Cougars Survive Mocs in 2OT

Final Score: College of Charleston 87, Chattanooga 85

Top Performers: Keegan Bell 12 points, 10 assists, 10 rebounds

                             Andrew Lawrence 25 points (career high), 5 assists, 4 steals

So much to digest from this game. Sitting in the front row of the student section I was in a proverbial glass case of emotion as the Cougars seesawed between frustratingly incompetent and heroically gutty. It wore me out. After flying back to Baltimore this morning, I watched the replay of the final ten minutes plus the overtimes. I would have to echo the statements of some older CofC fans by saying that this team had absolutely no business winning that game. We were outplayed, out-coached and so lethargic at times that it took 50 minutes and some late-game misses by Drazen Zlovaric to seal this one.

For how terrible UTC has been so far this year, Shulman and company deserve some credit. They came into TD Arena with something to prove and they wanted this one so much more than the Cougs did. As the Mocs bench players sat cross-armed with their team up two with 8 seconds to play I thought to myself, "Wow they're way more excited about winning this game than our players would be". Shulman was coaching for his job and the players were playing for their pride. They let it slip away, but based on press conference quotes, the Mocs seemed to taken a moral victory away. However much that may or may not sting.

That all being said, what matters at the end of the day is that the Cougars left their home court Saturday evening with a record of 7-1. No matter how ugly or how close that game was, the record stands that the Cougars are undefeated in the conference and have a lone loss to a competitive UCF team. The reason why it stays that way was because the young Cougs stepped up in crunch time and made shots when it really counted. A look at those who impressed me the most:

Andrew Lawrence: Career high in points, none more important than his last seven in the game. First he makes the off-balance floater with 20 seconds to play, then he drills the three after barely even setting his feet, then he takes the inbounds pass and goes coast to coast for the layup with less than two seconds in regulation. Put the team on his back like Greg Jennings with a broken leg.

Anthony Stitt: Provided what was probably the definitive spark for the Cougars in the final minutes of regulation with two huge threes in a row just inside the 10 minute mark. Then he guards a 5th year senior closing in on a triple double and holds him to almost nothing in the two overtimes. 

Trent Wiedeman: The most frustrating aspect of yesterdays game was Cremins' refusal to throw the ball inside to Wiedeman and let him go to work. Not only did this cause the 3-point stinkfest that cost us a ton of points, but the long rebounds from said missed threes kept giving the ball back to the Mocs. Trent said in the postgame that the limited touches between him and Baru was because of the tough defensive rotations by Chatty that closed off entry passes to our big men in the paint. This negated any good positioning made by Trent or Adjehi. Lucky for us, Hulk did the best with what he was given and bull rushed Zlovaric a couple times to draw some fouls and finish through contact. He finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Matt Sundberg: Didn't think I'd throw Sunny D in here did you? For all the hair-pulling missed three pointers he gives us, Matt came up big a couple times with long rebounds and made free throws down the stretch in the overtimes. 

Jordan Scott: Boom! Two surprise performers in a row! With Lawrence out with cramps in the second OT and Stitt running the point because he's a badass, Cremins gritted his teeth and put Jordan in with the game on the line. He did have one dumb foul in the final period, but he also had a nice post pass to Wiedeman, nailed a dagger three and didn't foul on the final shot by Chattanooga. I really hope that shot gave him some confidence because lord knows we need some outside shooting.

That was the good. Here's the bad and the ugly.

• Antwaine Wiggins being a black hole on offense:Wiggins was consistently destroying CofC possessions whenever he got the ball. He would get the ball on the perimeter, dribble around and settle for a three. Brick. Get back to driving and slashing 'Twan.
• The rebounding: Numbers a bit deceiving. Gave up too many offensive rebounds in the first half and in overtime. On offense, we all too often see 3-4 Cougars running back on D once an outside shot is missed.

And finally the most bizarre stat of all. On 68 shots by the Cougars, 48 of them were three-balls. What is that? How do you win when you shoot 70% of your shots from outside? Especially when you average 34% from downtown. Shooting open looks because the defense is in a sagging zone is one thing, but refusing to go into the post that much is just ridiculous.

Who shoots 48 threes on 68 shots and expects to win?!

Like I said earlier, a win is a win. There are still many things to work on but few people expected this young team to be where they are right now. The schedule doesn't get any easier and the Cougars will need to work on the mistakes and miscues before Tennessee comes to town on the 14th. Go Cougars!