Cougars Lose 2nd Straight to WCU

Final Score: Western Carolina 70, College of Charleston 62
Top Performers: Mike Williams 18 pts, 6 assts
                              Willis Hall 21 pts, 18 rebs

Yea I know I'm late on this one, midterms are killing me. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised about this loss either. The top seed is locked up, the players are just going through the motions. The lone bright spot- Willis Hall's game. That 18 rebounds is just absurd for an undersized forward. I guess he read my post on mimicking Kevin Love. If so, that was a fine impression indeed.

We all know the indirect consequences of this game: we no longer have that perfect bracket with our biggest threats on the other side. I hope everyone on the team understands that and is ready to bounce back after a week off and take the Socon crown. Look for an in-depth preview of the tournament bracket some time this week.

Final Regular Season Game: CofC at WCU

Harouna Mutombo

Dikembe Mutombo

Western Carolina (16-14, 11-6)

College of Charleston 22-8, 14-3)

Ramsey Center

Tipoff at 4:30

I'll keep it short and sweet today. Last game of the season. Senior night at Western Carolina, who will be looking to avoid the 2N spot. Cougars need to rebound from a disappointing loss at App State and go into the Southern Conference Tournament playing their best basketball. Let's get it done. Go Cougars!

Sims Goes Nuclear, Cougars Fall to Mountaineers

Final Score: Appalachian State 85, College of Charleston 70
Top Performers: Donald Sims 32 pts, 6 assts, 5 rebs
                             Trent Wiedeman 17 pts, 9 rebs

You play to win the game. No matter if you've locked up the top seed or not, every game should be about coming out with a W. I didn't watch the game, but from everything I've heard, the Cougars did not display much effort last night.

This is something I didn't expect to happen with such a senior-laden team. You can somewhat see it in the highlights, it looks like the Cougars are just kind of going through the motions and not putting any hustle into defending Sims. Instead of riding a huge win streak into the tournament, we lost to a team that is just barely at .500.

The optimist in me puts it this way; Sims is a senior, playing in one of his last home games. The Cougars rolling into Boone was a big deal to all those poor rednecks and the team put forth their best effort. But still, giving up 85 points to a team like Appy? C'mon

There's still one more regular season game to play and I hope the Cougars won't be as big-headed as they were last night. Luckily for us, Citadel somehow pulled off the WCU upset. That means one more loss and WCU drops to the 2N seed. What does that mean for the Cougars? Home team Chattanooga will be on the other side of the bracket. Everyone knows what a thorn-in-the-side they can be in the tournament. Better that another team knock them out early.

Now that we've come back to Earth, let's get a win to round out the regular season.

College of Charleston at Appalachian State

Appalachian State (13-14, 8-8)
College of Charleston (22-7, 14-2)
Holmes Convocation Center, Boone, NC
Tipoff at 7pm

That's right ladies and gentleman, it's the final countdown. The Cougars embark on two road games against North Division teams to finish off the regular season schedule. Tonight we face off against the Mountaineers, on Saturday we play division leader Western Carolina.

Even though the Cougars have already locked up the regular season championship, and their first round bye, these last two games could go a ways in helping sway the selection committee should we make it to the Big Dance. A team riding a 12 game win streak into the bracket would look much more appealing as a higher seed than a team that stumbles in.

Once again the Cougars' best shot at winning will come from stopping these two guys....

The Cougars did a nice job of shutting down Carter the last time these two teams met, but Sims was able to shred the defense at times to get to the basket. If the momentum from the last few games keeps up, our new defensive mentality could stop that from happening again. If that does occur, you're looking at a double digit CofC victory in Boone.

Here's to hoping the Cougars haven't let the regular season championship get to their head. There are still games to be played and the next obstacle to making the NCAA Tournament is Appalachian State. Go Cougars!

