Under The Radar Game of the Day: American at UMBC

Posted on November 24, 2018 by John Stalica

American (2-1) at UMBC (4-2, 3-2 D1) – 1:00 PM EST (ESPN3)

It’s Beltway vs. Beltway in today’s UTR Game of the Day – the American Eagles make the trip up I-95 to face off against the Maryland-Baltimore County Retrievers. American beat New Hampshire 68-44 in their most recent outing, but their most noteworthy result so far has been a win against a George Mason that was expected to be a contender in the Atlantic 10 this season. Sa’eed Nelson leads the Eagles through 3 games with 16 points per game and 6 rebounds a game.

UMBC is back home after playing 3 games in 4 days in the Bahamas (a round-robin Bimini Jam event) where they defeated Air Force and High Point but lost to South Dakota. They did finish 1st in the event via tiebreaker after finishing 2-1 along with High Point. 4 players currently average double figures in scoring for the Retrievers; Joe Sherburne leads the way with 12.8 points a game.

Posted in Under the Radar | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Under The Radar Game of the Day: American at UMBC

News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Friday, Nov 23rd

Posted on November 23, 2018 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day between Delaware and UNC Greensboro – CLICK HERE

-Texas picked up the biggest win of the day in what was perhaps the most exciting game of the day.  They fell behind by double digits early to North Carolina, but fought their way back into it and actually controlled most of the second half.  It was a huge early season statement win for the Longhorns.  They came into the week unranked.  They will almost assuredly be ranked next week.

-Michigan’s blowout win over UCLA was surprising not so much because of the win, but because they seemed to have a 20pt lead throughout the entire game.

And….that was how most of the games played out yesterday.  I hope you found some good football to watch, because basically all but two of the basketball games yesterday were boring.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-DAYTON VS OKLAHOMA (Battle 4 Atlantis).  Dayton really hung in with Virginia yesterday, whereas Oklahoma pretty much got blasted by Wisconsin.  Dayton seems to need this a lot more than Wisky because the way the A10 is shaping up their opportunities for notable wins are gonna be few and far between the rest of the year.

-VILLANOVA VS OKLAHOMA STATE (Advocare Invitational).  Nova looked good yesterday, but still doesn’t have a notable win on their resume.  This would be their first, and even then it’s kinda hard to say how much it will help them because we really aren’t sure how good the Pokes are gonna end up being this year.  But for now, Oklahoma State comes in at a respectable 3-1.

-VIRGINIA VS WISCONSIN (Battle 4 Atlantis).  Two ranked teams that have looked really solid going at it today.  Neither team has a loss, but this is also the biggest test for each of them so far.

-MIAMI FL VS FRESNO STATE (Wooden Legacy).  Fresno State looked impressive in their win yesterday, and can continue to build up their resume if they can continue to play well in this event.  They face an unbeaten Miami FL team today, who’s also looking to make a case for themselves.

-NORTH CAROLINA VS UCLA (Las Vegas Invitational).  North Carolina lost a thriller to Texas yesterday, and UCLA was just blown out of the arena by Michigan State.  Still, it’s a neutral floor match-up between two current top 20 teams.  The fact that it’s a third place game doesn’t lessen or change how the committee will look at it.

-LSU VS FLORIDA STATE (Adcovare Invitational).  We’ve got another neutral floor top 20 match up.  Neither team has lost yet, and both have played some fairly decent competition, but this will be the toughest test for either one so far.  It would be a really nice resume win for whoever pulls it off.

-KENT STATE AT VANDERBILT.  Kent State comes into this game with just one loss, and can make a pretty nice statement if they’re able to pull this one out on the road.  Vandy comes in at 4-0 with a pretty nice win out at USC on their resume already.

-MARSHALL AT MARYLAND.  Both teams are unbeaten, and we’re expecting Marshall to be really tough in C-USA this year.  They haven’t really been tested this season, so it will be interesting to see what they can do on the road against the Terps.

-TEXAS VS MICHIGAN STATE (Las Vegas Invitational).  Texas picked up a huge win against North Carolina yesterday, and although they’re not in the rankings I think they’ve shown they are a top 25 caliber team.  Michigan State blasted UCLA in their game and is coming in with a ton of momentum.

