News, Notes and Highlighted Games – Friday, January 5th

Posted on January 5, 2018 by John Stalica

For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Penn and Princeton – CLICK HERE

For the season premiere of Bracket Rundown (as well as the weekly UTR podcast) – CLICK HERE

Most of the fun stuff took place in the Pac-12 last night. Arizona is looking more and more like a protected seed team that we expected to see in the beginning of the year, and they withstood a 2nd-half Utah comeback before getting a decisive win on the road last night. Arizona State was not as fortunate – they ultimately fell in overtime at Colorado. While the Sun Devils currently don’t resemble a Top 5 team as they did in November and December, we will see what they do at Utah and at home the following week before figuring out whether or not they are a desert mirage.

UCLA and Stanford traded game-tying 3s and poor foul shooting in regulation and the first overtime period, but the Cardinal outscored the Bruins 22-14 in the second OT period to give UCLA a bad loss on the road. USC, on the other hand, overcame the first-half suspension of Chimezie Metu and outscored Cal by 21 in the first half en route to an 80-62 blowout win in Berkeley. With a chance of sweeping the Bay Area road trip this weekend, the Trojans can put themselves back in the NCAA picture as well as the Pac-12 picture.

While Michigan State reasserted itself as top dog in the Big 10 with a blowout win at home against Maryland, Ohio State got a nice road win at Iowa and were not seriously challenged in this one. This sets up a big showdown between these two teams in Columbus on Sunday – even bigger for the Buckeyes since a win here would really solidify their NCAA chances in a season they were supposed to be rebuilding under Chris Holtmann.

Off the court in the Big Ten, Reggie Lynch has been suspended by the University of Minnesota until August 2020 (per the St. Paul Pioneer Press) for violating the school’s sexual misconduct policy – barring any last-minute appeal from Lynch, his season is effectively over for the Gophers.

In the American, Cincinnati only led Temple for 3 minutes, but they were able to come back late in the game (with the help of an ill-timed technical on Temple in the final 2 minutes) and Jacob Evans hit a game-winner with 0.4 seconds remaining to give UC the win and keep them atop the American with Wichita State and Tulsa. SMU was not as lucky – they lost on the road to Tulane last night. Despite a toe stub at home against Tulsa, Tulane looks like they can qualify for postseason (outside of the CBI/CIT) for the first time since at NIT bid in 2000. Their last NCAA Tournament bid? 1995.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

– WISCONSIN AT RUTGERS (Big Ten). The Badgers are coming off of a home win against Indiana earlier in the week and cannot afford to lose this one if they have any aspirations of postseason for 2018.

– CHARLESTON AT DREXEL (Colonial). Charleston begins a crucial road trip this weekend with their first stop being in Philly. While a bigger game at Towson awaits on Sunday, they cannot afford to look past the Dragons in this one if they wish to remain on top in the conference standings.

– ELON AT NORTHEASTERN (Colonial). Another game to watch in the Colonial tonight will be Elon’s first road game in conference play against a pesky Northeastern team. While the Huskies have been much improved since December, they are coming off of a tough home loss against Hofstra. Elon held serve at home against Drexel and Towson and now have a chance to cement themselves as a season-long contender for the regular season title in this one.

– NORTHWESTERN AT PENN STATE (Big Ten). Both teams were expected to contend for NCAA bids this season, and both have disappointed so far in the regular season. The winner gets to .500 in conference play and the loser will be further on an NIT trajectory (if they’re even that lucky).

– NORTHERN KENTUCKY AT OAKLAND (Horizon). This normally would have been Chad’s UTR Game of the Day, but we can never pass up a chance to highlight the Penn-Princeton rivalry. NKU has not been able to win a true road game yet (although they did beat Iona on a neutral floor), but winning on the Blacktop is a tall order here.

– OREGON AT OREGON STATE (Pac 12). The first installment of the Civil War rivalry gives Oregon a pathway to get back into NCAA contention if they win tonight, but their pathway all but becomes a dead end if they lose in Corvallis tonight.

