Cougars Receive Two More Verbal Commitments

With the departures of Andrew Lawrence, Matt Sundberg, Trent Wiedeman and Trevonte Dixon, Doug Wojcik and his staff found themselves with open scholarships and a young roster with plenty of room to grow. After successful recruiting visits this past weekend the CofC mens basketball team received verbal commitments from two talented forwards: Glenn Pierre from the class of 2013 and Donovan Gilmore from the class of 2014. 

Glen Pierre

Joining an incoming freshman class that already includes PG Joe Chealey, G Johnathan Burroughs-Cook and F Terrance O'Donohue is Glenn Pierre, a 6'11 senior center out of Tampa. Pierre had previously signed a letter of intent to play at Georgia Southern and Coach Charlton Young. After CY's ousting a few weeks ago, Pierre asked for release.

Just as tantalizing a prospect as Theo Johnson last year, the word most associated with Pierre is "upside". He's got incredible length and physical gifts but he needs to add more strength and grow into his body a bit. But if he stepped onto the TD Arena floor tomorrow, Glen could contribute immediately with rebounding, shot blocking and offensive putbacks. Given Wojcik's track record of developing two-way big men and the drastic improvements of Adjehi Baru, Theo Johnson and (based off word of mouth) David Wishon, Glen could develop into a special player.

Aside from the College and Georgia Southern, Pierre was also getting attention from Marshall, St Louis and JMU as his game continued to improve over his senior season. As many scouts have said, his best basketball is clearly ahead of him.

How many teams in the CAA (let alone the country) could roll out a lineup that puts a seven-foot and nearly-seven-foot pair of rim protecters on the floor at one time? Can you imagine how difficult that would be to score on? The potential....

Donovan Gilmore

Donovan Gilmore is a junior in high school capable of doing things like this:




Just let that simmer in your head for the next year as we wait for Mr. Gilmore to arrive on campus. Let's also ponder why the idea of a neon-themed student section has never been brought to the attention of our Sports Marketing Department.

To know how good Donovan Gilmore is, just look at the schools recruiting him: VCU, South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi State and NC State all had shown interest. Fortunately, loyalty is a big factor for  Donovan and Coach Wojcik had shown sincere interest very early on in recruiting Gilmore to the College. According to Wesleyan (NC) Head Coach Keith Gatlin, there were a number of big schools who were very disappointed to hear Gilmore had chosen CofC.

According to scouts, Gilmore will bring speed, hustle and insane athleticism to the Cougars when he arrives next fall. He's the first commitment to the 2014 class and he looks to be a very good place to start.

Answering Pre-Season Questions

A few days before the 2012-2013 season began I wrote a preview that appeared both here and as a part of Scanning the SoCon Previews over at MocsMania. In it we talked about expectations for Wojcik and the new players, looked ahead to the schedule and proposed three questions that would only be answered by the time the season was behind us. That day has come so let's take a look back and try to answer what were such burning questions in November.

Three Questions I Demand be Answered

How will players respond to Doug Wojcik’s system?

I get to cheat a little with this question because it encompasses a hundred more. Who will thrive? Who will struggle to grasp the new concepts? What will be the strengths and weaknesses of the ‘12-13 Cougars?

I was so naive. It's almost glaringly obvious what the Cougar's strengths and weaknesses were this year but that was the biggest question that needed answering with so many unknowns heading into the first year under Doug Wojcik. 

College of Charleston was amongst the best teams in the country in two statistical categories: rebounding (37.6 rpg) and three-point defense (.301). In comparison to other Southern Conference teams the Cougars also led the league in blocked shots and had the player with the most recorded double-doubles (Adjehi Baru). These rebounding and defensive numbers are all reflective of a Wojcik-coached team. Coach was brought in to improve the team in these two areas and without even looking at the stats you could see from the product on the court that the players were more dialed in on the defensive side of the game. Maybe more so than any time since the Kresse era. 

