Game #15.  BYU has graciously allowed RTC Live into the hostile environs of the Marriott Center tonight.  The school has some restrictions as to how we relate and transmit information — rules which we plan to abide by — so there will be no live-blog this evening, but instead we will have our correspondent in the building periodically updating us from the game with his analysis and thoughts below.

Pregame: Utah State versus BYU has become the premier rivalry in the state of Utah and one of the best rivalries in the country. BYU has Jimmer Fredette, and he is really good at basketball. Fredette is a preseason first-team AP All-American, and he averaged over 22 points a game last season. His backcourt running mate Jackson Emery isn’t so bad either. Emery is deadly from long range and plays great defense as well, racking up a school-record 91 steals last season. Utah State will counter with Tai Wesley and a strong inside game. Wesley has a score to settle with the Cougars. He was Mr. Basketball for the state of Utah while starring at Provo High School, which is literally across the street from BYU’s Marriott Center, and his brother Mekeli also played for the Cougars. Despite all of that, Tai Wesley was overlooked by the Cougars, and because of a lapse in the series this will mark Wesley’s only chance to win a game in Provo during his career.  Last year RTC Live was in Logan for this matchup when the Aggies walked away with 72-62 victory in Logan. BYU doesn’t allow live-blogging during events on their campus so there will be no traditional RTC Live for this game, but we will post a short update during media timeouts in accordance with school policy.  If there’s something in particular you’d like to know about, please leave a comment below and we’ll pass it along. Join us for some commentary and insightful analysis this evening (as much as we can give)!

15:59.  BYU 5, USU4. Big time college basketball atmosphere here in Provo. Tai Wesley has USU’s four points but he’s also picked up two fouls. Utah State has the advantage in the paint, but without Wesley we will have to see if they can exploit it. Brockeith Pane has drawn the unenviable assignment of guarding BYU’s Jimmer Fredette. BYU looks to have the advantage on the perimeter, Fredette has four points already.

Read the rest of this entry »

Game #14.  To the Carrier Dome for another first-time visit, where Syracuse will welcome an interesting team from the Motor City.

Having recently ascended into the top-5 echelon for total career wins and fielding a team ranked in the top ten, it’s fair to say that most coaches would be somewhat pleased. Not Jim Boeheim. The head coach of the Syracuse Orange earned career victory No. 831 with a win over Canisius this past Sunday, climbing a rung above former Mount St. Mary’s coach Jim Phelan and into rarified air as the fifth most-winningest coach in the history of Division I basketball. That didn’t stop Boeheim from calling out his squad after the victory, citing the 2010-11 incarnation of the Orange as the “most overrated team that I’ve ever had.” Boeheim’s vocal displeasure might be hard to fathom given that the Orange have averaged a 30-point differential in their four wins thus far this season, but what has most likely drawn the coach’s ire is the team’s penchant for letting opponents hang around. In both the win over Canisius and a victory over Northern Iowa last Friday night, the Orange led by just three at halftime. Tonight’s game against Detroit, who recently dropped a competitive contest to New Mexico, offers Syracuse the opportunity to display the level of dominance necessary to satisfy its demanding coach.

Read the rest of this entry »

Game #13.  Our first rivalry game of the young season takes us to the Heartland where Tulsa and Oral Roberts hook up; their campuses are a mere seven miles apart.

Here we go. Another edition to the crosstown rivalry that has become a must-see event here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This is the 47^th meeting between the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane—this time it is in front of a nationally-televised audience in game seven of the ESPN’s 24 Hours  of Hoops marathon. Tulsa is coming off a disappointing 2009-10 campaign, where after being picked as the preseason favorites to win C-USA, fell before reaching the tournament finals. Now they are looking for some stability after losing to Appalachian State, 89-86, in their opener.  Oral Roberts is in the same boat, a threat to win the Summit League, but needing to look much better than they did in a weekend 78-61 loss to Missouri State. This game may not appear to mean much outside the area since both teams need to win their conference in order to get a bid to the NCAA tournament—but these schools strongly dislike each other and they want to win this rivalry game desperately, especially now that both started the season with a loss. This game will set the mood for the rest of the season, and the winner will leave with a ton of confidence and bragging rights as the best basketball team in the city, at least for one more year.

