CofC Beats Western Carolina, Advances to Final Four

College of Charleston 78, Western Carolina 70
Top Performers:
Adjehi Baru 14 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks
Anthony Thomas 18 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals
Trey Sumler 25 points (10-21 FG)

Facing a seven day layoff between games, a very pro-Catamounts Civic Center crowd and the hot shooting Trey Sumler, the Cougars put together one of their most complete games of the year at just the right time. CofC scored 78 points, had four starters in double figures and hit 29 of 35 free throws to outpace Western Carolina. The Wojcik numbers: 40-35 rebounding advantage and a Cougar defense that only allowed 38% shooting from the field.

Aside from the outstanding free throw shooting, the story of this game was the play of Adjehi Baru and Anthony Thomas. It says a lot when your leading scorer is 2 of 11 from the field and you still find yourself up 15 late and putting the subs in. Normally we praise the defense of Baru and Thomas but last night in their second and first, respectively, career SoCon Tournament games both guys were forces offensively. Anthony Thomas was aggressive every time he went to the rim, whether for his own shot or for offensive putbacks. Baru took serious advantage of his matchup with King inside and also navigated his way around Western's 1-3-1 defense for a few authoritative dunks.

The rest of the Cougars also found ways to contribute. Lawrence, whose shot wasn't falling, remained a threat to the Catamounts by driving to the basket and picking up 12 of his 16 points at the line. Anthony Stitt gave us flashbacks to his freshman days when he drove right at Tawaski King, absorbed a big hit in the air and finished the basket for a three point play. Even the guys who didn't score in double figures had an impact.

Nori Johnson was a perfect 3-3 from the field in his 15 minutes off the bench (8 points). Willis nailed a three to give CofC the lead back after a WCU run and had one of the highlights of the game when he stole an inbounds pass late in the contest and flushed it. Wiedeman picked up a few fouls and was limited to just 20 minutes but he was active around the basket all night.

Again, the fact that Lawrence and Wiedeman both had bad shooting nights and we were still able to cruise to a victory without a super-human effort from Stitt is a very, very good sign.

It was a bit puzzling that Larry Hunter decided not to go 2-3 zone more often. It's pretty apparent that we struggle against it. Maybe it was because the Cougars were lethal from three all night. Take out Lawrence's uncharacteristic 0-6 night and the rest of the team was 5 for 7 from outside. The Catamounts did however switch up their defensive looks a couple times. They switched from man to 1-3-1 during the 1st half and suddenly the Cougar offense (which started the game on a 13-4 run) came to a screeching halt. Stitt and Lawrence couldn't get the offense set up the way they wanted and the Catamounts chipped away at the lead.

These types of lapses have been common this year but there was one play in particular that I really liked. After Western once again switched their defense (after Wojcik had already called a play from the bench) Anthony Stitt had the ball at the top of the key with the rest of the team out of sync. Rather than force the ball to wherever it was supposed to go, or take his man one-on-one, Stitt backed it out again and reset. The Cougars ran a play and Wiedeman got an easy basket with the shot clock running out. That type of maturity is a welcome sight in postseason play.

Trey Sumler had yet another ridiculous shooting performance. Last time these two teams met he had 14 points in the final minute of play. Last night he had a similar hot streak. He nailed an off-balance jumper as the first half buzzer sounded and he also hit a long three as the final horn buzzed. Sumler finished the game with 25 points but he did take 21 shots. For much of the second half Stitt did a great job defensing him. Even if after some of those shots all you can do is raise your arms and shrug.

If there was one thing about this game to nitpick it would be the 17 turnovers. A lot of them were careless; Baru not taking his time with the outlet pass, balls going between guys legs, Lawrence's flashy transition attempted bounce pass to Baru etc. Thomas credited the sloppiness to the long time period between last night and the last game for the Cougars over a week ago. Again though, we had 17 turnovers and still scored 78 points. That's a good thing.

