Semi-Final Results

Western Carolina 82, UNC Greensboro 77
And the Catamounts pull another one out of the hat! Guess that's what I get for thinking. Western Carolina is rightfully the hottest team in the conference now, riding a seven-game win streak into the championship game and taking out two bye teams. Sumler and Mutombo again had great games, but this time the Cats got a big boost off the bench from Preston Ross. Ross went 4-7 from the field with 10 points to go along with 7 boards, but he also had some highlight plays that really changed the momentum of the game.

UNCG found themselves in a 12-point hole in the second half and for a little while it looked like they were going to make a big enough run to possibly take this one. For better or worse, Trevis Simpson went into full-on "hero ball" mode late in the game. The ball completely stopped when it touched his hand and he was playing a little too out of control. Simpson made some pretty spectacular shots that kept the Spartans within striking distance, but he also had some really careless travel violations and wild shots that certainly didn't help his cause. Questionable decision by Wes Miller late when he decided to ditch the full-court press that helped UNCG get back into it late and instead allowed G to run their play with less than 30 seconds left. Now WCU finds themselves in the final game of SoCon play; not bad for a team that just now got back to .500 on the year.

Davidson 83, Elon 67
Aside from some solid scoring performances by Lucas Troutman and Jack Isenbarger, the rest of Elon looked completely outmatched against the Wildcats. McKillop was able to limit Cohen and Cochrans minutes and Brooks was able to put up 20 and 6 despite foul trouble. The Wildcats go into the Championship game playing great basketball and with plenty of rest.

Down to the Semi-Finals

If you would have told me in December that the semi-finals of the SoCon Tournament featured three teams from the North Division and no CofC, I probably would have told you to take your prediction and shove it up your Nostradamass. And yet here we are. One of these teams will have the privilege of representing the entire conference in the Big Dance (and it won't be Wofford). When will we see regular-season Western Carolina return? When will the Spartans run out of steam? And who the hell is guarding Chris Czerapowicz?! All your questions will be answered in the next two days. For now, lets take a look at tonights games.

Game 9, 6pm: UNCG (1N) vs Western Carolina (3N)

The Western Carolina Catamounts have been one of the pleasant surprises of the SoCon Tournament so far. They are the only non-bye team still in the race for a championship and they also dismissed two-time champ Wofford in the process. What'll be interesting tonight is how they handle a team that runs a completely different offense than what the Catamounts have faced so far in the postseason. Citadel and Wofford both run their offense very methodically in the half court. The Spartans like to get out and run and jack up shots. The Terriers and Bulldogs orchestrate their offense like a well-tuned symphony. UNC Greensboro is much more hard rock. They're running and gunning and it's nothing pretty but it's sure as hell entertaining.

The teams have been real competitive with one another this season. Seven points and an overtime combined are all that separated these two squads in their home-and-away with each other. It's hard to get a gauge on UNCG because they have only played one tournament game. In that game against App State, it took about 25 minutes for Trevis Simpson to get going and once the Mountaineers had their hands on their knees during dead balls it was all over. Too much athleticism by the Spartans. UNCG didn't shoot well in that game but they made up for it by playing enough bodies to keep the tempo up. 

Western Carolina has been led by Harouna Mutombo and Trey Sumler. Both guards have been instrumental in frustrating opponents on the perimeter and hitting timely shots. The issue is going to be how long they can keep up a consistent defensive effort given the dense tournament schedule. There's a reason no team has ever won the four games in four days. Mental fatigue is just as much an issue as physical fatigue and the Catamounts are going to need both to keep pace with Greensboro.

The Pick: UNC Greensboro My mind's telling me no, but my body, my body's telling me yes. That's how I feel about picking the Catamounts. Any team that beats Wofford in the postseason has my backing. I just worry about the fatigue issue. Citadel and Wofford play slower than the average SoCon team and that certainly has helped the Cats win two games in two days. UNCG's tempo is the opposite of all that. Going with my mind in this one and picking the 1N seed.

