Under the Radar Game of the Day: Lipscomb at Belmont

Posted on November 29, 2016 by Chad

Lipscomb at Belmont 8:00 PM Eastern, ovcdigitalnetwork.com

For our most recent HoopsHD Report video podcast, CLICK HERE.

The Battle of the Boulevard.  Two schools separated by only abut two miles in Nashville, Tennessee, with a basketball rivalry that dates all the way back to 1953.  The Bisons of Lipscomb enter tonight’s game at Belmont with a 73-65 all-time lead in the series.  However, since both teams made the move up to Division I, Belmont has an 18-9 edge, including having won a series-record tieing nine consecutive games against their rivals.  Lipscomb head coach Casey Alexander is currently 0-8 in this rivalry, a record he wants to fix tonight.  Of course, one of the key underlying stories in this rivalry is the head coaches as Alexander both played for Belmont and served as an assistant coach under Belmont head man Rick Byrd for 16 years.

Lipscomb enters play tonight with a record of 2-5 on the season, but a disappointing 0-5 against Division I foes.  Sophomore Garrison Mathews has been the team’s top player so far, including a 16 point, 6 rebound and 7 assist effort in a loss to St. Peter’s.  Belmont is only 1-3 on the season, but the three losses were all respectable (Vanderbilt, Florida and Rhode Island).  Senior star Evan Bradds missed the team’s last game dealing with an injury but, assuming he is able to go tonight, figures to be a major factor in this game.  He had a very impressive 26 point, 14 rebound effort in his team’s win over Western Kentucky and averaged a double-double in the team’s two wins over Lipscomb last season.  Regardless of which players are on the court, however, or what their records are, this is a rivalry and all the stats can be thrown out when these two teams play.  And if you are like us and love this rivalry, don’t worry because you will get to see them play again this season, on December 6 at Lipscomb.

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The Hoops HD Report: Nov 28th

Posted on November 29, 2016 by David Griggs

Chad and the panel review a very busy week in college basketball.  They run through all of the exempt tournament results and talk about how teams like South Carolina, Baylor, and Butler picked up huge wins and have begun to build what appear to be strong profiles.  Temple also picked up two surprising wins in the NIT, but in our minds New Hampshire is the real preseason NIT champ since both Temple and New Hampshire finished 3-1, and UNH won the head to head match-up.  #RankUNH #GoDancingOrDie.  On the flip side, Oregon was rather disappointing out in Maui, and Michigan State and UConn continue to struggle.  They also preview all of this week’s big games, including the Big Ten/ACC Challenge match ups.

 

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

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Bracket Projections: November 28th

Posted on November 28, 2016 by John Stalica

For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Boston University and Saint Peter’s College, and the rest of today’s Highlighted Games – CLICK HERE

Now that the lion’s share of exempt events have been played through Thanksgiving weekend, we now have a large enough sample size to start making a bracket projection that does not feature as many outliers (sorry, Wagner). If you were paying attention in Atlantis, for example, you had to be impressed with the showing that Baylor made. They already had a home win against Oregon under their belts, and now they added wins against VCU, Michigan State and Louisville. While I’m not convinced that Baylor will finish the season as a #1 seed, that body of work certainly merits a 1 seed at this point in time.

The other big winner during Feast Week was Gonzaga. After a comfortable win over Quinnipiac in the Advocare opener, they added wins against Florida (almost as good as a road win) and Iowa State to their profile. Welcome to the 2 line, Zags. Xavier and UCLA also won their respective events, but the competition just wasn’t on par as the two aforementioned teams before. Xavier will certainly have their opportunity at a signature win later this week when they hit the road for a game at Baylor; UCLA will get their chance when they visit Kentucky on Saturday as well.

Butler (wins over Vandy and Arizona in Las Vegas), South Carolina (wins over Monmouth/Michigan at home and over Syracuse in Brooklyn) and USC (win at Texas A&M and against SMU at home) also make this week’s field. And if you’re looking for other teams that, while technically power conference teams, fall completely under the radar but still made the NCAA Tournament field, look no further than the play-in games. SPOILER ALERT: It is not Northwestern, nor is it Nebraska. Sorry, Puppet.

And if you pay attention to the South Region, a potential UCLA-Stanford rematch is permissible for the time being since they are only scheduled to play once at UCLA this season. This matchup becomes null and void if they play in the Pac-12 Tournament.

11-28-16-bracket-part-1

11-28-16-bracket-part-2

My first 4 teams out this week would be Wichita State, Seton Hall, California and Georgia.