Just a really solid team win. If this is a sign of peaking at the right time than I am very excited about the next game. Elon had a tough time yesterday against UNCG. The Cougar-Phoenix semi-final is the game to watch Sunday and it won't disappoint. Go Cougars!

Day 1 Wrap Up

Georgia Southern 60,  Wofford 44

Top Performer- GSU guard Tre Bussey led the Eagles with 9 rebounds and went 2-3 from behind the arc en route to 12 points for the winning team.

What started as a punch-for-punch, slow paced contest quickly turned into a romp after Georgia Southern ended the first half on a decisive 14-0 run. The Wofford Terriers were held without a field goal for the final 7:13 of the first half and never looked to be in sync offensively. A team that already struggles to put the ball in the basket, Wofford was thrown off their game by the numerous defensive switches the Eagles threw at them. Man-to-man, 2-3 and 1-2-2  zones were all applied to Indiana Faithful and his teammates and they forced shot after shot.

I mentioned that how Karl Cochran goes, so does the Wofford offense. He ended up with just 4 points on 2-10 shooting (0-5 from behind the arc). The Eagles also held a 38-26 rebounding advantage over the under-sized Wofford front line. Next the Eagles will get their shot at knocking off Davidson again in the quarter-finals tomorrow.

Furman 55, Samford 51

Top Performer- Sixth year senior guard Bobby Austin led the Paladins with 17 points and came down with the go-ahead rebound to secure Furman's upset.

This was a game I expected Samford to walk away with despite their youth at key positions. What I didn't anticipate was Furman fielding a healthy rotation and taking the whole "we're 0-0 right now" mentality all the way to the bank. The Paladins were able to stay in the first half despite never leading because of the rebounding of the Brothers Reddick and their timely three-point shooting. Tim Williams of Samford sat with foul trouble the final 6 minutes of the 1st which contributed to the Bulldogs' rebounding and offensive woes.

At the half Bennie Seltzer said it was his priority to get his guys to crash the boards. Maybe the best way to decrease the rebounding margin may have been to take and make better shots. My "Most Important Player" Raijon Kelly struggled mightily, going 1-13 from the field (1-7 from behind three). Both teams missed a number of easy looks at the rim late but Samford's offense never looked efficient unless Seltzer had the team huddle during timeouts. Down one with 28 seconds to play, the Bulldogs' Tyler Hood turned the ball over after over dribbling. Then with another chance, down 2 with 13 seconds to go, the best thing Samford could muster was a contested layup by Raijon Kelly against two Paladin defenders.

It was a shocking loss for the Bulldogs who have to be at least slightly guilty of overlooking their opponent. Furman snaps a 10-game losing streak, beats Samford in the 1st round for the third straight year and will face App State tomorrow.

UNC Greensboro 87, Chattanooga 81

Top Performer- Derrell Armstrong spearheaded the Spartan's second half comeback by drilling 4 of 5 three point attempts and finishing with a game high 25 points.

Has there ever been a game that more encapsulated UNC Greensboro basketball? The Mocs started the game by opening a can on Wes Miller's defense-optional team and put UNCG in an early double-digit hole. Trevis Simpson and friends were taking one-on-five three pointers, attempting alley-oops and attempting way too many tough shots at the rim. On the other end of the court they weren't rotating on defense and allowed the Z Men and Rico White to have whatever shots they desired.

Then in the second half the Spartans started to hit some of their ridiculous shots and suddenly we had a game on our hands. Once UNCG had erased their deficit, the shift in effort was obvious. Simpson started driving recklessly to the basket and made up for his own poor shooting by converting at the line (6-7 on FT's). Even when the league's leading scorer went to the bench the Spartans stayed aggressive. At the end of 40 minutes it was the Mocs who were left stunned. UNCG meets up with Elon next. Dangerous matchup for the Phoenix.

Western Carolina 76, Citadel 61

Top Performer- Trey Sumler exploded for 27 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Hopefully he got all that scoring out of his system before the Catamounts meet the Cougars.