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Game 10, 8:30 pm: Davidson (1S) vs Elon (2N)

I mentioned earlier how the Game 9 matchup features two similar teams going against each other. In the entire Southern Conference there may not be two more similar teams than those facing off in Game 10: Davidson and Elon. That's because Elon coach Matt Methany studied under the tutelage of Bob McKillop for 16 seasons before taking over the Phoenix in 2009. Matheny built his team under many of the same principles that McKillop employs: smart guard play, doing all the little things right etc. What caused Elon to get blown out by Davidson this year in the pair's only meeting was rebounding. The Wildcats held a commanding 45-27 advantage on the glass. That will have to be a point of emphasis for the Phoenix and they'll likely need a big game from Lucas Troutman. When the Cougars played Davidson at Belk, our guys really had a tough time rebounding while chasing guys like Jake Cohen around the perimeter. Matt Methany might have to get creative and aggressive with his game plan if Elon is going to pull the upset. 

The Pick: Davidson The only way the Wildcats are losing this one is if they're looking ahead to the championship game and they let the Phoenix shoot way over their head. 

     

Day 2 Wrap Up

UNCG 65, Appalachian State 55
Not a pretty game by any means but UNC Greensboro came back from an 11-point deficit to knock App State out of the tournament. Early on the Mountaineers looked good, they continued to hit difficult shots and they really pressured the Spartans into tough possessions. The difference maker was when Trevis Simpson finally started hitting shots in the second half. Once he got going, things seemed to get easier for Armstrong and Parker to make plays. The Mountaineers hit their final field goal of the game at the 9:03 mark of the second half. They simply ran out of gas. Too many careless turnovers and forced one-on-one plays by ASU down the stretch cost them the lead and the victory.

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Western Carolina 82, Wofford 59
The Terriers may have just overtaken CofC for worst first game of the tournament. Wofford just couldn't buy a shot going against surprisingly stingy defense by the Catamounts. Brad Loesing and Kevin Giltner put up some pretty heroic efforts in trying to make it a three-peat in the Big Dance, but Western Carolina was just too fast and too aggressive for Mike Young's team. Recently-named Freshman of the Year Karl Cochran really struggled in his first tournament game and looked noticeably frustrated on the floor.

Wofford's bigs got in early foul trouble and it's been said here before how weak that bench is. Once Skinner and Crowell were forced to stay on the floor with four fouls apiece, Mutombo and King were able to drive untouched to the basket. Didn't help matters that the crowd at US Cellular Center was largely Catamount favorable. Every time WCU delivered another big basket that place got loud. Needless to say this is a HUGE loss for the Terriers and a big win for the North Division, which is now guaranteed to have a team make the Championship game. Tough ending for those seniors from Wofford, something tells me that team is going to take a step backward next year.

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Davidson 73, Furman 54
Who needs UNC-Duke when you have a matchup like this? I didn't watch this game live because the Tobacco Road matchup was on at 7. Plus you gotta watch the pregame shenanigans on College Gameday. Furman actually outrebounded the Wildcats 34-31 but they allowed Davidson to shoot 47.4% from the floor and 10-26 from three. Kind of surprised the Cats took that many treys but so continues the tournament trend this year of one team completely outshooting the other. Davidson was paced by Brooks and Chris Czerapowicz (I've decided his nickname will be Michael Czera) both of whom scored 17 points in less than 30 minutes of play. There was also one other player who scored 17 points. Tyler Kalinoski, who I totally struck out on as my Most Important Player, came off the bench to drill 5 three-balls. Every Davidson player sounds like they come from a Polish family who emigrated to Minnesota.

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Elon 65, Georgia Southern 58
Charlton, your defense....woof. The Eagles had enough offensively to win most regular season games. If you look at the boxscore you'll see that both teams put up very similar stats on the night. Offensive and defensive rebounds, assists, turnovers all match up pretty equal for GSU and Elon. But the one glaring issue with Georgia Southern last night was that they allowed the Phoenix to shoot 53.3% of their field goals. Elon had very balanced scoring within their rotation and jumped out to an 11-point halftime lead that they never really looked back on. The Eagles didn't have an answer for Isenbarger and sent him to the line again and again. He made the Eagles pay by sinking all 9 of his free throws on the night. Eric Ferguson had another impressive game for GSU (21 and 9), but he was also part of the problem defensively.