Cougars as NBA Players

Before I came to the College of Knowledge, I got my basketball fix by following the NBA. Growing up I would follow the Maryland Terps but that was about as deep into college basketball as i would go. Upon my admission into CofC I started following the whole NCAA scene a little more and fell in love with the upsets, passion and excitement that went into every game. I still follow the NBA and keep tabs on teams other than my hometown Wizards. 

That's why I thought it would be interesting to not only compare each CofC player to their closest NBA counterpart, but also give each Cougar a role model for their development. So without further ado...

Willis Hall-Kevin Love

I swear I didn't pair these two because they look alike. Kevin Love and Willis Hall both play the power forward position at a smaller stature than their competition. As of late, Willis has proven he can hang and bang with the bigger players in the league and that his biggest advantage is superior basketball intelligence. As you NBA fans probably know, despite Love's size, he's putting up absolutely insane rebounding numbers. Love is able to accomplish this because of his never-ending motor and tactical positioning after a missed shot. Not only that, but like our boy Willis, Love is a fantastic 3-point shooter. If Willis can learn the ins and outs of rebounding as an undersized power forward, he'd be a force next year.

Trent Wiedeman- Carlos Boozer

Trent's a tricky one because I still don't know for sure what his true offensive potential is. Right now he does all the little things to help the team win and lets the veterans take all the credit. He gets offensive rebounds, usually guards the opponent's center and finishes with some crafty moves after drawing    contact. His body type definitely makes him a banger in the paint, but I was hesitant to compare him to a strictly fat and slow player like Glen Davis. Carlos Boozer on the other hand could be a favorable model for "The Freak". Boozer plays with an enormous amount of intensity every night. He's bulky enough to fight for rebounds and push his defender around and still converts field goals at a very high rate. Boozer's post up game is also pretty good and maybe his style could rub off on Trent's game.

Cougars Clinch Regular Season Championship

Final Score: College of Charleston 75, Samford 49

Top Performers: Antwaine Wiggins 24 pts (career high), 9 rebs, 4 assts

                             Andrew Goudelock 23 pts, 5 assts

ANTWAAAAINE WIGGINS FOR THREEEEEE!!! On a night that honored the contributions of the class of 2011, it was Antwaine Wiggins (the lone 4th year player left out of the ceremonies because of his redshirt), who actually showed up.

And how fitting that it was in fact our boy 'Twaine. Way back in 2007, Antwaine was the biggest prize that Cremins was able to capture in his first official recruiting class. Wiggins had numerous major school offers but instead elected to take his talents to Chucktown. The past few weeks have seen the biggest emergence of Wiggins' full repertoire of moves and the Cougars are certainly benefitting. 

From the beginning this game had no alibi, it was U-G-L-Y. Drew and Donovan were ice cold and couldn't convert from anywhere on the court. Maybe it was the distraction of senior night or emotions of playing at home for the last time. Whatever it was, it had me nervous. Luckily, the Bulldogs couldn't hit anything either despite wide open looks on several occasions. 

*One note real quick. Very classy move by Cremins to start all the seniors, including Turok and Campbell. It was fun to watch them get pumped up during pre-game introductions. 

As the Cougar guards struggled, it was Wiggins who carried the team through the first half. He was once again driving and jumpshooting, but also hit on 4 of 6 threes. Once the Cougs got comfortable, they were able to lock down on defense and actually played a reasonably effective full court press at times. As opposed to other recent games, it was good to see the defense show up in the first half. 

If there was going to be a hiccup in the games leading up to the tournament, this game made a strong argument as being the head scratcher. Our offense never really got it going (other than Antwaine), but Samford didn't have enough talent to give the Cougs any trouble. Had this statistically abnormal game occurred against a tougher opponent, we could've seen another conference loss.

