11.11.23 Slate Primer

Welcome to the daily slate primer, where we rundown last night’s action and preview the day to come.

Last Night’s Recap

• Arizona vs. Duke was awesome. A high level, back and forth game featuring two of the best programs in the country. Arizona was balanced, with all five starters scoring double figures. They were also poised the whole way, never folding when Duke made a run. Tip of the cap to Tommy and Jon for scheduling this home and home.
• Chattanooga beat Louisville 81-71, but it wasn’t that close. The Mocs led by as many as 21 and hit 14 threes en route to the victory. It’s a sad state of affairs at Louisville right now. We want to see that program win – college basketball is better when they do. But right now, it’s tough sledding.
• Texas A&M picked up a huge road win at Ohio State. Tyrece Radford and Wade Taylor IV both had 21, with Henry Coleman III adding 20pts & 11rebs of his own. Buzz Williams notches a signature win for his tournament resume.
• 28-year-old Nicholls State head coach Tevon Saddler picked up the first win of his career over LSU. The Colonels led by 19 at halftime, but needed a last second shot to complete the upset. Congrats coach!
• BYU grabbed a huge win, knocking off No. 17 SDSU at home. The Cougars had 42 points off the bench from Dallin Hall, Richie Saunders and Jaxson Robinson. Big time win for Mark Pope.
• Pacific beat Cal, 87-79 despite 20pts & 11rebs from Jaylon Tyson. Donovan Williams was tremendous for the Tigers, putting up 23pts & 6rebs
• Memphis dominated Missouri in the Senior Tiger Bowl. Jahvon Quinerly was electric and the blue Tigers looked every bit like a tournament team in a tough road environment. Penny’s crew will be dangerous in March.
• Monmouth beat West Virginia, 73-65. It’s been a brutal month for the Mountaineers. They just need to survive until Kerr Kriisa and Akok Akok return. Xander Rice had a 30-ball for the Hawks!
• Tennessee went into another B10 arena and picked up another win. This team is good. We picked them to make the Final Four and as of writing we look very smart for doing that. Dalton Knecht might be the best transfer pickup of the off-season.
• Virginia knocked off Florida, 73-70 thanks to some questionable late decision making by the Gators. Florida turned the ball over on multiple possessions with under a minute to go. Hoos freshman Blake Buchanan had 18pts & 7rebs.
• Duquesne blasted Charleston, 90-72. It was a game of runs. The Dukes went up by as many as 17 in the first half, then Charleston stormed all the way back to lead by four at the break. Duquesne controlled the second half, out-scoring the Cougars by 22. Dambrot has a squad!

KenPom’s Thrill Score Top-10 | 11.11.23

We were spoiled yesterday, but there’s still plenty to love about today’s slate. Long Beach State has a great opportunity to grab a win over a high major opponent. How does Kent State respond to Thursday’s double-OT heartbreaker? The headliner for us is UNC-Wilmington vs. UNC Asheville, which was one of our non-conference mid-major games of the year.

10 things we’re excited to watch:

• 11:00am tip-offs – Texas State vs. Miami (OH)
• The MAC/Sun Belt Challenge
• Takayo Siddle vs. Mike Morrell
• Justin Gray vs. Micah Shrewsberry
• UConn’s offense
• Creighton’s offense
• Jalen Sullinger’s tough buckets
• Themus Fulks vs. Ra’Heim Moss
• Danny Sprinkle vs. Brian Wardle
• Cornell vs. Fordham at Rose Thrill

Storylines to watch:

UNC Asheville vs. UNC Wilmington is going to be electric.

We had this game circled as one of seven non-conference mid-major games to watch. From the article:

This game has it all. In-state rivalry? Check. Two rising star head coaches? Check. Old heads that can hoop? Check.

Mike Morrell and Takayo Siddle are both on the radars of many high major athletic directors and they’ll go toe-to-toe for the first time since the COVID-shortened season. These teams went a combined 51-18 last season and they both return a ton of meaningful production from very successful squads.

For UNC Asheville, it’s the Drew Pember show. The reigning Big South Player of the Year is back for one last dance after averaging 20pts & 9rebs a year ago. The Bulldogs shot 38.6% from three as a team last year, good for 8th in the country. They’ll face a formidable UNC Wilmington defense that specializes in running teams off the three-point line. The Seahawks are anchored by the rangy Trazerien White, who averaged 14.2pts and 5.9rebs per game last year. It’ll be strength vs. strength in what should be a great atmosphere at Kimmel Arena.

Long Beach State’s Big East opportunity.

The last time LBSU beat a high major opponent was 11.28.19 when they staged a furious comeback to beat Providence, 66-65. Dan Monson’s squad has another opportunity to take down a Big East opponent today when they travel to Chicago to face DePaul. The Beach are actually favored in this game as of writing, so it wouldn’t come as a surprise if they picked up the win. Monson has his best team since the program made the tournament in 2012. Led by Aboubacar and Lassina Traore (not related!), LBSU will make some noise in the Big West this season. They’ve got a chance to notch a big name win today.

The MAC/Sun Belt Challenge is awesome.

The MAC/SBC challenge is in its inaugural season and it’s already delivered. JMU/Kent State was an absolute roller coaster thriller. Challenges like these are great for the sport and there couldn’t have been a more competitive matchup than these two leagues. They’re basically the northern and southern versions of each other. 4-5 quality mid-major programs at the top, with the rest of the league good enough to make every game tough. The MAC holds a 2-1 lead going into the rest of the slate. They’ll run it back in February, with the MAC schools traveling south.

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