Under the Radar Game of the Day: Delaware State at Delaware

Delaware State at Delaware, 7:00 PM Eastern, bluehens.com

It is the Battle of Delaware tonight in Newark, Delaware as the Blue Hens host in-state rival Delaware State in a non-conference matchup.  The host Blue Hens enter play tonight with a record of 4-3 on the season.  Two fo their four wins were against non-D1 foes, but the other two did both come on the road, at Bradley and at Miami (Ohio).  Cazmon Hayes and Anthony Mosley have been the two best players so far this season for Delaware, though they have had quite a few different players in double-digits in at least one game so far.  Whether this is a sign of a balanced attack or a lack of a true standout player will be seen as this team heads through December and towards the start of CAA play next month.

Tonight, the Blue Hens welcome in the MEAC’s Delaware State Hornets, a team coming off of a huge upset win at St. John’s.  The 79-72 victory was their first D1 win of the season.  Devin Morgan led the way for the Hornets in that game, scoring 26 points against the Johnnies.  With the confidence they gained in that win, do not be surprised if the Hornets find a way to win their second straight game tonight.  A win here would only be the Hornets 5th win against Delaware in 18 all-time games, but would actually be their third straight in games played at Delaware’s home.  Regardless of the records, this is a battle between the only two Division I schools in the State of Delaware, and should be a good one

 

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Under the Radar Game of the Day: Monmouth at Quinnipiac (And other Highlighted Games: Thurs, Dec 1)

Monmouth at Quinnipiac, 7:00 PM Eastern, quinnipiacbobcats.com

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

Welcome to December, the month of holiday parties, college football bowl games and . . . conference play in hoops???  Well, not really.  For most teams, conference play does not start until January, but the Metro Atlantic is an exception.  With a 20 game conference regular season, the MAAC gets things going early with a couple of games for each team this weekend.  It all starts tonight with a pair of games, Fairfield at Rider and our Under the Radar Game of the Day, Monmouth at Quinnipiac.

Monmouth captured the nation’s attention last year with the antics of their Bench and huge wins against the likes of UCLA, USC, Notre Dame and Georgetown.  This season, the Hawks are out to a 4-2 start, though none of their wins are even close to the level of the ones they picked up last year.  A heartbreaking last second loss at South Carolina and a tough 21-point loss at Syracuse are their only results against power conference teams.  Justin Robinson and Chris Brady have led the way so far for the Hawks.  Robinson picked up his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 assists last time out in a win over Holy Cross, while Brady added 21 points in that game.  Also keep an eye on Micah Seaborn who dropped 25 points in a win over South Carolina State.

Quinnipiac has been off to a rough start so far this season, entering play tonight at only 1-4.  Their losses have been respectable, including Seton Hall and Gonzaga, while their win was also solid, over an Indiana State team that has played a lot better than their record to date.  Mikey Dixon scored 21 points off the bench to lead the team in the Indiana State win and help the Bobcats capture seventh place in the Advocare Invitational.  Abdulai Bundo added a double-double in that game with 15 points and 12 rebounds.  Also keep an eye on Chase Daniels who has registered double-digit rebounds twice already this season, including a double-double against Seton Hall.  All three players will need to step up their games again tonight in order to beat one of the favorites in the MAAC in the conference regular season opener.

 

OTHER HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-VERMONT AT SOUTH CAROLINA.  I know this is a buy game, but Vermont is off to a 6-2 start and we believe they’re one of the frontrunners in the America East.

-FLORIDA AT NORTH FLORIDA.  This is what you call a winnable road game.  It’s not nearly as easy as winning at home, but it’s still a game Florida is likely to win.  And even if they don’t, it’s hardly the end of the world.  Indiana lost at Fort Wayne and they seem to be doing just fine.

-CINCINNATI AT IOWA STATE.  This is a quality OOC match up between two likely tournament teams.  They played last year and it was a thriller.  Cincinnati is still looking for a big signature win, and this would certainly qualify.  Iowa State is very good, and they’re especially tough to beat at home.