-CHARLESTON VS UAB (Advocare Invitational).  Neither team looked all that impressive yesterday, and both will need to build up some momentum and go on a run if they want any chance at all at impressing the committee.  A win today would be a nice start.

-GEORGE MASON VS CINCINNATI (Emerald Coast Classic).  Mason has had a very disappointing start to the season when you consider what their expectations were, but they have won two in a row coming into this one.  Cincinnati is trying to generate some momentum for themselves as well.

-LOUISVILLE VS MARQUETTE (NIT Season Tip-Off).  Both teams care coming off impressive efforts against top 5 opponents, but neither managed the win.  It’s very possible that these are two NCAA Tournament teams, and whenever you can win away from home against a tournament caliber team, it’s good for the resume.

-TENNESSEE VS KANSAS (NIT Season Tip-Off).  This is our third game of the year where two top five teams are going at it on a neutral floor!  Both teams have looked great coming into this game.  Winning a game like this would be a #1 seed caliber win.  I like that we’ve gotten to see this game, and two other games like this, this early in the season.

-BAYLOR VS OLE MISS (Emerald Coast Classic).  Neither team has really done anything impressive, both have a chance to make a little bit of noise in this tournament.

-BUTLER VS FLORIDA (Battle 4 Atlantis).  Both teams have been tested, but neither team has really passed any of those tests.  This is a bit of a desperation game, or at least November’s version of a desperation game.

-UMASS VS NEVADA (Las Vegas Holiday Invitational).  UMass CLOBBERED Southern Illinois in one of the more surprising results of the day.  They come in at 4-2 with a chance to knock off a top ten team on a neutral floor.  I don’t know how realistic their chance is, but they at least get a chance.

-SETON HALL VS HAWAII (Wooden Legacy).  Both teams picked up nice wins yesterday, and have a chance to keep that momentum going with another win today.

-TULSA VS SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (Las Vegas Holiday Invitational).  Southern Illinois is good, but they have quite frankly run out of strikes, and it ain’t even December yet.  They cannot afford to drop anymore games to what appear to be sub-NIT caliber teams.

 

BUY GAMES (and other games worth mentioning, but not higlighting)

-Robert Morris @ Purdue
-Alcorn State @ Liberty
-Boston U @ Rutgers
-Hoston Baptist @ Wake Forest
-James Madison @ Oakland – JMU can improve to 5-1 and pick up their 3rd true road win
-Chattanooga @ Michigan
-Prairie View A&M @ Georgia Tech
-La Salle vs Northwestern – Wooden Legacy
-Tennessee State @ Kentucky
-UC Davis @ Indiana
-UNC Greensboro @ Delaware – both teams come in with 4-1 records
-Cleveland State @ Ohio State
-UT Arlington @ Arkansas
-Grand Canyon vs Utah – Wooden Legacy
-Southern Utah @ UNLV

Posted in News and Notes | Comments Off on News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Friday, Nov 23rd

Under The Radar Game of the Day: UNC-Greensboro at Delaware

Posted on November 23, 2018 by John Stalica

For up to the minute results for In Season Exempt Tournaments – CLICK HERE

UNC-Greensboro (4-1, 3-1 D1) at Delaware (4-1, 2-1 D1) – 7:00 PM EST (Watch Live)

Tonight’s matchup is the first of the 3-game round robin Delaware Invitational between the UNC-Greensboro Spartans and Delaware Blue Hens. (Both teams will also play Louisiana Tech this weekend.) UNC-G comes in on a modest 3-game winning streak with wins against UNC-Wilmington, Johnson & Wales and Prairie View. Francis Alonso leads the Spartans with 21 points a game through the first 5 games of the year for UNC-G.

All of Delaware’s D-1 games have been played on the road so far this year – they had a close loss to Maryland in their opener along with an overtime win at Saint Peter’s and a win at Cornell. Eric Carter leads Delaware with 18.6 points a game and 9 rebounds a game through their first 5 games this year; Kevin Anderson also averages 15.2 points a game for the Blue Hens.