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Under the Radar Game of the Day: Princeton at Penn

Posted on January 5, 2018 by Chad

Princeton at Penn, 7:00 PM Eastern, NBC Sportschannel+ Philadelphia/ivyleaguenetwork.com

**NOTE: This game has been postponed until Saturday January 6 at 4:00 PM Eastern

The Ivy League becomes one of the last conference’s to begin intra-conference play tonight, and it starts with one of the top rivalries in all of Division I basketball, played in one of the greatest venues in all of sports — Princeton will be at the Palestra in Philadelphia to take on the Penn Quakers.  Not only is this a great rivalry, but with Harvard disappointing us and Yale having been struck by injuries, these are the two teams that are most likely to battle it out for the conference’s regular season title.

Penn enters play tonight at 9-5 overall.  Although none of their wins have been over top competition, none of their losses have been ugly either.  Plus, the Quakers do get credit for wining one of the most exciting games we have seen played all year —  a 101-96 win in 4 overtimes at Monmouth!  Then of course, there was their home game against Delaware State last week.  In that 53 point blowout win, 16 players played for the Quakers, 15 players made at least one field goal, and 10 players made at least one three pointer.  The 10 players with a 3 was an NCAA record!

The visiting Princeton Tigers enter tonight’s rivalry game at 7-7 overall, though they have won 5 of their last 6 games, including 2 wins in Hawai’i at the Diamond Head Invitational and a road win at USC.   One players to definitely keep an eye on is Myles Stephens.  Stephens scored a career high 30 points in leading the Tigers to their huge win at USC.  Also watch out for Devin Cannady, who had 28 in the Fifth Place Game at the Diamond Head.

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Bracket Rundown (and Under the Radar): January 4th

Posted on January 5, 2018 by David Griggs

NOTE: Show was recorded at 10 PM EST on Thursday, Jan 4th, and did not factor in Arizona State’s loss to Colorado (nor did it factor in UCLA’s loss at Stanford).

It’s Week 9 of the season, which means we are halfway home!  It also means that it’s time to start our weekly Bracket Rundown shows!  Tonight, Chad is joined by a nearly full panel as they build the seed list line by line and discuss/debate all of the teams as they go.  As always, there are differing opinions.

 

Also tonight is this week’s Under the Radar Podcast.  We bring it to you in a slightly different format as we reveal the #12 through #16 lines in our Bracket Projections and review each team and conference as we go.  We discuss how Northern Iowa has hit the skids, how there are three really good teams in Conference USA, and how New Mexico State is probably the UTR team with the best chance of landing inside the bubble.

 

Below is our Final Bracket.  But, you’re not allowed to look at it until you watch the shows above!!

 

And finally, for all you radio lovers, below are mp3 versions of both shows…

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Thursday, Jan 4th

Posted on January 4, 2018 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day, which is a really good one between Missouri State and Northern Iowa that would have been highlighted had he not picked it – CLICK HERE

-Florida State got a big home win against North Carolina in a game that came down to the wire, and if you like poor freethrow shooting, then you need to go back and watch the end of this game!  The loss isn’t that bad for UNC, but they still don’t have that true road win against a team that’s likely to finish in the top half of the bracket, which is something that we normally see out of all the protected seeds.  Having said that, they’ll have plenty more opportunities.

-Marquette also went overtime to get a tough win on the road against a Providence team that is starting to look more NITish than they are an NCAA team. Noteworthy here is that Markus Howard went off for 52 points – this ties a Big East record that goes back even to the original Big East days.

-Miami FL went into Georgia Tech.  And lost.  That’s not good.  It won’t cripple the Canes by any means, especially if they can beat rival Florida State this weekend, but it’s a game that they should have won if they really are a protected seed caliber team.

-Kentucky picked up a nice road win at LSU in a close one that went back and forth.  As young as Kentucky is, they played well against a decent team in a hostile environment, which is a big step forward more so off paper than on.  They’ve been playing really well since the loss to UCLA.

-Clemson was in a close game….AND WON IT!!!!!!  Clemson’s reign of unluckiest team on Earth may be over.  They built up a big lead at Boston College, and BC came back and nearly pulled the upset, but Clemson was able to hold on.  They remain unbeaten in ACC play and have just one loss on the year.

