Games of Interest - November 30 through December 6, 2015

[njhoya78]

I'm not going to be able to update the AP Top 25 when it is released after noon hour, so the Games of Interest thread includes the next five "also receiving votes" teams from last week's AP poll (Utah, George Washington, Baylor, West Virginia and Butler), which teams are indicated by *asterisks; the rankings shown below are from last week's poll.  All game times are in Eastern Standard Time.  

EDITED 12/1/2015: Updated to reflect latest Associated Press Top 25 poll. Lower Canada Community College vaulted into the rankings at #14; other new entries are West Virginia at #20, Southern Methodist at #22, Providence at #23, Louisville at #24 and Baylor at #25. Dropping out are Indiana, California, Notre Dame, Connecticut, Wichita State and Louisiana State. Three Big East teams are ranked (Villanova at #8 and Xavier at #12, along with the Friars).

Monday, November 30

BIG EAST CONFERENCE
No games scheduled

OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
Bryant at New Hampshire, 7:00 pm
James Madison at Radford, 7:00 pm

ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
Illinois State at #1 Kentucky, 7:00 pm (ESPN 2)

Tuesday, December 1

BIG EAST CONFERENCE
Maryland-Eastern Shore at Georgetown, 7:00 pm
#8 Villanova at St. Joseph's, 7:00 pm (CBS Sports Network)

OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
Davidson at Charlotte, 7:00 pm
#2 Maryland at #9 North Carolina, 9:30 pm (ESPN)

ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
#10 Virginia at Ohio State, 7:30 pm (ESPN)
Loyola (Maryland) at #4 Kansas, 8:00 pm (ESPN 3)
North Dakota State at #5 Iowa State, 8:00 pm
#21 Miami at Nebraska, 9:00 pm (ESPN-U)
#11 Purdue at Pittsburgh, 9:00 pm (ESPN 2)

Wednesday, December 2

BIG EAST CONFERENCE
Butler at #17 Cincinnati, 7:00 pm (CBS Sports Network)
Hartford at #23 Providence, 7:00 pm
St. John's at Fordham, 7:00 pm
Seton Hall at George Washington, 7:00 pm
DePaul at Illinois-Chicago, 8:00 pm
Grambling State at Marquette, 8:00 pm
Arizona State at Creighton, 9:00 pm (CBS Sports Network)

OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
Bryant at Yale, 7:00 pm
Central Connecticut at Brown, 7:00 pm
Coker at North Carolina Wilmington, 7:00 pm
Sacred Heart at Connecticut, 7:00 pm (ESPN 3)
Wisconsin at #14 Syracuse, 7:15 pm (ESPN 2)
Indiana at #7 Duke, 9:15 pm (ESPN)

ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
# 24 Louisville at #3 Michigan State, 7:15 pm (ESPN)
Detroit at #16 Vanderbilt, 8:00 pm
Florida Gulf Coast at #18 Texas A&M, 8:00 pm
#22 Southern Methodist at Texas Christian, 8:00 pm
Prairie View A&M at #25 Baylor, 9:30 pm
#13 Gonzaga at Washington State, 11:00 pm (Fox Sports 1)

Thursday, December 3

BIG EAST CONFERENCE
No games scheduled

OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
Liberty at Radford, 7:00 pm

ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
Central Arkansas at #6 Oklahoma, 8:00 pm (ESPN-U)
#1 Kentucky at UCLA, 9:00 pm (ESPN)

Friday, December 4

BIG EAST CONFERENCE
No games scheduled

OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
Monmouth at Canisius, 7:00 pm (ESPN 3)
St. Francis (Pennsylvania) at #2 Maryland, 7:00 pm (Big Ten Network)

ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
#15 Oregon at Nevada Las Vegas, 11:00 pm (ESPN 2)