Can't say I'm very surprised by this outcome. I was more surprised that Citadel stayed in it as long as they did (approximately 7 minutes). Then the Bulldogs came back down to Earth and proceeded to foul and take bad shots. The Catamount crowd grew louder, Trey Sumler heated up and Mike Groselle's career came to an end.

All night long the Bulldogs were two steps too slow for the Bulldogs. Like I predicted in my preview, Citadel had no one capable of keeping up with Sumler: and it showed. Tawaski King also kept Groselle off the boards and off the score sheet for much of the first half. Next up the Catamounts take on the Cougars. It's a tough draw for sure but CofC has to feel good about how well Stitt defended Sumler in their first (only) meeting this year.

SoCon Tournament Preview: Day 1

This year the Cougars won themselves a bye in the first round of SoCon Tournament action on Friday. By the time the Cougars take the floor Saturday night, seven of the twelve participating teams will have already been eliminated. But that shouldn't stop Cougar fans from checking in on all the action leading up to Game 8. There are some good first round matchups on Friday, let's preview them. 

Game 1: #8 Wofford vs #9 Georgia Southern

The 8/9 matchup is always a good one and the Asheville action kicks off this year with a great dichotomy in playing styles. Wofford is slow-paced, methodical on defense and deliberate on offense. Mike Young led his Terriers to back-to-back SoCon Championships because of his teams' ability to defend and rebound the ball. The make up of this year's young team is much more inconsistent on both ends of the court. The Terriers can still defend in the half court, but they don't have the size to rebound against top-tier SoCon teams or the offensive diversity to keep pace with the smaller SoCon teams.

Georgia Southern wants to be an up-tempo, run-and-gun team. They have a starting five of track athletes, quick guards on the perimeter and one of the leagues best wing players in Eric Ferguson. The ideal pace for the Eagles is just the opposite of what Wofford prefers; Charlton Young likes his teams to get up and down the floor. Defensively, GSU's length and speed can cause problems for opposing teams. In January, the Eagles were able to knock off the two best teams in the conference (Davidson and CofC) by forcing turnovers. But when the same defensive pressure is applied to the Eagles, they often panic and take rushed shots. A lot of times GSU is guilty into falling into whatever playing style their opponent dictates, but their halfcourt offense cannot keep them in games on it's own. 

Most Important Player: Karl Cochran. As the high-volume sophomore shooting guard goes, so do the Terriers. He attempts nearly half the teams shots and he's probably worth 75% of their offense. Here's why Cochran is so important: as long as Mike Young is on the bench, Wofford's defense is stingy enough to keep teams in the 50's. Unfortunately, Wofford has so few weapons offensively that they all too often cannot score enough points to win games. Cochran is capable of pouring in 30 point games when he's dialed in. If his shots are falling in Asheville the Terriers win this one.

Entertainment Value: 7- Georgia Southern is a very entertaining group when opponents let them get out in transition. Even with Wofford's defense I think the Eagles are still good for some "wow" plays under the Civic Center lights. There's also Karl Cochran who is the mini Mini Mamba. Definitely one of the more exciting first round games.

The Pick: Wofford. The Terriers swept the Eagles in two meetings this year. Fundamentally strong defensive teams are kryptonite to Georgia Southern. I think the Terriers slow GSU down out of their comfort zone and Cochran does enough with weak defensive pressure from GSU's guards to carry the Terriers offense. It's tough to beat a team three times but I'm sticking with Wofford.

Game 2: #5 Samford vs #12 Furman

Samford, I was counting on you to lock up that bye. They have all the pieces to be a contender in the SoCon for years: great coach, a multi-faceted guard in Raijon Kelly, the leagues best freshman in forward Tim Williams. The Bulldogs were my favorite to get that final bye spot but a pair of overtime losses to the other two teams in contention, App State and Western Carolina, was the nail in the four day coffin for Coach Seltzer and company. Luckily their consolation prize is the opportunity to bully one of the worst teams in Division 1 basketball. 

