Wednesday, January 17, 2006
Early News and Notes for the Thursday card for you opening lines, in progress at JoeDuffy.net
Bowling Green-Miami Oh
Press Notes
Following a five-day two-game road stretch, Miami returns home to host Bowling Green at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 17. Both teams opened Mid-American Conference play with last-second wins on Jan. 7 but have suffered losses in their last two games. Miami is 4-2 at home this season, including 1-0 in MAC play, while Bowling Green is 2-3 in road games, including 0-1 in MAC road games. Much like Miami, Bowling Green captured a close win in the final seconds of its Mid-American Conference opener, edging Buffalo 74-73, but has suffered losses at Ohio (67-49) and to Akron (83-62) in its last two games to enter Wednesday’s game with a 1-2 MAC mark. The Falcons own a 10-6 overall record.
New Mexico-San Diego State
Press Notes
New Mexico seeks its first true road win of the season when it visits San Diego State. The Lobos (12-7, 1-3 MWC), 7-7 following a 5-0 start, snapped a four-game losing streak last Saturday with an 86-82 overtime win over Utah. UNM is 1-6 away from Albuquerque this season, but 0-5 in true road games. New Mexico’s last win on an opponent’s home floor was a year ago at TCU. The Lobos have lost six straight in other team’s arenas. The defending conference champs and preseason favorites to win the MWC again this year, San Diego State is 12-5 overall and 1-2 in conference after taking down Colorado State 81-76 last Saturday at Cox Arena. The Aztecs’ MWC losses were to Wyoming (66-65) and at BYU (80-58). SDSU is 8-2 at home this season. Wednesday’s game could be a high-scoring affair. The Lobos continue to lead the MWC in scoring offense at 78.1 points a game, however, they are next to last in the league in scoring defense at 71.9 ppg and four MWC foes have shot 51% against them. UNM has allowed an average of 81.7 points over the past 14 games. San Diego State averages 75.9 points. but yields 70.7 points. New Mexico is among the nation’s leaders in 3-point baskets at 9.6 a game.
St. Louis-Temple
Press Notes
Saint Louis (12-5, 2-2 A-10) begins a stretch of four road games in its next five outings. The Billikens lead the series 1-0 after a 56-51 victory on Feb. 18, 2006 at Scottrade Center. Temple is 6-9 overall and 0-3 in A-10 play, and the Owls have dropped six of their last seven outings. As a team, Temple is scoring 69.7 ppg on 44.1 percent shooting, including 34.7 from 3-point range, and 69.4 percent from the free-throw line. Defensively, the Owls have yielded 70.9 ppg on 41.3 percent shooting and 32.3 percent from 3-point range. Opponents are out-rebounding the Owls by 7.1 boards per game.
Houston-Rice
Press Notes
UH holding a 49 to 12 lead in the series, but the Owls have won four of the last five games vs. Houston. Last season, the two teams each won on its home court. Rice prevailed at Autry Court 71-62, while UH squeaked by Rice 74-71 at Hofheinz Pavilion. The Owls are 2-0 in league play for the fourth-straight season.
Tennessee-Auburn
Press Notes
The Vols have dropped their last two games by a combined three points. Vanderbilt scored on a tip-in as time expired to take an 82-81 win in Nashville Jan. 10 and then Ohio State needed a 3-pointer with 11.2 seconds left for a 68-66 in Columbus, Ohio, Jan. 13. Before hitting the losing streak, Tennessee had won nine consecutive games. The streak, which began in November, was UT’s longest since the 2000-01 season. Tennessee is playing its third consecutive road game and is in the middle of a stretch where the Vols play five of six games on the road. Tennessee is leading the SEC and ranks sixth in the nation with 84.5 points per game.
Virginia Tech-Florida State
Press Notes
Stunning victories over the ACC’s two premiere teams has Virginia Tech looking down at both of them in the conference standings. After beating a top-ranked team for the first time in 24 years, the No. 23 Hokies look to avoid a letdown and remain undefeated in conference play when they face struggling Florida State on Wednesday. Virginia Tech (13-4, 3-0) has beaten then-No. 5 Duke and North Carolina, last week’s No. 1 team, in a span of eight days to climb into the Top 25 for the first time since finishing 22nd in 1995-96. Florida State (12-5, 0-3) has a victory this season over the team that took over the No. 1 spot this week, having upset then-No. 4 Florida 70-66 on Dec. 3. However, the Seminoles have failed to carry that success into league play and are the only ACC team without a conference victory. The win over the Gators is Florida State’s only one in five tries against ranked opponents this season.
Dayton-Charlotte
Press Notes
The Charlotte 49ers (7-8; 1-2) picked up their first A-10 win at Richmond, Saturday and now look to avenge their league-opening loss in Wednesday’s showdown with Dayton. Charlotte has won four of its last six with both losses coming by five points or less. Charlotte’s improving defense has held opponents to less than 70 points in five of the last seven games, with Richmond (51) being held to the fewest points allowed by the 49ers this year. Only one opponent was held to less than 70 in the first eight games.
SMU-Central Florida
Press Notes
The Golden Knights are 12-4 overall on the year and 1-1 in league play. SMU is 11-5 and 0-2 in C-USA. UCF and SMU will be meeting for the second time overall and for the first time in Orlando. The Mustangs claimed a 77-55 win over UCF in Dallas on Feb. 18, 2006. The Mustangs, who have lost two-straight league contests, are one of the top rebounding teams in Conference USA. The Golden Knights have played four-straight games on the road and will be playing at home for the first time since Dec. 30. UCF opened January with contests at Colorado, South Dakota State, UAB and Marshall. The team spent 13 of the first 14 days in January on the road or traveling. UCF has won nine-straight contests at home and is 8-0 at the UCF Arena this season. In their eight games in Orlando, the Golden Knights are averaging 83 points and have a +24 scoring margin.
No comments:
Post a Comment