Saturday, December 5

BIG EAST CONFERENCE
Indiana State at Butler, 12:00 noon
Seton Hall at Rutgers, 12:00 noon (ESPN News)
#14 Syracuse at Georgetown, 1:00 pm (Fox)
Chicago State at DePaul, 2:00 pm
Creighton at Loyola (Illinois), 2:00 pm (ESPN 3)
Maine at Marquette, 2:30 pm
#23 Providence at Rhode Island, 7:00 pm (ESPN-U)
Western Kentucky at #12 Xavier, 8:45 pm

OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
Temple at Wisconsin, 12:30 pm (CBS)
Brown at Bryant, 4:00 pm
Charlotte at #21 Miami, 4:00 pm (ESPN 3)
Maryland-Eastern Shore at North Carolina Central, 4:00 pm
Johnson & Wales (North Carolina) at North Carolina Asheville, 4:30 pm
Buffalo at #7 Duke, 5:15 pm (ESPN 2)

ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
Binghamton at #3 Michigan State, 12:00 noon (ESPN-U)
Grand Canyon at #24 Louisville, 12:00 noon (ESPN 3)
Kennesaw State at #20 West Virginia, 12:30 pm
New Hampshire at #22 Southern Methodist, 1:30 pm (ESPN 3)
William & Mary at #10 Virginia, 2:00 pm (ESPN 3)
New Mexico at #11 Purdue, 2:15 pm
#19 Arizona at #13 Gonzaga, 3:15 pm (ESPN)
Harvard at #4 Kansas, 3:15 pm (ESPN 2)
#18 Texas A&M at Arizona State, 10:30 pm (ESPN 2)

Sunday, December 6

BIG EAST CONFERENCE
St. Francis (New York) at St. John's, 11:00 am (Fox Sports 1)

OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
Monmouth at Niagara, 2:00 pm

ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
Morgan State at #17 Cincinnati, 5:30 pm (ESPN 3)
Davidson at #9 North Carolina, 6:00 pm (ESPN-U)
#19 Vanderbilt at #25 Baylor, 8:00 pm (ESPN-U)

[hoyasaxa2003]

The USA Today Coach's poll came out:

Big East:

7 - Villanova
18 - Xavier
24 - Providence
25 - Butler

Syracuse is 19th, making Saturday's game all the more valuable if we can win.

[hoyasaxa2003]

Associated Press Poll: We get 4 votes.

8 - Villanova
12 - Xavier
23 - Providence

Syracuse is 14th. The timing of Syracuse getting into the top 25 is handy for us. If we can beat them, that'll be a solid win. Assuming we win tomorrow, that'd also put us at 4-3, with a win over a top 25 opponent. We need to crush some Orange on Saturday.

[Ranch Dressing]

The upcoming OOC games against Syracuse, UConn, and Charlotte are really important now. Really should be looking to win all 3, obviously, but going 1-2 could be crippling absent a strong Big East conference record.

[hoyaboya]

Nov 30, 2015 15:28:36 GMT -5 Ranch Dressing said:

The upcoming OOC games against Syracuse, UConn, and Charlotte are really important now. Really should be looking to win all 3, obviously, but going 1-2 could be crippling absent a strong Big East conference record.

Great points, Ranch. 5 OOC losses and a 10-8 record in the Big East this year may not be enough - probably depends on if 1 of the 10 wins was against Villanova. Would also mean we might have to do some damage in the Big East tournament.

The Syracuse game looms very large as the only 1 of the Cuse/Charlotte/UCONN games being played at home. A loss to Syracuse and Charlotte becomes almost a must-win, and can't have any more slip-ups in the OOC slate (including vs. Monmouth which is likely to be a tougher opponent than Charlotte).

[Ranch Dressing]

8-5 OOC and 10-8 Big East would be 18-13 going into BE tourney. I think that will qualify as a dicey situation heading to MSG...

