Hoops HD

Under the Radar Games of the Day: Bahamas Showcase Quarterfinals

Posted on November 17, 2017 by Chad

Bahamas Showcase Quarterfinals, all game on flohoops.com:

Bradley vs Vermont, 11:00 AM Eastern
Coastal Carolina vs Texas-San Antonio, 2:00 PM Eastern
Northern Kentucky vs James Madison, 5:00 PM Eastern
Weber State vs Iona, 8:00 PM Eastern

Instead of a single game today, the Under the Radar Game(s) of the Day is the entire quarterfinal round at a brand new early season event taking place in the Bahamas — the Bahamas Showcase. This eight team event features a grouping of teams that, while certainly not name brands, could be contenders to win at least four or five automatic bids this season.

The first game of the day features the Missouri Valley Conference’s Bradley Braves against the America East’s Vermont Catamounts. The Braves are 2-0 on the season, being led by Donte Thomas who is averaging 11 points and 9 rebounds through the first two games. While they may have a shot at contending in their conference this year, their opponent is a clear favorite in theirs. Vermont is 0-1, but that one loss was a tough 4 point road game at Kentucky. Four different Catamount players were in double figures in that game, showing that this team is very deep and very dangerous.

Game two brings us head coach Cliff Ellis’ Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, a longshot contender in the Sun Belt this season, against Conference USA’s Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners, a team that is less likely to contend in a deep Conference USA. Coastal did lose their only D1 game so far this year, a 6 point road loss at Lamar. Jaylen Shaw scored 17 points while Ajay Sanders added 13 in the losing effort. UTSA picked up a road win at Texas State in their only D1 game, 79-78. Four players scored in double figures in that game, while a fifth, Byron Frohnen pulled down 10 rebounds.

The third game will showcase Northern Kentucky and James Madison. NKU won the automatic bid out of the Horizon League last season and should be among the top contenders in their conference again this year. The Norse are 2-0 so far this season, with Drew McDonald dominating, averaging 20 points and 10.5 rebounds in his first two games. James Madison, out of the Colonial, suffered a home loss to Old Dominion in their lone D1 game so far. Stuckey Mosley led his team with 14 points, but the Dukes did fall by 16 and will need a lot better effort across the board today if they want to pick up the victory.

The nightcap is probably the most interesting game of the first round, as a pair of perennial contenders for league titles meet up, Weber State out of the Big Sky and Iona from the Metro Atlantic. The Weber State Wildcats enter today at 2-0 including a home win over Utah State. Ryan Richardson scored 20 pointed in that win while Zach Braxton added 18 and 8 boards. If those two players can continue to lead the way, Weber should find themselves among the top seeds in the Big Sky Tournament in March. Tim Cluess’ Iona Gaels are 0-2 so far, with road losses at Albany and Syracuse. Both games were close, and the team should certainly not be written off yet by any means. Four different Gaels scored in double figures in the Syracuse loss, led by 21 from Rickey McGill. A balanced scoring attack like that could be exactly what is needed to win not only tonight’s game, but possibly this entire event.

Posted in Under the Radar | Tagged Bradley, Coastal Carolina, college basketball, iona, James Madison, Northern Kentucky, Texas-San Antonio, under the radar, Vermont, Weber State | 1 Comment

The Kyle Lamb Show!! Season 1, Episode 2

Posted on November 16, 2017 by David Griggs

After a debut episode that transcended college basketball and took the entire country by storm, the hottest show in the internet is back as we debut the second ever episode of the Kyle Lamb Show!! Unfortunately, Kyle Lamb could not be with us yet again this week. Chad and David do their best to answer Kyle’s fan mail, and then discuss the pros and cons of the current college basketball calendar, and talk about whether it’s a good idea to start the season three days earlier, which the NCAA is debating.

Audio only. No video. Our radio lovers are happy, but our TV lovers are S.O.L.

