Under the Radar Game of the Day – Thursday, January 7: Hofstra at College of Charleston

Posted on January 7, 2016 by Chad

Under the Radar Game of the Day: Hofstra at College of Charleston, 7:00 PM Eastern, caa.tv

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

Entering play today, the Colonial Athletic Association is the 9th-rated conference according to KenPom, ahead of the Missouri Valley, West Coast and even the Mountain West.  The reason for the conference’s high rating is the strength of the group of teams at its top combined with the solid records that the entire conference amassed before the start of league play.  Hofstra, Northeastern, James Madison and William & Mary all entered the season looking like contenders and have, more or less, played up to that level.  College of Charleston, UNC-Wilmington, Towson and Elon have all been surprisingly good this season as well.  In fact, those 8 teams have all won at least 9 games this season, and none of them have lost more than 5.  Only Delaware (5-8) and Drexel (2-11) have struggled so far this year.

Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day features one of the pre-season contenders, Hofstra, playing at one of the more surprising contenders, College of Charleston.  Hofstra enters play today with a record of 10-4 overall and 2-0 in CAA play.  The Pride’s KenPom rating of 83 is tops in the conference so far.  Their wins include a victory at the Paradise Jam over Florida State and being the only team to win a road game at St. Bonaventure so far this season.  They began conference pay with wins at home over Delaware and on the road at Towson.  Juan’ya Green, Ameen Tanksley, Rokas Gustys, Brian Bernardi and Denton Koon form a formidable starting five for Hofstra.  Green and Gustys are both double-double machines, Tanksley and Bernardi are both capable of scoring 20 or more points on any night, and Koon is a solid scorer and rebounder, with a handful of double-doubles himself.

Entering the season, Charleston had been picked to finish at or near the bottom of the conference.  The job that head coach Earl Grant has done with this team in his two years at the helm has been nothing short of remarkable, especially given the mess that he inherited after the firing of Doug Wojcik.  The Cougars are 9-4 so far, 1-1 in league play.  Their biggest win of the season was a dominating 70-58 home win over LSU.  They also began conference play with a win at James Madison before losing at William & Mary.  Canyon Barry (although he is unable to go tonight) has led the way for the Cougars, including reaching the 30 point mark twice already this season.  Charleston has only lost once at home so far this season, and will present a very tough test for Hofstra tonight.  If the Pride pick up the road win, they will certainly move into the position of being the early favorites in the conference.  If the Cougars win, they will send the message that they intend to contend in the CAA all season long.

 

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Under The Radar: January 6th

Posted on January 6, 2016 by David Griggs

Chad and David run through all 23 Under the Radar conferences.  Grambling is 2-0 in SWAC play for the first time since 1994, and they talk about how they’ve still got a long way to go, but are already very much improved.  They also debate how good they think Monmouth is, and discuss whether Valparaiso, Chattanooga, South Dakota State, Evansville, UT Arlington, and Little Rock can all land inside the bubble and make the NCAA Tournament.  As always, they look ahead to the upcoming games this week, and close with their weekly Under the Radar Top Ten…

 

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

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Wednesday, Jan 6th

Posted on January 6, 2016 by David Griggs

Below is a rundown of all of tonight’s action, and a quick look back at what was an eventful day yesterday…

NEWS AND NOTES

-For Chad Sherwood’s Under the Radar Game of the Day between NJIT and Yale – CLICK HERE

-Kentucky fell big on the road to an LSU team that is certainly improving, but still has a lot of ground to make up.  Still, last night’s win will go a long way toward helping LSU.  Kentucky isn’t looking anything like a #1 seed right now, and may need to step it up just to land on one of the top four lines.

-Marquette picked up a huge road win at Providence, which catapults them into the NCAA Tournament picture.  Going into the game they had no true road wins.  They now have one against what appears to be a top ten Providence team.

-Butler picked up their first conference road win, but they kind of needed to sweat it out against DePaul.  Judging by how Butler has looked in Big East play they may struggle the rest of the season.

-Temple got another big road win in the AAC as they won at UConn. They now have two huge road wins, but those will probably prove to be more harmful to UConn and Cincinnati than helpful to Temple.  Temple still has a very long way to go before having the kind of resume that the committee would consider.

-Saint Joseph’s lost at home to VCU after leading for most of the game.  It’s not a crushing loss, but when a team looks like they’re a bubble team every game has a pivotal feel to it.

-Syracuse fell at home to Clemson.  Syracuse is starting to look like they may not be there at the end.