Final Home Game Against Samford

Last chance to see Jordan Turok ladies and gentleman

College of Charleston (21-7, 13-2)
Samford (12-16, 4-12)
Carolina First Arena
Tipoff at 7 on CSS

Well, for the second straight game, I know very little about our opponent. I mean what can you say about Samford? They joined the Socon a few years ago and have never been able to make any noise in basketball. Currently they are sitting in 6th place in the North division and are struggling to not have the second-worst record in the conference.

Tonight is senior night, and it's very possible that this is the last time we see Andrew, Donovan and Jeremy at the Carolina First Arena (unless we end up with a home game in the NIT). Speaking of the NIT, a win tonight guarantees we'll at least get there.

A win tonight against the other Bulldogs give the Cougars a conference record of 14-2. The next best record in the Socon is Chatty and WCU with identical 10-5 seasons. Even if the Cougars were to lose their remaining 2 games, and one of those teams were to win out, the Cougs would still win the regular season.

But before we start thinking about regular season championships, or tournament championships, let's take care of business tonight. By us I mean the seniors. By the seniors I don't include myself, I just mean those that are on the basketball team.....Go Cougars!

Cougars Run Past Vermont, Win Bracketbuster

Final Score: College of Charleston 85, Vermont 70

Top Performers: Andrew Goudelock 24 pts, 4 rebs, 7 assts

                             Willis Hall 22 pts, 6 rebs, 2 blks

                             Borat Sagdiyev 17 pts, 9 rebs

I don't know what happened to the University of Vermont men's basketball team between Burlington and Charleston. Clearly this was not their best effort, and the Cougars may have caught a slight break. However, staying up by about 30 for the majority of a game is something to awe at. After all, earlier this year Vermont gave Connecticut a run for their money. 

Somehow Evan Fjeld got past security and was able play within 500 feet of the children at Carolina First Arena. Young Tom Selleck and the rest of the Vermont team were clearly hyped up about playing in the Bracketbuster game and wanted to make a statement on the national stage. 

They actually played very solid defense for the first few minutes, but the Cougars were able to keep pace thanks to some tough shots by Drew and Donovan. The mini-scouting report I provided turned out to be fairly accurate. The Vermont team is very tall and they rebound well. Unfortunately, they are slow as molasses and have about the same coordination as a giraffe on roller skates.

Duuuuuurrp

The Cougars responded to Vermont's style of play in two fashions: First off, the Cougar bigs found a way to tiptoe around the opposing inside players. Willis kept up his best Noah Dahlman impression and used some nice post moves to get Catamount players in the air. He was then able to convert on some nifty layups. 

The second advantage the Cougars took clear advantage of was their speed. Off turnovers and in the break, the Cougars could not be caught. This resulted in numerous drives to the basket, kick-out 3's and dunks by CofC. It could have been a little travel fatigue on the side of the Catamounts, but the Cougars were making it look easy. 

ESPN BracketBusters: Vermont at College of Charleston

College of Charleston (19-7, 12-2)

Vermont (22-5, 13-2 in America East)

Carolina First Arena

Tipoff at 5pm on ESPNU

Here's what I know about Vermont:

• There is lots of snow
• Ben & Jerry's started there

Here is what I know about the University of Vermont's basketball team:

• They have the same conference record as the Cougars; however, they play in the America East Conference which boats powerhouses like Stony Brook, Hartford and Maine (sure, the Socon isn't any better from the casual fan perspective, but at least Davidson got some recognition a few years ago) 
• They play a very tall lineup of players and rebound well
• Their best player is a senior forward named Evan Fjeld who leads the team with 15.3 points per game. He is the favorite to win America East player of the year
• The Catamounts already have locked up the regular season conference championship
• They put up a good fight against UConn in Connecticut, losing 89-73
• They are well coached and play well on the road in their conference
• The team is traveling over 1,000 miles to play in the beautiful city of Charleston

So take that however you like. On the one hand they have nothing to lose, neither do the Cougs, but bragging rights and maybe a little charity from the NCAA selection committee is on the line. It certainly wont hurt the Cougars' chances to beat the Catmounts today.

