Under the Radar Game of the Day: Yale at Pennsylvania

Posted on January 13, 2017 by Chad

Yale at Penn, 8:00 PM Eastern, Comcast Network-Philadelphia/ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com

For our latest Bracket Rundown Video Podcast, CLICK HERE.

The Palestra in Philadelphia is one of the greatest venues that exists in college athletics.  Tom Izzo got Penn State to agree to move their home contest against Michigan Agricultural College State there this season just so he could cross it off his Bucket List.  It has been the site of countless Philadelphia Big Five games.  At one time, the Atlantic Ten tournament was held at the Palestra on an annual basis.  Starting this March, it will be the site of the Ivy League conference tournament.  And tonight, the one team that calls it their home court for every regular season game, the Penn Quakers, will be hosting conference rival Yale there in our Under the Radar Game of the Day.

The Yale Bulldogs are 8-5 on the season so far, with tonight’s contest being their first Ivy League game this season.  Head coach James Jones’ team got our attention during the first weekend of the season when they headed across the country and defeated Washington 98-90.  However, since that time they have suffered a few disappointing losses — most notably on November 30 at Bryant.   With the top four teams during the regular season set to advance to the Ivy’s first-ever conference tournament, Yale still appears to be strong enough to qualify as part of that upper division group.  Sam Downey has scored in double figures in four straight games, including an amazing 15 point, 17 rebound effort in a loss at Temple.  Also keep an eye on freshman Jordan Bruner.  Although Bruner has not been starting, he has hit double figures on 5 of his last 6 including 25 points against Hartford.

The Penn Quakers are one of several Ivy League teams that have a shot at the fourth and final Ivy League tournament spot behind the top three teams (Yale, Princeton and Harvard).  Getting that spot will be huge as it would give them a chance to defend their home court in the conference tournament.  The Quakers are currently 6-6 on the season and 0-1 in conference play, having lost at Princeton last weekend.  They fell behind big early in that game before fighting all the way back to tie it in the second half at 44 all.  However, the Tigers proved to be too much and pulled out a 61-52 win.  Darnell Foreman led the way off the bench in that game, scoring 17 points and grabbing 7 boards for the Quakers.  Freshman AJ Brodeur has also been a player to watch out for do far this season, including a 27 point, 10 rebound game on December 30 in a win over Fairfield.  If Penn can pull off the upset at home tonight, it will be a huge early step towards a conference tournament berth and a chance to play even more games at the Palestra this season.

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Hoops HD Bracket Rundown: January 12th

Posted on January 12, 2017 by David Griggs

Chad is joined by the entire Hoops HD panel as they build a seed list line by line based on what all the teams have done up to this point.  Check out all of the discussions and debate as they run through all of the teams, and take a look at the finished bracket below.

Recorded on Thursday, January 12th, at 9:30pm, est.  The show does not reflect any of the results after that

 

 

FINAL BRACKET

 

Posted in Bracketology, Commentary, Podcasts, Videocasts | 1 Comment

Throwback Thursday: The 2006 Atlantic 10 Tournament

Posted on January 12, 2017 by John Stalica

For David Griggs’ daily News, Notes and Highlighted Games – CLICK HERE.

For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Grand Canyon and New Mexico State – CLICK HERE.

For Jon Teitel’s interview with Hall of Fame Coach Jim Foster – CLICK HERE.

For the latest weekly Under-The-Radar Podcast, CLICK HERE.

2006 was a bit of a watershed year for the Atlantic 10 Tournament. This would be the 20th season of the conference (originally started out as the Eastern 8), and the conference tournament would be held at USBank Arena in downtown Cincinnati. Charlotte and Saint Louis were newcomers to the Atlantic 10 for this season, and as expected the 49ers were a serious contender for the league crown.

However, this season saw GW run the table with a perfect 16-0 record in conference play. They would get the top seed only a year after winning the 2005 A-10 Championship (also played at USBank Arena). Temple had a much quieter outing than the previous season – in 2005, John Chaney suspended himself for the remainder of the season after he had sent in Nehemiah Ingram as a “goon” to send a message to Saint Joseph’s player John Bryant in a late season Temple-Saint Joe’s matchup at the Liacouras Center. Feeling that Bryant and other SJU players were getting away with illegal screens in that game, Ingram committed a hard foul late in the game that caused Bryant to break his arm and prematurely end his season.

9th-seeded Temple would defeat Rhode Island 74-45 in a nondescript opener, and Saint Joe’s would beat Dayton 67-55 in the next game. Dayton was the last team to qualify for the tournament; they finished ahead of Duquesne and St. Bonaventure in the conference standings.

In the nighttime doubleheader, 10th-seeded Xavier avenged their season-ending loss at UMass with a 75-66 win over the Minutemen. Noteworthy here is that this was the first win for Xavier after senior PG Dedrick Finn was dismissed from the team by head coach Sean Miller. A few hearty souls stayed around to watch 6th-seeded Fordham defeat Richmond 45-37 in the last of the opening-round games.

