USA).  Two more teams, particularly Old Dominion, that can make quite a bit of noise in CUSA.

-JACKSONVILLE STATE AT UT MARTIN (Ohio Valley).  Jax State is in a four horse race for first place in the OVC.

-UTRGV AT GRAND CANYON (WAC).  GCU is in a tie for first place, and has most of their toughest games behind them.  They have a path to a first place finish.

-IDAHO AT MONTANA (Big Sky).  Despite some setbacks, Montana looks to be the best team in the Big Sky and can remain on pace for a first place finish if they hold serve tonight.

-NEW MEXICO STATE AT CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD (WAC).  New Mexico State is in a tie for first place, and CSUB is just one game behind them.  This one should be a fun one. This is a very critical road trip for the Aggies with Grand Canyon awaiting them on Saturday as well.

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Under The Radar Game of the Day: Wofford at East Tennessee State

Posted on February 7, 2019 by John Stalica

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

For Jon Teitel’s interview with former Hall of Fame and Old Dominion standout Ticha Penicheiro – CLICK HERE

Wofford (19-4, 11-0 SoCon) at East Tennessee State (19-5, 9-2 SoCon) – 7:00 PM EST (ESPN+)

Tonight’ UTR Game of the Day takes us to Johnson City, Tennessee where the Buccaneers of ETSU will play host to the white-hot Wofford Terriers in a pivotal showdown in the Southern Conference. Wofford is currently our #1 team among UTR teams, and an argument can certainly be made that they are playing better basketball right now than the Buffalo Bulls – a team still nestled in the Top 25 despite two losses in their last four games. The Terriers have won ten straight games themselves; their last loss was a 98-87 game played at Mississippi State. They did beat ETSU in their first meeting back in December by a 79-62 score. Fletcher Magee leads Wofford with a 19 point per game average; he scored 20 points in the Terriers’ win at Citadel last weekend.

ETSU comes into tonight’s game having won 11 out of their last 12 games; their only loss in that stretch was a 75-68 game at home to a UNC-Greensboro team that is also the defending SoCon champion and a candidate for an at-large bid should they themselves not win the conference tournament this season. Other notable wins for the Bucs include games at Georgia Southern, at Winthrop and at home against Norfolk State; they also had a double-digit lead at Creighton back in December before ultimately letting that one get away. Jeromy Rodriguez averages a double-double with 11.5 points a game and 11.3 rebounds a game.

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Under the Radar: February 6th

Posted on February 6, 2019 by David Griggs

Tonight’s feature conference is our personal favorite, the Northeast Conference!!  One game separates the top four teams after the first half of league play, and with home court advantage on the line for the conference tournament there is a lot at stake the rest of the way.  After that we run through all 22 UTR leagues and discuss the race in the America East between Vermont and Stony Brook, Lipscomb’s impressive showing in ASun play, the strength at the top of the SoCon with the top four teams, the tight four team race in the OVC, and how Belmont and Murray State have been getting all the love, but Austin Peay and Jacksonville State also have a good chance of winning the league, and much more.  And as we do every week, 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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Call from the Hall: HoopsHD interviews new Hall of Famer Ticha Penicheiro

Posted on February 6, 2019 by Jon Teitel

On Monday the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame announced the 7 members of its Class of 2019: Ticha Penicheiro, Ruth Riley Hunter, Valerie Still, Carolyn Bush Roddy, Beth Bass, Joan Cronan, and Nora Lynn Finch. Ticha Penicheiro has to be considered 1 of the greatest PGs in the history of women’s basketball. She was a 2-time All-American at Old Dominion, won the 1998 Wade Trophy as the best D-1 player in the nation, was a 4-time WNBA All-Star, won the 2005 WNBA title with Sacramento, and led the WNBA in AST an amazing 7 times. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with the brand-new Hall of Famer about making the 1997 NCAA title game and winning the 2005 WNBA title.

You grew up in Portugal: how did you 1st get into basketball? My dad/brother both played basketball so I just started following them everywhere. Basketball was love at 1st sight for me even though I was often the only girl playing among the boys.

In the 1997 NCAA title game as a player at Old Dominion you had a 9-PT loss to Tennessee: how close did you come to winning it all, and where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? It probably ranks #1 or #2: I also lost the 2006 WNBA Finals to Detroit. ODU is where my American journey started and I really enjoyed being there. We faced a Stanford team in the Final 4 who many considered to be the favorite to win it all.  We beat them in OT and then I think that we just ran out of gas against the Vols 2 nights later.

You finished your career as the school’s all-time leader with 591 STL and still hold the WNBA single-game record for most STL in a game with 10: what is the secret to being a great defender? Just having the will to defend. Most people talk about my passing but I took a lot of pride in playing defense and guarding the best perimeter players on the other team. I had a lot of defensive-minded coaches, starting with my dad, and I really enjoyed playing defense.

