CUSA MBB Week #2

All game times are CST
All Power 6 opponents in BOLD and blue.
All Non-D1 opponents in italic and pink because they are cupcakes.

Monday – November 13th

Florida International @ #12 Miami (ACC) – 6:00 PM (ESPN+)... 80-86 Loss
Louisiana Tech vs. Lyon College (non-D1) – 6:00 PM (ESPN+)... 100-43 Win
Middle Tennessee vs. Western Carolina (Southern) – 6:30 PM (ESPN+)... 64-66 Loss
UTEP vs. UC Santa Barbara (Big West) – 8:00 PM (CBS Sports)... 89-76 Win

Tuesday – November 14th

Jacksonville State @ West Virginia (Big 12) – 6:00 PM (ESPN+)... 57-70 Loss
Western Kentucky @ Murray State (Missouri Valley) – 7:00 PM (ESPN+)... 86-81 Win
New Mexico State vs. Western New Mexico (non-D1) – 8:00 PM (ESPN+)... 78-43 Win

Wednesday – November 15th

Florida International @ Houston Christian (Southland) – 7:00 PM (ESPN+)... 83-74 Win

Thursday – November 16th

Liberty vs. Furman (Southern) – Myrtle Beach Invitational @ Conway, SC – 6:00 PM (ESPN+)... 88-74 Win
Louisiana Tech @ Louisiana Monroe (Sun Belt) – 6:30 PM (ESPN+)... 73-63 Win

Friday – November 17th

Liberty vs. Wichita State (AAC) – Myrtle Beach Invitational @ Conway, SC – 8:00 PM (ESPNU)... 83-66 Win
UTEP vs. Austin Peay (ASun) – SoCal Challenge @ El Paso, TX – 8:00 PM (ESPN+)... 71-63 Win
Sam Houston vs. Ole Miss (SEC) – 8:00 PM (ESPN+)... 67-70 Loss

Saturday – November 18th

Middle Tennessee vs. Milligan (non-D1) – 5:00 PM (ESPN+)... 88-62 Win
Western Kentucky vs. Kentucky State (non-D1) – 7:00 PM (ESPN+)... 95-75 Win
Jacksonville State @ North Alabama (ASun) – 7:15 PM (ESPN+)... 59-61 Loss
New Mexico State vs. North Colorado (Big Sky) – Cancun Challenge @ Las Cruces, NM – 8:00 PM (ESPN+)... 76-71 Win

Sunday – November 19th

Liberty vs. Vermont (America East) – Myrtle Beach Invitational @ Conway, SC – 4:30 PM (ESPN2)... 71-61 Win
Florida International vs. Akron (MAC) – Cayman Islands Classic @ Georgetown, Cayman Island – 6:30 PM (FloHoops)... 71-77 Loss

Week #1 Awards

Player of the Week: Liberty's Kyle Rode
Freshman of the Week: UTEP's Elijah Jones

Conference Record Week #1

AAC.................. 1-1
Big 12............... 0-2
Big West............ 0-1
Horizon League... 1-0
MWC................. 0-1
SEC................... 0-1
WAC.................. 1-3
WCC.................. 1-0
Non-D1.............. 6-0

UTEP hosting it's 1st encounter with a div 1 school in UCSB. They won the Big West last season and played an ncaa tourney game, something UTEP hasn't done since 2010. That's a helluva drought. UCSB is favored to win the BW again but did lose their opener vs Portland State and did not have star, Ajay Mitchell for that game but will tonight. He was player of the year in the BW last season. Should be a good game and the 1st good crowd of the season.

Four games tonight. Need to go 3-1!!

Am I watching MNF?? Shoot no!

Will be following CUSA and other relevant BB scores and many on espn+.

FIU came very close to a nice upset for us, but I think they certainly earned some respect for Panther basketball tonight. If not for a late 20-8 No. 12 Miami run, FIU takes down their crosstown rivals. Just went cold at the wrong time.

Locked in on the nailbiter that is MT/WCU, which the Catamounts just pulled out in the final seconds.

If Utep could shoot free throws like the Gauchos we'd have a 15 point lead. Kalu all by his lonesome missed all five of his free throws. Another thing, we're missing more layups than made. I have been impressed with Powell, he's a good player. He has kept us in the game otherwise it wouldn't be tied 44 at halftime.

It'll be good to win this one because the Gauchos are favored to win the Big West. We shall see what ensues in the second half. I'll keep you posted on this important game for the Miners because it'll tell us if we can play with other D1's.

MT loses at home to Western Carolina. We are not a good team this year. With Weston getting injured last game and all our transfers most likely busts we will finish middle of thr pack. Don't expect much more from us in our OOC games.

Rough night --- UTEP still has time.