Posted in Under the Radar | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Under The Radar Game of the Day: UNC-Greensboro at Delaware

News, Notes, and Highlighted Games, Thursday, Nov 22nd, THANKSGIVING EDITION!!

Posted on November 22, 2018 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!!!  Eat lots of food!!  Watch lots of hoops!!  and, watch our latest Under the Radar Podcast!!  CLICK HERE

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

-In case you’re living under a rock, the big news from yesterday was Gonzaga’s exciting win over Duke to win the Maui Invitational, and perhaps take over the #1 ranking next week depending on what happens out at the NIT.  The Zags led by as much as 16 in the second half, but Duke came charging back and had multiple chances to either tie or win in the final minute, but couldn’t get it done.  After such a well played game, Gonzaga missed four straight freethrows and Duke missed two (albeit contested) layups in the last thirty seconds or so.

-Marquette hung with Kansas for a while, and Louisville was right in there with Tennessee for about 30 mins, but neither pulled off the upset, which gives us another top five match-match up (our third of the year!!) in the Preseason NIT (or whatever the hell they’re calling it) on Friday.

-Creighton pulled off a HUGE win by knocking off Clemson in the Caymand Islands Classic.  They won the event, but much more importantly they got a big OOC neutral floor win on their resume.

-Pittsburgh pulled off a bit of a surprise in their win over Saint Louis.  All of a sudden last year’s Stallings Award winners are 6-0 with a nice neutral floor win on their resume.  Pitt’s decision to get rid of the guy that was so bad that we at Hoops HD named an award for being bad after him is starting to pay off!!

-Oklahoma picked up a nice win against Florida.  We had been a little tough on the Sooners, but suddenly they are unbeaten with a couple of road wins, and now a nice neutral floor win.

-Georgia State crushed Georgia, I mean CRUSHED them.  If they play like that the rest of the year they will blow through the Sun Belt, which we were kind of expecting them to do anyway, and who knows where they’ll stand with the committee.

-Minnesota remains unbeaten, and now has a notable win over Washington on their resume after defeating the Huskies in a close and exciting game to win the Vancouver Showcase.

-Arizona State has been fantastic in November these past two years!!  They knocked off a Utah State team that had been playing really well to stay unbeaten and win the MGM Resorts Main Event last night.  They are now 5-0 with some pretty good wins on that resume.

 

HIGHLIGHTED

-WISCONSIN VS OKLAHOMA (Battle 4 Atlantis).  Oklahoma comes in unbeaten, and although they hadn’t looked all that impressive coming into this event, they did pick up a real nice win against Florida yesterday.  Wisconsin also comes in without a loss and has nice win against Xavier on their resume, so it’s a chance for both teams to try and build up their early season resumes with a nice win.

-VILLANOVA VS CANISIUS (Advocare Invitational).  Nova hasn’t won anything other than buy games yet, and this tournament is a chance for them to add some good (and at this point needed) wins to their resume.

-UMASS VS SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (Continental Tire Las Vegas Holiday Invitational).  We still really like this Salukis team.  This is a chance to pick up some nice OOC wins for their resume.

-LA SALLE VS MIAMI FL (Wooden Legacy).  This game is a bit of a mismatch, but Miami can make a statement if they’re able to do well in this tournament.

-VIRGINIA VS DAYTON (Battle 4 Atlantas).  Dayton had a nice win against Butler yesterday and still doesn’t have a loss on the season.  They’re probably swinging way over their heads today, but if they somehow were to win this it would instantly make them a national story.

-OKLAHOMA STATE VS MEMPHIS (Advocare Invitational).  We don’t know much about either team, and both come in with respectable 2-1 records.  Both have an opportunity to make a statement by playing well in this tournament.

-NEVADA VS TULSA (Continental Tire Las Vegas Holiday Classic).  This appears to be a big mismatch, and it probably is, but Tulsa does come in with a 4-0 record and has a chance at a huge win today.