-Vanderbilt fell at Arkansas.  They were a popular sleeper pick.  It has come to fruition!  All season long Vanderbilt has looked as if they were asleep.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-MISSOURI AT GEORGIA (SEC).  Georgia needs to start winning if they want the committee to think they’re relevant.  They’ve gotten off to a sluggish start and I keep waiting for them to snap out of it, but the more time that goes by the less I think it’ll happen.

-FLORIDA AT TENNESSEE (SEC).  Florida continues to look extremely bubblelicious, which means every game has a somewhat pivotal feel to it right now.

-GEORGE WASHINGTON AT SAINT LOUIS (Atlantic Ten).  GW should be okay so long as they avoid losses against the weaker teams in the league, and SLU is definitely included in that category.

-GEORGIA TECH AT PITTSBURGH (ACC).  Pitt is in decent shape, but their bloated record consists mostly of cupcake wins.  Georgia Tech is somewhat decent, but it’s still the kind of home game that a team like Pitt should be expected to win.

-DUKE AT WAKE FOREST (ACC).  Wake is a solid team that appears to be getting better and better as the year progresses.  They’re coming off a loss at Louisville, but they played really well and it’s not the kind of loss that should end up hurting them.  Duke’s only true road game of the season was at Boston College.  It’ll be a test for them as well as this is the first time they’ve been in a hostile environment against a good team in a true road game.

-RUTGERS AT MARYLAND (Big Ten).  Maryland should roll.  This is one of their more winnable conference games.

-SETON HALL AT VILLANOVA (Big East).  Seton Hall is off to a very strong start, and can make an absolutely huge statement if they’re able to knock off Nova at Nova.  This is the kind of win that can not only land them inside the bubble, but result in them wearing white in the Round of 64.  That being said, it’s much easier said than done.

-DUQUESNE AT DAVIDSON (Atlantic Ten).  Both teams have more work to do than they’re probably capable of doing when it comes to making the NCAA Tournament, but as of this moment it still isn’t entirely impossible.

-UMASS AT DAYTON (Atlantic Ten).  Dayton is in solid shape and will remain safe so long as they hold serve at home in games like this.

-EVANSVILLE AT WICHITA STATE (Missouri Valley).  This is a huge game between two teams that are good enough to land inside the bubble, but need very strong showings in conference play to do it, and they need to take advantage of opportunities at notable wins in games like this.  I almost did a spit take when I saw this wasn’t Chad’s UTR GOTD.

-NORTHERN IOWA AT MISSOURI STATE (Missouri Valley).  Northern Iowa has two huge notable wins, but they have far too many losses to teams that are nowhere near being relevant when it comes to the NCAA Tournament.  They need to beat everyone in this league that’s not Evansville or Wichita, and they need to win at least two of the four games they play against those two in order to feel safe.

-TEXAS A&M AT MISSISSIPPI STATE (SEC).  TAMU is in great shape and can add another road win to an already strong profile.

-AIR FORCE AT WYOMING (Mountain West, Front Range).  Air Force may be an NIT team, but nothing more.  We highlight this game only because we love the Front Range!!

-TEXAS TECH AT IOWA STATE (Big Twelve).  Texas Tech has a good record, and they’ve actually beaten some good teams.  The thing is that their next win outside of Lubbock will be their first, and this is actually their first true road game.  No game they’ve played this season comes close to resembling what it’s like to play on the road against a top ten team.  We’ll certainly learn something about them tonight.

-OHIO STATE AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten).  A lot of people here at Hoops HD really like this Northwestern team.  To me, they’ve racked up a big record against bad teams and I’m not convinced.  I’ll feel better about them if they’re able to win tonight against an Ohio State team that’s looked a lot better in recent weeks.  This is a big game for the Buckeyes as it would be their first true road win, and because they’ve got a lot of ground to make up.

-XAVIER AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East).  The Johnnies have been decent at home, but this is still one of the more winnable Big East road games Xavier will play and they need to take advantage of it if they want to remain safely on the top four lines.

-CALIFORNIA AT OREGON (Pac Twelve).  Both teams are good, but both still have work to do.  A win in this game would go a long way.

-UNLV AT COLORADO STATE (Mountain West).  UNLV is probably the only team other than Boise State that can get into the NCAAs as an at-large, and they’ll have to not only finish first, but blow through the league to do it.

-STANFORD AT OREGON STATE (Pac Twelve).  If Oregon State wants to be there at the end, they need to keep the momentum going that they’ve built up.  They’re at home against a non tournament team.  If they’re a tournament team themselves, then this is the kind of game they need to win.

-CAL POLY AT HAWAII (Big West).  Hawaii can play their way into the picture, but they’ll have to absolutely blow through the Big West.  Winning at home isn’t their issue.  Winning away from home will be.