The 4 teams that ended up getting byes into the quarterfinals were the aforementioned GW Colonials along with the #2 Charlotte 49ers, #3 LaSalle Explorers and #4 Saint Louis Billikens. Remarkably, neither of the 4 teams would advance to the semifinals. Temple beat GW 68-53 with relative ease, and Saint Joe’s upended SLU 56-37 in the 2nd game of the afternoon doubleheader. A partisan Xavier crowd watched the Musketeers defeat Charlotte 59-55 in the first night game – this doomed whatever at-large hopes the 49ers had and relegated them to the NIT. Another remarkable result was Fordham beating La Salle 64-62 in the nightcap; this was the first time the Rams made it to the A-10 semifinal round in what was then their 12th season in the conference.

The semifinal round began with a weird delay – a bird managed to fly into a ceiling fan at USBank Arena and was killed on contact. The Saint Joe’s-Temple game was delayed for 15 minutes after the floor was cleared and the fan was cleaned up. This time, the Hawks would beat Temple 73-59 to avenge the injury to Bryant from a season earlier. Xavier would avenge their earlier loss to Fordham in the season with a 70-59 victory. This would be the 3rd straight season that Xavier and Saint Joe’s would play each other in the Atlantic 10 Tournament – the Hawks won in 2005, but Xavier blasted the Hawks in 2004 to put an abrupt end to what was a perfect regular season for the Hawks.

The championship game was a very close one, and a blocked shot on the game’s final play preserved a 62-61 win for Xavier – this was their 3rd and final Atlantic 10 title. As for the NCAA Tournament, Xavier got the auto bid and a #14 seed in the West (Oakland) region, but lost to Gonzaga in a game where the Muskies had a serious opportunity for a historic upset. GW would end up as a #8 seed in the South (Atlanta) region – they beat UNC-Wilmington in overtime in the first round before falling to Duke in front of a partisan crowd in Greensboro. Saint Joe’s, Temple and Charlotte would all play in the NIT – the Hawks advanced the furthest with a Round of 16 appearance before losing to Hofstra.

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Thursday, Jan 12th

Posted on January 12, 2017 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

-For our latest Under the Radar Video Podcast, which you should absolutely watch because it is just that amazing – CLICK HERE

-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Grand Canyon and a New Mexico State team who has a shot at entering the NCAA Tournament with just two losses – CLICK HERE

-Last night gave us yet another match-up between two top fifteen teams!  It was the fourth in just 24 hours!  And, like the other three, it was a complete dud.  Butler actually went on a run in the final ninety seconds to make it look far less like a blowout than what it actually was, but in actuality, Creighton absolutely blew them out.  Another impressive home win for the Blue Jays and another case where Butler struggled in a true road game.

-Michigan State finally looked like the team we were expecting to see since November, and for that matter, so did Minnesota.  A really nice win for the Spartans that probably means as much to their mental health as it does their resume.

-Dayton is a team that went into last night in pretty good shape just so long as they didn’t stub their toes.  Last night, they really stubbed their toes.  They lost to UMass in a game where they trailed most of the way and really didn’t show any urgency or fire.  The A10 may get their first place team inside the bubble if that team is Dayton or VCU, but everyone else will likely need the auto-bid.

-Seton Hall lost an overtime thriller at Marquette, but is still in relatively good shape.  It was a nice win for a Marquette team that desperately needed one.

-TCU won at Texas.  So, they passed the litmus test of being able to win a road game that an NCAA Tournament caliber team is expected to win.  I’m still not as big on them as the rest of the Hoops HD staff, but I am sitting up and taking a little bit more notice.

-A nice win for Iowa State last night at Oklahoma State.  Oklahoma State is now 0-4 in Big Twelve play.  This has to be a shock to the system of Brad Underwood, who came from Stephen F Austin and isn’t really used to this whole idea of not winning conference games.

-Michigan, you can go home now.  We’ll call you again at the start of next season.

-NC State, you can go home now.  We’ll call you again at the start of next season.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-OHIO STATE AT WISCONSIN (Big Ten).  Wisconsin is flirting with a protected seed and Ohio State is flirting with the NIT.  Wisky should get this one at home.  If Ohio State wants to get their season and profile turned around, it will take a win in a game like this to do it.

-CLEMSON AT GEORGIA TECH (ACC).  Clemson is coming off of two straight frustrating losses and could use a win on the road to help stabilize things.

-NOTRE DAME AT MIAMI FL (ACC).  Miami is at home so you can never completely write them off, but so far this season Notre Dame has looked really good and Miami has been rather disappointing.  This is a winnable conference road game for the Irish.