The game is a "Black Out" but I haven't heard much marketing behind it. Hopefully the lull of a nationally televised game will deter locals away from playing in the glorious South Carolina sunshine today. Go Cougars!

Willis Shoots Lights Out, Cougars Roll

'Twaine taking advantage of one of Drew's 9 dimes

Final Score: College of Charleston 85, Citadel 63
Top Performers: Willis Hall 21 points (8-8 FG, 4-5 FT), 7 rebs
                              Austin Dahn 19 pts, 8 rebs (5 off)

I'll keep things short and sweet since we have another game tomorrow to talk about

• With Goudelock struggling, it was another team effort by the Cougs
• Willis once again played very efficient ball and finished with a career-high 21 points
• All 5 CofC starters finished with double-digit points
• Even though Drew couldn't find his shot (5-15 from the floor, including 3-10 from three), he finished the game with 9 assists
• Jordan Turok sank a three in garbage time, I believe they were his first points of the year
• Highlights can be viewed here

College of Charleston at El Cid

Citadel (9-18, 5-9)

College of Charleston (19-7, 12-2)

McKalister Field House

Tipoff at 7pm 

ESPN 960

Turns out a Google search of "Citadel sucks" yields some nifty apparel for purchase. Let's talk about the game though, since it's been so long since my last post. 

Two conference wins. That's all we need to lock up the #1S seed in the tournament, the regular season championship and the automatic NIT bid. The Cougars will get four chances: against Citadel,  Samford, Western Carolina and App State.

No doubt the atmosphere inside the Field House is gonna be out of control tonight. It's senior night, the cadets will all be in attendance to spit on our players as they enter the arena and it's the last home game of the year for the Bulldogs. Wells and Urbanus will no doubt be fired up to face their crosstown rivals one last time and a gritty, hard-fought effort should be expected.

2.12.11 Men's Basketball vs. UNC Greensboro Highlights

Notes from UNCG Game

Final Score: College of Charleston 87, UNCG 69

Top Performers: Wiggins, Wiedeman, Hall and Monroe

Finally got a chance to check out the highlights and read some stuff on the game yesterday. Here's what I took away from everything:

• Drew struggled to find his shot. Rather than forcing the issue he displayed some of his passing skills and finished with 8 assists to go with just 12 points.
• The real stars of the show were the other four starters. They all finished with double figure scoring performances. Let's take a look at what each one did.
• Donovan Monroe- once again played the part of Robin to a tee. He also struggled to find the bottom of the net but finished with 13 points
• Trent Wiedeman- another great performance by The Freak. 18 points, 9 rebounds (5 offensive) and some athletic moves under the basket. He was getting fouled HARD all night but took it like a champ and made UNCG pay by shooting 10-11 on free throws. Had Greensboro not hacked him so viciously he could have finished with over 20 points.
• Willis Hall- The kid is gaining more and more confidence. Trent has been the focus of many people's attention since Jeremy went down, but Willis is quietly becoming a force now that he's helping out in the paint more. He stuffed the boxscore with 18 points, 3 rebounds, a steal, an assist and a block.
• Antwaine Wiggins- 'Twaine recorded a double-double. 14 points and 11 rebounds. He keeps playing well and surprised many by shooting 4-5 from the charity stripe. He also had 2 blocks. It's so awesome that he's finally taking advantage of his size on offense and playing like a real small forward.
• Carlton again looked good, having 6 rebounds and some hustle plays in his 19 minutes
• Second half defensive adjustments once again were the story of the game. Drew hit a ridiculous three to put the Cougars up at the halftime buzzer, but we rallied to make it an easy victory in the final 20 minutes.
• 4 Turnovers by the Cougars...for the entire game. 16 by the Spartans