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Under the Radar Game of the Day: Boston University at St. Peter’s (And Other Highlighted Games)

Posted on November 28, 2016 by Chad

Boston University at St. Peter’s, 7:00 PM Eastern, saintpeterspeacocks.com (PPV)

The Under the Radar Game of the Day heads to Jersey City, NJ tonight for a non-conference battle between the Patriot League’s Boston University Terriers and the Metro Atlantic’s St. Peter’s Peacocks.  The visiting Terriers have the rare distinction of being able to claim they have beaten every team on their schedule so far this season, despite not being undefeated.  They opened the season with a loss at cross-town rival Northeastern, then returned the favor a week later by beating the Huskies in the opening game of the Steve Wright Classic, a four team round-robin event hosted by BU.  In fact, the Terriers swept their host event by following that win up with victories over Maine and LIU-Brooklyn.  The Terriers have had four or more players hit double-digits in three of their five games so far, and that balanced scoring attack and deep use of the bench should make them a tough team to beat all season long.

The host Peacocks of St. Peter’s enter tonight’s game with a record of 2-2.  They are coming off a solid home win over one of the Northeast Conference’s top teams and in-state rival Fairleigh Dickinson.  Six different players hit double-digits in scoring in that game for the Peacocks, including Quadir Welton who picked up 12 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists.  The Peacocks need to make certain they don’t overlook BU tonight, as Friday will actually mark the start of conference play for this team.  With a 20 game regular season, the Metro Atlantic teams each play a pair of conference games in early December before returning to non-conference play until the New Year.

 

OTHER HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-KENTUCKY VS ARIZONA STATE (Atlantis Showcase).  I don’t know how much of a “showcase” this will be.  Most people love the Bahamas.  Chances are Arizona State will not enjoy themselves tonight.

-MINNESOTA AT FLORIDA STATE (Big Ten/ACC Challenge).  Minney is unbeaten, but this is by far their biggest test of the year up to this point.  If they win this one then we’ll have to look at them as being nationally relevant.  At least for now.

-WAKE FOREST AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten/ACC Challenge).  Despite it being early, and despite both these teams having multiple chances at big wins in front of them, I can’t help but feel this is a pivotal game.  Northwestern has two losses, and both were close games against quality teams.  If they ever want to get over the hump, they need to start winning a few of those.  Wake has just one loss and has looked good, but this is still one of their tougher tests of the season up to this point.

-BUTLER AT UTAH.  Both teams are unbeaten, and both have looked pretty good up to this point, especially Butler who is coming off a huge win against Arizona.

BOISE STATE AT OREGON.  It’s not what we would normally call a buy game since Boise is from a multi-bid league (not to mention this is a return game from last year’s meeting in Boise), but the final score may end up looking as if it were.

-MANHATTAN AT WEST VIRGINIA.  Buy game.

-MOUNT SAINT MARY’S AT ARKANSAS.  Buy game.

-SAVANNAH STATE AT SAN DIEGO STATE.  Buy game.

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News, Notes and Highlighted Games: Sunday, November 27th

Posted on November 27, 2016 by John Stalica

For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between New Hampshire and Winthrop – CLICK HERE

While yesterday’s focus in college sports was mostly on the gridiron, there were still quite a few noteworthy games in college hoops. In Brooklyn, for example, there were 2 teams that came away with significant wins – South Carolina got a very nice win against Syracuse in what was a de facto home game for the Orange. With wins against Monmouth, Michigan and Syracuse now under their belts, the Gamecocks will also have chances against teams like Seton Hall and Clemson to bolster their NCAA Tournament hopes even further. The nightcap between Maryland and Kansas State was also entertaining, and Maryland was able to get a game-winning shot from Melo Trimble in the closing seconds to survive a potential upset bid by Kansas State.

As far as other exempt tournaments coming to a close yesterday, Virginia finished off a nice weekend with wins over Iowa and Providence, Iona won the Great Alaska Shootout with a buzzer-beater over Nevada, and even TCU claimed a title in the Global Sports Classic with wins over UNLV and Washington.

Xavier, Duke and Creighton all looked very solid with home wins over Northern Iowa, Appalachian State and Loyola-Maryland, respectively. Grayson Allen did sustain another injury during Duke’s game yesterday, although all indications are that he should be able to play against Michigan State on Tuesday. Oregon State was not nearly as fortunate – Tres Tinkle is out of action for 6-8 weeks thanks to a broken wrist.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

INDIANA STATE vs. QUINNIPIAC (Advocare Invitational, 7th Place) – Both teams played better than their 0-2 records would suggest this weekend, although only one team will be able to salvage a single win today.

MONMOUTH at HOLY CROSS – This game is the 4th and final exempt game for both teams that is part of the Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational (round robin but nonbracketed). Neither team is in serious contention for an at-large bid, although games like this can make the difference between a 14 and a 15 seed come March (if you’re Monmouth).