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Elon's win gives us three North division teams in the semi-finals. Of those 4, WCU was the only one to play on Day 1. I'm still in favor of scrapping divisions.

Bring on the Top Seeds: Day 2 Preview

With one glaring exception, the SoCon tournament has gone as I had predicted. Now the big guns come in and we get to see what effect an additional playing day will have on App State, Western Carolina, Furman and Georgia Southern. All these games will be entertaining so I'll just put them in order.

Game 5, 12 pm: App State (5N) vs UNCG (1N)

Ike Butts has become my own personal Bloody Mary. He goes through the motions during the regular season and then come tournament time he decides to turn in on, huffing and puffing down the court. He crushed my hopes in 2009 with his 300 lbs of force and he crushed them again in 2011. What were we talking about? Now the immovable object, Butts, goes against the unstoppable force, a UNCG offense running on fresh legs. Trevis Simpson and company will run circles around the Mountaineers. ASU never got a chance to catch their breath yesterday and I don't think their hot shooting carries over. 

Most Important Player: Isaac Butts of course. If he can play for multiple stretches he completely seals out the paint and will give ASU another look at the basket. He's not a scorer, but his presence and size alone dictates how opponents attack his team offensively. 

The Pick: UNCG The Spartans are not a team you want to play on the backside of a back-to-back. I would've worried about the Cougars in this one just because of the intensity and pace of yesterday's contest. Too much firepower for G and too much wear-and-tear on App State's side. 

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Game 6, 2:30 pm: Wofford (2S) vs Western Carolina (3N)

Wofford clawed their way into a bye for this opportunity. Loesing and Giltner play almost 40 minutes every game and they need their rest going against some of these more athletic up-and-down teams. These teams split the regular season 1-1 with both teams defending their home court. Neither game was particularly close, with WCU winning by 10 in Cullowhee and the Terriers winning by 26 in Spartanburg. Mike Young will have his team executing exactly the way he wants them to on both ends of the floor. An undisciplined team like the Catamounts is exactly the type of opponent Wofford does away with fairly quickly. The WCU guards are going to have to shoot lights out against a tough D to pull this one out.

Most Important Player: Harouna Mutombo The senior is going to have to make his shots from outside and play some hard-nosed defense in order to stop Wofford from getting wide open opportunities. If he or Sumler can have a big game they have a chance.

The Pick: Wofford Don't bet against the reigning champs in their first game.

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Game 7, 6pm: Furman (5S) vs Davidson (1S)

Best of luck Furman. This Davidson team has been using the regular season as a warm-up for tournament time. They've been engineered in a laboratory by Bob McKillop to do all the things you need to do to win big games: defense, rebounding, free throw shooting. The Wildcats have their vulnerabilities (playing more than one game in a short period of time being one of them) and it's entirely possible that a hot-shooting team can take them out. But I don't see Furman as being that team. Although, based on the Law of Syllogism, maybe beating Samford means they can beat Davidson.

Most Important Player: Chris Czerapowicz I know the sophomore Swede is sort of the popular pick for this spot but he really can be an X-factor. Teams know about Brooks, Cochran and Kuhlman but Chris C. gives the Cats another stretch forward who's good for some shots and a couple rebounds with those guys sitting.

The Pick: Davidson

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Game 8, 8:30 pm: Elon (2N) vs GSU (3S)

This is the game I'm most interested to see. Charlton's young guys got a HUGE confidence boost after coming back to defeat the senior-laden Mocs. Did you see how some of those guys were reacting after the game?! It's like they won the whole thing. Elon plays better defense than Chattanooga but GSU just consistently makes jumpers. The Eagles also moved the ball well against the Mocs. From what I have seen from Elon, they have a propensity to never really take their game into that next gear. Isenbarger and Troutman have to will their team to victory because (as the Cougs found out) teams really bring it for the postseason.