Around the Socon

• I did get to watch the 2nd half of a very good Furman/Davidson matchup last night. Furman won, thus ensuring Davidson gets a 4 seed in the tournament.
• Western Carolina beats Samford 85-63
• Elon beats Citadel up the road- however, the Cougars will be facing a much more hostile crowd Thursday
• Wofford beats GSU by 8
• Appalachian State beats Chattanooga 78-68. The Mocs are in serious jeopardy of losing their number 1 seed in the North

UNC Greensboro at College of Charleston

College of Charleston (18-7, 11-2)

UNCG (5-18, 5-8)

Carolina First Arena

Tipoff at 4:00

Not much can be said about UNC Greensboro. They are young, athletic and had an absolutely brutal schedule to open the season. Since starting the season 0-15 they seemed to have learned a lot and post a reasonable 5-8 SoCon record. They don't necessarily have any one star player on their team as each person is still learning their role on the team. It seems that a new player leads them every game. 

Based on how we've been playing recently, this should be an easy victory. Part of that scares me because we play to the level of competition. We'll be playing at home and the afternoon tipoff paired with lousy weather should bring in some fans. I will be down in Savannah this weekend and unfortunately will miss my first home game of the season. When I get back I'll take a look at the highlights, boxscore and summaries and try to put together a post. If any of y'all are at the game be sure to post some comments on what happens. Go Cougars! 

Goudelock, Cougars Avoid Collapse Against Elon

College of Charleston 85, Elon 67

Top Performers: Andrew Goudelock 34 pts, 8-12 from 3

                             Trent Wiedeman 11 pts, 9 rebs

I was able to find a free live stream of this game so I have a little more commentary than expected. It was another weird 1st half/2nd half disparity for the Cougars. Luckily it resembled the Wofford and Furman games; not the Davidson contest.

The game started predictably enough. We shot the ball well and Elon withstood an early offensive attack from Drew (who scored our first 8 points) and the rest of the Cougars. But Elon came in with a game plan. They played very stingy defense on the perimeter in an attempt to force the Cougs inside. Goudelock was able to shrug off this defense pretty easily and scored at will. The other Cougars struggled however. Hall was getting abused on defense the whole first half and Wiedeman was having trouble getting his shots to fall. Wiggins and Monroe also did not respond well to the pressure.

On offense, Elon used some very hot 3 point shooting to stay with Goudelock. I knew that Elon was the top 3% team in the conference, but what I didn't realize was who was shooting the threes. It was the Phoenix bigs. They shot something like 8-12 in the first half. Wiggins and Hall were slow to close out the space between the paint and the perimeter and couldn't get a hand in the face of the shooters. Wiedeman actually did an admirable job staying with his man when he went outside and Carlton too seemed vey capable in the role (but more on him later). 

Toward the end of the first half Cremins decided to switch to a full-court press, which sort of worked. With about 30 seconds left in the half the Cougars found themselves down two points. Donovan took the inbounds, let some time pass, had the ball stolen and Elon got a good look (but a miss) to enter the break. Things looked bleak.

CofC at Elon

College of Charleston (17-7, 10-2)

Elon University (10-14, 4-9)

Alumni Gym, Elon, NC

Tipoff at 7pm on ESPN960 Radio

Tonight's game will be a measuring stick to see if the Cougars have in fact turned a corner. Will they display the same defensive mindset that shut down Wofford and Furman? Can Trent Wiedeman continue holding down Jeremy's spot in the starting lineup? Will James Carlton show off his true potential?

Like many opponents we face in the SoCon, Elon's matchup tonight is their equivalent of UNC coming to visit. Their fans are whiting out the game and the coaches are well aware of what defeating the Cougars can do for team morale. Once again, we'll be receiving the other team's best shot tonight.

As Cremins mentions here, this Elon game is eerily similar to the Cougars' last defeat in Davidson. Elon coach Matt Matheny studied under the tutelage of Davidson's Bob McKillop for 15 years. Elon has lost four straight games, just like Davidson had before beating us. We are playing the Phoenix in their house.