You were a 2-time All-American/2-time conference POY and won the 1998 Wade Trophy: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors? It was great! I really did not know what to expect when arriving at college: kids today can do a lot of online research but it was kind of a step in the dark for me. I did not know how hard the conference would be or what our team would be like: I did not even know what the Wade Trophy was until someone explained it to me! I just tried to play team basketball the right way and have fun while doing it.

You were a 4-time WNBA All-Star with Sacramento: how were you able to play your best against the best players in the world? Great coaching/teammates and a lot of hours in the gym. I took a lot of pride in winning: the 1st couple of years in Sacramento were kind of rough but we eventually got better. Whenever you receive individual accolades in a team sport it is always a credit to your coaches/teammates.

You remain #2 in WNBA history with 2599 career AST and led the league in AST 7 times: what is the key to being a great PG? Court vision: being able to see things before they happen. You also need to have good chemistry with your teammates: sometimes my passes would hit my teammates in the head(!) but every AST involves someone else putting the ball into the basket.

In 2005 you won a WNBA championship with the Monarchs: what did it mean to you to win a title? Everything: that is what you play for! We had a great fan base and were so close for so many years but just could not overcome the LA Sparks. I will never forget Game 4 and the moment of winning a title at home: it is probably the highlight of my career.

Your father João was a basketball player/coach and your brother Paulo plays pro basketball in Portugal: who is the best athlete in the family? I would probably have to say myself but I did not get to see my dad play a lot. My brother always shot and I always passed: I tell my parents that I wish they would have mixed up the genes a bit! I owe a lot to my brother because he helped me get my start in the sport.

After retiring you became the Director of Women’s Basketball and a certified agent for Sports International Group: how did you 1st get into the industry, and what is the best part of being an agent? I started to think about my post-playing career even before I retired. I noticed that there were not a lot of former players/women in the industry and I wanted to help become a mentor to female athletes. I try to help guide them through that world because I know firsthand how the experiences go. When I recruit players I tell them that it is a step down from college where they are taking charter flights and staying in nice hotels (unlike the men’s game). The sport has given me so much more than I could ever give back to it so I just try to pay it forward.

Earlier this week you were announced as an inductee into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame: where does that rank among the highlights of your career? It has to be pretty high. The people already in there have contributed significantly to the game. It is still surreal but the more I talk about it the more real it becomes. Basketball is not as big a sport in Portugal as it is in the US but to come here and have the career I had is crazy. I am very honored/humbled/proud to represent my country. Anything is possible when you work hard and follow your dreams.

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Under The Radar Game of the Day: Cal State-Fullerton at UC-Irvine

Posted on February 6, 2019 by John Stalica

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

Cal State-Fullerton (9-12, 5-2 Big West) at UC-Irvine (19-5, 7-1 Big West) – 10:00 PM EST (ESPN3)

Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to Orange County, California where the UC-Irvine Anteaters will host the Cal State-Fullerton Titans in a battle for Big West supremacy. Fullerton is in a tie for 2nd place with UCSB as of today and both teams are one and a half games behind UC-Irvine for the conference lead. Fullerton lost their first two games in conference play (including at home to the Anteaters), but have since won five straight games to get back in the race. Two of those wins came at home against UCSB and Cal State-Northridge. Both Kyle Allman Jr. and Khalil Ahmad average over 18 points a game for the Titans.

UC-Irvine has also won five straight games coming into tonight’s game, and avenged their only conference loss with an 82-80 win at Long Beach State over the weekend. Tommy Rutherford hit the game-winner against the 49ers with under three seconds to play in regulation to give UC-Irvine that win. Tonight is also the beginning of a four-game homestand for the Anteaters; all three of their remaining road games will be against the bottom half of the league.

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Wednesday, Feb 6th

Posted on February 6, 2019 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

-Michigan State…..WTF??!!  Four days ago we were talking about a team that was playing like a #1 seed.  Now we are talking about a team who is coming off a home loss to Indiana, who had lost seven in a row, but okay flukes happen.  Now they go on the road and lose to Illinois….WHO IS EVEN WORSE!!!!  What a meltdown by the Spartans.  They’re still in good shape, and if they get things turned back round it will just be a blip on the radar and they’ll still be within the parameters of a protected seed, but this has NOT been their week!

-Duke played with their food in the first half against Boston College and actually trailed at halftime, but they were not about to lose to BC for a second straight year. They blew out the Eagles in the 2nd half and ended up winning comfortably to get some momentum for this weekend’s big tilt at UVa.

-Another big upset was Saint John’s taking down Marquette on the road.  This is far and away the biggest win for the Johnnies this year, and in the Chris Mullin era.  I know they won at Nova last year, but they weren’t in position to make the tournament last year like they are this year. This was also the first time Marquette lost at home in the new FiServ Forum.

