One of our favorite leagues, the Northeast Conference, takes center stage tonight for our Under the Radar Game of the Day. Entering play tonight, Wagner is tied for first place with Robert Morris at 6-2 in NEC play. In one of the strangest scheduling quirks we have seen in years, Wagner played home games against St Francis and Robert Morris last week and is playing the exact same two teams this week, on the road. The Seahawks swept these two games, including a 9 point win last Thursday night over the Red Flash. Wagner was led by JoJo Cooper in that game, as he put up a double-double with 17 points and 10 assists.
The Red Flash, who are half a game behind St Francis (Brooklyn) at 5-3 in conference play will be looking for revenge tonight and a chance to move into a potential tie for first place (depending on what Robert Morris does tonight against Scared Heart). The Red Flash were able to bounce back from last week’s loss at Wagner to pick up a win against Sacred Heart over the weekend, behind 21 points from Jamaal King. They will need King and his teammates to step up again tonight if they want to knock the Seahawks and a have chance to move up towards the top of the conference standings.
This show was recorded at 10pm on Thursday, January 25th. Games that went final after that time were not considered
Once again, the Hoops HD panel builds a seed list line by line and debate, discuss, and banter about each team as they go along. Chad acts as arbitrator despite the fact that his buzzer doesn’t work. There still isn’t a unanimous opinion as to which teams should be on the #1 line, there are disagreements over Cincinnati’s profiles, and over all the bubble teams.
Below is the bracket of our seedlist…
And for all you radio lovers, below is an mp3 version of the show….
If you want to win an NCAA title you need a good coach, a great resume…and a McDonald’s All-American. Only 1 championship team since 1979 has not had such a player (Maryland in 2002). The 41st annual McDonald’s All-American Game will take place on March 28th in Atlanta, GA, and the rosters were announced on January 16th after selecting the 24 best players in the nation from a whopping 2500 nominees. After Zion Williamson committed to Duke on January 20th, the Blue Devils lead the way with 4 All-Americans, just ahead of Kansas (who has 3). Mississippi State only has 1 so far but he is a great 1: Reggie Perry from Thomasville High School in Georgia. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Reggie about why he chose the Bulldogs and what he thinks of another McDonald’s All-American who he has played against since the 4th grade.
Your Thomasville High School basketball team has already lost a couple of home games this year in the final seconds: what is the key to winning games that go down to the wire? We must take care of the ball and execute down the stretch.
You are listed as the #1 recruit in the state of Georgia: how good is the basketball scene down South? It is actually pretty competitive but many people look only at the Atlanta area and assume that it has the best players because it is such a large city. However, there are many good players in the southern part of the state (such as Early County, Berrien County, and Valdosta) who may get overlooked.
You are a 6’9” forward: what position do you expect to play in college, and what position are you most comfortable at? I expect to play at both the small forward/power forward position in college, as that is where I am most comfortable.
You looked at several SEC schools before originally committing to Arkansas, but after your father Al had some health problems you changed your mind and committed to Mississippi State last July: how is his health doing at the moment, and do you have any regrets about your decision? My father is doing better and I have no regrets at all about my decision.
How important were other factors such as: Coach Ben Howland’s track record of having several players at UCLA who ended up in the NBA (Kevin Love/Russell Westbrook/etc.)? That was 1 of the key factors that I looked at because the NBA is where I want to get to, spend a nice career at, and retire from.
Forward Mario Kegler’s decision to transfer to Baylor last summer? His decision to transfer to Baylor was not a factor for me. I just believe that Coach Howland and I connected: it was key to see that he believes in me and supports my goal to go to the NBA within the time frame that I want. I just need to be coachable, work hard, stay humble/hungry: if I can do all that then he and I can do this together.
Your father played in Starkville and still ranks #3 in school history with 510 career AST: who is the best athlete in the family? This is a debate that my mom and I have all of the time. She thinks it is her…but I know that I am the best athlete in the family: LOL!
The Bulldogs are 14-6 and do not have a single senior on the roster: what do you think of this year’s team, and are you excited that most of the guys will probably be returning next season? I feel like they are having a pretty good season. With most of the guys returning next year, I think that we will be even more competitive due to all of the experience from those guys.
Last week you were selected to the West squad for the 2018 McDonald’s All-American Game: do you plan on having a lot of family/friends in attendance since the game will be in Atlanta (approximately 4 hours north of you) for the 1st time since 1992? My parents and I have received a lot of phone calls from people congratulating me and informing me that they will be attending the game.
The only other McDonald’s All-American from Georgia is fellow F EJ Montgomery from Wheeler High School in Marietta: have you had the chance to watch him play or play against him, and if so then what makes him such a great player? The 1st time I played against EJ was in the 4th grade when we both lived in Florida, and I have been playing against him every summer since then. It is his skill set along with his size that makes him a great player.
You have said that you plan on majoring in either sports management or sports medicine: does that mean that we will see you on campus for the next 4 years as you complete your degree, and what do you hope to do in the future? I know that when I attend Mississippi State University I plan to major in 1 of those 2 areas, but my goal is to be a “1-and-Done”. I cannot make any promises: we will just see what God has in store for me.
-For our latest Under the Radar Video Podcast – CLICK HERE
-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day, which features a red hot Louisiana team – CLICK HERE
-Auburn at Mizzou was a great game for about 30 minutes, and an absolute blowout for the last ten. Auburn just blew Mizzou’s doors off. It was one of the most impressive ten minute stretches I’ve seen out of any SEC team this year. This Auburn team is for real.
