Under the Radar Game of the Day – Sunday, November 29: UC-Irvine vs Evansville

Posted on November 29, 2015 by Chad

Under the Radar Game of the Day: Wooden Legacy Fifth Place Game: UC-Irvine vs Evansville, 2:30 PM Eastern, ESPNU

For today’s News, Notes and Highlighted Games, CLICK HERE.

The Under the Radar Game of the Day heads to Anaheim, California today for the first of the four final round games at the Wooden Legacy, the Fifth Place Game between UC-Irvine and Evansville (for TV purposes the Seventh Place Game is not played until this evening).  The Big West’s UC-Irvine Anteaters enter today’s game with a record of 5-1 on the season, including a win at Central Florida and a win in the consolation bracket of this event two days ago against Boston College.  Their lone loss was in the quarterfinals against Boise State.  They are led down low by Mamadou Ndiaye, the 7-6 beast who can change any team’s gameplan and dominate inside any night.  His presence down low is one of the key reasons that the Anteaters are among the favorites to capture the Big West title this season.

Today’s opponent for UCI is the Missouri Valley Conference’s Evansville Aces.  Evansville enters the game with a record of 4-1, including a nice home court victory over Belmont and a consolation round win over a Santa Clara team that had taken Arizona to the wire a few nights ago.  Their lone loss came in the quarterfinals of this event as well, by 10 points to Providence.  The Aces are led by one of the top mid-major guards in the country, DJ Balentine, who but for Baker and VaanVleet at Wichita State, might be the best player in the conference.  Balentine dropped 23 points on Santa Clara last time out and is more than capable of equaling or topping that number against UCI today.  A win today on national TV will help get the Aces more attention, especially with Wichita off to a slow start this season, and we still firmly believe this is a team more than capable of making the Big Dance this year, even if they do not get the conference’s automatic bid.

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News, Notes and Highlighted Games – November 29

Posted on November 29, 2015 by John Stalica

Today marks the final day of Thanksgiving weekend – a few exempt events conclude today along with a few other notable matchups on the docket. While David Griggs is in a drunken stupor celebrating Nebraska’s win over Tennessee, I have volunteered to fill in today for the puppet.

NEWS AND NOTES

– The Fun Belt Conference strikes again – Little Rock scores another win of note away from home with a 64-60 win at Tulsa. This moves the Trojans to 3-0 against Division I competition.

– As we alluded to in the open, the Barclays Center Classic featured a few teams with NCAA Tournament aspirations; Cincinnati and George Washington squared off in a tight game featuring several lead changes. In the end, the Bearcats won and keeps their record perfect at 7-0. Nebraska also salvaged their weekend a little bit with a win over Tennessee in the consolation matchup.

– In the UTR version of the Emerald Coast Classic, Florida A&M actually recorded a victory against Alcorn State. In the main event, Iowa State and Illinois had a closely contested game for about 30 minutes before the Cyclones shifted gears and wound up winning 84-73. In the 3rd place game, Virginia Tech knocked off UAB in overtime; the Blazers aren’t going to have many opportunities remaining (if any) to cement an at-large NCAA profile.

– Up in the Great Alaska Shootout, Middle Tennessee ended up beating Toledo for that championship. Even more noteworthy may well be San Jose State racking up 2 wins (even if one of them was non-DI Alaska-Anchorage).

– In the Colonial Athletic Association, it was a mixed bag yesterday. VCU got a much-needed win over in-state rival Old Dominion; one of the league favorites in Hofstra got a road win at St. Bonaventure. However, the road was not kind to William & Mary yesterday; they travelled to the Beltway to face off against Howard and wound up losing 79-77.

– Creighton is still a tough out, at least in their own dungeon in Omaha. After coming off of a blowout loss at Indiana and a pair of wins in the Heavyweight Division of the Men Who Speak Up Main Event in Las Vegas, the Bluejays came back home and blasted what was an undefeated Western Illinois squad 97-67.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-XAVIER vs. DAYTON – Advocare Classic Championship (Mythical Miami Valley Conference) – 4:30 PM on ESPN2. This dormant rivalry will revive itself for one day at the HP Fieldhouse at Disney World’s campus in Orlando. With lots of Dayton and Xavier fans in attendance, this could be a rare sellout for an exempt tournament event. (Click here for highlights from their last encounter).

