Second Half Adjustments Rally Cougs Past Mountaineers

A motivated Anthony Thomas led the way against his old team

College of Charleston 72, App State 59

Top Performers:

Anthony Thomas 14 points, 7 rebounds

Anthony Stitt 10 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists

Tonights game started with the push-back from the recent road success the Cougars had against Wofford. While they seemingly couldn't miss up in Spartanburg, the Cougars couldn't get shots to fall inside TD Arena. Adding fuel to the fire was a sleepy, sparse home crowd and a clearly more motivated App State team. For the first few minutes of the game it seemed like the only CofC player who came ready to play was former-Mountaineer Anthony Thomas. "AT" quickly opened up the game with 7 points on his own and looked to have a chip on his shoulder (1 assist for the game-the man was out for blood). The Cougars were able to keep things close despite lethargic shooting because they were very smart with the ball.

Capel's game plan from the opening tip was to double-team Baru and Wiedeman whenever they so much as smelled the basketball. Luckily the other Cougars took advantage. Sundberg, for all his defensive flaws, was first off the bench in this one. As soon as Baru got double teamed Matt would get to the basket, ready for an easy offensive putback. Willis Hall also made moves to get himself wide open under the hoop and Baru was able to find him 2-3 times for easy baskets. Adjehi had 4 assists on the night. For the game the team had 16 assists compared to just 8 turnovers. 

With the lack of scoring production from behind the arc, the Cougars were able to generate points from the charity stripe. What was a huge liability earlier this season is slowly coming around for the Cougars. Outside of a rare off (and free chicken strip robbing) night at the line for Anthony Stitt (1-4), the rest of CofC shot 16-21 from the free throw line. 

In the second half both teams made adjustments defensively. Wojcik pressured the perimeter players and finally kept the ball from going inside off the bounce. Capel, with CofC making shots, threw some zone and some 3/4 court pressure at the Cougars. Again, unlike earlier in the year, the Cougars were unfazed by the switch and did not turn the ball over under pressure. 

Without the three-ball falling the Cougars turned to basketball IQ tonight to win this one. Not just defensively but the little things like finding Trent and Stitt behind the defense and in transition were essential in sustaining little runs throughout the game. Credit Wojcik for implementing such tendencies to the point of instinct and credit the players for executing and dominating every facet of the game. 

App State: They're a Team in the SoCon (For Now)

Isaac Butts, he of the 2 inch vertical leap

College of Charleston (14-7, 6-3)
Appalachian State (8-11, 4-4)
TD Arena
Tipoff at 7pm on CofCSports.com

For the only time this season, and perhaps the last time as conference foes, App State and the College of Charleston will meet tonight at TD Arena. Despite a 59-56 record over the past four seasons, the Mountaineers are responsible for knocking the Cougars out of the SoCon Tournament in 2 of the past 3 postseasons. I have vivid memories of each.

In 2010 I had the fortune of sitting behind a bearded, wife-beater clad App State fan who squealed with delight as he chanted "Drive home safe y'all" through crooked teeth with saliva escaping from the sides of his grin. Little did that guy know I had already booked my room in Charlotte for 3 nights. Last year history repeated itself as interim coach Byington and the post-Goudelock Cougars folded in their first tournament game to the Mountain People. That was when Isaac Butts, who was promised a sugary treat should his team be victorious, rumbled his way to nearly double his career average in points per game. Another early exit for the Cougars.

Like the College circa this past fall, the writing is on the wall for App State to be conference realigned next year. The Mountaineers are looking to ride the wave of success from their football program all the way to greener pastures. Did you know their football team won back-to back-to back national championships from 2005 to 2007? You thought the SEC was the only producer of college football champions didn't you? Wrong again you smug CofC fan!

But seriously for all their backwoods thinking and CofC-bashing I always look forward to matchups with App State. Donald Sims with his NCAA rule-defying old age, Omar Carter with his unfulfilled SoCon POY expectations...it all makes for passionate basketball. Should be a good one tomorrow night.

Wiedeman, Bench Crush Wofford at the BenJo

Final Score: College of Charleston 79, Wofford 50

Top Performers:

Trent Wiedeman 17 points (8-10 FG), 8 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block

Jarell Byrd 15 points (5-7 FG)

Wow. Hard to find something to complain about after that one. Really fantastic performance by the Cougars in an arena and against a team that has given us fits over the past few seasons. Just how dominant was it? Let's break down a few statistics.

• Season-high 59.2% shooting for the game by the Cougars, including 70% in the second half. Also a season high 11 made three pointers. This was the result of excellent ball movement by the Cougars. Stitt, Sundberg and the Johnsons were all making their shots because they were wide open. Probably the most I've seen the ball swing around the perimeter all season. 
• Season high 17 points for Trent Wiedeman who was unstoppable in just 23 minutes. The Trent we're all used to seeing and expecting showed up last night and had no trouble posting up, draining jump shots and defending.
• Andrew Lawrence: 6 assists and zero turnovers. The entire team: 17 assists, 11 turnovers
• The Cougar bench scored 46 points, the entire Wofford team scored 50 points.
• Season high 12 points for freshman Theo Johnson who showed off a much improved outside shot and scored on a traditional three point play by driving to the hoop and picking up an and-1.
• Karl Cochran, Wofford's leading scorer, was held to just 4 points. He was 2-16 from the field and 0-5 from behind the arc
• Andrew Lawrence played the most of any Cougar with 30 minutes of game time

This was up there with the Chattanooga game and the recent Citadel game as one of the strongest performances by the Cougars thus far. Great defense will keep you in most games no matter how your shooting goes. It's a shame that we let the Samford and Georgia Southern games slip away because the team looks damn good when the shots are falling. Next up is a home contest against a struggling App State team. Good opportunity for the Cougars to notch another SoCon victory and bring the South division a little more even with the North. 