But the change did not come without some growing pains. One weakness that seemed to pop up at the most inopportune times was turnovers. Andrew Lawrence had run basically the same system his first three years in Charleston and had never really fed the post on a consistent basis until this year. Anthony Stitt was being asked to take over starting point guard duties after only a half-season of collegiate experience. Both backcourt players struggled early on with turnovers. The big men as well struggled often with the increased pressure put on them by double teams and turned the ball over at an alarming rate. In the second half of SoCon play the team started taking much better care of the ball but they never seemed to go an entire game without it being a problem.

Another weakness that is hard to quantify through statistics was the Cougars' inability to close out games. All to often the CofC offense would go long stretches without scoring. We saw it happen time and again against sub-par competition; Charleston would blow a late lead and have to fend off an epic comeback from their competitor. 

Amongst the weaknesses that corrected themselves over time was the team free throw shooting. Remember how dreadful it was early in the year? As the season went on the Cougs went from a 60% free throw shooting team to a Davidson wannabe with near perfect performances in the postseason. A lot of credit goes to guys like Baru, AT and Theo for massively improving their production at the line.

Who will thrive and who will struggle? I think the most obvious Cougar to blossom under the new coaching regime has got to be Adjehi Baru. He was so much more polished and decisive in his sophomore season. I could write a whole post on just his development (oh I already have) from last season to now and even from the start of the season to the end. Baru realized so much of his tantalizing potential this year as a rebounder, shot-blocker and banger in the paint. If he takes a leap as large as he did last off season again, he could be unstoppable against the CAA. 

Along with Adjehi I think everyone was very pleased with Willis Hall's return to the team. His blue-collar mentality, dirty work and hustle are all instrumental to the team executing Wojcik's mentality on the court and his time as a starter only proved his worth. We just touched on the guards' troubles with running a new set of plays so I guess you could say they struggled early on before tightening things up. To no fault of his own I think Trent also struggled to get back up to game speed following his injuries. But that had nothing to do with Wojcik being coach. Trent will still be a big-time cog in the team his senior year.

How will Willis Hall, Anthony Stitt and Trent Wiedeman perform coming off injury?

Willis Hall was a rock solid contributor for the Andrew Goudelock-led teams of his freshman and sophomore years. Last preseason he tore his ACL in practice and missed the entire year. Now he’s asked to take on a new role, coming off the bench, for a whole new team. Anthony Stitt was having a Freshman of the Year type season before breaking his hand and the team struggled mightily for the 12 games he missed. Stitt is now the starting point guard and won’t catch any teams by surprise.

Now this is all messed up. Willis only came off the bench for the first three games this season and played phenomenally as a starter most of the year. He showed no signs of lingering issues with his repaired knee and he had a near All-SoCon type season as an undersized power forward. Not only that but he was also a vocal and emotional leader all season: something the team lacked at times last year in his absence. Now Willis has to recover from a broken foot he suffered in what was the team's final practice. Go figure.

The reason Willis was an unexpected starter the entire season was because Trent suffered injuries to both his ankles in separate games this year. That's why I'm giving the answer to this question a big fat "Incomplete" for Mr. Wiedeman. Trent slowly recovered from his injuries coming off the bench for most of his games but he never got back to giving the type of minutes we expect from him. When healthy he's one of the best big men in the league. He did not get as much time sharing the court with Adjehi as we thought he would but if he's good to go for a whole season the Cougars will have a dominant frontcourt. 

As for Stitt, after he got the turnover junk out of his game, he built on the flashes of brilliance we saw his freshman year. There was of course that depressing shooting slump we all had to suffer through for three games but that's in the past. More often than not Anthony Stitt is the best shooter on the team. He can hit from three, he has the best mid-range jumper and he can take the ball to the hoop. At no time was this more apparent than in the final game of the season when Stitt led the Cougs with 21 points and a 5-7 mark from behind the arc. Our starting point guard is a major piece going forward and hopefully his last game this year is a sign of things to come. In short, his hand looked healthy. 