BUY GAMES

-Lees McRae (nondiv1) @ East Tennessee State
-Columbia @ Seton Hall
-Montana State @ Utah
-Mississippi Valley State @ Gonzaga

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Under the Radar: November 30th

For those of you who missed it, we here at Hoops HD have taken it upon ourselves to declare this year’s Team of the People, the New Hampshire Wildcats, the champions of the Preseason NIT!!  They were 3-1, and they won the head-to-head match-up against Temple, who was the other one loss team.  Furthermore, we are sending them a banner!!  We start off by unveiling the 2016 Preseason NIT Championship Banner that is currently being made and will be shipped to UNH!!

After that, we run through all 22 UTR conferences and talk about Valpo’s big win against Rhode Island and what a good start they’ve had to the season, as well as Middle Tennessee’s big win earlier this evening against Ole Miss and how good they look.  Ohio dropped a big game at Marshall, but we’re still a big fan of the Bobcats and think they’re capable of making quite a bit of noise.  All that, this week’s UTR Top Ten, a look ahead at this week’s big games, and more!

 

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

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Wednesday, Nov 30th

It’s a VERY busy night in college basketball!  Below is a rundown of all the action…

NEWS AND NOTES

-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE

-I think the most noteworthy result last night that most people probably didn’t think of as noteworthy was Valpo’s big win over Rhode Island.  The game was close the entire way, but Valpo was ahead for most of it and after playing a great game for 39:45, held on to win after doing a couple of boneheaded things in the final seconds.  It’s a huge, perhaps resume making game for Valpo.  Any team that wants to make the NCAA Tournament has to give the selection committee a reason to take them.  If you’re an Under the Radar team, it is very hard to do that in conference play because there just aren’t opportunities for statement wins, so that’s why these early November and December games are so important.

-Wisconsin basically ran away from Syracuse and looked like the top ten team that many of us believed them to be before the season started.  They haven’t always looked like that, but they did last night.

-November continues to not be Shaka Smart’s month.  Last night Texas fell at home to UT Arlington 72-61 in a game that probably wasn’t even as close as the score indicated.  What does this mean for Texas??  They do struggle at the PG position, but I still think they’re going to get things turned around.  I’ve been saying this since his days at VCU.  November just isn’t Shaka’s month.  Better to have bad Novembers than Bad Marches, I guess.

-A UTR note, it was a very disappointing showing for Tennessee State at Vanderbilt last night.  I was beginning to think they were one of the surprise small conference teams of the year, and I suppose they still could be, but they didn’t look it last night.

-We had questions about Houston going into last night about how good they really were.  They were beaten down by LSU.  We no longer have questions about them.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-NORTH CAROLINA AT INDIANA (ACC/Big Ten Challenge) (***Spotlight Game***).  Both these teams are likely to end up as protected seeds, and it’s quite possible that one or both of them could end up as #1 seeds.  Indiana has a big win against Kansas already, and although they do have the loss at IPFW, that becomes almost insignificant, even by #1 seed standards, if they’re able to pick up a second win against a top five team before November is even over.  It’s a showcase game, and it should be a fun one.

-NEW HAMPSHIRE AT PROVIDENCE.  Folks, the People’s team and the Hoops HD declared champions of Preseason NIT (we still insist on calling it that) are on the road and in action again tonight against a Providence team that has been much more impressive than what I was expecting up to this point.  If UNH gets this one, it will be the second big road scalp on their profile before November is even over!!

-RICHMOND AT BUCKNELL.  Richmond showed signs of life in their holiday tournament, and are worth keeping an eye on.  Going to Bucknell and winning isn’t the easiest thing in the world to do, but if they’re legit then they should be able to pick it up.

-WRIGHT STATE AT GEORGIA STATE.  Wright State comes into this at 6-1, and already has a true road win.  Their next seven div1 games are on the road, so we’ll know more about them after that stretch. Both teams will be playing this game in honor of Samaritan’s Feet – click here for more information on this charitable group. (We will discuss this further on tonight’s UTR podcast.)

-PURDUE AT LOUISVILLE (ACC/Big Ten Challenge).  Both teams look like they could/will end up as protected seeds, but up to this point neither one of them has a win against a solid top 25 team yet, so it’s a good opportunity to get one tonight.