Read the rest of this entry »

Game #11.  RTC Live makes its inaugural trip (a recurring theme this season) to Murray State’s CFSB Center tonight.

After last season’s 54-52 heartbreaking loss to eventual national runner-up Butler, host Murray State will have a bad taste in their mouth as they return to the court tonight, looking to kick off the 2010-11 season right. Standing in their way will be last season’s Atlantic Sun Champion, East Tennesse State, who travels to the CFSB Center with a chip of their own. ETSU, who fell to John Calipari and the University of Kentucky 88-65 on Nov. 12, will look to overcome the early setback behind the play of junior forward Isiah Brown whose 25 points and 14 points led the Bucs. Murray State will enter the contest with an Isaiah of their own, boasting sophomore guard Isaiah Canaan, whose 18 points led the Racers over Freed-Hardeman in their only exhibition game. All in all, it should be a good one as two 2010 NCAA teams square off. The game starts at 7:30 C.S.T. so we’ll get things kicked off from Murray 15 minures early. We hope you’ll join us.

Read the rest of this entry »

Game #12.  RTC Live is back in one of our favorite venues at our favorite times — McKeon Pavilion on the campus of St. Mary’s College at 2 am ET.

We hope you have your pot of coffee ready and a case of Red Bulls in the fridge tonight, because even though this game will take place at the relatively late time of 11 pm local time, the rowdy St. Mary’s students and fans will have you thinking they just came in from a weekend rager.  RTC Live returns to one of the more fun venues on the west coast, the tiny, dark, loud gymnasium of McKeon Pavilion on the campus of St. Mary’s College.  You might think that losses of 6’11 Omar Samhan and 6’11 Ben Allen from last year’s Sweet Sixteen team means that the Gaels are due for a dropoff; you’d think wrong.  Randy Bennett continues to find diamonds in the rough such as freshman guard Stephen Holt, a player who stepped right into the bright lights of college basketball with a nine-steal performance against the College of Idaho over the weekend.  The Gaels will have their hands full tonight, though, with a St. John’s team that returns all five starters from an NIT squad a year ago.  The biggest storyline involving the Red Storm, however, does not surround its players as much as the formal debut of former UCLA head coach and ESPN commentator Steve Lavin as the Man Anointed Next Louie (Carnesecca).  Lavin frequently called WCC games for ESPN over the past half-decade, so his return to his native Bay Area tonight will undoubtedly be fraught with excitement and familiarity.  Let’s tip off the 24 Hours of Hoops Marathon west-coast style tonight with a great one.  Hope to see you there…

Read the rest of this entry »

Game #10.  RTC Live is pleased to make our first trip into the hallowed halls of Cameron Indoor Stadium on the campus of Duke University this afternoon.

The Duke home opener is always a special day in Durham, but today’s game commands even more attention than usual. An extra banner hangs from the ceiling of Cameron Indoor Stadium, and this team enters with pressure its predecessor didn’t have: expectations of another national title. Questions do exist for Mike Krzyzewski’s team, though. Can Kyle Singler improve, or was last year his ceiling? How do Duke’s young guards fill in for Jon Scheyer? Will Seth Curry live up to the hype? How much playing time will Coach K give freshman Kyrie Irving? And was Brian Zoubek one of the most underrated players in college basketball in 2009-10? The preseason #1 Duke Blue Devils will have their first opportunity to answer those questions against the unranked Princeton Tigers. Princeton enters today’s game after an overtime win against Rutgers to open the season on Friday. The Tigers’ first win against a major conference opponent since 2004 was largely the work of senior Dan Mavraides, who had 26 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists in 41 minutes of play. Princeton’s 6’11 center, Brendan Connolly, added 7 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists, and needs to replicate that performance if the Tigers hope to keep Duke’s big men in check. If you can’t be in Cameron for the game, join up here and let RTC Live be there for you.

Read the rest of this entry »

Game #9. We’re back in north Jersey to visit our friends at Seton Hall who need to put together a home win after a tough loss at Temple on Friday night.