-Kansas State basically led tip to buzzer against rival Kansas.  The Jayhawks were in the game, and even had the lead at certain points, but never really in control.  This is interesting because Kansas is now two games back of first place in the Big 12 standings, and they still only have one true road win on the season.  To be fair to Kansas, if this is the year they fail to finish first, then it needs to come with an asterisk given how good this team was prior to the injuries, but it’s looking more and more like this is the year the reign ends.

-Florida State picked up a very nice road win at Syracuse where they just blew them off the court.  That’s four straight wins for the Seminoles.  They have certainly stabilized what appeared to be a crumbling resume just a few weeks ago.

-Arkansas lived dangerously at home against Vandy, but did end up pulling out a 3-point win at home. Now the Hogs have to travel to a dangerous South Carolina team that is much improved but still well outside of the NCAA Tournament picture themselves.

-While Auburn’s win at home against Florida isn’t surprising, what IS surprising is that this is the first time in 11 tries since 1999 that the Tigers beat the Gators IN Auburn.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-UCONN AT TEMPLE (American).  Temple is right on the bubble.  UConn is not.  Temple is at home.  You do the math.  This is a game where the Owls have to hold serve.

-MARYLAND AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten).  Nebraska is in the toilet, but they still have a road to the NCAA Tournament if they can turn things around and string together a few wins.  Maryland is looking like a probable tournament team and can help themselves out even more by adding another road win to their resume.

-CLEMSON AT GEORGIA TECH (ACC).  Clemson needs to win a few games in a row just to get caught back up to the pack, but the opportunities for them are definitely there.

-TEXAS A&M AT OLE MISS (SEC).  Ole Miss is coming off a loss to rival Mississippi State, but is still in reasonably good shape so long as they’re able to hold serve in games like this.

-RHODE ISLAND AT DAVIDSON (Atlantic Ten).  We will highlight this not because we think Davidson can play their way onto the bubble (although I suppose it is possible), but because I feel Davidson is playing better than anyone else in the conference and while they may not have a tournament resume over the course of an entire season, they are at least playing like an NCAA Tournament caliber team right now.

-VCU AT GEORGE WASHINGTON (Atlantic Ten).  VCU is the team in the Atlantic Ten with the best resume, and therefore has the best chance at an at-large.  They’ll have to basically win out in order to get it, though.

-GEORGETOWN AT PROVIDENCE (Big East).  I’m about ready to give up on both of these teams, but having said that they’re both about a four game winning streak away from being inside the bubble, and that certainly isn’t totally impossible.

-CREIGHTON AT VILLANOVA (Big East).  Based on last night’s events, Nova will have a two game lead in the Big East standings if they’re able to win tonight.  They’ll also remain on a solid pace to end up as a protected seed.

-BAYLOR AT TEXAS (Big 12).  Texas has been very hot and very cold throughout the season, and could use a win like this to give them some stability.  Baylor, after getting off to a horrendous start, is suddenly in a battle for a first place finish in the conference.

-WISCONSIN AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten).  It’s a conference rivalry between two probable tournament teams that are looking to add a solid win onto their resumes.  Wisconsin went through a bit of a slump, but has turned things around and could even play their way into a protected seed if they keep going like they have been.

-LSU AT MISSISSIPPI STATE (SEC).  Mississippi State had a good weekend by picking up what was perhaps their best win of the year at Ole Miss.  LSU is coming off their first conference loss and while they’re still in good shape, they don’t have a true road win against a team that’s as good as Mississippi State, so there is quite a bit to be gained by them tonight as well.

-GEORGIA AT ALABAMA (SEC).  Alabama is playing with the bubble a little too much and needs to be able to hold serve at home tonight.

-WYOMING AT AIR FORCE (Mountain West, Front Range).  We at Hoops HD Love the Front Range!!!!  And we may be the only ones who are actually watching this game!!

-OKLAHOMA STATE AT TCU (Big 12).  TCU has a bloated record, but when it comes to quality wins they are severely lacking.  Their margin for error is not that big, and they need to hold serve at home against non-tournament caliber teams.

-NEVADA AT COLORADO STATE (Mountain West).  Nevada has been rampaging through league play, and that will likely continue tonight.

UNDER THE RADAR

-LIPSCOMB AT NORTH FLORIDA (Atlantic Sun).  Same story with Lipscomb.  If they win out through the regular season I think they should be in with or without the automatic bid.

-STONY BROOK AT BINGHAMTON (America East).  Stony Brook continues to lead the nation in most true road wins, and has a chance at another one tonight, not to mention trying to keep pace with Vermont for first place in the league.

-MAINE AT VERMONT (America East).  Vermont is in the driver’s seat for first place, which would mean home court advantage throughout the conference tournament.

-CAL STATE FULLERTON AT UC IRVINE (Big West).  UC Irvine has their toughest games behind them, and has a clear shot at winning out in Big West play.

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