Drake's 1st yr coach Ben McCollum brought 6'4" Jr star Guard Bennett Stirtz w/ him from D2. Stirtz avg's 18.7 Pts, 6.1 Ast, 4.1 Reb, 2.3 Stl, 3.2 Ast/TO. Drake holds teams to 59.2 Pts, force 14.0 TOs, avg 9.0 Stl & also shoot well avg'ing 49.4% FG, 36.9% 3PT. Northern Iowa also shoots well 2/3

UCI has already shown their mettle in close wins over Long Beach, Cal Poly, and Santa Barbara since the new year. The road won't get easier: 4 of Irvine's final 6 games are on the road and they'll likely face Round 3 vs UC San Diego in the Big West tourney. Will their third time be the charm? #zot

It is too bad, but UNT has done very well in the NIT before & could win it again. Also possible that it's their turn to get hot & win the AAC. Memphis isn't bullet-proof, and the American tourney has been wild at times Love what Ross Hodge has done in continuing to grow UNT's stature nationally

UNT has developed a new weapon in Moulaye Sissoko: 10.8 points & 7.9 boards over the past 15 games, on 72.0% FG. He gives inconsistent offense an interior anchor to go with 3FG threat Atin Wright, the nation's best (95.9%) FT shooter. Brenen Lorient has become a huge part of UNT's attack as 6th man

Lotta similarities between those two. Couple bigs guys who can really play My oh my what a start by Auburn