If momentum is the biggest advantage going into tournament play then the Paladins are in for a short stay in Asheville. Furman is riding a 10 game losing streak heading into the postseason and not looking any better than their numbers on the surface. They can't rebound and their offense is all out of whack. The one thing they do have going for them is senior big man Colin Reddick. He is capable of chipping Williams off his spots and possibly disrupting the two man pick-and-roll game of Samford.

Most Important Player: Raijon Kelly. Fresh off an All-Conference selection, Kelly will be put to the test in postseason play. The pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop chemistry he and Williams have is the basis for Samford's offense. If Williams is struggling in his first SoCon Tournament it will be up to the versatile Kelly to create his own offense or become more of a drive-and-kick point guard. 

Entertainment Value: 3- Neither of these teams are flashy. From a pure basketball nerd perspective, watching Coach Seltzer's team operate is kind of "fun" but keep in mind the level of competition. Game 1 should end around 1:30, this would be a great time to grab lunch or a local brew. 

The Pick: Samford. The Paladins are the Walking Dead right now. They're only dressing like seven players, they're inexperienced and coming in with all that reverse momentum. A SoCon Tournament run does not look to be in the cards for them. Samford is probably under-seeded and should take Game 2 in convincing fashion. 

Game 3: #7 Chattanooga vs #10 UNCG

Two very dangerous teams get to go at each other in Game 3. Both capable of lighting up the scoreboard, both averse to playing defense and SoCon stars on both sides. Trevis Simpson and Derell Armstrong lead the high-scoring but severely under-achieving UNCG Spartans. Greensboro was the preseason pick to win the North Division but their lackadaisical approach to defense and inefficient offense have led to their 12 conference losses and 10th seeded status. Like Georgia Southern the Spartans would prefer a faster pace where they can jack up lots of shots and attempt to outscore their opponents. 

The Mocs can be a tough matchup for just about any SoCon team-top to bottom. The Z Men (Drazen Zlovaric and Z Mason) make up one of the best rebounding tandems in the league. Outside the arc the Mocs have a talented guard rotation led by underclassmen Gee McGhee and Rico White. Chattanooga's deeeeep bench rotation is ideal for the 4 games in 4 days format; but the real thing to watch in this game is UTC's full court pressure. Because of their depth, the Mocs can afford to full court press the entire game: and they often do. It can present problems for offensively challenged teams but such a distinction does not apply to the Spartans. Greensboro could easily break the press and get the run out dunks and three pointers they love so much or could fold under the pressure and give up a ton of turnovers. Those two possibilities make for an enticing game.

Most Important Player: Chattanooga's bench. Having the bodies to roll 12 deep is a big advantage, but sometimes the Mocs offense suffers from the hodgepodge lineups. Shulman has a habit of putting lineups on the floor that don't matchup well against opponents and he pulls players so often that there's no time for his second or third lines to gel. The lack of a pure point guard hurts the Spartans chances against the press but I think they break it most of the time and put up a bunch of points. It will be up to the guys not yet mentioned on Chattanooga's roster to score when they're on the court. 

Entertainment Value: 9! Hope everyone in attendance got their tourist commitments out of the way because this one promises more dunks and unguarded three pointers than an NBA All-Star game. Far and away the most entertainment potential of any first round game.

The Pick: UNCG. I'm going all chalk in the first round so it's time for an upset. This one is the closest to call so I will be only slightly humiliated if I'm wrong. The Spartans handled the Mocs in both meetings this year. Both teams seemed to have peaked weeks ago rather than carrying good play into the postseason. I think UNCG is a tough matchup for Chatt's full court pressure and the Spartans win this game.

Game 4: #6 Western Carolina vs #11 Citadel

The preview most of you immediately scrolled to because the winner of this game plays the Cougars on  Saturday. The Bulldogs and Catamounts were opponents in last year's Round 1 in Asheville in which the Cats were victorious en route to their championship game run. The key players are still the same: namely Mike Groselle and Trey Sumler, but the gap in talent isn't as large. The Citadel is playing better as of late as Coach Driesell's players continue to improve. These two teams played their only regular season meeting way back on January 5th with WCU winning by 18.