-WISCONSIN at OKLAHOMA – 2:30 PM on ESPN2. There aren’t too many marquee games outside of the exempt tournaments this weekend, but it does offer a shot at redemption for Wisconsin for their season-opening loss to Western Illinois. This is also a good tune-up for the Badgers’ upcoming ACC tilt at Syracuse later this week.

-MICHIGAN STATE vs. PROVIDENCE – Wooden Legacy Championship – 10:00 PM on ESPN2. Just like they did last year, the Friars scored a significant victory away from home during Thanksgiving weekend with their win over Arizona on Friday (they beat Notre Dame at this time last year). The matchup of Kris Dunn vs. Denzel Valentine should be a very entertaining one.

-MONMOUTH vs. USC – Advocare Classic 3rd Place – 12:30 PM on ESPN2. This will actually be the 2nd game between the Hawks and Trojans since they already played a non-bracketed game at USC a couple of weeks earlier. Monmouth is in search of another signature win this weekend; USC will look to restore some lost pride after getting blasted by Xavier for the bulk of their last contest.

-BOISE STATE vs. ARIZONA – Wooden Legacy 3rd Place – 4:30 PM on ESPNU. Another recurring theme of teams needing signature wins to bolster their at-large profile; the Broncos get 1 more chance against an Arizona team that is not 100% healthy.

-NOTRE DAME vs. ALABAMA – Advocare Classic 5th Place – 7:00 PM on ESPNU. Alabama managed to score a Top 25 win for the first time in 4 seasons after their win over Wichita State on Friday. They’ll get another opportunity against a Notre Dame team that’s still learning their roles without Jerian Grant and Pat Connaughton.

-UC IRVINE vs. EVANSVILLE – Wooden Legacy 5th Place – 2:30 PM on ESPNU. The Anteaters feature one of the tallest post players in Mamadou Ndiaye; the Purple Aces feature an inside-out combination with D.J. Balentine and Egidiju Mockevicius. As this is also Chad Sherwood’s UTR game of the day, click here for a detailed preview.

BUY GAMES OF THE DAY

Utah State at Duke – 12:30 PM, ESPNU – While this technically does fall under a buy game, there is some intrigue for a Utah State program who saw their star player David Collette leave the team prior to the beginning of the season. The Aggies already have 2 wins over in-state rivals Weber State on the road and Utah Valley University at home, but a trip to Durham, NC will be a big step up in competition for the Aggies.

Jackson State at Marquette – 1:30 PM, FS1
Rider at Rhode Island
Brown at SMU
South Carolina State at Kansas State

REGIONAL RIVALRIES

Harvard at Holy Cross
Penn at Lafayette
Northern Colorado at Colorado (Front Range)
Delaware at Temple
Pacific at Sacramento State

 

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News, Notes, and Highlight Games – November 28

Posted on November 28, 2015 by David Griggs

It’s a huge day in football, but it’s a busy day in college basketball as well.  Below is a rundown of all of today’s action, as well as a look back at yesterday.

NEWS AND NOTES

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

-The exempt tournament theme of renewing old rivalries continues this year!  We’ve seen Texas v Texas A&M, Gonzaga v Washington, Syracuse v UConn, and tomorrow we’ll get to see Xavier v Dayton.  Xavier blew past USC, whereas Dayton needed to hold on to beat what appears to be a very red hot Monmouth team, who had a shot to tie the game at the buzzer, but missed.  The win for Monmouth would have meant infinitely more than the win for Dayton did, because Monmouth has so few opportunities at notable wins, so to pick up yet another one would have been huge.  I still think Monmouth is good enough to make the NCAA Tournament, and to be in a position to where they don’t have to win the conference tournament to do it, but they’ll have a small margin for error.  The third place game on Saturday is huge for them.