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Under the Radar Game of the Day – Wednesday, January 6: NJIT at Yale

Posted on January 6, 2016 by Chad

Under the Radar Game of the Day: NJIT at Yale, 7:00 PM Eastern

On January 9, 2015, the NJIT Highlanders defeated the Yale Bulldogs in Newark by a score of 78-71 behind 23 points from Damon Lynn and 22 from Tim Coleman.  They also got help from the fact that Yale’s top player, Justin Sears, was knocked out of the game early in the first half (thanks to his tooth being knocked out of his mouth during a collision).  Tonight, Yale has revenge on its mind, both for last season’s loss and for Sears’ tooth.  The Bulldogs will be hosting NJIT in New Haven in the Under the Radar Game of the Day.

NJIT enters play with a record of 9-6.  Tonight’s game is the last non-conference game for the Highlanders.  For the first time in school history, NJIT will begin play in a D1 conference with an automatic bid when they begin Atlantic Sun play on Saturday.  The Highlanders continue to be led be the threesome of Damon Lynn, Ky Howard and Tim Coleman.  However, they have also benefited from strong play by Terrence Smith and a breakout season by junior Rob Ukawuba.  The depth and experience on this team will make them a contender in their first A-Sun season.  But before Atlantic Sun play begins, NJIT will try to pick up one more road win tonight.

Defeating Yale will not be an easy task at all for NJIT.  Yale enters play tonight with a record of only 7-5, but also the top KenPom rating (73) of all Ivy League schools.  Although defeating NJIT tonight may qualify as the Bulldogs’ best win on the season to date, none of their five losses were in any way bad (at Duke, at USC, at Illinois, at SMU and at Albany).  Justin Sears continues to lead the way for Yale and, despite Maodo Lo from Columbia winning Mid-Season Ivy League Player of the Year from our colleague Jon Teitel, Sears should be a serious contender for the conference POY at the end of the season.  Sears scored 24 points last time out against Hartford.  He also has some strong help, including Makai Mason (double digits all but one game this season) and Jack Montague, a three point specialist who has made more 3-pointers this year (30) than he has attempted 2-point shots (21).  With only one more game left in the non-conference schedule for Yale after this one, tonight’s game could be the springboard they need as they head into conference play beginning next weekend.

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Monday, Jan 5th

Posted on January 5, 2016 by David Griggs

Below is a rundown of tonight’s action, as well as a quick look back at last night.

NEWS AND NOTES

-For the most recent Hoops HD Report Video Podcast – CLICK HERE

-This is not hyperbole.  I don’t know how many college basketball games I watch each year, but it’s a lot.  I wouldn’t be surprised if it was close to 1000.  Maybe more.  Last night’s Oklahoma v Kansas game was one of the best games I’ve seen in three or four years.  It was an exciting game between two really good teams that played really well.  For 55 minutes.  Kansas won, but I don’t penalize Oklahoma at all for not beating one of the two best teams on their floor.  In fact, to have a lead against them after 54 minutes is quite remarkable.  #1 seeds almost never lose at home.  the four #1 seeds may lose a combined total of one or two games a year if it’s even that many.  Most #1 seeds don’t even beat other #1 seeds on the road.  Oklahoma is still in amazingly good shape, especially if they can take advantage of future games against Kansas and Iowa State both in the regular season and in the conference tournament.

-Virginia Tech picked up a big home win against rival Virginia.  This is big in terms of building momentum and giving their fans a feeling that the program is turning around.  They still have a long way to go, but they appear to be on the right road.  This has always been a difficult game for UVA, and they just weren’t able to pull it out last night.

-North Carolina picked up their first true road win at Florida State, which was a good one because the Seminoles came into that game unbeaten at home.

-A quick UTR note, Grambling is 2-0 in conference play for the first time since 1994 with their win at home against Alabama State!

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-MERCER AT CHATTANOOGA (Southern) – CLICK HERE For Chad’s UTR GOTD write up on this game

-SOUTH CAROLINA AT AUBURN (SEC).  South Carolina is unbeaten on the season with several decent wins, but no really good ones.  This will be a test going on the road against an improving Auburn program.

-WISCONSIN AT INDIANA (Big Ten).  Indiana hasn’t been the top fifteen team that we were expecting, at least not yet, but they’re still a solid tournament team and will remain in somewhat decent shape if they can hold serve at home.

-MARQUETTE AT PROVIDENCE (Big East).  Providence is looking more and more like a protected seed with a strong record and some really big wins.  Marquette has a lot of work to do.  An upset win isn’t likely, but it would go a very long way to help them.

-VCU AT SAINT JOSEPH’S (Atlantic Ten).  Saint Joe’s is a very surprising 11-2, whereas VCU is a somewhat disappointing 9-5.  Joe’s can play their way into the NCAA Tournament if they keep it up.