-OHIO AT MARSHALL.  Marshall has just one loss, and Ohio comes in not just at 4-0, but having looked very impressive in their four wins.  They won’t get the attention of the national media until January, but they are a good team and this would be another notable true road win for them if they’re able to pick it up.

-RUTGERS AT MIAMI FL (ACC/Big Ten Challenge).  Rutgers is out to a 6-0 start, which is good, but none of their wins indicate that they’re going to be staying on the radar, so to speak.  Now, if they win tonight, then that’s an entirely different story.

-VIRGINIA TECH AT MICHIGAN (ACC/Big Ten Challenge).  Both teams come into this with just one loss, and Michigan has a little meat on their profile after having picked up some early wins of note.  For Virginia Tech, it is a hugely important game because their opportunities at notable OOC wins are very limited, and this could be the kind of win that gives their resume the nudge it needs at the end of the year.  It’s also a litmus test to see how good the Hokies really are.

-TEMPLE AT SAINT JOSEPH’S (Big Five).  Love the Big Five!!!  Both teams come into this game after having looked much better than any of us expected prior to the season starting.  Both have two losses, and Temple is coming off two huge back to back wins against ranked teams in the Preseason NIT.

-WASHINGTON AT TCU.  When it comes to surprising teams, TCU getting off to a 6-0 start isn’t something we expected.  Now having said that, Washington dropping two games and being somewhat of a disappointment is exactly what we were expecting.  TCU can, and should, win this game. This is a rematch from the Global Sports Classic in which both teams played each other Saturday night.

-UNC WILMINGTON AT WESTERN MICHIGAN.  Wilmington is coming off a somewhat surprising loss, and needs to rebound quickly and pick up this win because their margin for error for being able to make the NCAA Tournament without the automatic bid is rather small.

-MIDDLE TENNESSEE AT OLE MISS.  Both teams come into this with just one loss, and although neither has really played their way into the national consciousness yet, they’re both off to good starts and will get their eventually if they keep winning.  This would especially be a huge road win for Middle Tennessee, who will have limited opportunities to impress the committee, but should at least be in the discussion for an at-large if they’re able to run away from their conference and pick up some big OOC wins.

-SOUTH ALABAMA AT SOUTHERN MISS.  Neither team will likely be on the tournament radar by the end of the season, but as of now they both only have one loss.

-SAM HOUSTON STATE AT BAYLOR.  This is a buy game, but we will highlight it because Sam Houston State is who we like to win the Southland.

-SMU AT BOISE STATE.  SMU has looked pretty good so far, but their margin for error is a long way from infinite.  They take on a Boise State team who is just 3-3, but is coming off a very impressive showing at Oregon where they led for much of the game.

-UTAH STATE AT BYU.  This has developed into a fun and rather heated rivalry.  Both teams come in at 4-2 and both really need this win, so it’s important both on and off paper.

-NEBRASKA AT CLEMSON (ACC/Big Ten Challenge).  Nebraska has looked much better than we expected them to, but they still have a ton of work to do to show they are a legit team.  Winning tonight would be huge.  Clemson is fighting to make the NCAA Tournament as well, and these are the kinds of games they need to win to prove they belong there.  In a nutshell, this appears to be two teams that are on the outside and fighting to get on the inside.

-COLORADO STATE AT COLORADO (Front Range).  This is a rivalry game between two one loss teams that are looking for both bragging rights and national respect.  This game doesn’t resinate nationally like some other OOC rivalries, but it is a big deal to both programs and it is usually a very entertaining game.  The Front Range games typically are.

-OHIO STATE AT VIRGINIA (ACC/Big Ten Challenge).  Both teams are 6-0, but they are both a different kind of 6-0.  Virginia hasn’t played anyone great yet, but they’ve played a lot of decent teams and blown them all out.  Ohio State has had some big wins too, but nothing that would be as season defining as a win tonight would be.

-DENVER AT WYOMING (Front Range).  Neither team is in the national picture, but it’s a Front Range game, so we’re gonna highlight it anyway!

-AIR FORCE AT NEW MEXICO STATE.  Both teams come into this at 5-2.  It’s too early to tell, but Air Force might have a pulse, and just might be one of the better teams/surprise teams in the Mountain West this year.