How many minutes will Andrew Lawrence log?

Lead the team in minutes last year, try-out for Great Britain national team, train, practice and compete in Olympics, return to Charleston and jump right back into collegiate ball. Sounds tiring doesn’t it? With a healthy Anthony Stitt, Lawrence may have more opportunities to sit and reserve his legs this year. He faded down the stretch last season and the Cougars are going to need one of their best players come Asheville.

It seems like so long ago doesn't it? The 2012 London Olympics? I remember this topic being a major area of discussion at the end of last season and the fall of 2012. Going into his senior campaign, the assumption from CofC fans was that Lawrence's league-leading 35.4 minutes per game would decrease with a healthy Anthony Stitt to run the point. The Captain's minutes did drop to 32 per game this year but when the team offense was struggling, Wojcik had to bring in his ringer (sometimes ahead of schedule) to get some points on the board. Thankfully I don't think Lawrence's legs ever gave out on him this year. Remember last year he was visibly hobbled by leg cramps that he would have to get treated on the bench. Lawrence remained a work horse for the Cougars, fighting through virus's and other ailments to will his team to victory and leading by example. 

 

Cougar's Season Ends on Last-Second Tip-In

Final Score: George Mason 78, College of Charleston 77
Top Performers:
Anthony Stitt 21 points, (5-7 3pt)
Sherrod Wright 22 points, 2 steals
Adjehi Baru 16 points, 7 rebounds

That's all she wrote folks. The 2012-2013 men's basketball season is officially in the books as the College of Charleston Cougars lost a home heartbreaker to future CAA foe George Mason. The Cougars surrendered 44 points in the first half to the Patriots, came back from a double-digit deficit and held the lead until there were 0.6 seconds remaining in the game.

Up 77-76 with a 7 second shot clock and game clock differential, Anthony Stitt shook his man and pulled up for a shot from the elbow. The shot hit the front of the rim, tipped off the fingers of Anthony Thomas who had a chance at an offensive rebound and fell to Sherrod Wright. Wright went the length of the court, charged into Matt Sundberg (outside the restricted area) and missed a layup. Erik Copes tipped it in for the go-ahead game-winner.

It's tough to say exactly where the Cougars lost this one. You can point to the first half defense by CofC that allowed Mason to shoot 70% from the field, you can point to the refs for calling ticky-tack fouls all night and potentially missing a charge and basket interference in the final second, you can blame the coaches. None of that really matters though because the game, and the season, is over.

Had things gone differently in the final seconds this would have been a very different recap (for my full descent into madness, be sure to check out my Twitter). The Cougars made an epic second-half comeback behind Anthony Stitt's 19 second period points and outstanding free throw shooting. The College as a team was 20-22 from the charity stripe tonight. Adjehi Baru dominated the Patriots all night. Matt Sundberg was stellar in his final collegiate game.

But without Willis Hall the Cougars did not win the rebounding battle. All too often there were not enough box-outs on the offensive and defensive ends to secure the boards. First half turnovers (mostly against full court pressure) also dug the Cougars into that early hole. The Patriots scored 17 points off the Cougs' nine turnovers in the first period.

When the Copes tip-in went in, I sat stunned for a good thirty minutes. Then I kicked some things. Then I got a call from my roommate who is a Mason alumni and expressed my emotions through words not fit to print on a semi family-friendly blog. After sitting with my mouth agape some more, I pulled it together.

That was one of the suckiest ways to end a season. But it should not be the way we remember this year.  The team was nowhere near short of expectations and we're just one year into the Wojcik era with plenty of upside. The two best players on the court tonight are just sophomores. Next year the team adds a 7-footer and the son of an NBA Hall-of-Famer. I know it hurts now but our beloved Cougars are in a good spot.

In the coming days I'll have lots of end of the year recap-y type stuff for CofC fans to chew on and hopefully it helps get us all out of the funk we're in right now. Most importantly, Go Cougars.

