SoCon/Big South Challenge: Cougars Take on CSU Bucs

Charleston Southern (1-4, 0-0)

College of Charleston (3-2, 0-0)

CSU Fieldhouse

Tipoff at 7:30 on ESPN3

As the ACC/Big Ten Challenge tips off on ESPN tonight, the Southern Conference finds themselves on the short end of a manhandling in the unofficial SoCon/Big South Challenge. The SoCon is a putrid 1-6 against Big South teams this year with the lone victory being Citadel's win over VMI to start the season. Two SoCon teams get a chance to reverse that trend tomorrow when the Cougars travel up the road to take on the Charleston Southern Buccaneers and Wofford faces off against Winthrop.

Last year the Cougars were caught with their pants down by a much more talented CSU team than any they were used to playing in the teams' annual showdown at North Charleston Coliseum. Luckily, Trent Wiedeman and Antwaine Wiggins were there in the closing seconds to prevent the Bucs from finishing off a ten point comeback in the 2nd half. This time around we won't have those two to bail us out.

Watch the above video. Look at how much different our defense looks compared to now. In that clip we're sagging off the shooters, not boxing out and not rotating at all. This was the first time I had watched a highlight video from last year because CSU is the first team we're playing that we have seen before. The Cougars look like an entire different team now defensively. 

Which brings us to why that game was so close last year. The Charleston Southern Bucs rebound at a very high level and shoot a lot of threes. I took the time to underline those because they're very important characteristics of the team. Last year the Cougars nearly lost this game at home because they gave up 16 offensive rebounds and allowed the Bucs to shoot 40% from deep. So far this season CSU has displayed many of the same tendencies.

Despite not being a particularly tall team (the front line is 6'5, 6'6 and 6'7), the Buccaneers are one of the best rebounding teams in the entire country. Even while going against the likes of Arizona and Alabama, CSU still averages 41.4 rebounds a game: good for 30th in the NCAA. Out of those 41 rebounds, 17 are on the offensive glass. The team also likes to shoot from outside. Last year they were a very solid three-point shooting squad but they haven't gotten hot this year. So far their 31.9% from deep is short of last seasons average and it is contributing to the very poor field goal percentage CSU is sporting on the season. In four games this year Charleston Southern is hitting 36.7% of their shots which is worse than all but 12 schools. 

That bodes well for the 2012-2013 Cougars because if there's two things we do well it's rebound and make our opponents shoot poorly. Last year the thorn in our side was the minuscule backcourt of  5 ft 8 inch Saah Nimley and 6'1 Arlon Harper. Those two killed the Cougars at the rim and especially in the final 10 minutes and they're both a year more experienced as sophomores. Stitt was coming off the bench the last time these teams played and he did a great job of limiting each of those guys, especially on the last play. 

The game is being played for the first time in years at the CSU Fieldhouse, which looks like it fits less people than CofC's pool. This is one of the biggest games the Bucs will host this year and the place will be a unique environment to be sure. Wojcik said the game's going to be a real fight so let's hope we can jump out to the lead early and hold onto it this year. Go Cougars!