-Gonzaga likes to build up early leads, and then give them up.  They appeared to be completely in the drivers seat against UConn, but let go of the wheel and UConn had a chance to tie it at the buzzer.  The Zags held on to win.  It wasn’t the first time they appeared to have a game in hand early, but let the other team back into it.  They did the same thing against Texas A&M on Thanksgiving.  UConn, again, lost in a thriller.  It was the second time in about 24 hours.

-Northeastern finally looked like the team that was playing so well at the end of last season when they hit a shot at the buzzer to win at Miami FL.  It was the first loss of the season for the Canes, who had looked extremely impressive up until that point.  I was ready to give up on Northeastern, but when you look at their profile now they suddenly have just one loss, they’ve won multiple games away from home, and they have a win at Miami FL.  The entire complexion of their season has suddenly changed.

-Providence is unbeaten, and got a big win against Arizona out in Las Vegas.  Arizona really struggled in both games of this tournament, including two days ago against a winless Santa Clara team.  Too much holiday turkey, I guess.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-TENNESSEE VS NEBRASKA (Barclay’s Center Classic).  Neither team has has done anything yet to show that they’re good enough to make the NCAA Tournament.

-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT UMKC.  A win for South Dakota State gets them to 7-0, which is impressive, but they haven’t had a really big test yet.

-VALPARAISO AT BALL STATE.  Ball State has just one loss on the season and has yet to lose at home, but Valpo is likely too much for them.  Valpo doesn’t have a wide margin for error due to a lack of opportunities at big wins, but they’re still good enough to play their way inside of the bubble.

-CHATTANOOGA VS JACKSONVILLE STATE (Emerald Coast Classic).  Chattanooga has just one loss on the season and continuing to pick up wins away from home will help their profile.

-GEORGE WASHINGTON VS CINCINNATI (Barclay’s Center Classic).  Both teams come in unbeaten, and for Cincinnati it’s probably their toughest test of the season so far.  Both will have other chances at resume building wins, but not so many that this game isn’t important to both teams.

-NORTHERN IOWA AT NORTH DAKOTA.  Northern Iowa has a nice win against North Carolina, but this is their first road game and they need wins away from home in order to build a solid profile.

-LA SALLE AT ROWAN (nondiv1).  Very cool story behind this game.  Read Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day – HERE

-LITTLE ROCK AT TULSA.  Little Rock already has a big win against San Diego State, and if they can pick up a second big road win then you have to start thinking of them as an NCAA Tournament team, at least for now.  Tulsa has a win over Wichita State, but it’s hard to say how much credit they’re going to get for that seeing as how much Wichita is struggling.  They had a decent showing out in the Paradise Jam, but still have a lot of work to do.

-OLD DOMINION AT VCU.  This is an old conference rivalry that is now an OOC rivalry, so it has probably cooled off some, but there is still some heat here.  This year, it’s a actually a big game for both teams both on and off paper.  Old Dominion was pitiful in their last two games and has a lot of work to do if they want their profile to impress the committee.  They also have very few opportunities at notable wins, so from their perspective this is a rivalry game with a very pivotal feel to it.

-HOFSTRA AT SAINT BONAVENTURE.  Hofstra got the big win against Florida State, but followed that up with two losses.  They need to be able to beat teams like Saint Bonaventure in road games in order to build up their profile.

-HAWAI’I AT TEXAS TECH.  Hawai’i hasn’t lost yet, and Texas Tech has just one on the season.  Granted, neither team has really been tested yet either, so we should learn a little more about them today.

-KENT STATE AT PITTSBURGH.  Kent State has just one loss, and a win in a game like this is how they can make a statement and get people’s attention.  Pitt is still unbeaten, but other than a half of basketball against Gonzaga that didn’t count, they’re also untested.

-WILLIAM & MARY AT HOWARD.  A win for W&M gets them to 5-1 and gives them another win away from home.