On the positive side, with the Big East RPI #2 right now (Nova, Xavier, Provvy, and Butler all looking quite good), I have to believe we will have a Top 20 or better SOS by season end. Hopefully, that gives us some favor with the committee, making anything better than 8-5/10-8 a tourney lock.

[Filo]

I would think 8-5 OOC and 10-8 Big East would be fine to get us in the tournament. I have to say, though, that this kind of record is no slam dunk at this point. I really like our team and think they can be special. I just think Xavier, Providence, Nova, Butler and even Marquette are going to be very tough outs.   I refuse to stress over it, though, and hope the team keeps improving every game and gets some big wins.

[hoyajinx]

Radford was down 21 to JMU but has cut the lead to 3.

[Deleted]

Watching Purdue play.... Yikes..I'm cool on playing them come tourney time

[Deleted]

Unc beats UMD by 8. Pretty competitive game until late that UNC contolled for the most part. Both teams shot lights out from 3, well over 50% for most of the game. Melo Trimble almost had a triple double Pts assists To's. Him and Marcus Paige went at it all night..

[tashoya]

Dec 1, 2015 23:28:31 GMT -5 @yaboynyp said:

Unc beats UMD by 8. Pretty competitive game until late that UNC contolled for the most part. Both teams shot lights out from 3, well over 50%. Melo Trimble almost had a triple double Pts assists To's. Him and Marcus Paige went at it all night..

Their glut of turnovers early really hurt and, at times, were inexplicable. I hate both schools but was sort of hoping that MD would pull it out because we played them close. Without a doubt, UMD wins if Paige hadn't come back. That said, for Paige's sake, I'm glad he was able to play. I hate seeing good, young players out injured because, even if they stay four years, the college career is a short one. And Paige is a fun player to watch so it made the game more entertaining overall.

[seaweed]

Wisco and S'cuse headed to OT in Lower Canada

[Deleted]

Butler beats #17 Cincy in Ohio on a buzzer beater by Jones

[Deleted]

Dec 2, 2015 21:12:22 GMT -5 seaweed said:

Wisco and S'cuse headed to OT in Lower Canada

Hopefully they go a couple more...

[hoyazeke]

Wisconsin finishes off Cuse in OT......

[hoyaboya]

Great win for Butler. Bummed that Seton Hall didn't take down GW. St. John's with bad loss to Fordham.

[hoyarooter]

Way to go, Badgers. Happ and Hayes had more rebounds between them than the entire Syracuse team. We should certainly be capable of holding our own on the boards Saturday. Also, Wisconsin won despite 20 turnovers. Let's not give Syracuse an opportunity to beat us because we don't take care of the rock.

[Hoyaholic]

Nov 30, 2015 15:28:36 GMT -5 Ranch Dressing said:

The upcoming OOC games against Syracuse, UConn, and Charlotte are really important now. Really should be looking to win all 3, obviously, but going 1-2 could be crippling absent a strong Big East conference record.

Charlotte is important only because they are absolutely horrendous. A loss to them would be just as bad, if not worse, than Radford.

[hoyaboya]

Dec 2, 2015 22:11:50 GMT -5 Hoyaholic said:

Nov 30, 2015 15:28:36 GMT -5 Ranch Dressing said:

The upcoming OOC games against Syracuse, UConn, and Charlotte are really important now. Really should be looking to win all 3, obviously, but going 1-2 could be crippling absent a strong Big East conference record.

Charlotte is important only because they are absolutely horrendous. A loss to them would be just as bad, if not worse, than Radford.

Won't be worse than Radford as it's not a Hoyas home game and Charlotte's conference will prop up their RPI while Radford's conference will drag down theirs...but no doubt it would be a bad loss.

I'm personally more worried about Monmouth at home with weak attendance than I am worried about the Chatlotte game.

[HometownHoya]

Dec 2, 2015 21:13:42 GMT -5 @yaboynyp said:

Butler beats #17 Cincy in Ohio on a buzzer beater by Jones

Go big east!