-USC AT SAN DIEGO.  The Trojans can pick up another true road win and improve to a very impressive 7-0 this year.

-UTAH VALLEY AT WASHINGTON STATE.  We highlight this because Utah Valley comes in at 4-1 and is coming off a road win at BYU.  This won’t be considered a good win, or even a notable win, but you do have to sit up and take notice of any 5-1 team that’s won the kinds of road games that they have if they’re able to pull this off.

-SAINT MARY’S AT STANFORD.  Saint Mary’s has tested themselves already this year, which is something they haven’t always done in the past, and will test themselves again tonight against a Stanford team that’s looked pretty good so far.

 

BUY GAMES

-Coppin State @ Georgetown
-Adrian (nondiv1) @ Akron
-Stetson @ UCF.  This technically may not be a buy game, but for practical purposes it is.
-Morehouse (nondiv1) @ Georgia
-Wagner @ UMass
-Incarnate Word @ Texas Tech
-Cleveland State @ Arkansas State
-Green Bay @ Kansas State
-George Mason @ Northern Iowa
-Rogers State (nondiv1) @ Oklahoma State
-Houston Baptist @ Rice
-Drake @ DePaul
-Western Carolina @ Marquette
-Texas Southern @ Arizona
-Louisiana Tech @ California
-Western Oregon (nondvi1) @ Oregon
-UC Riverside @ UCLA

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Under the Radar Game of the Day: Fort Wayne at Austin Peay

Under the Radar Game of the Day: Fort Wayne at Austin Peay, 8:30 PM Eastern, Gov-TV/ovcdigitalnetwork.com

The Under the Radar Game of the Day comes to us from Clarksville, Tennessee tonight as the Austin Peay Governors will be welcoming in the IP-Fort Wayne Mastodons in a non-conference game.  Fort Wayne enters tonight’s game with a 5-2 record, including one of the signature wins of any UTR team so far this season, a thrilling 71-68 overtime win last week at home over the Indiana Hoosiers.  The Mastodons had two players record double-doubles in that win as Bryson Scott scored 18 points and grabbed a dozen rebounds while John Konchar scored 15 and pulled down 11 boards.  Scott has been in double figures in all but one game so far this season, as he is excelling at this level in his junior year after two somewhat disappointing season playing at Purdue.  Fort Wayne, with the confidence they gained in the Indiana win, has a chance to excel in Summit League play this season and potentially earn the school’s first ever bid to the Division I Tournament.  However, they will need to win away from home to do that, and today’s test at Austin Peay will certainly be a tough one.

The Austin Peay Governors enter tonight’s game with a record of 4-2 on the season.  Their two Division I wins came at the Tarkett Sports Classic, hosted by Miami (Ohio), where the picked up wins over Northern Kentucky and Delaware.  They finished 2-1 in the event, losing to host Miami by 6 points.  Their only other loss was on the first night of the season at Dayton.  Kenny Jones has been a force so far this season for the Govs, with three double-doubles already, including a 26 point, 12 rebound performance against Delaware.  He will need to have another strong night tonight if his team wants to knock off IPFW.

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Tuesday, Nov 29th

Below is a rundown of tonight’s action, a quick look back at last night’s results, and some very important links.

NEWS AND NOTES

CLICK HERE for this week’s Hoops HD Report where we look back at all the exempt tournaments and other action from this past week and talk about how we think it will shape the college basketball season

CLICK HERE for Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Belmont and Lipscomb 

-Oregon picked up the win against Boise State last night, but it wasn’t easy.  In fact, they were behind for just about the entire game.  Oregon ended last season by winning 11 straight games, and in the process finished first in the Pac Twelve, won the Pac Twelve Tournament, earned a #1 seed, and advanced to the Elite Eight.  So, with six of their top players back this year and a pretty good recruiting class being added to it, we were expecting them to destroy the planet.  They have not.  It’s early, and there is plenty of time to get rolling, but they’re not rolling now.  They were beaten handily by Baylor, they lost to Georgetown, the squeaked by Tennessee, and last night barely beat Boise Statea t home.