-UNC WILMINGTON AT EAST TENNESSEE STATE.  We highlight this only to point out that UNCW is 3-0, and like a lot of Colonial teams, they’re off to a really good start.

-SOUTH DAKOTA AT SACRAMENTO STATE.  A win for Sac State gets them to 5-0 on the year.

-IOWA STATE VS ILLINOIS (Emerald Coast Classic).  Illinois finally looked like a decent basketball team yesterday against UAB after struggling against lower caliber competition, but they weren’t exactly playing against a team that’s as strong as Iowa State, who blew past VA Tech in their first game.

-GEORGIA AT SETON HALL.  I think Georgia is a good team, but they need at least a decent win away from home in a game like this to jumpstart their season.

-WESTERN ILLINOIS AT CREIGHTON.  Western Illinois has been one of the surprise teams of the year.  They started off by beating Wisconsin at Wisconsin, but that was only the beginning.  They haven’t lost since and have been running over their competition.  If they pull off a win at Creighton then we really need to start taking them seriously.

-SAINT LOUIS VS LOUISVILLE (Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Tournament).  Both teams are 4-0, but it still appears to be a big mismatch in Louisville’s favor.

-COLORADO STATE AT UTEP (Corpus Christi Coastal Classic).  Both teams are still flying way under the national radar, but both are 5-0, and Colorado State has a win at Northern Iowa, so it’s an early test for both teams, who may be a little better than what most people realize.

-BELMONT AT BYU.  I haven’t totally given up on Belmont yet, but if they are a team that’s good enough to get an at-large then they need to win this game.

 

BUY GAMES

-Bryant @ Georgetown
-Denison (nondiv1) @ Davidson
-SIUE @ Butler
-Lehigh @ Purdue
-Cleveland State @ Maryland
-New Orleans @ Northwestern
-Prairie View @ UNLV

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Under the Radar Game of the Day – Saturday, November 28: La Salle at Rowan

Posted on November 28, 2015 by Chad

Under the Radar Game of the Day: La Salle at Rowan, 3:00 PM Eastern, free streaming at rowanathletics.com

Heading into the 2003-04 college basketball season, the Villanova Wildcats were facing several key early season player suspensions related to usage of university phones (running up long distance bills).  The Wildcats were scheduled to start that season in the Maui Invitational, but head coach Jay Wright was concerned about his team’s ability to win in that event with the suspensions.  Games were allowed to begin being played on Friday, November 21 and the team’s first game in Maui was scheduled for Monday the 24th.  So Coach Wright’s goal was to get a couple of games in that first weekend before the Wildcats made it to Maui.  This resulted in the now famous “Midnight Game” against Temple, played at 12:01 AM on Friday the 21st (and won by Villanova 73-48).  After that game, the team flew to California and decided to get in one more game there on Saturday afternoon before heading on to Maui.  That game was at Division III Redlands, and the Wildcats were tested, barely escaping with a 114-103 win.  That was also the last time a Division I school played a Division III school on the road.  Until today.

In the 1995-96 season, the D3 Rowan Profs out of Glassboro, New Jersey were coach by Dr. John Giannini.  Dr. Giannini had turned the Profs into  a national powerhouse at the D3 level in the three years before the 95-96 season, leading them to two Final Four appearances in that time.  But the 95-96 season was the most magical of them all as they defeated Hope College in the national championship game and cut down the nets.  That victory catapulted Giannini’s career as he went on to the Division I level the following year, leading the Maine Black Bears for eight of their most successful seasons in program history (even though he never broke through into the NCAA tournament) and then moving on to La Salle, where he is now in his 12th season, including the magical Sweet 16 run in 2013.  Today, however, Giannini will be returning to his roots.