The biggest problem Citadel had in that game, and most likely in this game, was that they have no one who can guard Sumler. Trey Sumler is one of the SoCon's best scorers and falls into the category of "we need him to be effective to win" shooting guards in the SoCon. In many of the games the Catamounts have lost, Sumler has forced shots. The Bulldogs were unable to take Sumler out of his comfort zone and he torched them. Not only that but WCU's Tawaski King was tough on Mike Groselle. Without Groselle's points and no one to disrupt the Catamount offense, Citadel fell.

Most Important Player: The Western Carolina fans. Asheville is just an hour drive from the Cullowhee campus and there is a sizable Catamount alumni population in and around the SoCon Tournament's host city. Last year they were large enough and loud enough to carry WCU to their improbable four game run. The Catamounts have a distinct advantage in Asheville and they'll ride it as far as it, and Trey Sumler, will take them. 

Entertainment Value: 6 Again this one takes a hit to the entertainment index because of the ineptitude of one of the participants. Citadel, winners of 6 Division 1 games this year, does not muster much in the realm of spectator value. Because of the location and time however, this game will have a good crowd on hand. 

The Pick: Western Carolina. I know the game is not played on paper but WCU was the much better team this season. The game is instead played in front of hundreds of Western Carolina fans in which case...WCU is still a clear favorite. As much as I would love for our Charleston brethren to knock off the defending runner-ups and meet us on Saturday, I think the Catamounts win this game. 

SoCon Regular Season Awards: How I Voted

With the regular season complete, the collective blogosphere that partakes in Scanning the SoCon every week got together to vote on our very own conference awards. You can find the complete tabulation of all our choices here at Mocs Mania. What John Moc has put together is the total votes from all us bloggers (the official regular season awards will be out soon) for each distinction. For some added insight, here's my ballot complete with a few reasons why I chose the players I did. Enjoy.

AWARDS:

 

1st Team All SoCon

1) Andrew Lawrence

2) Trey Sumler

3) Nathan Healy

4) Jake Cohen

5) Lucas Troutman

*When I filled out my ballot, the only locks I put in for the first team were Jake Cohen and Andrew Lawrence. Cohen is my (and apparently everyone else's) POY but Lawrence was a solid second in my mind. There's a severe lack of well-rounded point guards in the SoCon. Most of the guards to show up on everyone's ballots are volume-shooting wings like Simpson, Sumler and Cochran. While I love high-scoring guards as much as the next guy, Lawrence's ability to score, distribute, rebound and close games made him an obvious choice in what I found to be a very position-based First Team. He's the best point guard in the league. 

**Healey was a name that at first was on my second team but after looking at his outlandish knack for appearing near the top of every major statistical category and the fact that most of his numbers jumped in conference play, he eventually found his way into my First Team and POY race.

 

2nd Team All SoCon

1) Raijon Kelly

2) Trevis Simpson

3) De'Mon Brooks

4) Z Mason
5) Adjehi Baru

*Fun fact: I almost completely left Brooks off my All-SoCon Teams. Looking over his season, the reigning Player of the Year did not dominate competition like I anticipated he would (underachieving was a theme in the SoCon this year). I thought I had strong cases for guys like Z Mason, Baru and Troutman to appear above him. But I think Brooks' numbers take a hit because of the talent that surrounds him. That consideration was not one I was making in my mid-season All-Conference awards (sorry for the huge demotion Groselle), but if he was on another team Brooks' numbers would be much higher. His talent is undeniable. 

**People will think I'm overvaluing CofC players again when I put Baru on my second team (he ended up on the Scanning the SoCon 3rd Team). Someone who leads the league in rebounding should automatically be an All-SoCon lock. Adjehi is also the best rim protecter and one-on-one post defender in the league. His stats don't show it but his length and intimidation led to a lot of altered shots. Also remember that he saw double-teams every possession since game two of the season. 

