The Road to 358

On Saturday January 29th, 2022, I saw my 95th and 96th Division One College Basketball teams. On this occasion, I took a trip to Ames, Iowa to see the Iowa State Cyclones take on the Missouri Tigers. Iowa State is the 4th team that I have seen out of the Big 12. Missouri is the 2nd team I have seen out of the SEC. The Cyclones comes into this matchup with a 15-5 record and most recently played Oklahoma State on Wednesday January 26th. They won the matchup against Oklahoma State by a score of 84-81 in overtime. Izaiah Brockington has been the leading scorer for Iowa State, averaging 16.9 PPG.  Missouri comes into this matchup with a 8-11 record on the year. They most recently played at Auburn on Tuesday, a matchup that they lost by a score of 55-54. Missouri had a chance to win this game late but fell short down the stretch.  Kobe Brown has been the leading scorer for Missouri, averaging 13.5 PPG.  Honestly, this first half was one of those halves that make you go, hmmmm. ...

On Sunday January 22nd, 2022, I saw my 94th Division One College Basketball team. On this occasion, I saw the Xavier Musketeers take on the Marquette Golden Eagles. Xavier is the 10th team that I have seen out of the Big East. That leaves only one team left to see in the Big East, St John's. I already have my ticket for the March 5th matchup against Marquette. The Musketeers comes into this matchup with a 13-3 and most recently played DePaul on Wednesday January 19th. They won the matchup against DePaul by a score of 68-67. Nate Johnson, Jack Nunge, Colby Jones & Paul Scruggs all average over 11 points for Xavier.  Marquette comes into this matchup with a 12-6 record on the year. They most recently played at Villanova on Wednesday, a matchup that they won by a score of 57-54. This was a huge road win for Marquette and like secures them a spot in the NCAA Tournament unless a major collapse occurs. Justin Lewis remains the leading scorer for Marquette, averaging 15.6 PPG.  A...

Immediately following the Seton Hall-Marquette matchup, I made the quick walk over the Panther Arena to see my 93rd Division One College Basketball team. On this occasion, I saw the IUPUI Jaguars take on the Milwaukee Panthers. IUPUI is the 9th team that I have seen out of the Horizon League. The Jaguars comes into this matchup with a 1-13 and most recently played Green Bay on Thursday January 13th. IUPUI would lose this matchup to Green Bay by a score of 69-54. B.J. Maxwell has been the leading scorer for IUPUI this season, averaging 12.2 PPG. Milwaukee comes into this matchup with a 5-12 record on the year. They most recently played UIC on Thursday January 13th. The Panthers would lose this contest against UIC by a score of 81-77. The leading scorer for the Panthers has been DeAndre Gholston, he is averaging 15.8 PPG. Before I even talk about this game, I had no idea how bad IUPUI was. They were 355 of out 358 in KenPom. Holy crap, after watching them in person they are awful. Milwau...

On Saturday January 15th, 2022, I saw my 92nd Division One College Basketball team. On this occasion, I saw the Seton Hall Pirates take on the Marquette Golden Eagles. Seton Hall is the 9th team that I have seen out of the Big East. The Pirates comes into this matchup with a 11-4 and most recently played DePaul on Thursday January 13th. They lost the matchup to DePaul by a score of 96-92. This game was a makeup game from December 23rd. Jared Rhoden has been the leading scorer for Seton Hall this season, averaging 16.9 PPG. Marquette comes into this matchup with a 11-6 record on the year. They most recently played DePaul on Tuesday January 11th, a matchup that they won by a score of 87-76. The leading scorer for the Golden Eagles has been Justin Lewis, he is averaging 15.1 PPG.  The first half of this game was very unMarquette like. I have mentioned time and time again Marquette struggles in two areas. Rebounding and three point shooting. The first half saw them shoot lights out fro...

On Saturday January 8th, 2022, I saw my 91st Division One College Basketball team. On this occasion, I took a trip to Chicago to watch the Loyola Chicago Ramblers take on the Bradley Braves. Loyola Chicago is the 2nd team that I have seen out of the Missouri Valley. The other team being Bradley many moons ago.  The Braves come in off a 71-69 loss at home to Missouri State on Wednesday January 5th.  This game came down to the final possession as Missouri State would win on a buzzer beater.  Terry Roberts has been the leading scorer for Bradley, averaging 15.9 PPG. Loyola Chicago comes in off a 79-74 win over San Francisco. This game was played at Salt Lake Community College. Prior to this game, Loyola faced a long COVID pause prior to this. Having last played a game December 10th against Vanderbilt. Loyola Chicago has been led by Ryan Schwieger in scoring, averaging 12.5 PPG. Lucas Williamson has also been having a very strong 5th Year season for Loyola. He is averaging 12...