Today’s Under the Radar Game of the Day is the return of Dr. John Giannini, along with his La Salle Expllorers team, to Glassboro to take on Rowan.  The Explorers will be the first Division I team in well over ten years to play a true road game against a D3 team as La Salle has agreed to play the Profs, at the Profs’ campus site, in a game that will include a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the D3 national championship.  Although 99.9% of the time here at HOOPS HD we criticize D1 programs for scheduling games against non-D1 competition, this is one of those .1% games.  This is a great, classy move by La Salle University to help honor their head coach and their South Jersey neighbors at Rowan.  We don’t expect the game to be very competitive, but that is not the point.  The points is the need to honor the history of this game, something so many people fail to do, and La Salle and Rowan will be doing just that this afternoon.  Congratulations go out to both teams, as both are true winners today, no matter what the final score may be.

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Friday, Nov 27th

Posted on November 27, 2015 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

We had some really exciting games yesterday.

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

-For the latest edition of John Stalica’s outstanding Throwback Thursday series – CLICK HERE

-First, Monmouth picked up their second big win of the year, and their first win against a top 25 team in school history, when they overcame a double digit deficit in the second half to come back and beat Notre Dame.  If they can pick up another win down in Orlando, we have to start looking at them as an at-large caliber team.  It will mean they have three wins against likely tournament teams, and all of them came away from home.  There are teams that make the NCAAs as an at-large who do it with less big wins on their resume than that.

-Arizona had all kinds of trouble against a winless Santa Clara team, who missed two freethrows at the end of regulation that would have won the game for the Broncos.  But, Zona survived and will play an unbeaten Providence team today.

-Gonzaga fell to Texas A&M in the Bahamas, which was somewhat surprising.  The game came down to the final seconds, and TAMU held on.  With wins against Texas and Gonzaga, both away from home, the Aggies already have more big wins this year than they did in all of last year.

-We’ve seen several rivalry games renewed in these early season tournaments, particularly in the Battle 4 Atlantis, which gave us Washington vs Gonzaga, Texas vs Texas A&M, and Syracuse vs UConn, which was a very exciting game yesterday.  While it wasn’t a tournament, the Dave Gavitt Tip-Off gave us Maryland vs Georgetown again, which has been one of the more exciting games and atmospheres of the season.  We may see another one tomorrow.  Xavier vs Dayton wasn’t exactly on the same level of importance and intensity as some of the other games, but it was still a long standing conference rivalry that has gone dormant.  If both can win (or lose, I guess) their semifinal games in the Advocare Invitational, they’ll meet on Sunday.  And, I think it goes without saying…ALL OF THESE GAMES NEED TO BE REGULAR GAMES THAT ARE PLAYED ON CAMPUS DURING THE REGULAR SEASON!!!  It generates interest and excitement at a time of the season when we need more of it, and it’s a good win for whoever wins, and other than being a bruise to the ego, it really isn’t a bad loss for whoever loses.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-DAYTON VS MONMOUTH (Advocare Invitational) (***Spotlight Game***).  Monmouth knocked off a top 25 team for the first time in school history with their win against Notre Dame.  They now have wins at UCLA, and on a neutral floor against Notre Dame.  If they can pick up one or two more in this tournament, we’ll have to start to SERIOUSLY look at them.  Dayton is a good team that opened up a big lead against Iowa, then sort of blew it, but still held on to win.  This tournament is a good chance for them to pick up notable wins away from home.

-CHATTANOOGA VS ALABAMA STATE (Emerald Coast Classic).  Chattanooga can pick up their third win away from home .

ALABAMA VS WICHITA STATE (Advocare Invitational).  Wichita fell to USC, and is being riddled by injuries.  This game has in interesting story line as Alabama wanted to hire Wichita Coach Greg Marshall this past offseason, but he opted to stay with the Shockers.

-CONNECTICUT VS GONZAGA (Battle 4 Atlantis).  UConn fell to their old conference rivals in Syracuse, and Gonzaga fell somewhat surprisingly to Texas A&M.  The fact that it is a third place game will not mean the committee values it any less.  It’s a neutral floor game between two ranked teams, so it is still a very good resume builder.

-XAVIER VS USC (Advocare Invitational).  USC is here somewhat surprisingly after knocking off Wichita State.  But, as of now, the Trojans are unbeaten and they have wins against Wichita and New Mexico on their profile, so they’re not pushovers.  If they can win this game today, you have to start thinking of them as a top forty team, or better.  Xavier blew past Alabama in their first game and is also unbeaten.

