News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Tuesday, Dec 19th

Posted on December 19, 2017 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

-For the latest Hoops HD Report – CLICK HERE

-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Belmont and Western Kentucky – CLICK HERE

-We had a lot of tournament teams feasting on cupcakes last night.  Having said that, Indiana, who has at times looked like a tournament team, did not look like one yesterday at home against Fort Wayne.  The game was close for about thirty minutes, and then Fort Wayne just completely blew the Hoosiers off the court.  This followed up an Indiana win against Notre Dame where it appeared they were turning things around.

-Boise State was another team we’ve been high on that just failed to show up last night.  Much credit to SMU for blowing the Broncos off the floor.

-Texas nearly choked on their cupcake as well, but held on to beat Tennessee State by a point in a game that you shouldn’t go back and watch if you like offense.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-UCF AT STETSON.  They say you need road wins, and this is the easiest way for UCF to pick one up.  They should improve to 8-3 on the year and 2-0 in true road games.

-MARSHALL AT XAVIER.  This is a buy game and it could end up being a blowout, but Marshall does come into the game at 8-3 and Xavier had to sweat out their game over the weekend against East Tennessee State.

-SOUTH CAROLINA AT CLEMSON.  South Carolina has had their struggles, but they’re still 8-2 on the year and are just one big win away from being slingshot into the NCAA Tournament talk.  Clemson is coming off a big and much needed win against Florida, and beating their rivals at home should give them even more momentum.

-BUFFALO AT SYRACUSE.  Syracuse is not at all the dumpster fire that we’d thought they’d be, and they’re actually coming off a nice come from behind win on the road against rival Georgetown.  They’ve played a string of good UTR teams at home this year, and tonight they have another one in Buffalo.  The Orange should win, but they can’t just overlook the Bulls.

-NORTH FLORIDA AT BALL STATE.  Ball State has won four in a row, and that streak could continue to grow as every game in front of them for the foreseeable future appears to be winnable.

-NORTHERN KENTUCKY AT TEXAS A&M.  NKU is one of the better teams in the Horizon League, but they have yet to win a true road game and this is their last big chance to get a high quality win.  TAMU is gunning for a #1 seed and while NKU is good, they’re way overmatched in this one.

-AUBURN AT MURRAY STATE.  We praised this Auburn team on last night’s Hoops HD Report, and they’ve got a very intriguing game tonight against a Murray State team that is not easy to beat at home.  This wouldn’t be a brand name win for Auburn, but it could end up being a win that’s highly valued by the committee, especially if Murray State continues to win at the clip they have been and can get into the RPI top 75.  Even if Auburn loses this game, it’s not all that damaging to their resume.  Murray looks to be the best team in the OVC and if they blow through the rest of their season they could be flirting with the bubble.

-GEORGIA TECH AT GEORGIA.  Clean Ol’ Fashioned Hate!!  Georgia Tech has had their good moments, and they’ve had a rather unforgettable bad moment.  In order to get things turned around it would take something like beating a rival on the road.  Georgia is 7-2 and certainly has potential, but they’re also coming off a rather surprising and damaging loss over the weekend.  Both teams need this to help build their momentum.

-STEPHEN F AUSTIN AT MISSOURI.  SFA may win the rest of their games after today, and if they somehow manage to win this game today they’ll have a solid win on their profile to go with their bloated record.  They just picked up a nice win at LSU, but this one will be even tougher given that Mizzou is better.

-MERCER VS ALABAMA (Huntsville, AL).  Alabama is cruising and will improve to 8-3 on the year if they’re able to hold serve.

-TULSA AT OKLAHOMA STATE.  This is not a buy game, but it could end up looking like one before it’s over.  Oklahoma State has been a lot better than we expected, they got a really nice win over the weekend, and they shouldn’t have too much trouble tonight.

-SOUTH DAKOTA AT UCLA.  Don’t be surprised if South Dakota is able to pull off the upset.  UCLA has struggled, and South Dakota looks to be one of the better teams in the Summit League.

-NORTHERN COLORADO AT WYOMING (Front Range).  We at Hoops HD love the Front Range!!  Both teams come into this game with just three losses, and both have shown signs of life this year, so it should be a fun one.

-DAYTON AT SAINT MARY’S.  This is a really good series for both programs.  It’s unfortunate that Dayton is in a complete rebuild mode this year and isn’t likely to be able to keep up with the Gaels.  That being said, Dayton is still one of the tougher opponents that SMC has played so far.