Cougars to Take On George Mason in CBI Tuesday

    

*I never run out of excuses to show this video

College of Charleston (24-10, 14-4)

George Mason (18-14, 10-8)

TD Arena

Tipoff at 7 pm on AXS TV?

The 2012-2013 basketball season will carry on for the Cougars as they accept a bid from the other, other postseason tournament: the College Basketball Invitational. In a first round match-up set for Tuesday night at TD Arena, CofC will face future CAA rival George Mason. 

It's not glamorous or necessarily fan pleasing, but if you have an opportunity to play in the postseason, most of the time you should take it. In CofC's case, Stitt could use the extra reps at point guard before he takes over full-time next season, Wiedeman can continue to get healthier on both ankles and guys like Adjehi, Anthony Thomas and Nori can all get more games in before their roles increase next season. A pretty good example Coach Wojcik used as a team that used the CBI to their advantage was VCU. The Rams accepted a bid, won the tournament and used the experience as a jumping off point to their Final Four appearance the next year.

Because of the high number of automatic bids in this year's NIT and the overall parity of college basketball this year, the 2013 CBI field is actually pretty solid. Think of it this way, if the Cougars played in a pre-season tournament with these teams I don't think anyone would complain about the strength of the field. You can view the entire bracket here. 

Texas, who the Cougars could meet in the second round, had a disappointing season but they will have sophomore guard Myck Kabongo, who was suspended the first 23 games of the season. Another team that was unable to live up to high expectations is on the other side of the bracket. Lehigh, with CJ McCollum, is a Top 25 team. Without their NBA-bound point guard the Mountain Hawks struggled throughout the Patriot League season. McCollum was a maybe for the conference tournament but did not play, it's still unclear if he'll suit up for the CBI. Rounding out the bracket there's a team the Cougars already beat this year (Vermont), perennially strong teams in Richmond and Purdue, and maybe the juiciest matchup of all- the possibility of Coach Wojcik versus Tulsa in the Championship Game.

It's a quick turnaround for the Cougars and unfortunately they have to play this game at home (I kid...kind of). Being from northern Virginia I'd love to give the Mason Nation something else to whine about this season and give them an early preview of what's to come next year. In order to win the Cougars are going to need to slow down Sherrod Wright. Mason's offense depends on Wright getting his points so stopping him is critical. Unfortunately, at 6-4 and 196 lbs, he's going to be a tougher matchup for Stitt and Thomas than most wing players in the SoCon.

Last year the Patriots put a whooping on the Cougars inside TD Arena. It was the first loss to the Patriots in CofC's history. Time to get some revenge. Go Cougars. 

Davidson Drops CofC for NCAA Bid

Davidson 74, College of Charleston 55
Top Performers:
De'Mon Brooks 24 points, 8 rebounds
Andrew Lawrence 19 points, 4 rebounds

Things didn't turn out the way the Cougars would have liked in their final Southern Conference game. As much as it pains CofC fans to admit, the better league representative won last night. We all knew it was going to take an exceptional game from the Cougs to pull the upset and the shots just didn't fall. The Cougars attempted more field goals than the Wildcats, but they hit less than 30% (including a 1-10 mark from three) and never got within striking distance. Others will argue the opposite but this game didn't come down to a lack of effort, it came down to lack of execution. The Cougars outrebounded Davidson on the offensive end 12-5. Despite the Wildcats hitting 54% of their shots, the Cougars only lost the rebounding margin 34-30. One thing that plagued us all year, turnovers, were also essentially a non-issue. Charleston had just 6 to the Wildcats 7.

It was a night where the Cougars had to be firing on all cylinders and they sputtered on one very important facet of the game. Davidson played great defense, but the Cougs got open looks from three and from under the basket that, had they converted, could have kept them within a possession or two. You know it's bad when Matt Sundberg is electing to drive the ball to the hoop because his threes aren't falling. Whether these misses were due to tired legs, nerves, or the voodoo curse placed on CofC by SoCon commissioner John Iamarino...we'll never be quite sure.