While the comparisons are certainly worth considering, every conference road game the Cougars face should be approached with caution. Hopefully the Davidson loss brought the team back down to Earth and taught them not to take any program lightly. The team usually responds well when they are exposed by a beatable team. Remember, we beat Tennessee handily after being trounced by a lousy Clemson team (yea I said it Tigers fans).

Here's the ideal scenario: Cougars take an early lead, the subs keep up the momentum and defensive pressure. When Cremins feels comfortable, he puts in the freshman for the last 5 minutes. Will it happen? Probably not. But we all know that's what this team has always been capable of and we displayed it twice last week. So let's keep the same mentality up and don't slip now! Go Cougars!  

How the SoCon Tournament Could Play Out

There are still about three weeks of regular season basketball left on the schedule, but let's take a moment now to look at how the Tournament in Chattanooga could play out. I know what you're thinking: "CofC is way too inconsistent for this preview to be a reasonable expectation" or "you're only writing this now because CofC is currently in 1st place" or "you're blog doesn't hold my interest for very long." Well, those first two assumptions are certainly correct. Now let's take a look at what our path to March Madness might look like. 

Furman Struggles, Cougars Find Rhythm

Final Score: College of Charleston 73, Furman 54
Top Performances: Andrew Godlike 29 pts, 3 rebs
                                  Trent Wiedeman 11 pts, 7 rebs, 2 ats, 1 blk

"We know who we are." It's what Coach Bobby Cremins kept repeating in his postgame interview and something that I hope is true. After another lopsided victory over a SoCon championship contender, it looks more and more like the Cougars are scratching the surface of what they are truly capable of.

Dedicating the game to their roommate, Donovan, Antwaine and especially Andrew Goudelock all came out on fire. Wiedeman established himself as more than just a fill-in early as he held his own against Furman center Brandon Sebirumbi. Wiggins did his part once again by admirably shutting down Amu Saaka on defense. Donovan became the second scoring option the Cougars always need by finishing with 17 points.

Unfortunately, the scoring at the end of the game was severely unbalanced. Goudelock attempted 22 field goals (nearly half of the team's 51) to finish with 29 points. I think he knew that with Jeremy gone, the team would need his offensive arsenal in this crucial game more than ever. Everyone knows we need his talents, but once the lead was built to double-digits I wish he could've distributed more. He finished with zero assists.

After a few minutes of action, Carlton came off the bench and entered the game. He was noticeably flustered. His first shot was an airball along the baseline and he was getting pushed around by the much heavier Sebirumbi. He got his confidence going after a tip-in basket and got the other half of his points as he calmly swished two free throws. The kid is certainly talented, he just needs the minutes to get adjusted to the game pace and level of competition.

So lets go back to the Cremins quote for a minute. There's no denying that since coming home after that disappointing GSU/Davy road trip, the Cougars have displayed a much more sustainable competitive advantage over opponents. We still base our offense around Drew's ability to score, but the emergence of a low post game as well as Wiggins' epiphany gives us second and third options. Couple that with blue collar grinders like Willis and Donovan and you have a solid starting lineup. Additionally we have one (maybe two) guards coming off the bench who can score or distribute and a long, athletic big man who can give needed spot minutes.

Now let's talk about who the Cougars "are" (or "have become") on defense. Before this week we displayed a night and day disparity of defensive effort on the road and at home. On the road we were slower on defensive rotations and had a tendency to let opposing bigs push us around. After what we did to Dahlman in the second half on Thursday, things might be changing for the better. The double team only works if the entire team is operating as a unit. The guards and the frontline need to be in perfect harmony in order to protect the basket. After the last two games it looks like everything clicked for the Cougars and they all might finally get it.

If the offensive and defensive acuity is in fact what Cremins is talking about when he says "we know who we are", and the team really is turning a corner, there might not be much of a threat in the Socon. Now let's just see if we can duplicate it on the road.