Most Important Player: Ferguson vs Troutman Eric Ferguson was huge against Chattanooga and he can't disappear after playing 35 minutes less than 24 hours ago. Troutman can be a force in the middle but he's inconsistent. Maybe he takes the advantage over a tired GSU front line.

The Pick: GSU Going with the Cougar's South division brethren in this one. They looked really good in the last 10 minutes against Chattanooga. This upset could obviously blow up in my face but I'm sticking with UNCG as the only North team going to the Final Four. 

Day 1 Wrap Up

Even though things didn't fall the Cougars' way on Day 1, the show goes on and there's plenty of SoCon basketball to be played. Here are some quick reactions from the rest of Day 1 in Asheville.

Game 2: Western Carolina 68, Citadel 56
As expected, Mike Groselle went off for a game-high tying 21 points. The Big Nasty couldn't get it done on the glass though, pulling down 6 rebounds (2 offensive) in 37 minutes. The Bulldogs were ineffective in slowing down the pace of the Catamounts, keeping them right around their 70 ppg average. Sumler and Mutombo were solid from the floor, combining for 39 points on 12-23 shooting.

Game 3: Furman 75, Samford 66
The Samford Bulldogs managed to accomplish the extraordinary by actually shooting worse from outside than the Cougars of Charleston. Samford missed on 18 of 20 attempts from three and got beat on the boards 35-22. They also sent Furman to the line for 25 attempts. My man Sebirumbi had a quiet 12 point, 7 rebound performance.

Game 4: Georgia Southern 76, Chattanooga 70
The Mocs forgot their ABC's in this one: Always Be Closing. Wouldn't trust those guys leaving a party with a female. Chattanooga jumped out to 13 point lead in the early goings but slowed down as the game went on. GSU didn't take the lead until the 5:37 mark of the 2nd half behind a monster performance by Eric Ferguson (28 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals). The Eagles couldn't figure out how to score without fouling, but late in the game they kept UTC from scoring on easy looks. Offensively, GSU went on a run during the same time frame where they were just drilling shots. An out-of-bounds turnover by the Mocs in the final seconds sealed it. I was expecting Jelani Hewitt to score (he did, 15 points) but he also led the team in rebounding with 9.

Cougars Bounced in the First Round

Sure am glad I didn't drive 8 hours to Asheville. With the season on the line, the Cougars decided to play one of their worst games of the season and let the 5N App State Mountaineers cruise to a relatively easy first round victory.

The first half was competitive enough. Despite being out-rebounded, 26-18, the Cougars used their half court pressure defense to force the Mountaineers into 11 turnovers for the period. Anthony Stitt and Antwaine Wiggins were instrumental in the 1-2-2 press that frustrated ASU into some costly mistakes. This led to the easiest buckets CofC would get all afternoon. In yesterday's Day 1 preview I said that the Cougars had to hit shots in order to keep pace with what was likely to be a negative rebounding margin. Boy did they drop the ball on that one. The Cougars shot an abysmal 0-9 on treys in the first half and missed some really easy layups to stay behind on the scoreboard. Not only that, but once App State figured out how to break the press, they hit their shots. The Mountaineers went 4-8 from three and shot 44% from the floor in the first 20 minutes.

The second half is when the lead really became insurmountable. App State blew things open, hitting difficult shots from all over the court. Even when the Cougars were able to run the shot clock down, ASU would hit another dagger. Once the game was pushed far enough above double-digits, the Cougars started playing with desperation but it was too little to late. Before Nori and Wiggins hit some late shots to keep a glimmer of hope alive, CofC shot an embarrassing 6.6% (1-15) from outside the arc. Compare that with ASU hitting over 50% of their outside shots and cleaning the glass and you have the final score of 93-81. 

My X-factor in this one was Sundberg. Just like the last time these two met in the conference tournament, Butts and Carter really destroyed us. Sundberg isn't able to handle Isaac Butts inside, so I mentioned how he would need to make some threes to justify his court time. His final stat line: 1 point, 0-2 on FGs, 1-2 from the line, 1 rebound, 4 fouls. He wasn't the only to blame though. Everybody on CofC struggled to some extent with their shooting and the physicality of a tournament game. 

