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!