Cougars Face Tough Road Test vs Wofford Tonight

Wofford basketball: easy to dislike

Wofford (8-12, 2-5)
College of Charleston (13-7, 5-3)
Ben Johnson Arena
Tipoff at 7pm on ESPN3

Tonight in Spartanburg the College of Charleston will look to snap a three game losing streak against the Wofford Terriers that stretches all the way back to the SoCon Champonship game from 2011 (above). I remember that game vividly- I was on spring break in Florida and threw a TV remote in rage as Noah Dahlman and company Bernie'd their way to another Big Dance appearance. But that is neither here nor there. Even last season the Cougars were swept in the home-and-away by the Terriers.

This is a team that was kryptonite to the Andrew Goudelock/Bobby Cremins teams of yesteryear. Mike Young is a hell of a coach and his teams are always defensively sound and highly intelligent. That never bodes well for a team that relies on perimeter scoring (CofC the past few years and most SoCon teams), especially in postseason play. In order to win tonight the Cougars are going to have to apply their own defensive pressure and have their offense finish with points. The playing style of both teams has me thinking a 34-32 final score is not beyond the realm of possibility.

The guy to key in on is guard Karl Cochran. Last year's SoCon Freshman of the Year is now the teams leading scorer and he is starting to assume that Trevis Simpson-type game. He scores a lot but he also attempts a lot of shots per game. I wouldn't mind Wojcik implementing the same strategy the guys used to shut down Van Scyoc against Cochran. Cochran is joined in the backcourt by Australian point guard Indiana Faithfull, who is worth mentioning here because he has an awesome name.

While the Terriers have had their struggles in league play, Coach Young's defensive strategies and Cochran's ability to get on a hot streak make this a dangerous team. Don't forget that they have one of the SoCon's premier victories on the year when they won at Xavier. The Cougars should control the boards and the paint but getting the offense to score in the half court will be the toughest challenge. I won't be able to watch this one live but I would love to see the Cougars beat the Terriers for the first time as an alumni. Go Cougs!

Team Effort Leads to Thrashing of El Cid

College of Charleston 69, The Citadel 54

Top Performers:

Willis Hall 14 points, 5 rebounds

Adjehi Baru 7 points, 12 rebounds

Well that's an encouraging way to bounce back from a two game slide. The Cougars took care of everything that had been lacking at the tail end of their 5-game stretch and looked composed and efficient en route to a dominant performance over The Citadel that wasn't even as close as the final score appears. 

Sometimes cold hard stats can indicate how a game went down, sometimes they don't tell the whole story. After looking through the box score from this one, that is again the case. We'll start with the stats that do stand out and really impacted the game.

The first is the rebounding edge. Coach Driesell said after the game that the Bulldogs have not been manhandled on the boards like that all season. The Cougars collected 48 rebounds compared to just 29 by the Citadel; a stat that was even more padded by the ridiculous 16 offensive rebounds by Anthony Thomas and company. There was also the positive assist-turnover ratio by CofC - a stat I always find important and one the Cougs can always improve on. 14 assists to 11 turnovers is solid and keep in mind 2 of those to's came from the walk-ons in garbage time. That means that not only was the offense in rhythm, but the guys were making shots. 

Now for the stats that matter to me but may not stick out on the box score. That begins with Anthony Stitt. After getting some encouraging words from Rick Barry this week, Anthony finally got out of his shooting slump by nailing a pair of three-pointers. And not a moment too soon. For the first twenty minutes Stitt looked like all his confidence had vanished. He may have said all the platitudes in postgames about continuing to shoot no matter what but you could tell by his play that he was hesitant. In that first half he would often over-dribble and refuse to shoot in the flow of the offense in order to pass the ball again. This resulted in 4 careless and unnecessary turnovers. Finally he got one to fall in the second half and a sigh of relief was palpable throughout TD Arena. 

The second important stats worth diving into are the overall minutes and point contributions from everyone other than the usual suspects. That includes Willis (who led the team in points), Matt Sundberg (who made shots for a second straight game and was not a defensive liability) and Nori Johnson (who finally started shooting again and played aggresively). Coach talked about these guys giving solid minutes and taking some of the scoring load off of Lawrence, Stitt, Baru and Wiedeman. Consistent play from the bench and role players will take this team far. With their contribution last night, nobody on the CofC roster played more than 28 minutes and the team dominated without a single dominant performance by any one player.

Like I said, a very encouraging win. The schedule continues to be difficult however. The SoCon is tighter for the top half of the standings than I can remember it being for quite some time. The Cougars need to continue to play focused and hard and can't let another offensive vacation carry over from game to game. Let's keep it rolling. 

#BeatCitadel...Again

College of Charleston (12-7, 4-3)

El Cid (4-13, 1-6)

TD Arena

Tipoff at 7pm on CofCSports.com

I've got high expectations for the Cougars going into the second game in less than two weeks with city rival and group shower enthusiasts Citadel Bulldogs on Thursday night. It's the most rest the Cougars will have had between games since the new year began. So all the talk about playing this tough stretch, on the road, without having your legs underneath you (I wrote that with Coach Wojcik's voice narrating in my head) talk is out the window. None of that talk about not having played any of these conference teams before is also no longer an excuse for the coaching staff. All that matters is that the Cougars have dug themselves a hole in the standings with their inability to close games and now they have to dig themselves out. 

The Bulldogs have pulled themselves from the ranks of the winless by their very own short shorts and hemp belts after beating SoCon giant slayers Georgia Southern. That could be a blessing in disguise because facing a pissed off and sexually frustrated hormone fueled rage monster Citadel team in front of a coed crowd at TD Arena could spell trouble. Now that the Bulldogs at least got their first league victory maybe they'll just be a little upset. 

