Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES

-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Loyola Chicago and Drake – CLICK HERE

-Clemson went into Virginia and got Virginia-ed.  They scored just 36 points in a 61-36 loss to the red hot Hoos.

-Kansas led for pretty much the entire second half at Oklahoma and I was all prepared to sing their praises for picking up yet another massive road win, but in the final two minutes they just went ice cold.  Oklahoma pulled ahead and stayed ahead for a huge win (at least as far as momentum goes) that ended a two game losing streak.  Both teams are still on pace to get protected seeds and one of them could end up as a #1 seed.

-Arkansas needed two overtimes, but picked up a HUGE road win over Georgia that they really needed.  Arkansas has a much better chance of making the field than not, but a loss would have dumped them to just 3-5 in league play, so it was a pivotal win.

-Alabama went into Ole Miss for what seemed to be a winnable road game….and lost.  Not a good loss for the Tide.  It’s not a backbreaker by any means, but it’s not good.

-I am done with Minnesota

-LSU didn’t even have to break a sweat last night against Texas A&M.  I still think TAMU is in a lot of trouble.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-MARQUETTE AT XAVIER (Big East).  The way Xavier has been playing they have a very good chance of ending up on one of the top two lines.  Marquette is hovering around the bubble, but could catapult themselves up several lines if they’re somehow able to win a game like this.

-SOUTH CAROLINA AT FLORIDA (SEC).  South Carolina is just outside our bubble, and Florida is safely in the top half of the bracket (for now), especially after their big win at Kentucky over the weekend.  If the Gamecock can somehow pull this out, which is much easier said than done, it will do wonders for their resume.

-RHODE ISLAND AT FORDHAM (Atlantic Ten).  It’s a conference road game, but on paper it will look very much like a buy game.  A win doesn’t really help Rhody out all that much other than putting another true road win on their resume.  A loss will sink them a little bit.

-GEORGIA TECH AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC).  Florida State is inside the bubble, but they need to hold serve at home against teams like Georgia Tech who sometimes have a pulse, but more-times do not.

-BOSTON COLLEGE AT SYRACUSE (Big East) (ACC). Syracuse is right on the bubble and needs to hold serve at home in a game like this, especially when you consider that they are just 2-4 in league play.

-NEBRASKA AT RUTGERS (Big Ten).  Nebraska looked good the other night at Ohio State, but came up short.  The remainder of their schedule seems to consist of non-tournament teams, and if they want any hope at all of making The Dance they have to pretty much win all of them.

-FURMAN AT UNC-GREENSBORO (S0Con). Besides Chad’s UTR Game of the Day in the Missouri Valley, this one will also have big UTR ramifications. However, this is a battle for 2nd in the conference.

-ALBANY AT VERMONT (America East). Trae Bell-Haynes is the straw that stirs the Vermont drink, and he will look to lead Vermont in this game where they can even further solidify their lead in the America East standings. It would take an unreal collapse for them to fall out of first the way they’ve played of late.

-SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA AT SAM HOUSTON STATE (Southland). Outside of the usual suspect SFA in this conference, both the Lions and Bearkats are also competing with New Orleans for the regular season crown in the Southland.

-LOUISVILLE AT MIAMI FL (ACC).  Both of these teams look like solid tournament teams, but both have resumes that have room to improve.  Louisville has gotten hot all of a sudden and a win in this game would be another big true road win on their profile and get them to a very impressive 6-1 in ACC play.

-STEPHEN F AUSTIN AT CENTRAL ARKANSAS (Southland). And speaking of SFA, they will go on the road to a very dangerous Central Arkansas team that has a prolific scorer of their own in Jordan Howard.

-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT SOUTH DAKOTA (Summit). Game of the Year, Part 1 in the Summit League. If you haven’t seen the Jackrabbits’ Mike Daum play, do so tonight.

-LOYOLA CHICAGO AT DRAKE (Missouri Valley).  We’ve kind of forgotten about Loyola, but they are still 16-4 on the year and they have a hugely impressive OOC win on their resume.  They stumbled out of the gate in league play, but a win tonight gets them to 7-2 in the MVC.