-Northwestern improved to 5-2 last night with a feel good win over Wake Forest.  They’re two losses were close games away from home against Butler and Notre Dame, and they were in a position to win both of them.  Could this be the year for….??  OH WHO AM I KIDDING!!??  WE DO THIS EVERY YEAR!!  Northwestern is still looking to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-RHODE ISLAND AT VALPARAISO (***Spotlight Game***).  Okay, this is not the biggest showcase game of the day, but it is HUGELY important in the sense that Valpo has very few chances at statement wins, so that makes the few chances they do have even more important.  I think that if they want to be able to make the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team, they need this win.  Pure and simple.  If they don’t get it, then anything short of winning out until the conference tournament isn’t likely to be enough.  As for Rhody, it’s a pretty big game as well.  They’re trying to build a profile, and this could turn out to be one of their more impressive road wins.

-NORTH DAKOTA STATE AT XAVIER.  This is a buy game, but since we think North Dakota State will contend for the Summit League title we’ll go ahead and highlight it.  Xavier is highly ranked, unbeaten, and likely to remain that way so long as they don’t get caught looking ahead to this weekend.

-PITTSBURGH AT MARYLAND (Big Ten/ACC Challenge).  Neither team was high on the radar when the season started, but both are off to very good starts.  It should be a fun Big Ten/ACC/Former Big East/Former ACC Challenge game.

-GEORGIA TECH AT PENN STATE (Big Ten/ACC Challenge)  Georgia Tech is looking for their first true road win and to improve to a respectable 5-1.

-CHATTANOOGA AT COASTAL CAROLINA.  Chattanooga has had a few slip ups and pretty much needs to win out if they want to end up inside the NCAA Tournament bubble.  Having said that, they should be good enough to where they can win out or come close to doing it.

-DAVIDSON AT MERCER.  This won’t be an easy win for a pretty good Davidson team.  Mercer can be tough to beat at home, they’re 3-0 this year on their home court, and will likely be up for this game.

-PRINCETON AT VCU.  I still think Princeton could end up having a big year, but they have stumbled a little bit in games we thought they’d win and come into this one at 2-2.  VCU can improve to an impressive 6-1 with the only loss being against Baylor if they get it done at home.

-VILLANOVA AT PENN (Big Five).  We highlight because it’s the Big Five, but Nova should cruise.

-SYRACUSE AT WISCONSIN (ACC/Big Ten Challenge).  Wisky has dropped some tough close games, and Syracuse is coming off a loss to South Carolina.  Both look pretty good, but could use a big early season win.  The sooner they can get quality wins like this on their profile, the better.

-TENNESSEE STATE AT VANDERBILT.  We’re highlighting this game not because of Vandy, but because of Tennessee State.  They come into this one at 6-0 and have three true road wins already.  If they pick up this win then you have to start thinking of them as an NCAA Tournament caliber team.

-BUFFALO AT CREIGHTON.  This is a buy game, but this is a pretty good Buffalo team out of the MAC so we’ll go ahead and highlight it.

-HOUSTON AT LSU.  LSU is a long ways away from being considered a good team, so it’s a road game that a good team should be able to win.  Is Houston good?  We should learn something tonight.

-NC STATE AT ILLINOIS (ACC/Big Ten Challenge).  NC State looks to pick up their first true road win and improve to 6-1.

-IOWA AT NOTRE DAME (ACC/Big Ten Challenge).  Notre Dame looks to remain perfect on the season and improve to 7-0.  They’ve been better than we expected them to be so far.

-MICHIGAN STATE AT DUKE (ACC/Big Ten Challenge).  This game looked a lot better before the season started.  It’s still hugely important, but for different reasons.  Despite being plagued with injuries Duke continues to look good.  Michigan State has played a killer schedule and none of the losses will hurt them that much, but eventually they’ll need to win a game that isn’t just a home buy game.  They’ve struggled this year.  Part of it is being young and part of it is the killer schedule.  In the grand scheme of things I think they’ll be okay even if they don’t pick this up and fall to 4-4, but a win tonight would certainly help.

 

BUY GAMES

-Charleston Southern @ Alabama
-Hampton @ East Carolina
-South Carolina Upstate @ Auburn
-UT Arlington @ Texas
-Northern Colorado @ Oklahoma
-Long Beach State @ Kansas
-Southern Nazarene (nondiv1) @ Wichita State

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