Ten days ago the Cougars allowed Mike Groselle to do his usual damage inside but also let shooters like Van Scyoc and Moore get hot late. I'm hoping the urgency of the Cougars South division standing, a shot at redemption and a home crowd will pull CofC through when they need it. Will likely be the best crowd TD Arena has seen since the Louisville massacre. 

For the Cougars to win they need someone other than Baru and Lawrence to step up. Anthony Thomas has been solid in recent games so he gets a pass here. Ideally Anthony Stitt finally bursts out of his slump. I liked Coach's comments in this week's podcast that the problem has to be fatigue related. Anthony has just been too solid and consistent this year for an 0-21 field goal span to have occurred solely by chance. The team needs his offense just as much as his defense. If someone in the group of Willis, Trent, Nori or even Matt could get a double-digit scoring night to help alleviate some of the pressure it could really pay off in terms of floor spacing and defensive attention. 

I just really dislike the Citadel and hope CofC is victorious Preferably to the tune of 73 points and free chicken for everyone. Go Cougars! Beat Citadel!

Tired Legs Crumble at Davidson

Davidson 77, College of Charleston 68

Top Performers

Nick Cochran 15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists

Andrew Lawrence 18 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal

Honorable mention: Matt Sundberg 8 points (3-3 FG) in 12 minutes

We've known for a while now that January 10-19 was going to be a tough stretch for the Cougars. Not only the level of competition (including three straight road games against rivals The Citadel, Georgia Southern and Davidson) but also the immediacy of playing 5 games in that span. Concluding said stretch with a road game against Davidson looked like an uphill battle and in the end, it seemed as though the challenge of playing all these games took their toll on the Cougars. Less than 48 hours after a hard fought defensive battle in Statesboro, the Cougars looked winded and exhausted after the first 10-15 minutes of game time. After that it was almost all Wildcats.

I thought the Cougars played winning basketball for a lot of the first half. They were getting Cohen and Brooks in early foul trouble, they were making shots and the defense was holding up. But there were two early signs that things could swing late in the opening half. First was Baru picking up his first foul 32 seconds into the game. Then he picked up his second after sitting on the bench a few minutes. Baru's defense on Cohen, all the way out to the arc, was great but he can only help you if he's on the floor. The second bad sign was when Willis Hall had his face split open from an elbow. It required Willis to go to the locker room for the majority of the game and his return would come with Davidson already hosting a double-digit lead.

The absence of Willis and Adjehi opened up more minutes for Theo Johnson and Matt Sundberg. While both played admirably, there were obvious issues in rebounding and team defense with guys whose minutes have been limited this season. Both lost track of the ball at times and despite Sunny D's impressive efforts offensively he still had trouble containing Jake Cohen. It was during this extended reserve-playing stretch late in the half that the Wildcats made a 10-0 run that proved to be the difference maker. 

The fatigue factor manifested itself in several sections of the box score. The most glaring is the rebounding margin. Without our two leading rebounders for much of the game, the Cougars lost the edge 31-23. Not only that but the Cougars gave up nine offensive rebounds, ensuring the Wildcats would have multiple cracks at the basket. I also look at the 20 personal fouls the Cougars committed. The SoCon Saturday refs were by no means consistent but AT, Willis, Adjehi and Matt were finding themselves out of position when they sent the best free-throw shooting team in the world to the line again and again. Mental and physical fatigue.

I still think Davidson is beatable (especially in Charleston) and I still think the Cougars can peak at the right time to make a splash in Asheville. Anthony Stitt needs to bust out of whatever shooting slump he's in (0-21 last two games) and Nori needs to start shooting again. The team needs more from the backcourt than just Andrew Lawrence. Props again to Matt for taking advantage of his first playing time in nine games. What the Cougars need now is some rest, some more rest and then a refocused effort in the Citadel rematch Thursday.

Cougars Can't Hold On (Again), Lose Heartbreaker in Statesboro

Georgia Southern 51, College of Charleston 47

Top Performers:

Andrew Lawrence 15 points, 3 assists, 1 steal

CJ Reed 14 points, 5assists, 3 steals

The Cardiac Cougars strike again. For the 4th time in conference play the Cougars squandered a late lead. For the second time, the mistakes made in crunch time were too much to come back from and the Cougars lost the game. Against Samford it was a turnover that led to a Bulldogs three pointer that was the backbreaker. Last night it was a three off an offensive rebound that switched momentum in the final minute and a costly turnover on the inbounds pass that sealed the fate of this one. 

This game was especially troubling because the Cougars dominated in the two facets most important to Coach Wojcik. The defense was some of the best we've seen on the year, holding GSU to 13 first half points and not allowing more than a dozen easy points. Everything was contested, there were multiple shot clock violations and panic shots from the Eagles and Eric Ferguson was mostly held in check by Adjehi and Anthony Thomas. The Cougs also dominated the rebounding margin with 40 of their own and 14 on the offensive glass.

All we needed offensively was just an average scoring output. Just a satisfactory, acceptable number of points to put this one away. But once again the offense took a vacation. Anthony Stitt was 0-13 on the night, Andrew Lawrence was 5-11. They were a combined 3 of 8 at the free throw line. The usually reliable Adjehi Baru was 3-7 and Trent 0 for 2. 

But despite that, and this is another tough pill to swallow, the Cougars still had this one late. They were running on fumes. Their only offense was in transition and off their own rebounds. Yet they still found themselves with a 4 point lead late. All their effort on defense was worth it, without that the game would have already been lost.

So we find ourselves in the final 3 minutes or so. Just close...just close it out. 