Coming off of the best season in school history, Cornell rolled into Albany Friday night and knocked off the University of Albany 65-61 to open their 2011 campaign. The Big Red graduated three All-Ivy players, the squad’s fourth starter and lost Head Coach Steve Donahue (gone to Boston College coach the Eagles). Going into their opener against the Great Danes, career assistant-come-head-coach Bill Courtney also learned the lone returning starter from the 2010 team, junior guard Chris Wroblewski, would be DNP with a sprained ankle. Bad perhaps, but not hopeless, seniors Max Groebe and Aaron Osgood stepped up to lead Cornell to the win. Next stop on the the Big Red road tour is the Rock in Newark, New Jersey, home of the Pirates of Seton Hall University. The Hall, like Cornell, sports a new head coach, Kevin Willard, who also debuted on the road Friday night. Seton Hall traveled to Philadelphia for a game with #22 ranked Temple. But the City of Brotherly Love showed SHU no love at all as the Owls sent the Pirates packing 62-56. Led by Herb Pope, Jeff Robinson, Jeremy Hazell and junior guard Jordan Theodore, the Hall will try to get on the winning track as Cornell tries to run their streak to two. Join RTC Live at the Rock Sunday at noon, as Seton Hall hosts Cornell.

Read the rest of this entry »

Game #8. It is opening night up in the Wasatch Mountains for a Beehive State rivalry between Weber State and Utah State.

You might remember Weber State from last season’s Big Sky championship game where they were Anthony Johnson’d and had to settle for an NIT berth. The Wildcats bring back Big Sky MVP Damian Lillard, a 6’2 point guard with a sweet jumper and plenty of ability to drive to the hoop. He will be matched by Utah State’s new point guard Brockeith Pane, who has been billed as one of the best defenders on the team and will get a chance to prove that right out of the gate.  Up front the Wildcats will have to find someone to defend Utah State’s do-it-all forward Tai Wesley, the only active player in the NCAA to have at least 1,200 career points, 600 career rebounds, 250 career assists and 100 career blocks.  Combine all of that with an intriguing coaching matchup (Weber’s head coach Randy Rahe was an assistant at Utah State under Stew Morrill from 1999-2004), the always fanatical Utah State home court advantage (Utah State has won 66 of their last 68 in the Spectrum) and a “guess what Wild Bill is going to be” contest and you have all the makings for a great way to start the season.

Read the rest of this entry »

Game #7.  RTC Live makes its first-ever visit to the LBC, home of Snoop Dogg and a ghost named Caspar (Ware).

The Mountain West favorite Aztecs open on the road against one of the top contenders for the Big West title, the 49ers of Long Beach State. Kawhi Leonard, the MWC 2009-10 Freshman of the Year leads an SDSU team that returns all five starters from last season’s MWC tournament champions, but they’ll face an LBSU squad that is nearly as experienced, returning four starters, and certainly not afraid of the big boys.  The 49ers will travel to Washington, North Carolina and Arizona State later in the season. For the Niners to have a chance to pull off the home upset in Long Beach, they’ll need to be able to keep up with the Aztecs on the glass, a tough task for a team that will be undersized at nearly every position. If they can keep the rebounding battle close and get out and run, Steve Fisher and his Aztecs could be in for a battle as their fresh new season kicks off. We hope you’ll join us a bit before the 4PM PST tip for what should be an interesting couple hours of hoops.

Read the rest of this entry »

Game #6.  RTC Live visits the Three Rivers City for its first-ever trip to Pitt’s Petersen Events Center, one of the finest home court advantages in all of college basketball.

Welcome college basketball fans on an unseasonably warm and sunny November day here at the Petersen Events Center on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. This is a David versus Goliath battle as far as I am concerned. Pitt is coming off an overachieving season where they finished 25-9 overall with an almost unbeatable 17-1 record at home, and a second round loss to Xavier in the NCAA Tournament. Not only do the Panthers return four of five starters, but they come into the preseason as the Big East favorite as well as with the AP #5, RTC #5 and EPSN/USAT #4 national ranking. Pitt enters the game with a 2-0 record on the season. North Florida on the other hand, is coming off 13-18 season, including an 8-12 conference record and a three-game losing streak to end their season. Two things UNF has going for it is a youthful team and an ability last year to play their opponents close. If they can play Pitt close, it could be an exciting game for everyone. The Petersen Events Center is certainly a great place to watch a game, and we encourage you to chime in with us.

Read the rest of this entry »