Under the Radar Game of the Day – Tuesday, January 20, 2015: Harvard at Bryant

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Chad

Harvard at Bryant, 5:30 PM Eastern, free streaming at necfrontrow.com

The UTR Game of the Day slips out of conference play tonight as the Harvard Crimson travel to Smithfield, Rhode Island to battle the Northeast Conference co-leader, Bryant.  Tonight’s game is the final non-conference contest for Harvard (1-0 in conference, 10-4 overall), as they get ready to head into the Ivy League regular season, which gets moving in earnest next weekend.  Harvard entered the season as one of the top Under the Radar teams in the nation, but has failed to pick up a single non-conference win of note.  As if that wasn’t bad enough, they lost games to Holy Cross, Arizona State and Boston College (which has been claimed to be an automatic disqualifier for any team searching for an at-large bid).  The good news for the Crimson is that they are still by far the best team in the Ivy League and should not have much difficulty winning the regular season title and automatic bid that comes with it.  If the Crimson prove to not be good enough to take the Ivy league regular season title, they will have suffered two or more bad losses in conference play that would clearly destroy any NCAA tournament hopes.

Bryant has leaped out to an early 5-1 start in conference play despite only being 8-7 overall.  The Bulldogs are currently on a four game winning streak that includes a home win over St. Francis (PA), one of the other top teams in the NEC.  A win at home over the Crimson tonight would clearly be the Bulldogs’ best win of the season so far and would serve notice to their conference that the 5-1 start in league play has not been a fluke.  Keep an eye on Dan Garvin for Bryant tonight, who has scored in double digits in three of his last four games.

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Bracket Racket: January 18th

Posted on January 19, 2015 by David Griggs

It’s a never ending comedy of errors here at Hoops HD!!  When recording this last night, we intended for it to be an audio only show.  When trying to upload the audio, the file was simply too big.  So, what we now have for you is the VIDEO of what was intended to be an AUDIO ONLY show!!  We hope you enjoy it!!

Chad, David and Lee go through the nine multi-bid leagues, as well as the teams that are outside the multi-bid leagues, but inside the bubble, and talk about where they currently stand in regards to the NCAA Tournament this March.  As usual, Lee and David struggle to get along.

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Under the Radar Game of the Day – Monday, January 19, 2015: Louisiana-Monroe at Louisiana-Lafayette

Posted on January 19, 2015 by Chad

Louisiana-Monroe at Louisiana-Lafayette, 8:15 PM Eastern, No TV

The UTR game of the day returns to Lafayette, Louisiana tonight for a battle for first place in the Sun Belt Conference that (once again) does not involve preseason favorite Georgia State.  The host Ragin’ Cajuns enter tonight’s game at 4-2 in Sun Belt play and 10-7 overall, good enough to be tied for second place with Georgia Southern.  They are looking to snap out of a two game losing streak, having fallen to Georgia Southern in an UTR Game of the Day matchup last week and South Alabama over the weekend.  Despite the two losses, they can jump back into a first place tie with a victory tonight.

The Warhawks of Louisiana-Monroe have quietly taken over first place in the Sun Belt heading into tonight’s game.  They enter at 11-6 overall and 5-1 in conference play, with their five wins having come in their last five games.  The Warhawks are led offensively by Tylor Ongwae and Marvin Williams.  Ongwae has scored in double digits every game this season, and eclipsed the 20 point mark in 13 of 16 contests.  Williams has been coming on strong in recent games, having scored in double digits in 4 of the last 5, including topping 20 points twice.  Both players will need to perform well tonight for the Warhawks to claim their best road conference win of the season to date.

 

 

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Highlighted Games for Sunday, Jan 18th

Posted on January 18, 2015 by David Griggs

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

-INDIANA AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten).  Both teams are good, but both still have a lot of work to do if they want to feel safe in March.

-SAINT JOHN’S AT DEPAUL (Big East).  Road wins in this league come at a premium, but this is one of the more winnable road games the Johnnies could have.  They’ve had a good year, but are just 1-3 in league play and really need to pick this one up.