-Missed free throws

We're still ok. Just play good D, get the ball back and make a high percentage shot

-31 seconds of perfect defense, rushed shot by GSU

Excellent, we're still in business

-Offensive rebound by Georgia Southern

Ok Cougars got to lock down one more possession, put it behind you. At least we wasted clock

-GSU made three pointer

Ok now they've got momentum. Time to take it to the rack and take advantage of this bonus situation.

-GSU wraps their hands around the ball being pinned against the chest of Andrew Lawrence. Jump ball. Possession arrow points toward the home team. Turnover. Eagles ball.

-GSU gets two more points and the 1 point lead. Now the Cougars are inbounding and need a bucket to retake the game.

Just get the ball inbounds and either get a good look or try to draw the foul

-Anthony Stitt tries to lob a pass over Eric Ferguson. Easily picked off, goes the other way for two more Eagles points.

A few free throws later and the Cougars find themselves with another conference loss that should never have happened and a game behind Davidson in the division. But there's no time to dwell on this loss. The Cougars are already in Charlotte for the marquee SoCon game of the year thus far. The last time the Cougars threw away a game they responded with their best performance of the season. A win in Belk would be a huge confidence booster and a welcome sign that everything the Cougars are doing defensively is worth while. I'm really hoping they get it. Go Cougars!

Hostile Territory: Taking on a Confident GSU Team

Georgia Southern University (7-10, 1-3)

College of Charleston (12-5, 4-1)

Hanner Fieldhouse

Tipoff at 7 pm on gseagles.com

A week ago I wouldn't have thought this game to be anything special. More or less the precursor to Saturday's big matchup with Davidson. Maybe it's a good thing then that Georgia Southern just upset Davidson for their first SoCon victory and the Wildcats' first conference defeat. Now the Cougars need to stay sharp on the road in beautiful Statesboro and get a solid road win against the Eagles.

Coming into the season, expectations for Charlton Young and the Eagles were understandably pretty high. Eric Ferguson was a projected NBA draft pick, the Eagles had finished a strong 2011-2012 campaign and things seemed to be on the up-and-up. This season "inconsistency" is the theme. The Eagles are capable of defeating teams like Virginia Tech but had lost conference games to Elon, Samford and Wofford before beating Davidson.

Like their star player, the Eagles as a team are extremely athletic. Last year in Statesboro the poor, defenseless (no Stitt and no Baru) Cougars were blown out of the water against this high-flying squad. Not only in terms of verticality (#kresseisms) but also lateral speed. The biggest detriment to Davidson against GSU was the quickness of the Eagles guards at getting to the basket. For $200, what has been CofC's biggest weakness this year? Oh no I'm sorry the answer is actually turnovers...turnovers. But a close second has been defending speedy little guards on the dribble drive. The Cougars are going to need to check CJ Reed and Tre Bussey.

This is a game where we may be very thankful to have Anthony Thomas and Theo Johnson. I loved their perimeter defense on the minuscule Charleston Southern guards. They may be the ones tasked with containing the previously mentioned Eagles. On the other hand, AT is probably the best foil to Eric Ferguson in terms of athleticism and length. Will be interesting to see which strategy Wojcik goes with. 

Should be a good one tonight. Remember that with the Davidson loss the Cougars absolutely control their own destiny. Should we win tonight and then defeat Davidson we'll be in really great shape for 1st place in the South division. The season is still young but potential victories in games against other South contenders could be huge down the stretch. 

Oh yea and here's to hoping Nori Johnson can do this again down in Statesboro. Go Cougars!

Cougars Claim Part 1 of Battle 4 Charleston

Final Score: College of Charleston 73, Citadel 69
Top Performers:
Adjehi Baru 16 points, 12 rebounds
Mike Groselle 19 points, 9 rebounds

It looks as though the intra-city rivalry between CofC and El Cid may not be as dead as some of us thought. Despite a 10-game losing streak, one of the worst RPI's in Division I and enough wins to count on one hand, the cadets played their best game of the season only to come up short in yet another close conference contest. As close as the scoreboard indicates, this was not as ugly a game for the Cougars as the Samford and Anderson home contests. The Bulldogs played way over their heads (to be expected given the opposition) and it took some clutch shots and defense from CofC to pull this one out.

First off, how awesome is it that those two guys are the top performers? High-octane scoring amongst guards is fun but didn't you want this game to be the slugfest under the basket that it turned out to be? Two of the best big men in mid-major basketball, going punch for punch with one another for sole ownership of the Charleston fan base? Complete with Trent Wiedeman jawing at the cadets during timeouts, a Matt Van Scyoc technical for taunting and my favorite quote of the season. When asked what he thinks about the Citadel/CofC rivalry, Adjehi answered bluntly "I think about winning". Oh I get chills just thinking about it.

Ok ok so the basketball itself. After CofC jumped to an early double-digit lead, Driesell started getting creative with his defenses. A little zone here, a little press there and maybe some man-to-man thrown in for good measure. This brought that up-tempo offense the Cougars displayed last week to a grinding halt. Then the Bulldogs started getting it going offensively. Really got it going. With the game in flux, Wojcik did a curious thing and pretty much emptied his line like a hockey team. The Cougar lineup of Stitt-Johnson-Johnson-Sundberg-Wiedeman quickly got outmanned and outperformed by the Citadel and the Cougars all of the sudden were in a deficit.

It's hard to judge the move in retrospect. On one hand that lineup substitution resulted in some bad offense and some worse defense that really allowed the Bulldogs to get momentum on their side. On the other it insured that our most important players were fresh for the second half. That didn't appear to be the case for Citadel.

In the second half the Cougars finally got their shots to fall and the Citadel had a much harder time executing their offense with everybody winded. Still, the Citadel had a few opportunities to win this one but the Cougar defense held strong.