It's definitely a tough ending to swallow for College of Charleston fans. It's been such a roller coaster ride of a season. From low preseason expectations, to surging aspirations during the first few weeks of action, the whole injury bug/coaching change/losing streak that quelled any expectations and then the pre-tournament run that got our hopes up. It's hard to remember that four of our eight man rotation has never played in a Southern Conference Tournament before. Stitt, Baru, Johnson and Scott really struggled with the pressure early on and it didn't help that the vets never really got it going offensively. Wiggins was the only Cougar to shoot over 50% from the floor. Trent was the only one getting it done offensively in the first half but he still struggled against Butts and finished the game shooting 9-19 with 7 rebounds. Lawrence tried to spearhead the late rally but he also contributed to the shooting drought. 

Hopefully this game acts as a strong source of motivation for the guys this summer and into next year. Trent will be getting surgery over spring break to finally fix his ankle issue, Willis Hall will be back and the young guys will understand the college postseason game a little bit better. Fortunately the future is still bright for the Cougars. I expect the buzzards to still circle over Byington's head but that decision is not up to most of us. It was an interesting season to say the least but I'll still cheer for my alma mater no matter what. Best of luck to whoever should represent the Southern Conference come March!

SoCon Tournament Preview: Round 1

Just a few more hours until the second season begins for Southern Conference basketball fans. If your team was unlucky enough to miss out on a bye, you'll have to change your work plans and leave for Asheville on a business day. But have no fear, there's some good basketball being played on the first day of the tournament and you have an extra few hours to do tourist-y type things. 

Below are my two cents on each matchup of Day 1 at the US Cellular Center. Since there are four games to choose from and none featuring higher seeded teams, I thought of my own criteria for which games deserve your well-earned ticket money. The games below are ranked in order of entertainment value, ranked on a scale of from 1 (Taccoa Falls vs WCU) to 10 (A dunk contest between Trevis Simpson and James Carlton). 

Game 4, 8:30 pm: Georgia Southern (3S) vs. Chattanooga (6N)

The final game of Day 1 is far and away the one drooling with the most excitement. Sure it may not have what those basketball elitists like to call "fundamentals" but it does have the key qualities of any college basketball drama. 

1) Both teams have a chip on their shoulder. GSU missed out on a bye in the last week of the regular season and now faces the 4-game uphill battle. UTC is dealing with not living up to expectations during the regular season and they have a chance to prove their doubters wrong in the tourney.

2) Both these squads have athletic players that will be able to sustain a break-neck pace should it come to that. In fact, we could see as many as 20 players take the floor in this one.

3) There's bad blood between these teams already. There aren't too many real rivalries in this conference, but Chattanooga really should want to stick it to GSU. The last time these two met, the Mocs surrendered a 16-point lead in the final 10 minutes and the Eagles hit a three-point buzzer-beater to win the game in Chatty. 

4) Hothead coaches. John Shulman and Charlton Young

In terms of matchups: this game will come down to one thing that each team does very well. The GSU Eagles can really shoot (their 46.7% average from the floor puts them in the top 50 in the country). The Mocs are not a very consistent shooting team. However, the Mocs should get a lot of opportunities at the basket because they are the 18th best rebounding team in the country. The Eagles are not a good rebounding team (worst in the SoCon with 31 a game). My guess is Charlton Young tries to keep it up tempo, subbing in as need be, attacking the rim and getting open looks from the perimeter before the Mocs get situated on defense. Shulman has the bodies to keep it in a track meet, but the piecemeal lineups for UTC are going to have to execute offensively. 

Entertainment Value: 8.5

Most Important Player: Jelani Hewitt The first time these two teams met, Hewitt had a career-high 20 points on 6 three-pointers. Then in January, he hit the shot that won it for the Eagles in Chattanooga. He's normally not a huge threat, but he seems to bring it against the Mocs. 