-LOYOLA IL AT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (Missouri Valley).  Loyola is much improved, and has an outside shot at landing inside the bubble if they can finish strong.

-VIRGINIA TECH AT NORTH CAROLINA (ACC).  UNC has improveda  lot as the year has gone on, and I don’t think they’ll have too much trouble picking up this one at home.

-OREGON AT WASHINGTON (Pac Twelve).  Most outside the region probably don’t realize it, but the temperature of this rivalry is pretty high.  It’s also a very important game on paper as well.  Both are on the bubble, and despite a great start to the season, Washington is just 1-3 in league play, so there is a sense of urgency for both teams

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Under the Radar Game of the Day – Sunday, January 18, 2015: St. Francis (BK) at St. Francis (PA)

Posted on January 18, 2015 by Chad

St. Francis College (Brooklyn) at St. Francis University (Pennsylvania), 2:00 PM Eastern, free streaming at necfrontrow.com

It is the battle of the St. Francis schools this afternoon as the UTR Game of the Day returns to the Northeast Conference.  The St. Francis (Brooklyn) Terriers will be in Loretto, Pennsylvania to take on the Red Flash from St. Francis (Pennsylvania).  The Terriers are coming off of a win Friday evening at Robert Morris and will be looking to sweep their trip through PA today.  They currently sit at 4-1 in NEC play and 10-8 overall.  KenPom continues to have the Terriers rated as the best team in the Northeast Conference.

The Red Flash are also 4-1 in conference, meaning that the winner of today’s game will improve to 5-1 and move into a tie with Bryant for first place in the conference standings.  SFPA is 10-6 overall with the top RPI among NEC teams at 99.  The Red Flash had four players with double digit scoring in their win over Sacred Heart Friday night and will be looking to continue their balanced attack in this afternoon’s contest.  Whichever St. Francis team wins today will have an advantage moving forwards through the NEC season in pursuit of the regular season title and home court advantage throughout the NEC tournament that comes with it.

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Under the Radar Game of the Day – Saturday, January 17, 2015: Eastern Washington at Sacramento State

Posted on January 17, 2015 by Chad

For the rest of today’s highlighted action, CLICK HERE.

Eastern Washington at Sacramento State, 10:00 PM Eastern, free streaming at bigskyconf.com

The UTR Game of the Day heads to Sacramento, California tonight as first place is on the line in the Big Sky Conference.  The Eastern Washington Eagles enter tonight’s game at 13-4 overall and 4-0 in conference play.  They have the top RPI, BPI and KenPom ratings in the conference, with the RPI sitting at a very solid 55.  Their most notable win, of course, was back in November at Indiana.  The Eagles’ four losses have all been respectable as well: at SMU, at Washington, at Cal and at Sam Houston State.  While even winning out might not be enough for the Eagles to be in any serious at-large bid conversations should they slip in in the Big Sky tournament, a solid seed for an Under the Radar team, possibly as high as the 13 line, may be within their grasps.  And we should not forget that winning the Big Sky regular season title will give the Eagles the added advantage of getting to host the conference tournament, and thus getting the best shot at winning the automatic bid.

Tonight’s game for the Eagles is at Sacramento State, and may be their toughest in-conference road game of the year (especially with traditional Big Sky powers Montana and Weber State both having down seasons).  At 10-6, the Hornets are the only other Big Sky team with a record more than one game over the .500 mark.  They are 4-1 in conference play so far, having dropped a game at Northern Colorado last weekend.  While the Hornets do not have any truly notable wins, they have been playing well so far in Big Sky play and were among our preseason favorites in this conference.  Even if the Hornets cannot stay close to Eastern Washington in the conference race this season, they should have a very good chance at a winning record, something they have never done at the Division I level (15-15 in 2005-06 was their best to date).  It may also get them consideration for a postseason berth in the CBI or CIT, which would be the program’s first ever D1 postseason tournament.  An upset win over Eastern Washington tonight would go a long way towards just such a finish.

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