IOWA STATE vs. GONZAGA (Advocare Invitational, Championship) – The Big 12 already has 3 teams that have won exempt events during the past week (Kansas, Baylor and TCU), although Gonzaga may be the favorite to win what could be a record 3rd title in Orlando.

NEW MEXICO vs. DAYTON (Wooden Legacy, 5th Place) – Dayton is starting to rack up injuries at an alarming rate (neither Cunningham nor Pollard have played this past week) and beating New Mexico outside of the friendly confines of UD Arena is not a given.

BALL STATE at VALPARAISO – This will be the return game from last year where Ball State pulled off the upset against Valpo; the Crusaders need to avenge this loss if they want to retain any shot of an at-large bid this season.

VIRGINIA TECH vs. NEBRASKA (Wooden Legacy, 3rd Place) – Nebraska does have a nice young team that has a shot of getting their 2nd win away from home in 4 days, but it’s still going to be an uphill climb against a Virginia Tech team that’s still trying to learn how to win key games away from home under Buzz Williams.

MIAMI-FL vs. FLORIDA (Advocare Invitational, 3rd Place) – These teams were not initially scheduled to play each other this year, but the opportunity is now there for both the Hurricanes and Gators to add a feather to what could be solid at-large profiles for both teams.

UAB vs. SAINT MARY’S (played in Las Vegas – Orleans Arena) – This is not part of any exempt event, but nonetheless a nice out-of-conference matchup for both teams. It’s not a gimme game by any means for the Gaels, although UAB isn’t going to have the benefit of a fully healthy roster for this game.

SIENA at ALBANY – The battle for bragging rights at Albany. ‘Nuff said. (as our Albany native Chad Sherwood would say)

STANFORD vs. SETON HALL (Advocare Invitational, 5th Place) – Both teams will get one more crack at a neutral-court win over a power conference opponent in the Orlando nightcap.

TEXAS A&M vs. UCLA (Wooden Legacy, Championship) – Almost as good as a road game for the Aggies, and another chance for UCLA to continue their streak of 99+ point games to start their season.

CAL STATE-NORTHRIDGE vs. PORTLAND (Wooden Legacy, 7th place) – How many fans will be left in Anaheim to watch this titanic struggle between middling teams in the Big West and West Coast conferences?

BUY GAMES

Howard at Georgetown
Prairie View A&M at Wisconsin
Wofford at Colorado
Mississippi Valley State at Indiana (Indiana Classic, nonbracketed)
UC-Santa Barbara at USC

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Under the Radar Game of the Day: New Hampshire at Winthrop

Posted on November 27, 2016 by Chad

New Hampshire at Winthrop, 2:00 PM Eastern, bigsouthsports.com

The NIT Season Tip-Off was played in Brooklyn this week, with Temple scoring the surprising victory over West Virginia in the championship game.  However, the games in Brooklyn (also involving Florida State and Illinois) were not the entirety of the event, as New Hampshire, Detroit, Winthrop and Manhattan all played campus site games at the four schools that went to Brooklyn, as well as a pair of games against each other to provide a full four games to each program.  At one time, this event was fully bracketed for all teams involved, meaning that an upset win by a smaller school over one of the major conference schools would allow that team to advance to the final rounds in New York.  If that had been the case this season still, today’s Under the Radar Game of the Day may have been played in Brooklyn, as Winthrop scored an 84-80 overtime win at Illinois and New Hampshire won at Temple 57-52.

Winthrop enters today’s game with a record of 3-1, highlighted by the Illinois win.  Keon Johnson was dominant for the Eagles in that win, scoring a career high 38 points.  Johnson did not play in Winthrop’s one loss of the season, at Florida State, and if he had added just half the number of points he scored last time out against the Seminoles, the Eagles would be undefeated right now.  However, no matter how good Pat Kelsey’s team has been so far, they will not have an easy task this afternoon with the HoopsHD 2016-17 Team of the People coming to town.

The University of New Hampshire Wildcats have never played in the NCAA Tournament.  No team from the State of New Hampshire has been to the Big Dance since Dartmouth, way back in 1959.  Although rival Vermont is out to a solid start (including a win yesterday at Yale), the Wildcats remain our pick to win the America East this season.  They are led by Tanner Leissner, who dropped 31 points on Detroit earlier this week, and Jaleen Smith, who had a double-double in the same game.  Winning at Winthrop may be a tall order for this team, but with a win over Temple already in their pockets, there is no reason to lack any faith in this team.

As a final side note, our campaign to have several key game dates for the Wildcats this season declared state-wide holidays appears to be going well.  All signs are that Saturday, December 31 (New Year’s Eve road game at Dartmouth) and Monday, January 16 (MLK Day home game vs Vermont) may both end up being declared days that all state offices will be closed.  We will continue to keep everyone updated on the progress of these efforts.  #GoDancingOrDie

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