-AKRON AT BUFFALO (MAC).  At 11-2, Akron has an outside shot at best at landing inside the bubble, and they’d pretty much need to win out to do it.

-OKLAHOMA STATE AT BAYLOR (Big Twelve).  Baylor was absolutely crushed by Kansas over the weekend, and is suddenly in a situation where their profile needs some meet on it.  Oklahoma State’s profile could use some meet as well.  In short, both these teams have work to do if they want to end up being in the discussion.

-KANSAS STATE AT TEXAS (Big Twelve).  Texas has been inconsistent this year, but that’s a lot better than being consistently bad.  Every game is a big game when you’re trying to make the NCAA Tournament.  K State has been better than what we thought, and they can keep that up with a big road win tonight.

-CLEMSON AT SYRACUSE (ACC).  Syracuse needs to win their home games against non tournament teams, which is what Clemson appears to be right now.

-BUTLER AT DEPAUL (Big East).  Butler is off to an 0-2 start in league play and needs to rebound with what should be one of their more winnable road games at DePaul tonight.  If they lose they don’t necessarily need to panic, but they will really need to get it together.

-KENTUCKY AT LSU (SEC).  LSU has looked better in their last couple of games, but they still have a ton of work to do if they want to play their way back into relevance.  Beating Kentucky, who still looks like a protected seed, would certainly help.

-VANDERBILT AT ARKANSAS (SEC).  Vandy has been very disappointing this year, and has yet to win a true road game.  They need to win against teams that aren’t tournament teams, and that means winning on the road at Arkansas tonight.

-NEBRASKA AT IOWA (Big Ten).  Iowa is suddenly looking like one of the best teams out there with wins over Michigan State and at Purdue.  Throw in a close loss at Iowa State earlier this year and you’ve got three very impressive showings against top notch competition.  This is a winnable conference game against a Nebraska team that has struggled on the road.

-GEORGETOWN AT CREIGHTON (Big East).  Georgetown has been all over the map this year.  They’ve looked amazingly good in close losses at Maryland and against Duke, and they’ve looked pathetic in home losses to Radford and UNC Asheville.  The opportunities will be there for them to get statement wins, but they have to win the games against non-tournament teams as well, which includes Creighton.

-BOISE STATE AT UTAH STATE (Mountain West).  In order for either of these teams to get any attention from the committee at all they basically need to win out.

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Under the Radar Game of the Day – Tuesday, January 5: Mercer at Chattanooga

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Chad

Under the Radar Game of the Day: Mercer at Chattanooga, 7:00 PM Eastern, socondigitalnetwork.com

For our latest HoopsHD Report Video Podcast, CLICK HERE.

After a thrilling overtime game last night between Alabama State and Grambling (what? did some other game go into a few overtimes too?), the UTR Game of the Day heads down to Chattanooga, Tennessee as the Mercer Bears are in town to take on the hometown Mocs.  The visiting Bears enter play today with a record of 11-3, including being 1-0 in early SoCon play.  Their wins on the season include a few major conference teams, including a home court win over George Mason, neutral court win over Tulane, and a win in Little Rock over Arkansas.  The Bears feature a balanced scoring attack.  In the Arkansas win, Stephon Jelks led the way with an impressive 20 points and 15 rebounds, while Jestin Lewis added another 20 points and 9 boards.  Phillip Leonard was the top player in their last game, a win over Samford, with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.  Although we did not expect much from this Mercer team heading into the season, they have once again outperformed expectations to this point, proving that Bob Hoffman may just be one of the most under-rated coaches in the entire country.

The Bears have a huge test on their hands tonight as they battle the SoCon favorites in Chattanooga.  The Mocs are currently 12-2 on the season and have already picked up road wins at Georgia, Illinois and Dayton.  Their two losses were at Iowa State (certainly understandable) and a tough loss at Louisiana-Monroe.  However, with the three key wins on their profile, we believe that if they are able to dominate conference play, they will get a very serious look from the NCAA Tournament selection committee, even if they slip up in the conference tournament.  Although the Mocs have lost their top player, Casey Jones, to injury, they have not lost a step.  In fact, they are 6-0 without Jones including the win at Dayton.  KJ Bates (15 points against Dayton) and Tre’ McLean (18 points and 9 rebounds against The Citadel) have helped to pick up the load offensively.  The Mocs will looks to them and their teammates to help once again tonight as a win will clearly establish Chattanooga as the team to beat in the Southern Conference whiles a loss will make us here at HoopsHD and the rest of the SoCon much more aware of this Mercer team.

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