CofC Homecoming vs Furman

College of Charleston (16-7, 9-2)

Furman (17-6, 9-3)

Carolina First Arena 

Tipoff at 4pm on CSS

Not much to say about this game that hasn't already been said. The whole situation with Jeremy could present one of two issues for the players mentally. One is that their minds are with their hospital-ridden teammate, instead of being focused on the game at hand. The other alternative is that they use this game as a sort of tribute to number 21. Hopefully the Cougars will play their heart out and win this one for him. Jeremy's proved year after year that he's a warrior and I know he'll be reacquainted with the team soon.

Trent Wiedeman will get the start next to Willis and James Carlton will see his first significant minutes of the season as the first big off the bench. I know Wiedeman will be able to hold his own. Don't forget that he posted double-doubles in his only two starts of this season. I'm interested to see how Carlton does. Furman has some talented senior forwards in Amu Saaka and Noah States, but their more speed and finesse than sheer bulk like Wofford's front line. This will bode well for Carlton as it matches his skill set.

The game is Homecoming too. In my four years at the College, Homecoming has never been good to us (if any of you remember the disastrous Elon game, you know what I'm talking about). Furman is coming off a hard fought win over Citadel up the peninsula on Thursday. They know what's at stake tonight and are not intimidated by the Cougars at all. I remember watching the game at Furman over winter break and it was a nail biter.

Then again, I thought the Wofford game was gonna come down to the wire too. So let's bring that same intensity and basketball intelligence to the CFA and get another step closer to that regular season championship! Go Cougars!

Simmons has Blood Clot, Out Indefinitely

This according to the Post & Courier. Not good news.

UPDATE: Simmons had a surgical procedure yesterday morning. He did not react well and was placed into the ICU. Here's the updated article from P&C. He's going to need another sugery in a few weeks. Definitely out for today's game.

More on CofC Wofford Game

No Simmons did not lose weight and get a haircut. That really is Wiggins playing defense in the post.

Final Score: CofC 79, Wofford 54

Top Performers: Andrew Goudelock 25 pts, 6 assts

                             Noah Dahlman 22 pts, 9 rebs

                             Honorable mention: Wiggins 13 pts, 6 rebs, 3 assts

Nothing like a good ol' fashioned bounceback win to reinforce a fan's faith in the Cougars. This is exactly the type of win I wanted from CofC going into last night's game. We played the most inspired half of basketball I have seen this season and routed the defending champs by 25. Here are my observations from the game. 

First off, the crowd last night really was the 6th man. I showed up to the CFA at about 5 minutes to 6:00 and was relegated to get in line behind a couple hundred white-clad students. By the time they opened the Student Entrance at 6pm, the line was stretching down George Street. A little after 6:10 there came word that the student section was over capacity. Every fan got the White-Out memo and most students made it their own (looking at you, labcoat-wearing nerds). 

This excitement may have gotten to the Cougars in the first half. We jumped out to a typical first 5 minutes lead behind some Goudelock and Simmons shots. By the time the crowd settled down, Wofford (I mean, Noah Dahlman) started playing their game. I hope it was just nerves from the game atmosphere, but the Cougars could not hold onto the ball. We would have had 3 steals/easy buckets if we could just pick the ball up off the ground. It was extremely frustrating. Couple that with the fact that we couldn't tip a defensive rebound to ourselves and it made for unhappy times in the sea of white. 

Dahlman was killing us in the first half. Like I mentioned, he does all his damage under the basket. There were only two ways he got 15 points and like 5 boards in the first half. They were:

1) Wofford guard gets screen on the perimeter, gets by defender and drives to hoop. Sensing disaster, Charleston big rotates off Dahlman to stop would-be layup. Wofford guard dishes to Dahlman who releases his shot four inches from the basket.

2) Drew Goudelock-wannabe Terrier guard launches ill-advised jumper with hand in his face. Shot predictably bounces of rim. By this time Dahlman has already boxed out Simmons/Hall. Noah tips ball into net.