Since this is CofC-Citadel we're going bullet point mode for the rest of my observations:

• Another game where the Cougars managed to win AND put up a reasonable number of points even with the backcourt struggling. Lawrence was 5-14 and Stitt 5-12. Definitely didn't feel that way. Most of their struggles were in the first half. Stitt hit at least 2-3 huge shots in the second half and Lawrence was responsible for the go-ahead basket and free throws
• What did I predict about Baru in the SoCon? Going against so many BCS opponents early is really paying off for the big man. He's got three straight double-double games, all against conference teams
• Not to be overshadowed in clutch situations, Anthony Thomas really sparked the team when things were all tied up late in the second. The Cougars finally wrestled the lead back when he knifed his way to the bucket twice, the second for an and-1
• Not a good final shot by the Bulldogs. Groselle got the ball a little further from the basket than he may have been expecting and shot a highly contested fadeaway with Baru right on him. But to be fair I have no problem with the ball going inside. If I were Driesell, Groselle is the only one I trust with the ball in that situation.
• Free throws. Cougars shot 14-18 with Anthony Stitt attempting exactly zero. Great job by AT, Baru and Wiedeman.
• Offensive rebounds were also huge in this game. Cougars came up with 16 (compared to 20 defensive) and used them to make up for some of the 1st half turnovers
• Next up is another road game to Statesboro to take on a hot GSU team that just upset Davidson

BFFs: Doug Wojcik and Chuck Driesell

Citadel (3-11, 0-4)

College of Charleston (11-5, 3-1)

McKalister Field House

Tipoff at 7:30 on ESPN3

Two different men, from totally different backgrounds, sharing the Holy City and trying to leave their mark on newly acquired teams. Strange as it sounds, Coach Wojcik and Coach Driesell's paths first crossed nearly 30 years ago and the two have been close friends since. If you don't know the whole story I would recommend reading Jeff Hartshell's piece in todays P&C.

But despite the new names on the bench this matchup is still CofC vs Citadel. Crosstown vs Downtown. Cooper vs Ashely. Knobs vs whatever it is Citadel guys call CofC kids. The fate of Berry Residence Hall is on the line tonight at McKalister Field House.

Even though El Cid is struggling on the year (and I mean really struggling), if there's one game they're gonna put it all on the line for it's their home contest against The College. The Bulldogs have an impressive freshman named Matt Van Scyoc on the wing who is a knockdown shooter. He's got 39 points in his last two games and he's someone the Cougars are not used to accounting for. 

Then there's the real bulldog of the team: Mike Groselle. My pre-season pick for the All-SoCon team, Groselle has cooled off a bit after a strong start to the season. The way he goes is the way the Citadel team goes, which is why they have lost 10 straight heading into tonight. Groselle is the one guy you must check for Citadel to struggle. He's the heart and soul of their team. Baru will have his hands full defensively. Luckily there has been times where he's struggled against the Cougars.

If the Cougars bring 75% of what they showed at home against Chattanooga it's going to be a long day for the Bulldogs. It'll be a tough one tonight but I expect the Cougars to keep that undefeated road streak alive just up the street. Go Cougars!

CofC Responds in a Big Way

Final Score: College of Charleston 86, Chattanooga 59
Top Performers:
Adjehi Baru 13 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks
Andrew Lawrence 7 points, 10 assists
Anthony Stitt 20 points, 4 assists

If the Cougars were anxious to make a statement at home following the loss to Samford, they certainly achieved it yesterday against the Chattanooga Mocs. In a completely dominant performance from start to finish the Cougars posted season highs in points, margin of victory, assists and walk-on player minutes. After jumping out to a 20-2 start out of the gates, the Cougars didn't let off the gas like they have in recent weeks and instead rode the momentum to an entertaining finish.

The Mocs aren't 27 points worse than the Cougars. Watching this one it became evident pretty early that this was going to be a Louisville-type contest. The Cougars just couldn't miss (31-62 on field goals for the game) and after trailing big in the first 10 minutes, the Mocs resorted to lots of bad shots and careless turnovers. It just wasn't the Mocs day and they caught CofC at the wrong time. Rico White was the only player in double figures for Chattanooga with 10 points. Z Mason and Drazen Zlovaric combined for just eight points.

On the other side of the ball the Cougar offense was alive and well. For maybe only the second time this season the Cougars really made an effort to push the ball up the court. The transition game was there (see video above), but also the pace seemed a lot quicker. That was something a lot of us fans were complaining about so it's good to see the coaching staff up the tempo. It certainly paid dividends on the scoreboard.

Adjehi Baru once again had a monster game, frequently out-sprinting the Mocs defense and getting behind his men. He also had some very strong moves under the basket (including scoring an and-1 with Rico White hanging on his back) and shot 3-4 (!) on his free throws. Andrew Lawrence shrugged off his own cold-shooting night to get his teammates involved and posted a career high in assists with 10. Every player on the roster got some minutes in this one so you could say it was an absolute team effort.

As Wojcik mentioned after the game- it's good to get this sort of win to get your confidence back up, but not every game is going to be like this one. The guys need to bring that same intensity and focus into every game from here on out. No sleeping on anyone. If they can perform like that, the Cougars are going to be a tough team to beat.

Know Your Enemy: 5 Questions with Mocs Mania

College of Charleston (10-5, 2-1)

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (7-9, 2-1)

TD Arena

Tipoff at 4pm on CofCSports.com 

With the quick Thursday-Saturday SoCon turnaround it's hard to bust out these game previews in a timely fashion. So instead of the usual team summary I enlisted the services of my friend JohnMoc over at Mocs Mania to answer some questions on his team. I also answered some questions for John over on his blog. Read and enjoy. Hooray for SoCon blogosphere camaraderie!

1) The Mocs have eeked out narrow victories in their last two conference games, Samford last week and Citadel last night, what's been the key to their success in tight conference games?