-NORTHWESTERN VS FRESNO STATE (Wooden Legacy).  At 3-0, Northwestern hasn’t done anything Earth shattering yet, but should get some chances in this tournament if they’re able to win and advance.

-CHARLESTON VS LSU (Advocare Invitational).  This should be a good game between a CofC team that has looked good so far and an LSU team that is in the rankings and has some decent wins of their own already.  Charleston needs to pick up notable wins in events like this if they want any chance at all at impressing the selection committee.  They simply aren’t going to have these opportunities later in the season.

-STANFORD VS FLORIDA (Battle 4 Atlantis).  Both teams come in at 2-2, and both have missed a couple of opportunities at decent wins.  You get the sense that they really need to get it done in this one simply to avoid falling further behind the pack.

-TEXAS VS NORTH CAROLINA (Continental tire Las Vegas Invitational).  Texas comes in unbeaten and appears to be pretty good, but they haven’t had a test like this in their first few games.  We should learn something about them today.

-SETON HALL VS GRAND CANYON (Wooden Legacy).  Seton Hall is just 1-2, and this game has a bit of a pivotal feel for them because you get the sense that they need to pick up a couple of notable wins in this event.  It won’t be easy.  This is a good Grand Canyon team, and they’re really excited about trying to pick up some notable wins of their own.

-UAB VS FLORIDA STATE (Advocare Invitational).  Both teams are unbeaten.  The difference is UAB has played nothing but home buy games, and Florida State has actually knocked off some decent opponents.

-MIDDLE TENNESSEE VS BUTLER (Battle 4 Atlantis).  This is the loser’s side of the bracket, and one gets the sense that winning this game is as much about avoiding potential losses to sub-NIT teams as it is getting a notable win.

-MICHIGAN STATE VS UCLA (Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational).  Two ranked teams going at it and trying to pick up a big neutral floor win.  Advancing to the winner’s side of the bracket helps ensure better opportunities and notable wins in the later rounds.

-HAWAI’I VS UTAH (Wooden Legacy).  Both teams are 2-1, and both are lacking any notable wins at the moment, so this tournament provides them with that opportunity.

Posted in Daily Rundown, News and Notes | Comments Off on News, Notes, and Highlighted Games, Thursday, Nov 22nd, THANKSGIVING EDITION!!

Under The Radar Game of the Day: Elon vs. Abilene Christian

Posted on November 22, 2018 by John Stalica

For our latest weekly UTR Podcast – CLICK HERE

Elon (2-1, 1-1 D1) vs. Abilene Christian (3-0, 2-0 D1) – 6:00 PM EST (Audio Only)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We only have one game today solely between a pair of UTR teams; that would be the Elon Phoenix and the Abilene Christian Wildcats. Both teams are part of the 4-team Tiger Thanksgiving Tournament at Pacific; this is a non-bracketed round-robin event also featuring Pacific and UC-Riverside. Elon will be playing their first D-1 opponent since their home opening loss to North Carolina two weeks ago. The Phoenix have 3 players so far that have shot at least 43% from 3-point range; they are their 3 leading scorers in Tyler Seibring, Steven Santa Ana and Dainan Swoope.

ACU is coming off of a nice road win at Denver last week; Payten Ricks scored 23 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field for the Wildcats in their 67-61 victory. Jaren Lewis also had 19 points for the Wildcats as well.

Posted in Under the Radar | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Under The Radar Game of the Day: Elon vs. Abilene Christian

Under the Radar: November 21st

Posted on November 21, 2018 by David Griggs

It’s Thanksgiving Week, which is always a busy time for UTR teams as a lot of them are playing in exempt tournaments and trying to pick up big wins.  We run through each of the 22 conferences and look ahead to all that, as well as review a huge win by Furman at Villanova, and two big wins by Lipscomb who knocked off both TCU and SMU on the road.  Toledo picked up a huge win against UC Irvine and won the Gulf Coast Showcase, which means they are off to a really good start as well.  On the flip-side, we also discuss how Loyola Chicago, Northeastern, and Wright State have been a little disappointing after what our expectations of them were coming into the year.  And, as always, we end the show 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 on Under the Radar: November 21st