College of Charleston (1-2, 0-0)
Miami (2-1, 0-0)
TD Arena
Tipoff at 7:30 on CSS and CofCSports.com
The Cougars have a well-earned reputation for scheduling quality opponents year after year. And since the opening of TD Arena (celebrating its 5th anniversary this year), the College has welcomed an impressively large number of major conference opponents to their home floor. Leveraging coaches John Kresse and Bobby Cremins' involvement with the program, the city of Charleston's recognition as a premier tourist destination, a beautiful and new(ish) arena and most recently the father of freshman Canyon Barry, CofC has spoiled us with marquee home games - USC, Clemson, UNC, the Charleston Classic (twice) and most recently Louisville.
Tonight carries on that tradition when the Cougars welcome the defending ACC Champion Miami Hurricanes to TD Arena. Perhaps the most surprising team in the country last year, former George Mason coach Jim Larranaga rode Shane Larkin and a crop of athletic seniors to a number 2 seed in the Big Dance and Sweet Sixteen appearance last year. Now missing all 5 starters from last years team, the 'Canes are struggling to find themselves, meaning now might be the best time to steal another marquee win for CofC.
Are they any good?
It's hard to tell so far - they're not looking like the team that was must see TV last year. The Hurricanes opened their season in embarrassing fashion by losing their home opener to St. Francis (NY) 66-62 in OT. Then they followed it up by struggling to win in regulation again against a familiar opponent to Cougs fans; Georgia Southern. Miami eventually prevailed by one point in overtime against the Eagles. However, against Texas Southern on the November 14th, Larranaga's team absolutely dominated their opponent.
With all they lost between last year and this year, this type of up-and-down start was to be expected. Maybe not to the extent of losing to St. Francis but their most recent win could very well be a turning point in the season. Like Asheville on Friday, the Cougars are facing a team that desperately wants a win. Tonight's game marks the first road test for the Hurricanes. That's why TD Arena and Cougar Nation need to be loud and intimidating for 40 minutes of game action.
What do they do well?
One thing that is not up for debate with Miami is the strength of their coaching. It's not the first time the Cougars have faced Jim Larranaga*. After leading GMU to the Final Four, Larranaga elected to stay with the Patriots for the long haul, or so the Patriots fans thought. He took what seemed at the time to be a step down coaching basketball at the U only to surprise everyone with the success his team had last season - earning him National Coach of the Year.
Larranaga's teams play smart, make few mistakes and will have excellent plays called for them if the game comes down to the wire. He's the type of system-coach that would always frustrate the free wheeling Cremins teams. Wojcik has proven to be a more strategical sideline manager so it will be interesting to watch the chess match unfold.
*If you've been reading this blog for a while you know I've posted that same video about a dozen times. It's my Paul Rudd /Mac and Me video and it never gets old. The uncalled Ryan Pearson guillotine on Tony White junior, bench-warming freshman Willis Hall, current Georgia Southern head coach Mark Byington shadowing Cremins and the reaction of the GMU fans. All priceless.
What do they struggle with?
Winning games in regulation? I kid (sort of). The Canes have struggled to create offense with all the new moving pieces on their team. They've been a terrible outside shooting team thus far, their field goal numbers across the board have not been good and they don't have a go-to scorer or facilitator yet. But they're still an ACC team with top-level athleticism, it's going to take a great effort from CofC to beat them.
Matchup to watch for
Donnovan Kirk vs Willis Hall - The battle at power forward will feature senior versus senior. Kirk is the Canes leading rebounder with 7.7 per game and leading scorer with 16.3 points per game. Willis Hall will be giving up both height and wingspan to the lankier Kirk but will have to hold his own in this one-on-one matchup to keep the Cougars from getting beat down low. Hall has given up a few too many offensive rebounding opportunities the last few games but as the Cougars' emotional leader I would expect him to be fired up for this game.
X-Factor
Anthony Stitt - I was critical of Anthony Stitt in this weekend's review of the Asheville game. While the junior guard has been solid on defense, he seems dangerously close to falling into another shooting slump not dissimilar to the extended streak he went on last season. With the length and athleticism a team like Miami has on the wings, expect freshmen Canyon Barry and Joe Chealey to again get pressured to turn the ball over. Anthony Stitt being able to handle and shoulder some of the scoring load would be a welcome spark to the CofC offense. That offense went stale when the two froshies were not hitting shots Friday, Stitt needs to hit some of his outside looks or drive to the rim and see the ball go in the basket tonight.
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