The Mocs have nearly lost each of their last two games to two of the lower ranked teams according to RPI in the country, Samford and The Citadel. They won each with their clutch free throw shooting down the stretch. They went 6 for 6 against The Citadel in the final two minutes and 2 for 2 against Samford in the final two minutes. They also have been shooting threes very well against both teams. They shot 18 of 37 from three point range in the two games. If the Mocs hot shooting from three point range and the free throw line is a new development and not an illusion, the Mocs are going to be much better than they were earlier in the year. Also, they are a solid rebounding team, which is an important factor in close games.

2) The Mocs are actually one of the better rebounding teams in the country (38.4 per game), tell me how these "Z Men" I keep hearing about are cleaning the glass the way they are. 

Z Mason is a former football player. He is not crazy tall, but he is athletic, and phsycial. His football physicality really comes out in his ability to rebound. When you watch Mason rebound, you can tell that he is an ex-football player. As for Drazen Zlovaric, I feel like he is not as good of a rebounder as he should be considering his size. That being said, 4.9 per game is nothing to sneeze at. He gets in good position, and gets the rebounds he should. Zlovaric is just bigger than a lot of players on the court. Coach John Shulman has always emphasized the importance of rebounding, and therefore the Mocs are always good at it.

3) One name on the Chattanooga roster many CofC fans should recognize is Rico White, younger brother of former Charleston point guard Tony White Jr. How's Rico doing this season, what's his game like?

Rico White started the season as the starting point guard, and was clearly out of position. He was uncomfortable in that position, and couldn't figure out how to get his points. In the last five games, White has been moved to a wing spot, and Farad Cobb (and now Dontay Hampton) has now taken over the point guard spot. That has opened up White to play more off the ball, and his offense has been improved, and he just looks more comfortable out on the floor. He has averaged 10.6 points per game in the last five  games. Of course, he's averaged just 8.0 points per game in the last four, but his all around game has improved dramatically since being moved off the point guard. He likes to shoot the three, and has a nice stroke, but I like White best when he is trying to slash to the basket. He's a 78% free throw shooter this year, and can get to the line when he gets into the lane. He's a good solid performer, and I like him a lot. He needs to be good for the Mocs to continue to improve.

4) When the Cougar offense isn't getting it done, they turn to defense. Is there a weakness to the Mocs' game that the Cougars could take advantage of?

The Mocs have had their problems with turnovers this year. The Mocs really struggled offensively earlier this year, but have looked much better in the last five games. The team is gaining confidence shooting, and is getting to know each other more. Still, they can be forced into turnovers, committing 14 against The Citadel and 18 against Samford. Those are not their worst games of the year, by far. (They committed 21 turnovers against Reinhardt.) If I were the Cougars, I would put full court pressure on the Mocs from the beginning and see if they can frazzle the Mocs offense into some turnovers and easy points.

5) What advantages do you feel the Mocs have coming into this game? 

The Mocs do a pretty good job forcing turnovers, and the Cougars bugaboo has been turnovers. If the Mocs can force some turnovers, they may be able to stick around in this one. Plus, the Mocs come in a very confident bunch, having won five of their last six games. If their hot shooting continues, the Mocs can also keep this one close. The Cougars confidence has to be shaken at this point. Is one day enough for the Cougars to figure out what went wrong against Samford and get their confidence back for this game? Those seem to be the areas the Mocs have an advantage- confidence, and possibly in their ability to force turnovers.

Cougars Can't Hold Lead, Lose to Samford

Final Score: Samford 62, College of Charleston 67

Top Performers:

Adjehi Baru 18 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks

Tried my best to avoid writing this recap and being forced to re-live last night again. Unfortunately we as fans have to look back at this loss and understand how the Cougars managed to not only find themselves in an early deficit but fight back, take the lead and eventually throw the game away in the final 4 minutes.

The offense, especially at home, remains a huge problem. It takes too long to facilitate movement, it's becoming very predicable and all too often the Cougars can't get easy buckets when they really need them. At the half the Cougars had shot nearly 50% of their shots from three and hit two of them. So far this season the secret to disrupting the Cougars offensively is to load the box and force Baru into taking tough shots (even if that means fouling him) and guarding the ball screens for Lawrence and Stitt when the Cougars need baskets. 

To throw gas on the fire, the Cougars rob themselves of possessions again and again when they turn the ball over. They had 13 last night, versus just 5 assists and even though I don't have the stats in front of me it seemed as though the Bulldogs turned the takeaways into about 20 easy points. 

There were two turnovers in particular that nailed the coffin. With under 4 minutes to play, up nine, Baru snatched a rebound and tried to push the ball ahead to his wing players. While I appreciate the effort to get the offense going, the ball was picked off and it turned into a wide open three for Samford. That's a 5-6 point swing. Then with a chance to put Samford away with under a minute, the Cougars made one too many wraparound passes under the basket trying to pawn off the last shot to someone else. That also led to a Samford three on the other side. 

A few other comments on a disheartening loss:

• The Cougars could really use a consistent third and fourth player on offense. Baru and Lawrence are the pillars. In most games when one of those two struggle, Anthony Stitt can make shots but he's still struggling with turnovers when tasked as the primary ball handler. Someone out of AT, Willis, Nori and Matt needs to be able to give us something game in and game out. Trent is still a ways from being his old self.
• One of the Cougars' strengths this season has been guarding the three point line. The perimeter defense wasn't there tonight. Guys continued to get blown by off the dribble and the Bulldogs shot a blistering 8-15 from behind the arc.
• At least the free throw shooting (particularly Baru) got better in this game
• Theo Johnson as well had a nice game in limited minutes

Meet Tim Williams and the New-Look Samford Bulldogs

College of Charleston (10-4, 2-0)

Samford (3-12, 1-1)

TD Arena

Tipoff at 7:30 on ESPN3

Looking to shake out of the Furman funk, the Cougars get to take on the Samford Bulldogs Saturday night in downtown Charleston. But this isn't your momma's Samford team. Gone are longtime head coach Jimmy Tillette and his-Princeton style offense. In are freshman sensation Tim Williams and new ball coach Bennie Seltzer. Both come with their fair share of accolades. The lanky and skilled Williams picked Samford over Virginia Tech and Seltzer comes back home to Birmingham after very successful stints as an assistant at Indiana and Marquette. 

