News, Notes and Highlighted Games – December 20

Posted on December 20, 2017 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Oakland, and Towson, which is a REALLY good game – CLICK HERE

-Texas A&M, Xavier, Wichita State, Syracuse, and Notre Dame all won buy games, but they were all struggles.  Syracuse didn’t put Buffalo away until the final minutes, Xavier blew a big lead against Marshall and held on to win by only 4, Wichita trailed in the second half against Arkansas State before finally pulling away, and Texas A&M didn’t put Northern Kentucky away until the final minute of the game.

-Missouri defeated SFA by a single point, but that game was far less surprising because of how strong SFA is.  It’s actually a decent win for Mizzou, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if SFA was able to win out.  They really needed a win like the win at Mizzou if they wanted to impress the committee because their remaining schedule is atrociously weak, but still.  Don’t be surprised if they win out and enter the NCAA Tournament with 30 wins.

-Auburn picked up another nice win that is much nicer than it appears.  They went into Murray State and beat a good team on the road.  Murray could end up finishing in the RPI top 75, which means the committee will give Auburn a ton of credit for that win.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-SAINT JOSEPH’S VS SAINT JOHN’S (Hall of Fame Holiday Showcase, Uncasville CT).  Saint John’s has been really impressive this year and they can add another respectable win away from home to their resume today.

-HOUSTON VS PROVIDENCE (Hall of Fame Holiday Showcase, Uncasville CT).  Both these teams have potential, and both have shown signs of having a pulse.  Having said that, you get the sense that this is a big game for both teams because both need to improve.

-EVANSVILLE AT DUKE.  Evansville comes into this game at 10-2 and is likely way overmatched.  But if they could somehow pull off this upset (which I know isn’t likely) then it’s the kind of win that could catapult them onto the national scene and solidly into the NCAA Tournament talk.

-WAGNER AT SETON HALL.  This is a buy game, and could very well end up looking like a buy game, but it’s an interesting regional match up between a Wagner team that so far has looked the best out of all the NEC teams, and comes into this game with a 7-2 record.

-NORTHEASTERN AT SAINT BONAVENTURE.  I like the way the Bonnies have been playing, and they’ve got another tough UTR team at home today.  They don’t want to overlook Northeastern, who comes in at 7-4 with five straight wins, including Bucknell and Vermont in that stretch.

-FURMAN AT TENNESSEE.  Tennessee is coming off a hard fought game against North Carolina that they lost, but still ended up earning a lot of respect for.  They need to focus on today’s game against a Furman team that comes in at 9-3 and who could possibly put themselves in the discussion if they’re able to pick up a high caliber win like this.

-ALBANY AT LOUISVILLE.  This is a buy game that Louisville should be able to blow open, but we’ll go ahead and highlight it because of Albany’s strong 11-2 start and because they should be at or near the top of the America East.

-KANSAS STATE AT WASHINGTON STATE.  Both teams have shown signs of life, both have respectable records, and Wazzu even has some notable wins.  Having said that, both teams really need more quality wins so this is big for both of them.

 

BUY GAMES

-Coppin State @ West Virginia
-James Madison @ Florida
-North Texas @ Georgetown
-UMES @ Iowa State
-Southern @ Baylor
-UTSA @ Nebraska
-Little Rock @ Mississippi State
-Siena @ Memphis
-Wofford @ North Carolina — Keep an eye on Wofford’s Fletcher Magee!
-SC Upstate @ Creighton
-Northwestern State @ Utah
-Central Arkansas @ Oregon
-Mississippi Valley State @ UNLV

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Under the Radar Game of the Day: Towson at Oakland

Posted on December 20, 2017 by Chad

Towson at Oakland, MY20-Detroit/espn3

The Under the Radar Game of the Day heads to Michigan tonight as one of the best UTR stories of the season so far, Pat Skerry’s Towson Tigers, travel to take on Greg Kampe’s Oakland Golden Grizzlies.  Towson enters tonight’s game at 10-1, having won ten games in a row since an opening three point loss at Old Dominion.  The Tigers are coming off an 11 day layoff during final exams, but cannot show any signs of rust if they want the victory at Oakland.  Keep an eye on Eddie Keith who scored 12 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked 3 shots in their last game, a win over UMBC.

Oakland entered the season as one of our top picks in the Horizon and a team that was deep and talented enough to make some non-conference noise.  At 6-5, including losses to Toledo and Eastern Michigan, the season has been somewhat of a disappointment so far for the Golden Grizzlies.  The good news is that conference play is just a week away, and tonight’s game, plus Friday’s rematch with EMU ,can serve as final tune-ups for this team.  Oakland has only had a couple of games so far this year in which all of their “big three” (Kendrick Nunn, Martez Walker and Jalen Hayes) have played together, so hopefully they can all stay on the court not only tonight, but for the rest of the season.

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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

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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.

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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…

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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.

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