-Wake Forest, who is 7-2 since their atrocious 1-4 start, got a really nice win at home against Syracuse last night.  Danny Manning may not get this team to the NCAA Tournament, but no one in the country has improved over the course of the season as Wake Forest has.  They were AWFUL, and now they are playing at a level where they can win some games in league play and be a dangerous opponent for anyone who overlooks them.

-Saint Bonaventure fell behind to Dayton and then never caught up.  Dayton has really struggled this year, but they really seemed to put it together last night.  They may be turning the corner.  I don’t think they’re an NCAA team, but they could be dangerous in the A10 the rest of the way.

-UConn……nevermind.

-Memphis……nevermind.

-Now for what is probably a non-NCAA Tourney note, Duquesne with a nice win over George Washington!!  Let me put this into the proper context.  Duquesne is probably not an NCAA Tournament team, but they are perhaps a postseason team and maybe an NIT team, which is a huge improvement considering that they have been awful for the last three decades with the exception of the one NIT berth (I think).  It will be fun to see how much noise they make in the A10 the rest of the way. (Note from John S – Duquesne went to the NIT in 2009 and also has 3 CBI appearances in 2010, 2011 and 2016. Last NCAA Tournament bid was in 1977.)

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-HOUSTON AT WICHITA STATE (American).  I’m really looking forward to this one.  Houston is looking like a fringe tournament team that will perhaps be a solid tournament team by the end of the year.  I think they’re swinging over their heads tonight, but if they were to somehow pull it off they would improve to 13-2 with wins over both Arkansas and Wichita.  That’s a hell of a resume!

-OHIO STATE AT IOWA (Big Ten).  Ohio State is unbeaten in Big Ten play and can add another conference road win to their profile.

-MIDDLE TENNESSEE AT FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL (Conference USA).  If Middle Tennessee runs the table, which is much easier said than done, then I think they’ll be inside the bubble.

-MARYLAND AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten).  Michigan State is ranked #1 and is shooting for the #1 line, and Maryland is trying to solidify themselves as a no-brainer for The Tournament.  Winning on the road against the top ranked team would help with that endeavor.

-OLD DOMINION AT RICE (Conference USA).  At 10-3, ODU is having a big year, but they will have to go nearly perfect in league play to end up on the bubble.

-APPALACHIAN STATE AT LOUISIANA (Sun Belt).  Louisiana has just three losses on the year and if they dominate the SBC they could end up in the discussion.

-ARIZONA STATE AT COLORADO (Pac Twelve).  Arizona State is coming off a loss to rival Arizona and is still looking for their first conference win, but all and all they are in good shape and should be able to pick this one up tonight. They best not sleep on the Buffs, though.

-ARIZONA AT UTAH (Pac Twelve).  Arizona has not lost a game since the Battle 4 Atlantis and have beaten two top ten teams since then.  Utah is off to a very good start at 10-3 and has won their first two league games.  They’re at home tonight in what should be an electric atmosphere.  This one should be fun!

-CINCINNATI AT TEMPLE (American).  Temple was looking pretty solid for a while, but they’ve looked awful for the last couple of weeks.  Still, this won’t be the easiest road game in the world for Cincinnati to win.

-SMU AT TULANE (American).  I like what we’ve seen out of both of these teams, but both still have a lot of work to do, especially Tulane.  Even if Tulane doesn’t end up anywhere near the bubble, they’re still obviously a program that is much improved and are definitely headed in the right direction.

-PACIFIC AT SAINT MARY’S (West Coast).  This game, like many games on SMC’s schedule, takes on the mere importance of a buy game.  If they win it means nothing, and if they lose they are sunk.

-UCLA AT STANFORD (Pac Twelve).  UCLA has had a rather tumultuous season, but they are still in good shape with a 2-0 start in league play that followed a win against Kentucky.  If they can pick up two on the road here they’ll be solidly in the field (for now).

-USC AT CALIFORNIA (Pac Twelve).  USC is going in the completely wrong direction and could really use a conference road win right about now.