-DEPAUL AT GEORGETOWN (Big East). This is the last cupcake Georgetown can feast on during the regular season.

-TEMPLE AT CINCINNATI (American).  Temple has some good wins on their resume, but they have more bad losses.  Cincinnati has cracked the top ten and can improve to 18-2 on the year with a win, but it’s important that they keep winning because they will not have a win over a protected seed by the end of the year.

-AUBURN AT MISSOURI (SEC).  Auburn is still going strong and can add another nice road win to their resume.  Mizzou needs this one a little more since they are right on the bubble.

-NC STATE AT PITTSBURGH (ACC).  NC State continues to flirt with the bubble.  They need to hold serve tonight.

-STANFORD AT USC (Pac Twelve).  Stanford has been on fire lately, but is coming off what has to be an emotional loss to Arizona.  If they can rebound and pick up both these wins then it may not get them inside the bubble, but it would be a huge step forward as well as be an indicator for what they’re able to accomplish the rest of the way.  After kind of writing off USC, they have improved to 6-2 in conference play.

-SAN JOSE STATE AT BOISE STATE (Mountain West).  Boise State is right on our bubble and must hold serve in games like this.  In fact, they pretty much need to hold serve all throughout conference play.

-NEVADA AT WYOMING (Mountain West).  This is a very strong Nevada team that can pick up their 8th true road win of the season tonight.

For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day featuring #MACtion between Toledo and Western Michigan – CLICK HERE

For last night’s weekly Hoops HD Report podcast – CLICK HERE

NEWS AND NOTES

-Last night in college hoops, there were three teams that showed up with a sense of urgency and came out with signature wins. First was Virginia Tech – they played their first game on ESPN’s Big Monday and pulled away in the 2nd half with an 80-69 win over North Carolina. The lead ballooned to as many as 19 points before North Carolina made the margin a little more respectable. The Hokies badly needed this win and will try to get some momentum going into a 2-game road trip that includes stops at Notre Dame and Boston College.

-Another team making their debut on Big Monday was TCU – they trailed by as many as 9 points in the first half before going on a late run and pulling away in the 2nd half with an 82-73 victory over West Virginia. With or without Jaylen Fisher, it was a much-needed win against a protected seed that the Horned Frogs added to their profile. West Virginia ended up falling into a tie for 2nd place with Kansas State – the Wildcats were able to beat Baylor 90-83 to earn their 3rd straight win in league play. Baylor is now in deep hibernation and the Wildcats are creeping closer to the NCAA Tournament bubble. Texas also earned a season sweep of Iowa State with a 73-57 win in Austin last night.

-With Maryland losing at Indiana last night, it is looking more and more like the Big 10 may end up only getting 4 bids this year – Purdue, Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State have separated themselves from the pack by a country mile. While Michigan State cruised to a win at Illinois last night, Ohio State trailed last night for almost as long as their first eight games COMBINED in Big Ten play. However, Nebraska’s upset bid fell short as Ohio State pulled away late with a 64-59 victory.

-Under the radar, North Carolina A&T made a furious comeback in regulation – they trailed Howard by 10 points with 3:58 to go. The Aggies went on a 17-7 run (including a buzzer beater basket) to send the game into OT, but an unfazed Howard team ended up winning by 2 points. A&T was unable to get a shot off in the final 6 seconds after Howard missed a pair of FTs. The end result is that North Carolina A&T lost their first MEAC game and puts Bethune-Cookman in sole possession of first place.

-In the SWAC, a wild finish between Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Texas Southern took place – Martaveous McKnight scored 5 points in the final 3 seconds to give Pine Bluff a victory at Texas Southern. McKnight started with a 3-point shot while being fouled to tie the game at 72-72. Following a technical foul by TSU coach Mike Davis, McKnight hit 1 of 2 technical free throws and completed the and-1 to give Pine Bluff a 74-72 victory.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-PROVIDENCE AT VILLANOVA (Big East). Following a pair of decisive wins at also-rans Georgetown and UConn, Villanova returns to Philly to take on a very bubblish Providence team at the Wells Fargo Center. The Friars are one of only 3 teams that have won at Villanova since the formation of the new Big East.