Posted in Kyle Lamb Show | Comments Off

News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Thursday, Nov 16th

Posted on November 16, 2017 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

-For our latest Under the Radar Podcast – CLICK HERE

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

-Creighton got a huge win at Northwestern yesterday. Creighton always seems to beat a ranked team in November. I believe they’ve done so ever since they joined the Big East. So, here we are again with Creighton getting a big early season win.

-BYU also picked up a really nice road win at Princeton. We weren’t all that big on the Cougars, but they’re off to a 2-0 start with a good road win, so we’ll be paying attention to them until they give us a reason not to.

-Other than that it was a rather chalky day, which is common when you have this level of buy games. Bucknell put up a good showing against North Carolina, and UCLA had to sweat out their game against Central Arkansas, but other than that there were no real surprises.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-ILLINOIS STATE VS SOUTH CAROLINA (Puerto Rico Tipoff). We weren’t expecting all that much out of South Carolina this year, but they’ve looked pretty good winning their first two games and could emerge onto the national scene if they do well in this tournament.

-AUBURN VS INDIANA STATE (Charleston Classic). Indiana State already has a big win at Indiana. If they pick up some more notable wins in this tournament then we will definitely start paying attention to them. Auburn is…well…probably in for a long year.

-OLD DOMINION VS TEMPLE (Charleston Classic). Old Dominion is off to a 2-0 start and can help out their profile by picking up some wins in this tournament. We think Temple is a much improved team and we’ll learn something about them this week as well.

-BOISE STATE VS UTEP (Puerto Rico Tip-Off). Both teams come in without a loss. UTEP finished strong last year and it will be interesting to see if they can carry that momentum into this year.

-CLEMSON VS OHIO (Charleston Classic). Picking up some early season wins away from home should help both teams. Clemson will have a rough time in the ACC and would really benefit from making a case for themselves out of conference. Ohio, like most UTR teams, has a small margin for error and this is a chance for them to pick up some notable wins.

-IOWA STATE VS APPALACHIAN STATE (Puetro Rico Tip Off0. Appy State can improve to 3-0 with a win. Iowa State has a solid program, but this year’s edition of it will struggle. Their next win will be their first.

-NEBRASKA AT SAINT JOHN’S (Gavitt Tipoff Games). This is the first real test for both teams. We’ll learn something about both of them tonight.

-VIRGINIA TECH VS SAINT LOUIS (2K Classic, New York NY). Both teams come in unbeaten, but also untested. We like this Virginia Tech team and while we think Saint Louis is improved we still have a lot of uncertainties about them. This is a chance for both teams to pick up a good early season win.

-HARVARD AT HOLY CROSS. Both teams come in 2-0, and although they haven’t looked as dominant as we expected in their first two games we still think this Harvard team could end up inside the NCAA Tournament bubble. If they’re truly tournament caliber team, then this is the kind of road game that they are expected to be able to win.

-BELMONT AT MIDDLE TENNESSEE. This is Chad’s UTR Game of the Day. CLICK HERE TO READ HIS WRITE UP

-DAYTON VS HOFSTRA (Charleston Classic). Both teams come in 1-0, and like all teams in these early season tournaments it’s a chance for them to emerge their relevance if they do well.

-MISSOURI AT UTAH. Both teams come in 2-0 and both look to be much improved from last year. Mizzou, who has been pitiful the last two years, can pick up a really nice early season road win and improve to 3-0, which will generate more momentum than what they’ve had in quite some time.

-XAVIER AT WISCONSIN (Gavitt Tipoff Games). Both teams have devoured a couple of cupcakes, but both appear to be really good. This is the first real test for both teams and it’s a chance to pick up a really nice early season win. A lot of people are down on Wiscy, but if they win this they’ll suddenly be nationally relevant and either in the rankings or close to it like what we’re used to seeing.

-PROVIDENCE VS WASHINGTON (2k Classic). Providence lost a tough one earlier in the week, but doing well in the 2K Classic certainly gives them the chance to bounce back.