One thing that gave the Cougars fits all night long was the inside play of De'Mon Brooks and Jake Cohen. Every team in Asheville so far has elected to play Davidson differently. Georgia Southern packed the paint with bodies and made Davidson beat them from outside. App State doubled whoever got the ball inside and used their team's speed and athleticism to pester the rest of the Wildcats. App State has the personnel for such a strategy, CofC does not.

The Cougars chose for the most part to play Brooks and Cohen one-on-one and take their chances. Remember that in both meetings with Davidson this year, Brooks has gotten himself into foul trouble and not been much of a factor. He made up for it last night. I don't disagree with Wojcik's decision to play those two straight up. Anybody on Davidson's roster can hurt you and Cohen especially proved himself in the App game when he stopped trying to pass out of the double team and instead went straight at the basket before his defenders got there. CofC has the unique SoCon advantage of a three-big man rotation that is at least capable of bothering Brooks-Cohen. It backfired last night when Baru, Hall and Wiedeman all picked up fouls trying to stop the Wildcats from getting easy baskets inside.

Once the refs neutered each of those three, the Cougars had to go for broke. The final minutes saw a huge bloom in the Davidson lead as the Cougars tried to do what they could to gut out a comeback-all of which came up short.

Andrew Lawrence was the one bright spot offensively for the Cougars as he fought tooth-and-nail to pull out a win in his last chance at the Big Dance. Our two x-factors: Hall and Thomas, both couldn't make it three straight stellar games. Hall was the first Cougar to the bench with foul trouble. Thomas didn't have the same shot from three he had had in Asheville prior and with Cohen and Brooks inside he couldn't slash all the way to the basket; settling for fadeaways instead. But it was an offensive struggle for everyone. Stitt, Wiedeman and Baru were all missing shots you can normally count on them to hit.

Even though the NCAA and NIT tournaments are out of the picture, word on the streets of Asheville is that the Cougars would accept an invitation to a lesser tournament like the CBI. It's by no means glamorous, but it would give the guys some valuable playing time. Trent could use more reps on his ankles and Stitt needs as much game experience as possible before taking over for Lawrence next year. It's the end of SoCon basketball for CofC but hopefully not the end of the season.

Elon Never Leads, Cougars Headed to SoCon Championship

College of Charleston 68, Elon 60

Top Performers: 

Willis Hall 16 points, 10 rebounds, 2-3 3FG

Lucas Troutman 23 points, 3 rebounds

The Cougars have reached the mountain top. All that stands between them and the NCAA Tournament is a third and final showdown with SoCon rival Davidson for league supremacy. It's the matchup we all wanted and it's going to be a battle on ESPN2 tonight. The Cougars have been playing their best basketball in Asheville and will look to finally punch that elusive ticket to the Big Dance. Davidson is looking to complete the season sweep of the Cougars and take their rightful spot as the SoCon's best representative in the madness. It's all on the line after both teams won yesterday.

Because of the SoCon's still mostly bs division format, the Phoenix of Elon came into last night's game as the higher seed despite CofC having the better conference and regular season record. Elon had just survived UNCG and the Cougars had dispatched the WCU Catamounts. The Cougars were wearing their black uniforms.

Just like in their first game, CofC came right out of the gates firing. They started the semi-finals on an 11-0 run and forced Elon into a turnover prone, bagel-for-eight attempts from the field. The matchup to watch was inside. "Stretch fours" Willis Hall and Riley Beaumont are very similar players and Lucas Troutman and Adjehi Baru are the best SoCon centers this side of Davidson. Adjehi was the story early as he played stellar one-on-one defense against Troutman. Baru was quick on his feet and careful with his hands to force Troutman away from the basket and contest his shots without fouling. 

Just as Wojcik said after the Western Carolina game, starting on such a hot offensive run is impossible to maintain. After cooling off from the field, Elon was able to chip away at the lead with Troutman hitting mid-range J's and senior guard Josh Bonney having a career night. After an Andrew Lawrence jumper the Cougs went into the locker room with a six point lead.