-UC DAVIS AT NEVADA.  I’m really looking forward to this one.  UC Davis is one of the better teams in the Big West and is out to a surprisingly good start.  This would be huge if they could get a win like this on their resume.

 

BUY GAMES

-Savannah State @ Virginia
-Northwestern State @ Oklahoma
-Pine Bluff @ Cincinnati
-Dartmouth @ Notre Dame
-Robert Morris @ NC State
-The Citadel @ Ohio State
-Binghamton @ Penn State
-Presbyterian @ Virginia Tech
-South Carolina State @ Charleston
-Arkansas State @ Wichita State
-Florida Atlantic @ Texas Tech
-Lewis (nondiv1) @ Northwestern
-Sam Houston State @ LSU
-Oral Roberts @ Arkansas
-Cal Poly @ SMU
-SELA @ Louisiana
-Morehead State @ Butler
-Longwood @ Arizona State
-Bethune Cookman @ Washington
-Princeton @ USC

Posted in Daily Rundown, News and Notes | Comments Off on News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Tuesday, Dec 19th

Under the Radar Game of the Day: Belmont at Western Kentucky

Posted on December 19, 2017 by Chad

Belmont at Western Kentucky, 8:00 PM Eastern, Hilltopper Sports/Fox College Sports

When playing in a mid-major conference, a team’s margin for error is so small if they want to even be considered for an at-large bid to the Big Dance.  Tonight’s Under the Radar Game of the Day features a pair of teams that are right on the edge of losing any hopes of getting such a bid, despite being two of the top Under the Radar teams in the entire nation.  The Ohio Valley Conference’s Belmont Bruins will be on the road taking on Conference USA’ Western Kentucky Hilltoppers in an 8 PM Eastern tip-off.

Belmont enters today’s game at 7-5 overall.  The Bruins started the year 4-1, including a home win over Vanderbilt and a road win at Middle Tennessee.  They then fell by one point, 66-65, at Providence to start a stretch where they lost four of five games, including getting swept in their annual rivalry “Battle of the Boulevard” games by Lipscomb.  Although Belmont has now won two straight, with tonight being their final non-conference game, they are probably in position where anything short of winning out the rest of the season will keep them off the at-large consideration board.  Keep an eye on Amanze Egekeze this evening — he had 32 points and 11 rebounds in a win over Milwaukee last week.

Head coach Rick Stansbury’s Western Kentucky Hilltoppers are currently 7-4 on the year including their two huge wins over Purdue and SMU in the Battle for Atlantis.  Last week was not as successful for this team though, as they suffered a five point road upset at Ohio and let a game slip away at Wisconsin by one point.  WKU will have a chance for a few more quality opponents in Conference USA play, but tonight and Friday’s game at Austin Peay are their final two non-conference contests this season.  The WKU attack is very balanced, as they have had five or more players in double figures in scoring 7 times already this season.

Posted in Under the Radar | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Under the Radar Game of the Day: Belmont at Western Kentucky

The Hoops HD Report: December 18th

Posted on December 18, 2017 by David Griggs

It has been a huge week for the Big Twelve.  Eight of the ten teams are receiving votes in the Top 25, and six are in the rankings.  We discuss what a big year it’s been for the conference so far, and how teams like Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Iowa State are off to much better starts than we expected.  We go through all of the multi-bid leagues and discuss how the Pac Twelve has struggled, how Villanova has earned the #1 ranking, and how Tennessee deserves a lot of respect despite a losing effort against North Carolina.  We also discuss who we think the coach of the season is so far in each conference.  All that, and much more!

 

And for all you radio lovers, below is an mp3 version of the show…

Posted in Hoops HD Report, Podcasts, Videocasts | 1 Comment

Here’s the Story of the Hurricanes: HoopsHD takes a trip to Miami-GW

Posted on December 18, 2017 by Jon Teitel

2 undefeated teams in DC in mid-December: what in the wide world of sports is going on here?! Syracuse came to town to face 8-0 Georgetown and escaped with a 86-79 OT win after the Hoyas blew a 13-PT 2nd half lead. However, HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel opted to check out 8-0 Miami as they traveled to Foggy Bottom to face GW, and the Canes did not disappoint in a 59-50 road win. There are only a handful of remaining undefeated teams in the nation and the “U” is 1 of them, so please enjoy the photo essay below.