-WILLIAM & MARY AT UNC WILMINGTON (Colonial).  If UNCW runs the table in the regular season, which they are definitely good enough to do, I think they’re in the NCAAs with or without the automatic bid.

-MARSHALL AT MIDDLE TENNESSEE (Conference USA).  Marshall is one of the better teams in CUSA, but they’re not as strong as Middle, and they are the road team in this one.  Middle Tennessee has a clear run to an NCAA Tournament bid if they run the table in the regular season.

-PURDUE AT IOWA (Big Ten).  Purdue is flirting with a protected seed and this is a winnable conference road game for them.

-NORTHWESTERN AT RUTGERS (Big Ten).  Northwestern’s profile is rather healthy and it’s important that they hold serve and take care of business in what is a winnable conference road game.

-WASHINGTON AT CALIFORNIA (Pac Twelve).  Cal has a lot of ground to make up just to get themselves into the bubble discussion.  They certainly can’t afford to lose a game like this.

-USC AT UTAH (Pac Twelve).  Utah has a pretty good record and although they’re not looking like a solid tournament team yet, they are certainly in a position to play their way in with a strong showing in conference.  It will be interesting to see what they do against a pretty good USC team tonight.

-ARIZONA STATE AT ARIZONA (Pac Twelve).  Arizona is looking more and more like a great team and shouldn’t have too much trouble against their cross-state rivals.

-LMU AT GONZAGA (West Coast).  the Zags are the class of the league and have a legitimate chance of entering the NCAA Tournament without a loss.

-SMU AT CINCINNATI (American).  If we were to pick a featured game of the day I suppose this would be it.  It’s two good teams who are looking to build their resumes, but have limited opportunities outside of when they play each other.

-UCLA AT COLORADO (Pac Twelve).  UCLA has been one of the biggest surprises of the seasons, and Colorado has been one of the biggest disappointments so far.  I think UCLA can end up on the #1 line and expect them to take care of business tonight.

-SAINT MARY’S AT PORTLAND (West Coast).  Saint Mary’s, like Gonzaga, should run away from the rest of the league and end up with a very healthy overall profile.

Posted in Daily Rundown, News and Notes | 1 Comment

Under the Radar Game of the Day: Grand Canyon at New Mexico State

Posted on January 12, 2017 by Chad

Grand Canyon at New Mexico State, 9:00 PM Eastern, AGGIE VISION/Altitude2/espn3

For our latest Under the Radar video podcast, CLICK HERE.

This year’s Team of the People, the New Hampshire Wildcats, were featured in last night’s Under the Radar Game of the Day and picked up a solid road win at Albany.  Tonight, we step back in time to last season, and return to our beloved Grand Canyon Antelopes as they face their toughest conference challenge of the season, a road trip to Las Cruces to take on the New Mexico State Aggies.  The Lopes enter play tonight at 10-6 overall and 1-0 in WAC play.  They have already suffered a couple of disappointing losses this season, at home to SIU Edwardsville and on the road at UC-Riverside.  Josh Braun, one of their top players entering the season, went down with an injury in the SIUE loss and proceeded to miss the next 9 games.  The good news is those games saw the emergence of Dewayne Russell as one of the most dynamic players in the nation.  The even better news is that Braun is back healthy now and dropped 31 points on Utah Valley last time out.  In fact, Russell and Braun combined for 52 points, and Russell added 11 assists in that game.  With Braun and Russell both healthy, the Lopes should be an amazingly fun team to watch the rest of the season, and have a real chance to capture the WAC regular season title (even if they are still ineligible for the NCAA Tournament #LopesWaiver).

New Mexico State enters tonight’s game at a very impressive 15-2 overall and 2-0 in conference.  The Aggies have one of the nation’s longest winning streaks, with 13 straight victories entering play tonight.  They feature a tough balanced scoring attack, with any of 4 or more players able to take over and lead the team on any given night.  Braxton Huggins was the points leader last time out, at Chicago State, with 27 points.  Eli Chuha added 13 points and 10 rebounds for his 7th double-double of the season.  If the Aggies can pick up the win over Thunder Dan’s Lopes tonight, they will have the inside track on the conference regular season championship — which comes with a bye into the conference tournament semifinal round.  However, to get the win they will need to find a way to slow down Braun and Russell, and that simply may not be possible.

 

 

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Under the Radar: January 11th

Posted on January 11, 2017 by David Griggs

Chad, John, and David start off by celebrating a big win by the Team of the People!!  New Hampshire snapped a frustrating three game div1 losing streak with a big win at Albany.  After that they run through all 23 UTR conferences (including the Mountain West) and discuss Oakland’s huge win at Valpo, another exciting start for the Big South, why New Mexico State may still need the automatic bid even if they win out, and much more.  And as always, they show us this week’s UTR Top Ten.

 

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

Posted in Podcasts, Under the Radar, Videocasts | 2 Comments