1/24 Sun Belt

[Censored by Laurie]

We may be off...but a couple of interesting games to keep an eye on.

Western Kentucky @ Denver - Denver is a difficult road trip for any Belt team. The Pioneers are 1-1 in conference at home with an OT loss to ASU and a win over ULM. A Denver win would go a long way towards reeling WKU back toward the pack in the race for first round tourney byes.

Troy @ UA-Little Rock - Troy has been playing solid ball of late..whether its improved talent or just hot shooting is debatable, but a win tonight and they're right in the hunt for a first round bye. UALR has stretched to a 2 game lead over UNT...with a head-to-head already in their pocket. It'd be great to gain ground on them on our bye week

South Alabama @ UL-Lafayette - Two teams not living up to expectations and in desperate need of a win to keep fading division title aspirations alive.

Middle Tennessee @ New Orleans - MTSU has done a good job of winning the conference games they should...their two losses are to the division leaders on the road...continuing to take care of business will be key to keeping WKU in their sights

Florida Atlantic @ Arkansas State - Be a great time for FAU to pick up their first conference win...

Florida International @ UL-Monroe - Who's healthy for FIU? Josue Soto made his debut against UNT Thursday and went for 15...but Freddy Aspirilla sat injured. If FIU gets their big guns back look for a steady push up the standings for the Panthers, starting with a win over an improved, though still very pedestrian ULM team

[chrisfisher]

FAU Vs. Ark State is on ESPN360 (free) right now.

[CMJ]

ASU 62

FAU 60

[CMJ]

LA Monroe 81

FIU 64

[CMJ]

Troy 63

UALR 58

[chrisfisher]

Troy 63

UALR 58

Nice! What a gift! Now we have to beat a very hot Troy team next Thursday!

[CMJ]

Nice! What a gift! Now we have to beat a very hot Troy team next Thursday!

They now have a four game conference win streak like us. I believe we're the two hottest teams in the Belt right now.

[CMJ]

UNO 69

MTSU 65

Way to go Privateers!

[CMJ]

ULL 67

USA 65

Cajuns hit a 32 footer at the buzzer to win.

[CMJ]

Denver 78

WKU 74

Alot of upsets tonight.

[CMJ]

Current Standings:

EAST

WKU 7-2 13-7

MTSU 6-3 12-8

Troy 6-3 11-10

South Alabama 4-5 11-9

FIU 3-6 8-14

Florida Atlantic 0-9 4-17

WEST

UALR 7-2 14-6

North Texas 5-3 12-7

ASU 5-4 13-7

Louisiana-Lafayette 4-4 7-12

New Orleans 4-5 9-11

Denver 3-5 8-11

Louisiana-Monroe 3-6 7-13

[chrisfisher]

Very nice... we are only 1 game behind the West and East leaders.... despite that crappy run we went on, somehow we are right in the middle of things with a legitimate chance to win our conference.... GO MEAN GREEN!

[CMJ]

Technically we're 1.5 games back.

It is pretty impressive that we're right back into the race. This next 4 game stretch is as crucial as the one we were just on.

Troy

@WKU

@USA

ULL

Troy is playing great right now. WKU in Diddle....need I say more? USA is on a bit of a tailspin, but they're still USA. I'm sure they'll recover for us. ULL is a solid, improving team. We were kinda lucky to catch them when we did.

If we can go through that stretch at 3-1 it'll have been a helluva run. Hell, looking at that slate I might be okay with 2-2.

[NT91]

We should have 5K at the pitt for Troy!

[filmerj]

Technically we're 1.5 games back.

It is pretty impressive that we're right back into the race. This next 4 game stretch is as crucial as the one we were just on.

Troy

@WKU

@USA

ULL

Troy is playing great right now. WKU in Diddle....need I say more? USA is on a bit of a tailspin, but they're still USA. I'm sure they'll recover for us. ULL is a solid, improving team. We were kinda lucky to catch them when we did.

If we can go through that stretch at 3-1 it'll have been a helluva run. Hell, looking at that slate I might be okay with 2-2.

Sucks, we play wku once and at their place. That wil be a tough one. Those guys are still damn good. Anyone notice almost all their games are televised on FCSA. Must be nice.

Edited January 25, 2009 by filmerj

[Censored by Laurie]

Troy really worries me. They play four athletic guards/wings around a seven footer who cleans up misses and defends the paint well (Tom Jervis - 9pts, 11rbds, 4offrbds, 5blks vs. UALR)...and while these guards do take a lot of threes (8-22 vs. UALR)...they also attack the bucket and get to the line (22 FTA).

Yima Chia-Kur is back, starting...and dominating for ASU with 26 points 12 boards, 6 offensive. He got his first sweat of the year against us after sitting due to eligibility issues. He's an Eric Tramiel type player (6-6 225 ish) who I don't look forward to seeing later this season.

Russell Hicks saw his first action since November and FIU still gets blown out...there are some players starting to develop nice games for ULM and their all underclassmen.

MTSU's loss surprised me...and unless they start playing to expectations I think this might be the only school to make an off-season coaching change.

I complain about JJ's player rotation...but I'd be going crazy if I were a ULL fan. 13 players saw minutes last night...and a game after going for 17 against WKU, former UNT recruit Ryan McCoy goes from starting point guard to only playing 12 minutes off the bench. Still a win is a win...and USA is reeling.

And the starting 2 guard on my favorite current SBC player team is without question Nate Rohnert...22 points on 8-11 shooting, 6 rebounds, 9 assists and 4 steals.