It was literally that simple in the first half. Thankfully for the Cougars, someone in the locker room made this realization as well.

Cougars Crush Terriers with Big Second Half

A few rapid reactions:

• Cougars were down 2 at halftime due to Dahlman's 15 points. All from less than 3 feet from the basket.
• The second half was a whole different ballgame. The Charleston bigs took turns doubling up on Dahlman and keeping him away from the basket. He was forced to pass it to Wofford's terrible backcourt who, predictably, stunk it up from downtown.
• Speaking of bigs, Trent Wiedeman gave the Cougs so many 2nd, 3rd and even 4th chance opportunities with his offensive rebounding. The boxscore won't do Wheaties justice, he was keeping Noah from getting the ball and usually tipped it to one of our guards.
• Wiggins played his best game of the year. Rather than hanging out around the perimeter he was driving to the basket like he should. He was pulling up from mid-range, crashing the boards and forced a couple turnovers.
• I was not expecting such a dominant Cougars performance. Not after the Davidson game, not this afternoon and certainly not at halftime. 
• Great crowd, great atmosphere and a great win. More to come tomorrow. 

CofC vs Wofford: Round 2

Students rushed the court at last year's White Out Wofford Game

Wofford (12-10, 9-2)

College of Charleston (15-7, 8-2)

Carolina First Arena

Tipoff at 7pm on ESPNU

Big big game for the Cougars. Wofford is a half game up on CofC in the South Division and would sit in the drivers seat with a win in Charleston. A Cougar victory would produce the opposite outcome. It would push Wofford into a tie with Furman (who we play at home Saturday). Beat Furman and we're in very good shape for a tournament bye and regular season title.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The sole focus of Cremins' team right now should be on containing Noah Dahlman and the Terriers. We were able to steal a victory in Spartanburg to close out 2010, but will now be facing a very motivated squad. Until March, Wofford is still the reigning conference champion and a force to be reckoned with in the Socon. The Terriers are currently surging and their only blemish since losing to the Cougars was a tough overtime loss to Furman. The Cougars are headed in the opposite direction; barely getting past the GSU cellar dwellers and losing to Davidson.

It's tough to call what Cremin's game plan is going to be. Based on his past tendencies it's safe to assume he'll follow the general strategy of relying on our guard play to put up more points than Wofford. If this happens, Dahlman will destroy us inside and maybe get Simmons in early foul trouble. At that point the Cougars will have to hope the shooting gods are on our side and we get a high percentage from 3. If not, you might see me slouching in my seat with a bitter look on my face if you're watching ESPNU.

Now, since this is my blog, I'll offer my opinion on how I would face the Terriers. I'd play a much bigger and tougher lineup of Monroe, Goudelock, Hall, Wiedeman and Simmons. Wofford's guards shouldn't be much of a threat and Wiggin's defensive specialties don't warrant a starting role. Monroe is perfectly capable of playing good enough defense on Cameron Rundles. This bigger lineup wouldn't allow Dahlman to do his dirty work under the basket. In a recent article on ESPN, Mike Young stated that he has never seen Noah shoot a jumpshot in a game. That being said, why not have our bigs team up on him to box out his potential foul-drawing and putbacks. If anything maybe we'll get him in foul trouble early and send him to the bench. Maybe this is the game where Trent gets extended minutes again and takes it to Dahlman with his array of aggressive low post moves.

The obvious disadvantage of this lineup is that we'll lose a lot of speed and outside shooting. Wofford might get some steals and fast break points, but we'll still be taking away what they do best. Their offense runs through Mr. D.

Regardless of lineup, tempo or shot selection, I'm hoping to see a good game tomorrow night. I want the Cougars to give it their best shot after getting pushed into a corner and play the way they did at the beginning of the season. If last years contest was used for comparison, the game's gonna come down to the wire. Go Cougars!