-SAMFORD AT LSU. We highlight this to point out that we think LSU is awful and it wouldn’t surprise us at all if Samford, who is a likely SoCon frontrunner, goes in there and beats them.

-MARSHALL AT MOREHEAD STATE. A win for Marshall gets them to 3-0.

-LOYOLA CHICAGO AT UMKC. A win for Loyola gets them to 3-0.

BUY GAMES

-North Florida @ Florida
-FAMU @ Miami FL
-Coppin State @ Cincinnati
-Chicago State @ Notre Dame
-Southern Miss @ Michigan – both teams 1-0
-Texas Southern @ Ohio State
-Presbyterian @ NC State
-South Alabama @ La Salle – La Salle can improve to 3-0
-Oral Roberts @ Oklahoma State – this may not technically be a buy game. I know Okie State has gone to Oral Roberts. But, it looks like one.
-Grambling @ Iowa
-Cal State Bakersfield @ Arizona

Posted in Daily Rundown, News and Notes | Comments Off

Under the Radar Game of the Day: Belmont at Middle Tennessee

Posted on November 16, 2017 by Chad

Belmont at Middle Tennessee, 7:30 PM Eastern, Stadium Facebook page – Live

The Under the Radar Game of the Day once again features a battle between one of the top Ohio Valley Conference teams and Conference USA’s Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders tonight as this time they host the Belmont Bruins. Middle Tennessee enters tonight’s game at 2-0, coming off a strong road win at Murray State on Monday night. Nick King was a dominant force in that game, scoring 31 points. Giddy Potts only scored 7 points, but led the team in rebounding, with 8, and steals, with 4. If head coach Kermit Davis’ team can get similar numbers from their stars tonight, they could pick up another strong non-conference win.

Belmont enters tonight’s game at 1-1, having lost a close 4 point game at Washington before pulling off a huge home win over Vanderbilt on Monday night. Dylan Windler scored 24 points and pulled down 11 boards in that game, while Amanze Egekeze added 22 points of his own. Austin Luke added 6 assists, after having 7 in the loss at Washington. The Bruins have established themselves, in just the first few days of the season, as one of the teams to beat in the OVC this year. If they can pick up the huge road win tonight, against a team that has made back-to-back NCAA Tournaments (and won a game there each time), they will send a very strong message to the rest of their conference.

NOTE: Don’t forget to check out our latest Under the Radar video podcast, below!!!

Posted in Under the Radar | Tagged Belmont, college basketball, Conference USA, Middle Tennessee, Ohio Valley Conference, under the radar | Comments Off

Under the Radar: Nov 15th

Posted on November 15, 2017 by David Griggs

Chad is joined by David, John, and Rocco as they run through all 22 UTR conferences. The featured conference is the Metro Atlantic, and we look at the strong starts that Niagara, Monmouth, and Fairfield have gotten off to. From there we discuss Florida Gulf Coast’s good start, Bucknell’s early struggles, Vermont’s close loss at Kentucky, the Big West’s and Missouri Valley’s strong starts, this week’s Top Ten, and much more!! And as an added bonus, we have a live look in (on tape delay) at this year’s Team of the People, the Cal Baptist Lancers!!

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

Posted in Podcasts, Team of the People, Under the Radar, Videocasts | 1 Comment

News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Wednesday, Nov 15th

Posted on November 15, 2017 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Jacksonville State and Buffalo, which is another good one – CLICK HERE

-We will be recording our Under the Radar podcast tonight, so be sure and be on the lookout for that.

-The two showcase games lived up to the hype, at least in terms of excitement. There were still some early November cobwebs to dust off, but all and all it was two great games to play early in the season. Duke and Michigan State seesawed back and forth with Duke pulling out out in the end, and Kentucky hung right in with Kansas for the first 39-and-a-half minutes until the Jayhawks finally put it away. When it comes to earning a #1 seed, having a neutral floor win over a team that’s also in the hunt for a #1 seed is a huge leg up, so even though it was just Day 5 of the season these are still games that can play a huge rule in shaping what the committee does in March.