With all the turnover one can expect some growing pains from the Bulldogs. They've played a murderers row of OOC opponents that include Louisville, Memphis and Kentucky. But in spite of the tough schedule, the Dogs have played well in conference. They defeated Georgia Southern in Birmingham and were one missed three-pointer away from defeating a very hot shooting Chattanooga. The Cougars will be the first conference road test for the Samford Bulldogs and according to Wojcik, CofC is anxious to show that the Furman game was just a bump in the road.

Williams is the player I'm most excited to watch, he leads the entire conference in a few statistical categories and his points (14.7) and rebounds (7.5) are impressive for any player. He was my pick for Freshman of the Year prior to conference play and, barring a catastrophe, he should walk away with the hardware. Aside from Williams there is also last year's All-Freshman team representative Raijon Kelly. He's the sharpshooter the Cougars need to stay on like glue. He's shooting almost 47% from three (those are Anthony Stitt-type numbers people) and can really put pressure on the defense to double him.

But back to those growing pains. With the addition of Seltzer, the Bulldog offense is no longer that disciplined Princeton style. There's more motion now and it seems as though this very young team still needs time to adjust. They may be the first opposing offense this season to average fewer points than the Cougars (59.5 per game) and really struggle to rebound the basketball at just 28 a game (but remember who they've played).

I can't help but get a SoCon surprise-esque vibe from just writing this preview, certainly not in playing styles but the whole played a tough schedule so far...young team...one sharpshooter capable of blowing up in a game...overlooked freshman. All the essential ingredients to an upset. Hopefully the guys are refocused after the Furman debacle and will keep the win streak up Thursday. 

Cougars Slip By Furman in Ugly SoCon Bout

College of Charleston 60, Furman 56

Top Performers:

Colin Reddick 25 points, 9 rebounds (5 offensive)

What a difference that final 2:30 makes on our perception of this game. If the Cougars had actually gone on to lose to the Furman Paladins I'm not sure the sky would still be above us. Luckily for everyone, Willis Hall and Andrew Lawrence found their stroke with little time to spare and the Cougar defense locked down to eek out a victory over the 3-9 Paladins.

This game started just how everyone expected- CofC jumped out to an early 13 point lead to start the game as the Paladins finished most offensive possessions with nothing to show for it. Pack it in boys, bring in the walk-ons coach. 

You know you were thinking the same thing too.

Apparently so did the Cougar players. The second "quarter" so to speak was another example this season of the guys just sort of going through the motions and putting the game into cruise control. Predictably, Furman was able to gain a freight train of momentum. Colin Reddick suddenly turned into circa 2009 Pau Gasol, finessing his way around our big guys on the way to a career night. The Furple guards got in on the action too. Never mind that they can't shoot threes, they just drove straight to the basket and got Adjehi Baru into quick foul trouble. After a near buzzer beater to cut the lead to the smallest it had been, the momentum on the opposing bench carried into the second half.

Everyone on the CofC roster had a bad night. The backcourt that had combined for nearly 80 points in the last two games shot a combined 8-27. Adjehi Baru found himself with 4 personals early in the second half, and with Trent still playing under a minutes limit, Willis and AT were left to try and stop the bleeding at the basket. 

The Cougars committed 17 turnovers. The Cougars...committed 17 turnovers....against Furman.

Ugly, ugly, nasty, ugly but there is a silver lining. Despite our own best efforts, the College was able to leave with a W because of the clutch plays made by the same guys who struggled all night. As Willis said after the game "Even though we don't look like it now [the team that was so good on the road trip], when it really mattered we were able to come through and get a win. And thank God." 

So the best thing now is to move on, make the necessary adjustments that we didn't see in-game, petition the NCAA to play all our games on the road and prepare for the rest of conference play. If Furman is going to bring it to us like that....

Scouting the Furman Paladins

College of Charleston (9-4, 1-0)

Furman (3-9, 0-1)

TD Arena

Tipoff at 5pm on ESPN3

If you read my post from yesterday you already know the unfortunate distinction placed upon Furman. At least according to one metric, Furman is one of the worst teams in Division 1 basketball. Out of their three victories the Paladins have just one against DI competition, but unlike the Cougars, they have yet to lose to a Division II team *muffled grumble*. That, coupled with the fact that Furman beat us at the ThunderDome last year and it's imperative to not overlook this team.

Just about a year ago, Brandon Sebirumbi and company came into TD Arena and promptly outplayed an Anthony Stitt-less College of Charleston squad. It was the end of a nine-game winning streak against the Paladins that dated back to 2008. Sebirumbi is gone now but there are still seniors like Colin Reddick and Bobby Austin who won't lay down for this Cougar team. Hmm...underachieving team playing against hated in-state rival CofC...remind you of any team that shocked the Cougars inside TD Arena this year?

Conference games should never be taken lightly; that was a key component of Bobby Cremins' coaching philosophy and it seems to be of utmost importance to Coach Wojcik as well. The Cougars are going to have a target on their back a lot this SoCon season and teams are going to give us their best effort every game. 