The Pick: Georgia Southern By far the toughest one to call on Day One. I don't like teams that come into the tournament not playing their best ball. The Eagles have lost two straight and they got blown out at home by Davidson with a shot at a bye on the line. However, I guess this is technically an away game for the Mocs. I can see the Mocs winning this, but I really want to believe the regular season is more important than that. The Eagles pass the eye test, they should win. Charlton, don't make me look like an idiot.

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Game 1, 11 am: College of Charleston (4S) vs. Appalachian State (5N)

Not too far from the entertainment level of the nightcap game, CofC/App State is the marquee matchup of Day 1. Both teams have fans that travel well and the teams have players who can be difference makers. Aside from maybe Davidson, Appalachian State may have the front line best suited for taking on Trent Wiedeman and Adjehi Baru. Williamson and Butts can bog down our guys one-on-one and force them into some tough shots. Omar Carter can go off if left unchecked. If the Cougars are going to take this one, they'll have jump out to an early lead despite what will probably be a hostile environment. If they can accomplish that, get the bigs some rest and hit their outside shots we should be OK. Every time we play ASU it seems to come down to that: hitting shots. The Mountaineers make it tough on you. They haven't been playing very inspired as of late but anything can change in the tournament. 

Entertainment Value: 8

Most Important Player: Matt Sundberg. If Sunny D is going to justify his time as a forward on the court, he's going to have to hit his threes. Butts and Williamson will destroy him down low. In order to neutralize this, Matt can't go into another shooting slump. His ability to space the floor, open lanes for Stitt and put points on the board will be essential for the Cougars.

The Pick: CofC My entire bracket will take a pretty sizable hit if I'm wrong about this one. By the way this game scares the crap out of me. 

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Game 2, 2 pm: Western Carolina (3N) vs. Citadel (6S)
A few numbers for you to crunch on this one: Western Carolina is 2nd in the SoCon in steals per game and turnover margin (+1.89 per game). The Citadel turns the ball over more than any other team in the league. This noticeable mismatch for the Bulldogs would be possible to overcome IF they could actually put the ball through the basket. Unfortunately, their offensive pace as well as their lack of shooters makes it very difficult for the cadets to put enough points on the board to overcome their negative turnover margin. The best way for Citadel to stay in this one is going to be to sway the Cats into playing Bulldog-ball. Chuck Driesell has been successful in slowing down the game against UTC and CofC and the Dogs have been able to cover their inefficiencies by keeping the game slow and low-scoring.

Expect Mike Groselle to have a BIG game. This Western Carolina squad is really tiny up front and they give up a lot of rebounds. Remember, with no Trent Wiedeman, Adjehi Baru still tore up the Catamounts for 17 boards by himself. Groselle is an even more talented glass cleaner and he should get his own.

Entertainment Value: 4


Most Important Player: Mike Groselle No player in this conference means more to their team than the Big Nasty (get it, nasty...gross-elle?). If the Bulldogs want to make it past round one, Mike is going to need to dominant the paint.

The Pick: Western Carolina Limit Groselle, force turnovers, dictate the pace. So far that has been the recipe for defeating the Citadel. The Bulldogs have been playing better of late but Mutombo and Sumler won't have trouble getting their points if they can break the Bulldog's defensive pressure.

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Game 3, 6 pm: Samford (4N) vs Furman (5S)


This would not be a bad time to visit some of the sites in and around Asheville. Visit the Biltmore, sample some craft beers, hell you could even go see a movie. The winner of this snooze-inducing matchup will go on to play Davidson in the second round and I get the feeling neither team will look capable of pulling an upset. As much as I would love to see Samford whoop up on Davidson in Round 2, I don't see that anomaly occurring again.

Entertainment Value: 1


Most Important Player: Brandon Sebirumbi. The 6-9 man in the middle for Furman is the only thing keeping this game's entertainment value above a zero. You could make the case that the first tournament game for Samford's two All-Freshman Team selections (Tyler Hood and Raijon Kelly) will be a good litmus test, but I enjoy watching Sebirumbi play.

The Pick: Furman with the "upset"