-Purdue picked up a nice road win at Marquette and looked really impressive doing it.

-We weren’t really sure about George Washington coming into the year. I believe we are now sure that they’re not as good as Florida State. The Seminoles won easily at home.

-San Diego State was another team that we were kind of high on and that we felt had a chance of landing inside the bubble come March. Of course it’s still early, but they didn’t just fail to pick up a notable road win against a decent at best Arizona State team, they got absolutely smoked. Arizona State might be an NIT team (at least that’s what we think for now), and those are the kinds of games that NCAA Tournament caliber teams need to be able to win. Not only did SDSU not win, they not won HUGE!

Georgia and UConn had some trouble in their buy games, but ended up getting it done.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-COLORADO CHRISTIAN AT CAL BAPTIST. The Team of the People!!! YOUR LANCERS!!! They are nationally ranked!! They are undefeated!! They look to continue their march to greatness in their final year of div2 tonight!!! CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE GAME!! Tip Off is at 10pm, est!! We will be recording Under the Radar at the time, and we will have a live report!!

-INDIANA AT SETON HALL (Gavitt Tipoff Games). Indiana had a rather unspectacular season debut with their 30 point home loss to Indiana State. If they play like that on the road tonight against a Seton Hall team that appears to be good enough to earn a protected seed they may lose by 60.

-UC SANTA BARBARA AT PITTSBURGH. We are highlighting this because of UCSB and not Pitt. A win for UCSB, which is very possible, gets them to 2-0 on the year.

-MONTANA AT PENN STATE. Both teams come in unbeaten. Penn State could make some noise in the Big Ten this year, and Montana is one of the better teams in the Big Sky.

-BYU AT PRINCETON. Princeton lost their opener, but they’re still a formidable team that can make some noise in the Ivy. BYU is looking to stay unbeaten and pick up their first road win.

-JACKSONVILLE STATE AT BUFFALO. This is Chad’s UTR Game of the Day. Jax State blitzed Richmond on the road earlier this week. A win tonight will give them what should turn out to be another decent road win and improve them to 3-0 on the year, which is a very good start.

-BUCKNELL AT NORTH CAROLINA. It’s getting harder and harder to speak highly of this Bucknell team and portray them as top 40 team that we thought they were. They’re 0-2, and while none of the losses are bad, if they’re a legit top 40 team they should have picked up at least one of them, or at least played a little better. They have another chance to make a big impression tonight, but they’re probably swinging way over their heads in this one.

-NIAGARA AT MINNESOTA. This is a buy game, but it’s worth watching since both teams come in without a loss. Niagara had a nice road win at Saint Bonaventure in their first game, and Minnesota won at Providence in what was one of the more impressive wins of the entire year for any team so far.

-BUTLER AT MARYLAND (Gavitt Tipoff Games). Both teams come into this one unbeaten, but untested. We should learn something about both of them tonight.

-CREIGHTON AT NORTHWESTERN (Gavitt Tipoff Games). Both teams come in unbeaten and untested. Northwestern is in the rankings, but they’ve had to sweat more than you would expect during their first two games. These re two likely tournament teams so this would be a really good early season win for whoever pulls it off.

-NEVADA AT SANTA CLARA. Nevada had a nice win against Rhode Island the other night and is now trying to pick up their first true road win.

BUY GAMES

-Southern @ Missouri State
-American @ West Virginia
-Gardner Webb @ UCF
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ Georgetown
-UMES @ Saint Bonaventure – Bonnies looking for their first win
-Northwestern State @ SMU
-Ball State @ Oklahoma
-South Dakota @ TCU – both teams 2-0
-Seattle @ Washington State
-Cal State Fullerton @ Saint Mary’s
-Prairie View A&M @ UNLV
-Central Arkansas @ UCLA

Posted in Daily Rundown, News and Notes | Tagged Team of the People | Comments Off