A new year of basketball: Dec. 30-Jan. 6

[Plebe]

Edit to add: I'm going to start adding links from these listings to the game threads posted by @Shades. This thread can serve as a catch-all for discussion on games not served by a separate thread.

Monday, Dec. 30

• Pitt at North Carolina (2p, ACCNX). The Tar Heels, now on a 2-game losing streak, are probably happy to see Pitt come to town.
• Duquesne at Oklahoma State (2p, ESPN+)
• Houston at Fordham (3p, ESPN+)
• Central Michigan at UCF (6p, free live stream). UCF's had a disappointing OOC, but this is one last chance for an RPI boost before entering AAC play.
• North Carolina A&T at VCU (7p, ESPN+). The powerhouse of the MEAC takes Richmond by storm.
• North Alabama at Iowa State (7:30p, live stream ($)). North Alabama is a surprising 9-2.
• Western Michigan at Loyola Chicago (8p, ESPN+).

Tuesday, Dec. 31

• UNC Asheville at Hampton (12p, ESPN+)
• Nebraska at Michigan State (1p, BTN). First game of a strong triple-header on BTN. Game thread.
• Creighton at Villanova (1p, YouTube).
• Penn State at Michigan (2p, BTN+).
• #13 Indiana at Rutgers (3p, BTN). Should be an intense game. Alexis Morris is in action for Rutgers. Game thread.
• Illinois at Iowa (3p, BTN+)
• Wisconsin at Purdue (4p, BTN+)
• #11 Maryland at Northwestern (5p, BTN). Golden opportunity for Northwestern, who just missed entering the BY25 this week. Game thread.
• Ohio State at Minnesota (5p, BTN+)
• Penn at Hawai'i (7p, live stream). Game thread.

Wednesday, Jan. 1

• Lenoir-Rhyne at UNC Greensboro (4p, free live stream). To get the sour taste of the Fort Myers Massacre out of his mouth, @triaddukefan can celebrate the new year while watching (perhaps in person?) his Spartans build on their 5-game home-court win streak against the Bears from Hickory, NC (a D2 team).
• Boise State at Wyoming (8:30p, free live stream). Possibly the two best teams in the Mountain West.

Thursday, Jan. 2

• Missouri at #25 Tennessee (5p, SECN+). Game thread.
• Wake Forest at Duke (6p, ACCN). Game thread.
• #13 Kentucky at #4 South Carolina (7p, SECN+). First significant road test for Kentucky. Game thread.
• Wichita State at #1 UConn (7p, SNY/ESPN3)
• #7 Louisville at Clemson (7p, ACCNX)
• Virginia Tech at #9 NC State (7p, ACCNX)
• Miami at Georgia Tech (7p, ACCNX)
• Notre Dame at Pitt (7p, ACCNX). Game thread.
• North Carolina at Virginia (7p, ACCNX)
• Nicholls at Incarnate Word (7:30p, live stream). No nights off in the Southland, amirite @LETTERL? The Colonels visit a team that has yet to beat a D1 opponent this season.
• Georgia at Ole Miss (7:30p, SECN+)
• #8 Florida State at Syracuse (8p, ACCN). Toughest road test for FSU so far this season. Game thread.
• Florida at #13 Mississippi State (8p, SECN+). Game thread.
• Holy Names College at Cal Poly (8p, live stream). This one's for @nwhoopfan .
• Alabama at LSU (8:30p, SECN+)
• Auburn at Vanderbilt (8:30p, SECN+)
• #12 Texas A&M at #22 Arkansas (9p, SECN+). First top 25 opponent of the season for Arkansas. Game thread.
• #15 Gonzaga at BYU (9p, BYU TV). BYU was Gonzaga's nemesis last year.

Friday, Jan. 3

• Villanova at Seton Hall (1p, YouTube). Nova struggled in its OOC but opened BE play with a surprising win over Providence.
• #20 Missouri State at Loyola Chicago (4p, ESPN+). Conference opener for both teams. Loyola Chicago is 9-2. They played DePaul very close, but then sustained a disappointing loss to Western Illinois. Game thread..
• #18 DePaul at Providence (6:30p, FS2)
• TCU at Texas (7p, LHN).
• William & Mary at James Madison (7p, FloHoops). Both teams are 9-2.
• Georgetown at St. John's (7p, live stream)
• Northern Iowa at Drake (7p, ESPN+). Another key Missouri Valley game.
• Marquette at Creighton (8p, YouTube).
• Iowa State at Texas Tech (8p, Fox Sports Southwest). The undefeated Red Raiders face their first opponent with a pulse. Game thread.
  
  Late Friday nights in the Pac-12:
• Colorado at #3 Oregon (10p, Pac-12 Network). The Buffs' undefeated record is on the line. Game thread.
• Utah at #2 Oregon State (10p, Pac-12 Mountain). Game thread.
• Washington State at #6 Stanford (10p, Pac-12 Bay Area). Game thread.
• Arizona State at #10 UCLA (10p, Pac-12 Los Angeles). Game thread.
• #17 Arizona at USC (10p, Pac-12 Arizona). Game thread.
• Washington at Cal (10p, Pac-12 Washington)

Saturday, Jan. 4

• Robert Morris at Merrimack (1p, live stream). The two highest-ranked (Massey) teams in the NEC. Merrimack is a first-year D1 team.
• Buffalo at Miami OH (2p, ESPN3)
• Kansas at Oklahoma St (3p, ESPN+). After Texas Tech went down in flames, can Kansas stay undefeated? Game thread.
• Western Kentucky at Rice (3p, ESPN+)
• Penn State at Wisconsin (4p, BTN)
• #5 Baylor at Oklahoma (5p, Fox Sports Oklahoma). Game thread.
• Minnesota at Nebraska (6p, BTN). Game thread.

Sunday, Jan. 5

• Virginia at NC State (12p, ACCNX)
• Vanderbilt at Florida (12p, ESPNU)
• Michigan State at Michigan (12p, ESPN2). Game thread.
• Rutgers at Purdue (12p, BTN)
• Georgia Tech at Wake Forest (12p, ACCN)
• East Carolina at UCF (12p, CBSSN)
• #19 West Virginia at Kansas State (12p, FSN)
• Marquette at Providence (1p, live stream)
• Duke at #7 Louisville (2p, ACCN). Game thread.
• #8 Florida State at Miami (2p, ACCNX)
• #18 DePaul at Creighton (2p, live stream)
• #22 Arkansas at Auburn (2p, SECN)
• Villanova at St. John's (2p, CBSSN)
• Cincinnati at South Florida (2p, ESPN2). A rare non-UConn AAC game picked up by ESPN (why?).
• Iowa at Northwestern (2p, BTN)
• LSU at Missouri (2p, ESPNU)
• Southern Illinois at Illinois Chicago (2p, ESPN3)
• Colorado at #2 Oregon State (3p, Pac-12 Network)
• #17 Arizona at #10 UCLA (3p, Pac-12 Arizona/Los Angeles)
• Washington State at Cal (3p, Pac-12 Bay Area/Washington)
• #1 UConn at SMU (4p, SNY/ESPN3)
• #25 Tennessee at #16 Kentucky (4p, ESPN2). Game thread.
• #13 Mississippi State at Georgia (4p, SECN). Game thread.
• Notre Dame at Syracuse (4p, ACCN). Game thread.
• Memphis at Houston (4p, ESPNU)
• Utah at #3 Oregon (5p, Pac-12 Network)
• Washington at #6 Stanford (5p, Pac-12 Bay Area/Washington). Game thread.
• Arizona State at USC (5p, Pac-12 Arizona/Los Angeles)
• #4 South Carolina at Alabama (5p, SECN)

 

[triaddukefan]

Last non-conference game of the season for the Aggies of NCA&T today at 6pm @ VCU. The Aggies... fresh off their victory at rising ACC Power Clemson need to finish off the year on a high note. Game will be shown on ESPN+

 

[Plebe]

Last non-conference game of the season for the Aggies of NCA&T today at 6pm @ VCU. The Aggies... fresh off their victory at rising ACC Power Clemson need to finish off the year on a high note. Game will be shown on ESPN+

"rising ACC power Clemson"

 

[nwhoopfan]

#15 Gonzaga at BYU (9p, BYU TV). BYU was Gonzaga's nemesis last year.

After being fairly unimpressed w/ the WCC schools other than GU, I figured the Zags should be able to run the table. They have made that possibility look far from certain after digging themselves into a 20 point first half deficit at home against Portland yesterday before winning by 5.

BYU looked bad during OOC, but won their conference opener by almost 20. I think I will refrain from making a prediction about this game.

 

[Plebe]

After being fairly unimpressed w/ the WCC schools other than GU, I figured the Zags should be able to run the table. They have made that possibility look far from certain after digging themselves into a 20 point first half deficit at home against Portland yesterday before winning by 5.

BYU looked bad during OOC, but won their conference opener by almost 20. I think I will refrain from making a prediction about this game.

And to add to the cautionary notes, last year BYU didn't do anything remarkable in the OOC either, but they then proceeded to beat Gonzaga 3 times and were singlehandedly responsible for preventing Gonzaga from hosting in the NCAA tournament.

 

[triaddukefan]

"rising ACC power Clemson"

Well they jumped from last place.. to one game out of 1st in one afternoon

 

[Centerstream]

UNC 70 - Pitt 62 final.

 

[biobioprof]

Anyone watching Pitt-UNC? I missed the first 3 quarter and UNC just closed out a 70-62 win, but I was mostly curious about a highlight snippet they showed as part of a montage coming out of a commercial.

Did a Pitt player really do a break that involved dribbling around a ref?

 

[Centerstream]

@Plebe isn't the Wichita State game on SNY, in addition to ESPN3?

 

[PoppaBear]

Baylor vs Morehead State, Monday, 7:00 CST, ESPN+
Lauren Cox first game back after 7 week layoff

 

[Plebe]

Anyone watching Pitt-UNC? I missed the first 3 quarter and UNC just closed out a 70-62 win, but I was mostly curious about a highlight snippet they showed as part of a montage coming out of a commercial.

Did a Pitt player really do a break that involved dribbling around a ref?

I saw that clip as well, and that's certainly how it looked. I suspect it occurred in the first 5 minutes of the game, before the broadcast started (it was on a regional sports network that was apparently showing the Pitt men's game, which of course ran late).

I'm hoping someone posts a fuller clip of the play on social media somewhere.

 

[donalddoowop]

I saw that clip as well, and that's certainly how it looked. I suspect it occurred in the first 5 minutes of the game, before the broadcast started (it was on a regional sports network that was apparently showing the Pitt men's game, which of course ran late).

I'm hoping someone posts a fuller clip of the play on social media somewhere.

The game is being replayed tomorrow on Sports Time Ohio (STO) at 7:00 am and again at noon. UVerse channel 735 and 1735.

 

[triaddukefan]

tight battle up in Richmond. My Aggies leading 54-53 with a little over 5 minutes left in the game.

 

[triaddukefan]

My Aggies up 67-58 with 35 seconds left........ looks like we will go to 8-4 headed towards MEAC play

 

[Plebe]

UCF gets its best win of the season so far, 64-58 over Central Michigan. Kay Kay Wright had 20 points and Masseny Kaba had a monster all-around defensive game, with 8 points, 12 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 steals and 2 assists.

Micaela Kelly, the nation's 4th-leading scorer at 23.4 ppg, almost singlehandedly shot CMU back into the game in the 4th quarter, with a 4-point play, a 3-point play, plus two deep 3-pointers.

UConn remains the only team to have beaten UCF in Orlando in the last two seasons.

 

[Shmermerer]

UCF gets its best win of the season so far, 64-58 over Central Michigan. Kay Kay Wright had 20 points and Masseny Kaba had a monster all-around defensive game, with 8 points, 12 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 steals and 2 assists.

Michael Kelly, the nation's 4th-leading scorer at 23.4 ppg, almost singlehandedly shot CMU back into the game in the 4th quarter, with a 4-point play, a 3-point play, plus two deep 3-pointers.

UConn remains the only team to have beaten UCF in Orlando in the last two seasons.

just a little fact about Kelly. She originally was a DePaul commit. Came for the summer and then transferred to CMU.

 

[eebmg]

UCF gets its best win of the season so far, 64-58 over Central Michigan. Kay Kay Wright had 20 points and Masseny Kaba had a monster all-around defensive game, with 8 points, 12 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 steals and 2 assists.

Micaela Kelly, the nation's 4th-leading scorer at 23.4 ppg, almost singlehandedly shot CMU back into the game in the 4th quarter, with a 4-point play, a 3-point play, plus two deep 3-pointers.

UConn remains the only team to have beaten UCF in Orlando in the last two seasons.

Good thing Micaela Kelly fouled out with 2' left, it might have been different.

 

[Crazyhorse]

Cuse always seems to hit 25 three pointers against FSU. Would not be a shock if Cuse wins on Thursday.

 

[Plebe]

Good thing Micaela Kelly fouled out with 2' left, it might have been different.

Indeed, her fouling out effectively killed the CMU rally.

UCF took a 56-40 lead with 6:50 to play. Over the next 6 minutes:

6:24 Kelly hits a 3-pointer from the corner and gets fouled, hits the FT, cuts lead to 56-44.
5:42 After a UCF bucket, Kelly hits another 3, cuts lead to 58-47.
4:59 After a teammate hits a jumper, Kelly hits a layup in transition, gets fouled, hits the FT, cuts lead to 58-52.
2:18 After some misses on both sides, UCF gets a bucket and then Kelly hits another 3, cuts lead to 60-55.
0:58 After missing a 3 that would've cut the lead to 2, Kelly commits an offensive foul and fouls out.

After that 15-4 run by CMU (13 of them scored by Kelly), UCF ended up icing the game with free throws.

 

[triaddukefan]

Big day of Big South basketball. 5 games today

 

[Plebe]

Big day of Big South basketball. 5 games today

Go Hampton

 

[triaddukefan]

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

When did I miss Hampton leaving the MEAC?

 

[Plebe]

When did I miss Hampton leaving the MEAC?

Was announced in Nov. 2017. This is their second season in the Big South.

Hampton is leaving MEAC to join the Big South

Hampton University president said one reason behind the move was Big South's geographic footprint.

www.usatoday.com

 

[triaddukefan]

When did I miss Hampton leaving the MEAC?

In their last tourney.... the 2018 MEAC basketball tourney, both Hampton's mens and women's teams made the finals. In the MEAC.. they have the men's and women's finals back to back. To the delight of the rest of the MEAC schools..... Central and NCA&T knocked off both sets of Pirates to make sure they wouldnt leave the league with conference championships. I know I was happy as well.