-GEORGIA TECH VS VILLANOVA (Preseason NIT).  Georgia Tech is a very respectable 4-1 right now with wins over Tennessee and Arkansas, but I’m still not expecting them to have a big year.  If they win this game, then they’ll have our attention.

-UC IRVINE VS BOSTON COLLEGE (Wooden Legacy).  UC Irvine lost to Boise State, which denied them the chance to pick up a notable win, and have other opportunities to face quality competition.  BC currently has just one loss, but I don’t think they’ll turn out to be the kind of team that the committee values.

-UTEP VS SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (Corpus Christi Coastal Classic).  Neither team has been tested yet, but neither team has lost.

-NORTHEASTERN AT MIAMI FL.  Northeastern was a team I was very big on coming into the year, but even though they have just one loss, they have had to sweat out some sub par competition.  A win today could drastically turn that around, but it’s much easier said than done.  Miami has not lost, and they’ve looked as strong as anyone in the country up to this point.

-KENTUCKY VS SOUTH FLORIDA (ARS Hoops Invitational).  I’m expecting this to be a mismatch, but it is a win away from home for Kentucky’s profile.

-BOISE STATE VS MICHIGAN STATE (Wooden Legacy).  Boise knocked off a pretty good UC Irvine team, and I still think they’re good enough to land inside the bubble come Selection Sunday.  A win today would be a huge boost to their season’s profile, but it’s much easier said than done against a Michigan State team that’s been playing outstanding basketball in their last couple of games.

-CINCINNATI VS NEBRASKA (Barclay’s Center Classic).  This is Cincinnati’s toughest test of the year, but with that being said it still isn’t likely that they’ll sweat a whole lot.  Nebraska has just one loss, but it was a blowout loss against Villanova, which is the only good team they’ve played.

-NJIT AT ALBANY – UTR Game of the Day.  Read Chad Sherwood’s Write up HERE

-VIRGINIA TECH VS IOWA STATE (Emerald Coast Classic).  The Cyclones haven’t really been tested yet, but they’re ranked #4th, and I can’t say that I think they’re overrated.  Virginia Tech has just one loss, but they haven’t had a test like this yet.

-WINTHROP AT NC STATE.  Winthrop hasn’t played a very tough schedule up to this point, but they haven’t lost yet either.  A win today will get people’s attention.

-NOTRE DAME VS IOWA (Advocare Invitational).  This is certainly the game that many were expecting to see, but they weren’t expecting to see it on the loser’s side of the bracket.  Iowa fell to Dayton in a game where they overcame a double digit deficit late and even took the lead, but couldn’t quite get it done.  Notre Dame blew a double digit lead to Monmouth.  But, as has been harped on many times, it doesn’t matter that this game is in the loser’s bracket.  It is a neutral floor game between Notre Dame and Iowa.  The committee won’t value it any less than they would had it been on the winner’s side of the bracket.

-MICHIGAN VS TEXAS (Battle 4 Atlantis).  Both of these teams could really use some momentum, and a win on a neutral floor in a game like this will give some to whoever pulls it off.

-MEMPHIS VS OHIO STATE (ARS Hoops Invitational).  Speaking of teams that could really use some momentum, this game has a VERY pivotal feel to it because both teams seem to be going in the wrong direction right now.

-RICHMOND VS CALIFORNIA (Las Vegas Invitational).  Richmond played well in a losing effort to West Virginia, but eventually they need to start picking up notable wins if they want to impress the selection committee.  They have another chance to do that today against a Cal team who is talented, but doesn’t have a whole lot of depth, and it showed late in the game against San Diego State.

-LONG BEACH STATE AT OKLAHOMA STATE.  I’m not too big on Oklahoma State, but they do have just one loss so far and they’re taking on a decent LBSU team today.