-Also in the SEC, South Carolina picked up another really nice and much needed win as they knocked off Florida on the road. Florida is rather schizophrenic this season. They were so excited about their big win against Kentucky and getting back into the rankings that they lost to what amounts to a bubble team at home. But, look out for the Gamecocks. They’ve now won four out of six, and in that stretch they’ve beaten Kentucky, Georgia on the road, and now Florida on the road.
-Not only is Xavier continuing their hot stretch of play since a 2-game losing streak at Providence at Villanova, they are looking like they can legitimately challenge Villanova for the Big East crown after beating Marquette at home with little difficulty. Trevon Bluiett became the 5th player in Xavier history to reach the 2,000 point mark. As for Villanova, they revealed yesterday that Phil Booth broke a bone in his hand in their win over Providence on Tuesday night. His return for the remainder of the season is doubtful at the moment.
-It was the middle of the night in the east, but if you missed it then you need to go back and watch Wyoming’s double overtime win against a Nevada team that had just gotten into the rankings. The game included a controversial no-call at the end of regulation, and a couple of lead changes in the final minute of the first overtime. It doesn’t derail Nevada by any means. I still think they’ll end up in the top half of the bracket. It was just an exciting and emotional game that would have helped them continue to climb the rankings.
-Louisville and Miami FL also played in an overtime thriller in a game that saw several lead changes down the stretch. The Canes held on to get one of their better wins of the season. The win could have really helped Louisville, but the loss doesn’t really hurt them and they’re still in good shape overall.
-USC continues to roll as they pick up another conference win and improve to 7-2 in Pac Twelve play.
-And lest we forget, today is the 30th anniversary of more of the legendary dunks and calls you will ever see on TV:
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-MICHIGAN AT PURDUE (Big Ten). I really like this Michigan team, and while I like Purdue a lot more I don’t think they’re quite as good as the other teams we’re looking at for #1 seeds. Having said that, I still think Purdue is better and since they’re at home I don’t see them dropping this one.
-SMU AT UCONN (American). SMU is right on the bubble with a very small margin for error. Two years ago this would have been a preposterous statement, but they need to hold serve and win at UConn because they don’t need a bad loss on their resume.
-UTSA AT MIDDLE TENNESSEE (Conference USA). In order for Middle to have any chance at all at an at-large bid they need to hold serve the rest of the way.
-PENN STATE AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten). Ohio State appears to be playing as well as anyone in the country right now and shouldn’t have too much trouble at home against a very NIT-ish (if that) Penn State team.
-COLORADO AT ARIZONA (Pac Twelve). Many people are still soured on Arizona (at least in regards to being a Final Four contender), but outside of one really bad week in the Bahamas they are 16-1 on the season and they’re coming off a big road win against a Stanford team that was red hot. The one game that they did lose was to this Colorado team. That was at Colorado. Tonight may be a very different story.
-UCF AT WICHITA STATE (American). This is an important game for Wichita not so much because of how it will boost their profile, but because they are coming off of back to back losses and need to rebound. UCF is most likely an NIT team, but they do have a pulse and Wichita can’t just sleepwalk through this one.
-UTAH AT ARIZONA STATE (Pac Twelve). Arizona State’s overall profile is solid, but they are just 3-4 in the Pac Twelve, and the Pac Twelve isn’t exactly Murderer’s Row this year. This is a winnable home game that Arizona State needs to win.
-CALIFORNIA AT UCLA (Pac Twelve). UCLA is right on our bubble and needs to take care of business in what amounts to a buy game tonight.
-GONZAGA AT PORTLAND (West Coast). It’s seemingly always the same story with Gonzaga. They need to hold serve and if they do they should skate into the top half of the bracket.
-BYU AT SAINT MARY’S (West Coast). SMC now appears to be safely inside the bubble and will stay there as long as they hold serve. BYU’s very faint tournament chances will become a little less faint if they’re somehow able to win this one.
-CAL BAPTIST AT AZUSA PACIFIC (Pac West, Team of the People). Your Cal Baptist Lancers have their most difficult challenge of the regular season tonight as they look to complete a season sweep against one of the Pac West co-leaders.
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Lafayette, Louisiana is the site of tonight’s Under the Radar Game of the Day between the Louisiana (a/k/a Louisiana-Lafayette) Ragin’ Cajuns and the South Alabama Jaguars. Louisiana has been somewhat of a surprise this season, and remains one of only a handful of teams that are undefeated within their conference, entering tonight’s game at 7-0 in Sun Belt play and 17-3 overall. Despite the impressive overall record, the Cajuns have only two wins against the top 150 KenPom rated teams — a win over Iowa in the Cayman Islands Classic and last week’s win at Texas-Arlington. Frank Bartley scored 26 points in the Arlington win while Bryce Washington pulled down 16 rebounds.
South Alabama heads to Lafayette tonight with a record of 11-9 overall and 4-3 in conference play, though only one game out of second place in the loss column. The Jaguars have won their last two games, including a win this past weekend over Appalachian State. Rodrick Sikes scored 26 in that win while Josh Ajayi had a double-double with 24 points and 11 boards. More performances like those will be needed if USA wants to pull off the upset on thee road tonight.
The Big South is the feature conference this week, and once again it is a complete logjam with just two games separating the top six teams, and had it not been for a last second shot by Radford against High Point we’d have a four way tie for first place. We run through all 22 UTR conferences and talk about how Vermont is running away from the America East and what a dangerous team the could be in the Round of 64, Middle Tennessee’s big win at Western Kentucky, South Dakota’s surprising blowout win against South Dakota State, New Mexico State’s continued dominance, and how Bucknell has finally turned things around. As always, we close with this week’s UTR Top Ten.
And for all you radio lovers, below is an mp3 version of the show…