In the second half it was all about Lawrence and Willis Hall. Had it not been for an ACL tear last preseason, this could have been Willis Hall's final game at CofC; that's how he's been playing in Asheville. Or maybe it's just playing Elon that gets Willis fired up. He was the best player on the court when the two teams met in early December. 

Hall won the matchup with Beaumont to the tune of a double-double, including a game-changing assist to Anthony Thomas for a three and a pair of his own long balls. Not to be outdone, Andrew Lawrence finally found his stroke after three halves in Asheville and torched the Phoenix for 17 points in the second half alone including 7-9 free throws to keep CofC's cushion. 

The Phoenix would give it their best in the final minutes, cutting the lead to one possession at times, but never taking the upper had. Bonney drove to the basket 3-4 times in the final minute and was able to convert with the Cougars unwilling to foul. As has been the case all weekend, the Cougars were just about lights out from the charity stripe again and it helped them preserve a win.

A few more observations:

• The Cougars survived some really inconsistent SoCon refs last night. We were on the lucky end of a few calls but the two "over the backs" on Trent and the inexcusable Elon pump fake, get fouled, fall to the ground, launch an underhanded shot with your back to the basket that went 12 inches into the air...should not have resulted in three shots. 
• Speaking of Trent, to no one but the ref's fault, was limited for the second straight game. This to me is a big story line heading into tonight. Trent should be well-rested and highly motivated going into his matchup against the Davidson bigs. Again, the fact that the Cougars are winning without even an average performance from Wiedeman is a good sign. Whenever he turns it on (got to be tonight) the Cougars have another weapon
• The fact that the Cougars have been playing well without one of their best players is a testament to how well-rounded the team is. Adjehi Baru, Willis Hall, Anthony Thomas and Andrew Lawrence all look like All-SoCon Tournament performers. Most inspiring of all is the stellar play of Thomas and Hall. Both those guys are x-factors, when they're on the Cougars normally win. If we can get those two to keep up their amazing offensive prowess AND get solid performances from our low-post guys and shooters....oh the possibilities....
• We haven't even talked about the Cougar defense and rebounding. Why should we? Doug Wojcik is our coach! The Cougars held one of the league's best three-point shooting teams to just 11 attempts (the Phoenix hit just 3) and sharp-shooter Jack Isenbarger was held to zero points. Thanks in large part to their early defensive stand, the Cougars also held Elon to under 40% shooting from the floor for the entire game.
• CofC didn't do a great job of crashing the offensive glass, normally a strength of theirs, and the rebounding margin ended up being tied 28 all at the end of the night. Troutman however, the 1st Team All-SoCon forward, had just 3 rebounds

SoCon Tournament Preview: An All-Chalk Final Four

It's never happened in the history of the Southern Conference Tournament and it won't happen this year either. All four top seeds, meaning all teams with a first-round bye, advanced yesterday to assure us that no team playing four games in four days will win the SoCon Tournament crown. For tonights games we're headed to prime time and we'll know at the end of the night who will battle for the Championship Monday night on ESPN2. Here's a preview of the semi-finals

Game 9: #1 Davidson vs #4 Appalachian State

The Mountaineers have had the easiest path to the SoCon Final Four of any team. They didn't have to play Friday and yesterday they got to beat up on 12th seeded Furman 74-60. I hope they got enough reps and rest the last few days because their cream puff schedule hits a brick wall against Davidson at 6pm tonight. 

Davidson has not been challenged yet either so they are just as well-rested. The Wildcats absolutely took Georgia Southern to school yesterday. Like many teams who have played Davidson this year, the Eagles thought they had a strategy for defeating the Wildcats: packing their defense inside and forcing the Davidson guards to beat them. The plan unsurprisingly backfired as Davidson drained 13 three pointers before calling it a day. 