-GEORGE WASHINGTON VS TENNESSEE (Barclay’s Center Classic).  GW is unbeaten and already has a big win on their profile.  Tennessee, at this point, just has one loss and it was in the final seconds to Georgia Tech.  This is an early season resume building opportunity for both teams.

-EVANSVILLE VS SANTA CLARA (Wooden Legacy).  Santa Clara is winless on the year, but they were very close to picking up a massive win against Arizona yesterday.  Evansville fell to Providence, and doesn’t have a whole lot of opportunities at impressive wins, so winning their final two games in this tournament is important.

-ILLINOIS VS UAB (Emerald Coast Classic).  UAB has just one loss, but it was against the only decent team they’ve played so far.  If they want to make a case that they belong inside the bubble they must do well in this tournament.  Illinois doesn’t have any big wins either, and has actually had some surprising losses, so this event is a chance for them to turn things around as well.

-TOLEDO VS LOYOLA CHICAGO (Great Alaska Shootout).  Both teams have just one loss and this is a chance to pick up a nice early win away from home.

-WEST VIRGINIA VS SAN DIEGO STATE (Las Vegas Invitational).  San Diego State had been struggling, but they got a HUGE win against Cal last night.  That’s the kind of win that can turn a team’s season around.  If they win today, they’re resume will be rather healthy.  West Virginia hasn’t lost, and they’ve already knocked off some pretty decent teams up to this point.  This will be a likely resume builder for the team that wins.

-PROVIDENCE VS ARIZONA (Wooden Legacy).  Both teams are unbeaten, and both are likely tournament teams, so again, it will be an early season resume builder for whoever wins it.

 

BUY GAMES

-Arkansas State @ Baylor
-Lipscomb @ South Carolina
-FGCU @ Florida
-NC Central @ Louisiana Tech
-Northwestern State @ Auburn
-Portland @ Colorado State
-Idaho State @ Utah
-Delaware State @ Fresno State

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Under the Radar Game of the Day – Friday, November 27: NJIT at Albany

Posted on November 27, 2015 by Chad

Under the Radar Game of the Day: NJIT at Albany, 7:00 PM Eastern, americaeast.tv

With the two “major conference” schools in New Jersey (Rutgers and Seton Hall) both looking like they may be in for long seasons, the question of just which of the 8 Division I schools in the Garden State has the best men’s basketball team this season is now officially open for debate.  The candidates appear to be two with the team from West Long Branch currently having the early lead after a win at UCLA and the amazing upset last night of ranked Notre Dame (Monmouth’s first ever win over a Top 25 team).  However, the Hawks need to keep an eye on their neighbors from Newark, as NJIT has a solid program as well, capable of capturing the Atlantic Sun championship and making the NCAA tournament for the first time ever this year.

While Monmouth just won a big game against Notre Dame and will be getting another huge test from a very good Dayton team tonight, NJIT will be following the Hudson River north to Albany, New York to take on the Great Danes, one of the top teams in the America East.  NJIT enters tonight’s contest with a record of 3-2, having picked up wins over Boston U, Lafayette and at South Florida, while falling at Kentucky and at Providence (neither of which is by any means unforgiveable).  The Highlanders are led by Damon Lynn, who dropped 24 points on the Friars last week, but have a deep lineup that includes the likes of Ky Howard, Winfield Willis, Tim Coleman and emerging star Rob Ukawuba (20 points against Providence).

The Highlanders will have a solid road test tonight as the Great Danes of Albany (or as their uniforms tell us, UAlbany) are expected to be among the top contenders in the America East this season.  Just as NJIT did, Albany fell at Kentucky already this year.  They have also played at Boston U and at South Florida, falling in close games both time (these five teams are playing a round robin against each other as part of the exempt Hall of Fame Classic event).  Despite the 2-3 record, the Great Danes are undefeated at home so far this year.  They are led by Peter Hooley and Ray Sanders, two of the key players that led them to the NCAA Tournament last season.  If they want to return this year, the Great Danes need to start by establishing home court dominance, and winning a game like tonight’s can help them do just that.

 

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