-GONZAGA AT PEPPERDINE (West Coast).  A conference game with buy game importance for the Zags.

-BYU AT SAN FRANCISCO (West Coast).  A conference game with buy game importance for BYU.

OTHER NOTES

– Be on the lookout later tonight for our first Bracket Rundown show later tonight – our on-air staff will build a seed list during tonight’s podcasts. During the Bracket Rundown podcast, we will go from the top to the First Four.

– We will have our Under The Radar podcast airing tonight as well where we build the remainder of our seed list as well as review the 20 UTR conferences that we normally do on a weekly basis.

– We will also be keeping tabs on Winter Storm Grayson (really, Weather Channel?) along with any cancellations or postponements that take place as a result. It’s only expected to bring postponements to schools in the Northeast for tonight, but there may be a chain reaction for teams travelling to the Northeast for games this weekend as well.

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Under the Radar Game of the Day: Missouri State at Northern Iowa

Posted on January 4, 2018 by Chad

Missouri State at Northern Iowa, 9:00 PM Eastern, CBS Sports Network

The Under the Radar Game of the Day is escaping Winter Storm Grayson and taking a ‘trip’ to Cedar Falls, Iowa tonight for a key contest in the Missouri Valley Conference as the Northern Iowa Panthers play host to the Missouri State Bears.  Northern Iowa is close to freefall mode after a great 8-2 start to the season that included wins over SMU, North Carolina State and UNLV.  They have now dropped four straight games, including an 0-2 start in league play, and have quickly gone from a team that was toeing the at-large candidate line to a team just needing a win of any kind to remain in the picture in the MVC.  The Panthers shot only 35% from two point range in a 19 point loss at Bradley last time out, while allowing the Braves to hit 9 of 14 from behind the arc.  Those types of numbers on both ends of the court simply will not be enough to get it done against almost any level of competition.

Missouri State enters tonight’s game at 12-3 overall and 2-0 in MVC play.  The Bears picked up a solid road win at Valparaiso last time out, winning by 17 points.  Alize Johnson led the way with 11 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists in that victory.  Despite a couple of hiccups during non-conference play, most notably a loss to Oral Roberts, Mo State appears primed to get things rolling and has a great chance to emerge as the favorite in the Missouri Valley.  A road win tonight, even if their opponent is struggling, will certainly go a long way to establishing them in such a position.

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Handing out the Hardware: All-Conference Awards of 2017 (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on January 3, 2018 by Jon Teitel

The end of the calendar year means that it is time to recognize the best players in college basketball…so far. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel has reviewed all the numbers and is ready to announce his picks for the 5 best players from each conference based on their all-around stats. Players are listed in a traditional 5-position lineup (G-G-F-F-C) whenever possible with several exceptions, with special awards for Player of the Year So Far (POYSF). If you think he has overlooked anyone in Part 2 then feel free to tweet us your comments, and you can check out the picks earlier this week in Part 1 at: https://hoopshd.com/2018/01/01/handing-out-the-hardware-all-conference-awards-of-2017-part-1-of-2/.

MAAC
G: Matt Scott (Niagara)
G: Tyler Nelson (Fairfield)
G: Kahlil Dukes (Niagara)
F: Jermaine Crumpton (Canisius)
C: Tyere Marshall (Rider)
POYSF: Matt Scott (Niagara)

MAC
G: Thomas Wilder (Western Michigan)
G: CJ Massinburg (Buffalo)
F: Tre’Shaun Fletcher (Toledo)
F: Elijah Minnie (Eastern Michigan)
C: James Thompson IV (Eastern Michigan)
POYSF: James Thompson IV (Eastern Michigan)

MEAC
G: Jermaine Marrow (Hampton)
G: RJ Cole (Howard)
F: Femi Olujobi (North Carolina A&T)
F: Raasean Davis (NC Central)
F: Shawntrez Davis (Bethune-Cookman)
POYSF: Femi Olujobi (North Carolina A&T)