-ARKANSAS AT GEORGIA (SEC). Both teams come into this game at 3-4 in the SEC – while the Razorbacks beat Ole Miss at home last Saturday, Arkansas has a slightly higher sense of urgency in that they have not won a game away from home in about a month (and that was a win against Troy). Georgia is coming off of a tough loss at Auburn over the weekend.

-KANSAS AT OKLAHOMA (Big 12 – Spotlight Game). This is one of the best games you will see on paper all season long. Kansas is arguably the best team in the country when it comes to playing away from home. Oklahoma is coming off of 2 straight losses against Kansas State and Oklahoma State. As wonderful a player as Trae Young has been for the Sooners, he can’t be just a one-man show if OU is going to stop the bleeding at home tonight.

-CLEMSON AT VIRGINIA (ACC). This is the Tigers’ first major test without Donte Grantham in their lineup. By the same token, this also gives Virginia an opportunity to add a quality win to their profile that has more than enough quantity at the moment. They can also separate themselves further from the ACC – they currently lead Louisville by a game and a half in the standings. Everyone else has at least 2 losses in the ACC so far.

-OKLAHOMA STATE AT TEXAS TECH (Big 12). Speaking of teams looking to stop the bleeding, the Red Raiders have lost 2 straight games that included a loss at Texas and a bad loss at Iowa State where they were not very competitive. Oklahoma State has momentum after beating Oklahoma at home, but now have a difficult 2-game road trip that includes TX Tech and Arkansas this weekend. They could really use at least one road win on this trip to get more NCAA Tournament consideration.

-VANDERBILT AT TENNESSEE (SEC). It’s been a while since the Vols have swept the season series with Vanderbilt, but they should be able to hold serve at home tonight. Tennessee is also coming off of a win against an improving South Carolina squad.

-WISCONSIN AT IOWA (Big 10). I can only conclude that ESPN2 is airing this at 7 tonight to help ensure that more people are watching Kansas-Oklahoma instead. As the Puppet would say, you may want to put a parental lock on this game.

-DAVIDSON AT DAYTON (A-10). Davidson is an explosive enough offensive team that should be able to win in an environment that is normally a very tough one. However, we just don’t know which Dayton team shows up night in and night out this season.

-MISSOURI STATE AT BRADLEY (Missouri Valley). Both teams come in with padded records, but a win for the Bears tonight will keep them in the MVC race that also includes Drake and Loyola so far this season.

-ALABAMA AT OLE MISS (SEC). While Alabama is looking more and more like a first-ballot NCAA team right now, they have to be careful on this road trip – the Rebels are a homecourt hero in the SEC.

-CREIGHTON AT ST. JOHN’S (Big East). One thing is certain about the Johnnies in league play – either it will be a root canal playing them or it will be an easy victory. A Creighton loss wouldn’t be damaging from a metrics standpoint, but they need to cash in on winnable road games like this one.

-DUKE AT WAKE FOREST (ACC). Duke hardly missed a beat when they beat Wake a couple of weeks ago in Mike Krzyzewski’s absence. While they’ve been caught napping at BC and at NC State, they shouldn’t have much trouble tonight.

-NORTHWESTERN AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten). This game has more NIT bubble implications than it does NCAA Tournament implications right now.

-TEXAS A&M AT LOUISIANA STATE (SEC). The Aggies are playing a little more loosely after home wins against Ole Miss and Missouri. LSU has hit the skids with home losses to Alabama and Georgia and a road loss at Vandy. Both teams are real desperate for wins of any kind right now.

-MISSISSIPPI STATE AT KENTUCKY (SEC). This might not be the best time for Mississippi State to be playing at Kentucky right now. However, UK cannot be overlooking the Bulldogs in this game even if a bigger game at West Virginia looms this weekend.