The game was advertised as a “whiteout”, but there is only so much of a home-court advantage you can enjoy in mid-December when the student body is busy with final exams and heading home for the holidays:

  

Despite the non-sellout there were still plenty of celebrities in attendance, including a Celtics Hall of Famer up in the rafters:

3 of the other ones who stood out were CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer (who demonstrated from his courtside seat during a TV timeout that he is much better at conducting interviews than giving them), former Hurricane Sheldon McClellan (who now plays for the Wizards under his legally-changed name of “Sheldon Mac”), and veteran referee Ted Valentine (aka “TV Teddy”):

My favorite fan in the stands was this guy.  I usually hate people who go to games while wearing the hat/shirt of a team who is not playing in the featured event, but if you are a Hurricane-hater then a Seminoles jacket makes a strong statement:

I was expecting pizza in the media room but instead we got doughnuts: since I am starting a new low-carb diet I restricted myself to 4 of them (not pictured because I ate them all).  The 1st half was all Miami: they did it outside with DJ Vasiljevic (who made a pair of threes) and inside with Dewan Huell (who seemed to grab every available rebound and converted a variety of shots from inside the paint). Their freshman backcourt diversity was also intriguing: Lonnie Walker IV is a 6’5’ McDonald’s All-American from Pennsylvania with fantastic hair, while Chris Lykes is a 5’7” kid with goggles who went to high school a few miles away at Gonzaga (hence all the purple-clad people in the stands), and both of them made a 1st half 3 to help the Canes build a 32-15 halftime lead.

GW changed its entire defense in the 2nd half by putting on a full court press and employing a 2-3 zone, which completely disrupted Miami’s 3-PT shooting: they came into the game shooting 40.3 3P% but went 0-8 from behind the arc in the 2nd stanza. The Colonials’ shooting was not much better: 30.2 FG% for the entire game, which included an airball 3 from Arnaldo Toro (who set a career-high with 13 REB) and an airball FT from Jair Bolden (which seems impossible as he is shooting 78.6 FT% this year). Toro did not do much after that but Bolden got his head straight and proceeded to make a pair of jumpers and a pair of threes to keep his team in it. Yuta Watanabe only had 9 PTS on 3-12 FG but apparently Shohei Otani is not the only 23-year old Japanese-born athlete of note in the US because there were 2 separate Asian camera crews who wanted to speak with the SR SG after the game:

There was terrible 3-PT shooting on both ends as the 2 teams combined to make only 9-39 3PM, with the worst offender being Walker (1-7). However, when he stopped putting up bricks he looked like the best athlete on the court: he had a huge follow dunk (http://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2017/12/16/video-miamis-lonnie-walker-skies-for-ridiculous-putback-dunk), a drive/nifty scoop, an alleyoop layup off a pass from Anthony Lawrence, a REB/putback, and a breakaway dunk in the final minutes to seal the 59-50 win.  GW came up big on the boards with 17 offensive REB but simply could not stop Huell when they were on defense: he camped out in the paint all afternoon and finished with a double-double of 15 PTS and a career-high 12 REB:

In the postgame press conference I asked Miami coach Jim Larranaga if he embraced being 1 of the only undefeated teams in the country or if he just took it 1 game at a time:

He said that he does not care about being perfect and that from day 1 their main concerns have been rebounding/defense because young guys tend to spectate rather than go after every loose ball. He also stated that he was surprised that Bruce Brown Jr. played because the initial diagnosis in early-December was that he would be out for 3 weeks with a left hand injury.

I asked GW coach Maurice Joseph if he thought that the Canes were 1 of the best teams in the nation since he has already faced a slew of top-50 teams during the past 30 days (Florida State/Xavier/Kansas State/Penn State):

He responded that they are a very good young team who will continue to get better and he was proud that his team was able to hold Miami to 20 PTS under their 79.2 PPG average.

Posted in CBB | Tagged , | Comments Off on Here’s the Story of the Hurricanes: HoopsHD takes a trip to Miami-GW

Bracket Projections: Monday, December 18th

Posted on December 18, 2017 by David Griggs

For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day, and a rundown of all the rest of today’s action – CLICK HERE

Understand what you are looking at below.  It is a CHECKPOINT of CURRENT MERIT, and not a prediction of what I think things will look like on Selection Sunday, nor is it an assessment of how good I think the teams actually are.