MVC
G: Keyshawn Evans (Illinois State)
G: Reed Timmer (Drake)
F: Alize Johnson (Missouri State)
F: Phil Fayne (Illinois State)
C: Kavion Pippen (Southern Illinois)
POYSF: Alize Johnson (Missouri State)

MWC
G: Deshon Taylor (Fresno State)
G: Chandler Hutchison (Boise State)
F: Shakur Juiston (UNLV)
F: Brandon McCoy (UNLV)
F: Caleb Martin (Nevada)
POYSF: Brandon McCoy (UNLV)

NEC
G: Junior Robinson (Mount St. Mary’s)
G: Keith Braxton (St. Francis PA)
F: Tyler Kohl (Central Connecticut State)
F: Raiquan Clark (Long Island)
C: Deion Bute (Central Connecticut State)
POYSF: Junior Robinson (Mount St. Mary’s)

OVC
G: Matthew Butler (Tennessee-Martin)
G: Jonathan Stark (Murray State)
G: Dylan Windler (Belmont)
F: Jalen Henry (SIU-Edwardsville)
F: Nick Mayo (Eastern Kentucky)
POYSF: Nick Mayo (Eastern Kentucky)

Pac-12
G: Tra Holder (Arizona State)
G: Allonzo Trier (Arizona)
F: DeAndre Ayton (Arizona)
F: Reid Travis (Stanford)
C: Thomas Welsh (UCLA)
POYSF: Tra Holder (Arizona State)

Patriot
G: Sa’eed Nelson (American)
G: Jordan Fox (Army)
F: Zach Thomas (Bucknell)
F: Cam Gregory (Loyola MD)
C: Nana Foulland (Bucknell)
POYSF: Zach Thomas (Bucknell)

SEC
G: Tremont Waters (LSU)
G: Collin Sexton (Alabama)
F: Grant Williams (Tennessee)
F: Yante Maten (Georgia)
C: Tyler Davis (Texas A&M)
POYSF: Yante Maten (Georgia)

Southern
G: Ria’n Holland (Mercer)
G: Fletcher Magee (Wofford)
G: Francis Alonso (UNC Greensboro)
F: Makinde London (Chattanooga)
F: Cameron Jackson (Wofford)
POYSF: Fletcher Magee (Wofford)

Southland
G: Jordan Howard (Central Arkansas)
G: Tevon Saddler (Nicholls State)
F: TJ Holyfield (Stephen F. Austin)
F: Colton Weisbrod (Lamar)
C: Jalone Friday (Abilene Christian)
POYSF: Jordan Howard (Central Arkansas)

SWAC
G: Demontrae Jefferson (Texas Southern)
G: Ivy Smith Jr. (Grambling State)
G: Gary Blackston (Prairie View A&M)
F: Donte Clark (Texas Southern)
F: Jared Sam (Southern)
POYSF: Demontrae Jefferson (Texas Southern)

Summit
G: Matt Mooney (South Dakota)
G: Bryson Scott (IPFW)
F: Mike Daum (South Dakota State)
F: Dalan Ancrum (Western Illinois)
C: Brandon Gilbeck (Western Illinois)
POYSF: Mike Daum (South Dakota State)

Sun Belt
G: D’Marcus Simonds (Georgia State)
G: Tookie Brown (Georgia Southern)
F: Zac Cuthbertson (Coastal Carolina)
F: Kevin Hervey (Texas-Arlington)
C: Johnny Hamilton (Texas-Arlington)
POYSF: Kevin Hervey (Texas-Arlington)

WCC
G: Isaiah Wright (San Diego)
G: James Batemon (Loyola Marymount)
F: Isaiah Pineiro (San Diego)
F: Yoeli Childs (BYU)
C: Jock Landale (St. Mary’s)
POYSF: Jock Landale (St. Mary’s)

WAC
G: Nick Dixon (UT Rio Grande Valley)
G: Jordan Hill (Seattle)
G: Zach Lofton (New Mexico State)
F: Jemerrio Jones (New Mexico State)
C: Akolda Manyang (Utah Valley)
POYSF: Nick Dixon (UT Rio Grande Valley)

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