The Mountaineers and Wildcats met twice this year, with Davidson easily winning both contests. There's two things going against App State whenever they play Davy. One, they don't have the bodies or the height to out rebound the Wildcats. In games Davidson has lost this year they have also lost the rebounding margin. Second, the Mountaineers can't guard everyone on Bob McKillop's roster. Nathan Healey is about as good as it gets in this league and he won this year's Defensive Player of the Year. But even he can't check Cohen, Brooks, Kuhlman and Cochran. 

As the Cougars, and everyone else in the SoCon has learned, beating Davidson is not as easy as taking away their best player. That strategy only works against UNCG, Western Carolina, Wofford, Citadel and App State. Control the boards, don't let Davidson get to the free throw line and bonus points for getting Cohen/Brooks in foul trouble and defending transition baskets: that's how you beat Davidson.

Most Important Player: Nathan Healy. He is App State's best player and he needs to play his best, with help from his teammates, to pull the upset. The forward matchups are going to be fun to watch in this one. Brooks and Cohen vs Healy and Canty. 

Entertainment Value: 8 This is going to be pretty one-sided, but at least there's a lot of bad blood between these two.

The Pick: Davidson. It doesn't matter who else is on their side of the bracket. My pick is Davidson.

Game 10: #2 Elon vs #3 College of Charleston

Now this should be a good game. The Phoenix and Cougars only met once this season waaaay back in the first conference game December 1st. That game was played at Alumni Gym and the Cougars won 56-54. In a battle of two of the league's best inside players, Baru and Lucas Troutman seemed to neutralize each other and Willis Hall and Ryley Beaumont were the unlikely top performers.  A lot has changed since then. The Phoenix went on to win 13 of their next 17 SoCon games and finish 1st in the North behind the stellar play of Troutman and guard Jack Isenbarger. The Cougars would go on to get blown out at home by both Louisville and Anderson University the next to games. After driving CofC  fans mad, the Cougars slowly but surely rose from the ashes (much like a certain conference mascot) to become the second best team in the SoCon. Those are Darren Goldwater's words, not mine. Well, mine too. 

Despite what the final score indicated I still think the Cougars played one of their best games of the year last night. While CofC looked calm and in control most of the game, the Phoenix did not have their best outing against UNCG to advance. The Spartans held the rebounding edge, especially on offensive boards (14-4) and Elon's guards struggled. Jack Isenbarger took a big hit that seemed to take him out of his game. Tanner Samson ended up having to take over a lot of Jack's minutes and the Phoenix were lucky their defense was good enough to hang on for a win. 

If Isenbarger is not 100% or the Phoenix are gassed from the victory, the Cougars need to capitalize. The real fun is going to be inside. The SoCon play-by-play guys hypothesized that Baru's strong game yesterday may have been because of his snub for 1st or 2nd All-Conference (Troutman made 1st Team). I can only dream the lack of recognition is a motivating factor for the grown man in the paint. He and Troutman are going to go at it. Also remember that Trent Wiedeman missed the first game between these two schools. If he can bring energy, scoring and rebounding off the bench in relief of Adjehi the Cougars have a strong counter to Troutman and Beaumont. 

Most Important Player: Adjehi Baru. Having Baru be a legitimate inside force on offense last night allows Wojcik to go inside-out. More than just a an overly simplified description for the Cougar offense, Adjehi producing inside opens it up for Stitt, Lawrence and Nori Johnson to hit from three. Keeping his hot streak from the free throw line would also be huge. 

Entertainment Value: 8 This is going to be a great game. The only thing keeping it from a 10 is that both teams are stingy defensively so we won't have the run-outs and wide open looks of the UNCG-Chattanooga game. It's going to be a muddy, grind it out game and I love it. 

The Pick: Cougars. They looked better in their first game than Elon did. Yesterday the x-factors: Anthony Thomas, Nori Johnson and free throw shooting all came up deuces. Tonight I think it's on Trent, Willis and Lawrence to step up. If they do, we're looking at the Championship game everyone wanted.