Game over, Utep 89-76. I am impressed with this team. I think we will go places this year. Outstanding players were Powell and Hardy. The team is unselfish too and that creates opportunities. One big flaw, free throws and one that we didn't see was we still don't know how good of 3 point shooters we are. If we play a team that blocks the inside I don't know if we can transition to a three point shooting team. I'm glad we didn't have to find out but there's still a whole lot of basketball that still has to be played and we shall see. There will be opportunities to find that important part of our game.

I think we will be in contention for the title solely because of our fast play and ball stealing. Those guys are great at stealing the ball, I was impressed. Still, we have to improve...a lot, on our free throw shooting.

I hope some of you saw the game and if you did what do you think?

GO MINERS!

You represented Cusa well tonight.

UTEP 89-76 win helps CUSA to a 2-2 night.

MT only loses by 2 and FIU gives # 12 Miami a close game.

La Tech wins an NAIA game by 57.



THREE games Tues. night.

Gotta say I watched the second half of that UTEP game and they looked really good. Athletic, shared the ball and intense defense. If they keep playing like that they’ll definitely be up there in conference play.

UTEP improved 15 spots in Ken Pom ratings to 137. Playing 230 Austin Peay won't help but next week offers some challenges at nuetral site vs Cal, either Tulane or Bradley and then @ LMU.

If you "legacy five" posters remember-- Last Season-the way CUSA was able to get a higher NET rating the first third of the season was just by winning (duh). BUT--actually a little more detail...

Some of the Nov., Dec. schedules (last year) had several weak (D1) teams- "C", some comparable teams- "B", and a few schools perceived better than us-"A".

"C">>CUSA won almost Every game--nearly every CUSA team Won a majority;several went undefeated-and even weak league teams went .500 or better.

"B">> Most had a winning record or near .500 and even the lower 20% stole a handful of victories.

"A">> Top teams got a very few wins, mid teams kept it close. We really did not even play a big number of these.

Many look at--or remember FAU---but the OVERALL balance and victories by mid and lower teams are what gave the "boost" early.

ANY D1 victories. **Even over "C" schools are helpful--especially IF you win 90% of those games.**

So Winning--even versus "bad" D1 teams is crucial. Just Winning is MORE important than the "who".

IMO home losses to "C" schools are a "net" killer.

(Don't forget--NON D1 games are not counted in these ratings)

So... if you have 3 or 4 of those it means the few OC games left on your schedule are crucial and have a bigger impact on your team's net rating.

**I think this is one Key thing we learned about the "net" last year.

La Tech's 6'11 Daniel Batcho has received his waiver from the NCAA and is cleared to play. Big news for the Bulldogs.

(11-14-2023 04:23 PM)Shadow_Son Wrote:  La Tech's 6'11 Daniel Batcho has received his waiver from the NCAA and is cleared to play. Big news for the Bulldogs.

Congrats! That's awesome. NMSU is still waiting for the waivers for our two players. Hopefully we hear something positive soon.

GO AGGIES!!!!

Tops take down Murray at their place.

Excellent win for the Hilltoppers!

A road win 86-81 against a MVC team is a good one.

Broke Murray's 26 game non-conference win streak.

(11-14-2023 10:26 PM)freshtop Wrote:  Tops take down Murray at their place.

Nice to finally get a win at Murray. Snapped their 26 game OOC home winning streak

JAX State loses at WVU 70-57.

NMSU beats D2 team by 35.

Home Attendance thus far...

UTEP vs. UC Santa Barbara......................... 7,121
New Mexico State vs. Western New Mexico.... 5,908
New Mexico State vs. Northern Colorado....... 5,656
UTEP vs. Austin Peay.................................. 4,871
New Mexico State vs. Sul Ross State............ 4,507
Western Kentucky vs. Kentucky Wesleyan..... 3,890
UTEP vs. McMurry...................................... 3,782
Liberty vs. Mid-Atlantic Christian.................. 3,664
UTEP vs. USAO.......................................... 3,514
Middle Tennessee vs. Northern Kentucky....... 3,505
Middle Tennessee vs. Stephen F. Austin......... 3,411
Western Kentucky vs. Kentucky State........... 3,411
Middle Tennessee vs. Milligan...................... 3,000
Middle Tennessee vs. Western Carolina......... 2,806
Jacksonville State vs. Brescia...................... 2,107
Louisiana Tech vs. Lyon............................... 1,907
Florida International vs. Tarleton State.......... 1,242
Sam Houston vs. Utah Valley....................... 1,187
Jacksonville State vs. Utah Tech................... 1,123

Has been very rare to get a win at Murray Retirement Home, in face I think 2nd one last 40 years. Zero idea how good Murray is, regardless was a great and much needed win for us, Lutz Go!