Like most Southern Conference teams the Paladins will likely come out shooting from deep. Furman is one of the worst field goal shooting teams in the country at just 39% on the season. If they want to have a chance to pull off the upset they need to get hot from three point range to offset the Cougar offense. The Paladins could also help their chances if they keep up on the boards and force a few turnovers.

Things I'll be looking for out of the Cougars:

• Where's Matt been? Sunny D has been ice cold shooting these last few games-maybe part of the reason Theo Johnson has been seeing more playing time. He's a great weapon off the bench when his stroke is on, can he get it together with the start of SoCon play?
• Nori Johnson - always plays well against Furman for some reason
• Cougar bigs versus SoCon competition. I've been pushing for a while that the inside players in the SoCon (with the exception of Davidson and maybe Elon) should be a lot less intimidating than our OOC opponents. This is the beginning of testing whether or not my theory has any merit.
• Pace- against Marist the Cougars got caught up in the tempo that the Red Foxes employed. Maybe it was a surprise game plan or the fact that the Foxes were playing at home. Luckily the Cougs were able to respond. Will be interesting to see which team sets the pace in this one. 

Approaching the SoCon RPI Cliff

"One thing I'm tracking right now is our RPI - and right now we've played this great schedule right? When it's all said and done they project your RPI for the year...they have our schedule projected in the 300's...Here we are playing this big time schedule...right now we have the highest RPI in the conference and those things matter as you're trying to take your program to the postseason"

 - Doug Wojcik during his weekly podcast back in December

Living here in DC around New Years there were two things everyone around town was buzzing about: the Redskins and the fiscal cliff. Back down south there are stat-head fans in Charleston and Charlotte preparing for their own doomsday: the beginning of conference play.

According to realtimerpi.com the Cougars still hold the highest RPI in the conference at 67, followed by Elon at 126 and Davidson at 131. Those are all solid numbers for mid-major teams and with 75% of RPI based on Strength of Schedule, it rewards these three teams for working hard to put together a strong out-of-conference slate of games. Not only that but all three SoCon schools have delivered on the court with winning records and some of the SoCon's marquee victories on the season.

After the first few teams in the Southern Conference there is a significant drop off in RPI. Here's the rest of the conference through today. Keep in mind that only Division I games are counted and there are a total of 347 teams in Division I basketball.

The bottom five teams there are what really grinds the gears of Coach Wojcik and those on the victorious side of the conference move debate. Win or lose, the RPI of this team is going to fall once conference play begins. That's because the impressive schedule of teams the program worked hard to not only secure, but to compete against, is going to drop with each pair of mandatory games against the likes of Furman and the Citadel. The fact that we have nearly half the conference in the bottom 8% of all Division I programs (including the dead last team) is depressing. 

Of course winning cures all. If a team like Davidson or CofC can run through conference play with less than maybe 3 losses there could be a more favorable NCAA Tournament matchup waiting at the finish line. But at the end of the day there will be one Southern Conference team that moves on to the Big Dance - just like always. If the basketball gods are just then one team out of Davidson, CofC, Elon or Wofford will be victorious and represent the entire SoCon. But until the rest of our crew can get it done on the court there's only a 3-4 game stretch of games in March that really matter.  

In Bizarro World, Cougar Offense Wins Games

Final Score: College of Charleston 85, Marist College 75

Top Performers:

Anthony Stitt 19 points (8-9 FG, 2-3 3pt), 4 assists

Chavaughn Lewis 23 points, 7 rebounds

"Is Bobby Cremins coaching this game?"

That's what I was saying to myself yesterday as the Cougars found themselves in a fast-paced, offensive tour de force game against Marist in Poughkeepsie. There was little defense on the perimeter by the Cougars, the Stitt/Lawrence backcourt once again dominated an opponent offensively and there were a lot more three balls from the Cougars instead of the usual Baru establishment on the block. The Cougars reached their season average for game points with nearly 15 minutes to go in the 2nd half and clicked at a brisk 51% shooting percentage. 

The first thing Wojcik mentioned in his postgame interview was that the Cougars were not expecting that sort of pace from Marist. The Red Foxes don't score a lot of points because they don't take/make a lot of threes and they generally keep the play on an even keel. That leads me to believe that the scouting report for Marist was something like: shut down their shots at the rim, force them to beat us from outside the arc and do what we do offensively.

Then out of left field the Red Foxes start running and gunning threes like it's going out of style. I guess a team that had only made two three balls in their last game was probably due for some to fall. Marist shot 5 for 10 from deep in the first half and it really kept them in the game. That's because despite the shock in style, the Cougars executed their game plan (the one I imagined in my head). For the first half the Marist power forward and center positions were complete non-factors. The Cougs dared the Foxes to shoot and to our own detriment they got 90% of their offense from catching fire from outside. 

That made the game closer than it should have been but CofC uncharacteristically turned to their offense to win this one. Every time Marist cut the lead to single digits, the omnipotent backcourt of Anthony Stitt and Andrew Lawrence responded with a dagger. Lawrence scored 19 points in the first half alone mostly because Stitt picked up two quick fouls and was relegated to the bench. Then in the second half Anthony went on his own scoring spree (missing just one shot) for 19 points of his own. Both were getting to the rim, both were hitting from outside and both had one or two difference making plays on defense. Stitt especially continues to play at a high level. His 46.8% shooting from three is one of the best marks in the country and his ability to hit from mid range is a welcome fact of the offense with Willis and Matt cold in recent weeks. 

This was another encouraging game that demonstrated the flexibility of this team and the in-game adjustments Wojcik is capable of. The offense was a low-turnover, well-oiled machine yet again (no matter who was running point) and the team was able to run away with another bench-clearing victory on the road. We all know firsthand that this style of play is not a permanent strategy for postseason success. However, the CofC offense really was super efficient last night and if that's working you might as well ride with it. All the better knowing we can respond to what most teams try and surprise us with.