With that being said, there are teams that are not even in the bracket that I fully expect to make the NCAA Tournament.  I think they will win enough big games to get there.  It’s just that up until now, they haven’t.  Louisville, Cincinnati, SMU, USC, Marquette, and even Saint Bonaventure are among teams that did not make this projection that I am expecting to make the field in March.

OTHERS CONSIDERED: SMU, Cincinnati, San Diego State, Marquette, Saint John’s, UCF, Louisville, Texas Tech, Ohio State, USC, Houston, BYU, Saint Bonaventure, Providence, Utah, Western Kentucky, Oregon, UNLV, Old Dominion, Wyoming, Northwestern, Nebraska, South Carolina, Colorado, Mississippi State, UCLA, Georgia Southern

OTHER NOTES:

-Temple has wins away from home against Auburn, Clemson, Old Dominion, and South Carolina.  Those are all solid teams, and that is a high number of wins against solid teams away from home.  They have two rough losses against La Salle and George Washington, but the home loss to Villanova isn’t that bad.  I don’t they’re good enough to end up as a protected seed and don’t expect to see them anywhere near the #4 or #5 line in March, but for now they’re off to a great start.

-I expect Alabama to move up between now and the end.  I like Loyola Chicago’s team, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see them land inside the bubble, but they have a thin margin for error given the league that they play in and getting blown out at Milwaukee in their last game didn’t help the complexion of their profile.

-Florida has some great wins that indicate they could be a solid protected seed.  They’ve also lost three out of four to teams that are nowhere near a protected seed.  They’re kind of hard to place, but a lot of teams at this juncture are hard to place.

-Speaking of Florida, Clemson picked up a big win over the weekend and they’re suddenly looking pretty good.  They have just one loss on the year and a few decent wins to go along with that bloated record.

 

COMMENTS FROM OTHERS AT HOOPS HD

– From Chad: Grambling is on the APR list and not eligible for postseason play.  #StupidPuppet

Posted in Bracketology | Comments Off on Bracket Projections: Monday, December 18th

Under the Radar Game of the Day: Northeastern at Kent State (and other Highlighted Games)

Posted on December 18, 2017 by Chad

Northeastern at Kent State, 7:00 PM Eastern, espn3

After opening the season with wins over Boston University and non-D1 Wentworth, the Northeastern Huskies dropped four straight games, including going 0-2 against Utah State and Furman in their exempt event (the non-bracketed portion of the PK80 tournament).  Three of the next four scheduled games were against teams that were among the best preseason rated Under the Radar schools — Harvard, Bucknell and Vermont.  The Huskies entered that stretch at 2-4 overall and left it at 6-4, sweeping those three and defeating Cornell as well.  At least three players scored in double digits in each of the wins, showing that this team has depth and talent capable of making some serious noise in the Colonial this season.

Tonight, the Northeastern Huskies head back out on the road, travelling to Kent State.  The Golden Flashes, who won last year’s MAC Tournament before falling to UCLA in the Round of 64, are off to a slow 5-5 start on the season including a loss at Wright State this past weekend.  Danny Pippen did have a double-double in the losing effort, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.  The Golden Flashes need to turn things around a bit as they head towards conference play, while Northeastern is looking to continue their hot streak, in what has all the markings of a game that could come right down to the wire.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-BOISE STATE AT SMU.  Both teams have good records, and Boise has picked up some pretty solid wins, but they have to keep that up if they want to land inside the bubble.  Neither team is in the position of being able to put it on cruise control.  Both teams are solid and it should be a fun game to watch.

-UT ARLINGTON AT CREIGHTON.  UTA is a good team, and although I’m not expecting them to pull off the upset at Creighton, I also don’t think it is entirely outside the realm of possibility.  Whatever slim at-large hopes they have depends on it.

 

BUY GAMES

-Houston Baptist @ Michigan State
-Omaha @ Kansas
-Charleston Southern @ Florida State
-Northern Illinois @ Maruqette
-Fort Wayne @ Indiana – Fort Wayne pulled off the win in Fort Wayne last year
-Nicholls @ Tulane
-IUPUI @ Gonzaga
-Texas Southern @ TCU
-North Dakota State @ Arizona
-Tennessee State @ Texas

Posted in Under the Radar | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment