Happy New Year to all our readers! Here’s to a 2020 that is better than 2019.
In case you needed a reminder that conference play is a different beast, especially having to go on the road, Providence and Illinois State provided one on Tuesday.
We’ll start with the Friars, from whom more has been expected as chronicled a couple of times here. They went just 7-6 in non-conference play with a couple of bad losses as regards an NCAA Tournament profile, meaning they’ll need to win a little more in Big East play. They hosted a Georgetown team that appeared to regroup impressively following the departure of four players, including last year’s Big East Freshman of the Year, as they came in having won six straight since then, several against pretty good teams.
Providence, however, hit them in the mouth and then some early on, scoring the game’s first 14 points and never looking back, leading 54-23 at halftime and coasting from there to a 76-60 win that wasn’t even that close. Georgetown didn’t score until more than six minutes in and was never in the game after that. The Friars shot almost 54 percent and held Georgetown under 37 percent, with the Friars also going 10-25 from long range.
Now Georgetown has to go on the road again to play a seemingly rejuvenated Seton Hall on Friday, while Providence hits the road for two straight at DePaul on Saturday and Marquette on Tuesday. The Hoyas could easily start 0-2 in Big East play.
Meanwhile, Missouri Valley play is underway, and Northern Iowa had the best non-conference run by far of any team in the conference, even though as a whole it was a pretty good couple of months for The Valley. There’s no question the Panthers are the best hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament from the Valley with a NET in the 20s entering the week. But their first assignment in conference play was to go to 5-7 Illinois State, and despite a 10-point halftime deficit, the Redbirds regrouped in the second half and rallied past the Panthers 76-70.
A 7-0 run early in the second half got the Redbirds within two at 36-34, and that would be the beginning of a 14-2 run that would give them the lead. Northern Iowa would regain the lead with under six minutes left, but that lasted a matter of seconds, and after a three-pointer by A.J. Green (23 points) tied it with under a minute to go, Illinois State made six free throws to regain the lead and then seal the game after getting two stops and rebounds.
Northern Iowa out-rebounded Illinois State 39-25 but also gave the ball away 17 times. Allowing Illinois State to go 10-18 from deep didn’t help, with the Redbirds’ starting perimeter trio going a scorching 7-9 from distance to score 48 points on 15-26 shooting overall.
Northern Iowa can absorb a loss like this, but it’s not a good way to start. Since 1993-94, only three times has a Valley team lost their conference opener and later won at least a share of the regular season title. The Panthers did that 11 years ago in a different Missouri Valley, so they have some history, but they will have to regroup fast as surging Bradley comes to town on Saturday fresh off an 80-72 win over Drake in their opener on Tuesday.
Side Dishes
Those two conference openers might have been a bit surprising, but none was shocking. Florida A&M going into Hilton Coliseum and edging Iowa State 70-68 was. The Rattlers came in at 1-9, albeit against a fairly tough schedule (as is often the case with MEAC schools) and trailed by as many as 13 in the first half, but turned everything around in the second. Iowa State was without Tyrese Haliburton, who they held out with a wrist injury he suffered in practice that should not keep him out of their Big 12 opener on Saturday, but they were heavy favorites and at home, meaning this is a game they should have won. It means they have that much more work to do for their NCAA Tournament case.
The other Big East game on the slate almost turned into a shocker, but not because of who would have won. Butler blew a 23-point lead but held on for a 60-58 win at St. John’s, needing a three-pointer in the final minute to emerge victorious.
In ACC action, Duke routed Boston College 88-49 behind 25 points from Matthew Hurt, Florida State pulled away from Georgia Tech 70-58 and Chris Lykes had 27 points to lift Miami over host Clemson 73-68 in overtime. Temple won the lone American Athletic Conference game on tap, edging UCF 62-58 in Orlando and Missouri State handled Evansville 65-52 in the other Missouri Valley game on Tuesday.
In non-conference games, Bowling Green handled Hartford 81-68, Vermont routed George Washington 76-51, Cal State Northridge beat Morgan State 93-82, Air Force shot over 60 percent from the field, including 15-23 on three-pointers, as they routed UC Riverside 105-56 and Wisconsin ran away from Rider 65-37.
Tonight’s Menu
The new year begins with just over a dozen Division I games on tap, all of them in conference play.
- The first game of the new year is a Southern Conference matchup as Furman visits VMI (1 p.m.), and later on Samford hosts The Citadel (3 p.m.), a dandy is on tap with East Tennessee State hosting Wofford (4 p.m.) and Mercer goes to UNC Greensboro (7 p.m.)
- In American Athletic Conference openers, Wichita State hosts East Carolina (3 p.m.), SMU hosts South Florida (5 p.m.) and UConn goes to Cincinnati (7 p.m.)
- Mountain West play continues with San Diego State hosting Fresno State (3 p.m.), Wyoming visiting Boise State (8 p.m.), New Mexico traveling to San Jose State and Colorado State going to Nevada (10 p.m.) before the last game of the night that has UNLV hosting Utah State (11 p.m.)
- South Dakota visits Purdue Fort Wayne in a Summit League tilt (3 p.m.)
- The one other game on tap is the Big East opener for Marquette and host Creighton (9 p.m.)