 

3rd Team All SoCon

1) Karl Cochran

2) CJ Reed

3) Eric Ferguson

4) Mike Groselle

5) Tim Williams

 

*I have Groselle on the 3rd Team while he ended up on Scanning the SoCon's First Team. Groselle's statistics alone are probably worthy enough for some to put him that high (I did too early in the year). But the fact that Citadel didn't win games really hurts his case for me at the end of the year. Notice how there are exactly zero Furman Paladins representatives on the list. 

**CJ Reed is underrated in my opinion. He's one of those more well-rounded point guards I said there was a lack of in this conference. Tim Williams is the only freshman to be All-SoCon because he doesn't play like one. 

Freshman All SoCon Team

1) Gee McGhee

2) Spencer Collins

3) Matt Van Scyoc

4) Kayel Locke
5) Tim Williams

*Where was all the Kayel Locke love?! Did no one watch his game against Wake Forest?! He's rough around the edges but from what I've seen of him I think Locke is going to be a stud in the SoCon for a while with the polish he already has offensively. The All-Freshman Team was the hardest category to fill this year but I thought for sure that the trio of Williams, McGhee and Locke would be unanimous. Guess not.

**Glad not everyone had to watch Van Scyoc torch CofC to recognize that he deserved consideration on this list. 

 

Player of the Year:

1) Jake Cohen

2) Andrew Lawrence
3) Nathan Healy

*Cohen: best player on the best team but also the reason why Davidson is as good as they are. Andrew Lawrence to me is the most valuable player to his team (just look at how the Cougars struggled against Auburn and Anderson without him on the floor). Healey was my third choice because of the aforementioned stat stuffing and increased play in conference.

Freshman of the Year:

1) Tim Williams

2) Gee McGhee
3) Kayel Locke

*Despite the late push by McGhee, Williams is the just the man and he should win this award from the SoCon and the press. 

 

Coach of the Year:

1) Matt Matheny

2) Bennie Seltzer

3) Bob McKillop

*We only got to vote for one Coach of the Year but if it came to a ranking this would be mine. Seltzer is very close to Matheny in my humble opinion. Remember in the preseason how terrible we all thought Samford was going to be? Seltzer has completely turned them around and is proving that having a young team is no excuse for not putting a competitive product on the court. Had Samford one the final bye spot I may have pushed Seltzer ahead of Matheny. 

Cougars Explode in Second Half; Primed for SoCon Tournament

Final Score: College of Charleston 74, Furman 50

Top Performers:

Willis Hall 9 points, 15 rebounds

Anthony Stitt 15 points, 5 assists

*Disclaimer: I was unable to make it a perfect regular season sweep of watching CofC basketball games this year. I missed watching this one live due to other Saturday afternoon obligations but I promise to make it up to y'all with an enormous amount of regular season wrap-up and SoCon preview posts.

So for this one we're going back to bullet point format

• So much for any lingering effects on Stitt's knee injury. Anthony finished the game having played 28 minutes and leading the Cougars in points and assists
• In order to come back from an 11-point first half deficit and eventually win by 24, something had to have gone very right along the way
• The Cougars shot 68% from the field and 54% from three in the second half. That could have something to do with it
• With an offensive explosion like that in the final half of regular season play, this Cougar fan has to assume we'll have momentum heading into next weekend...? Eh? How about some hot outside shooting for us in Asheville Cougs?
• From what I've heard over at CofC fans the Cougars had a solid outing last night against the zone. Willis was capitalizing on the open jumper in the cavity and there was enough effective outside shooting to put the Paladins into man. At which point CofC was really able to pull away.
• Anthony Stitt had one of my favorite quotes of the year after the game "they only scored 10 legitimate points in the second half" Colin Reddick has illegitimate points with a young woman in Monks Corner. It's something I frown upon. 
• Adjehi had another rough game but I already told you guys Reddick was going to give him trouble. Baru has been having a down stretch lately but (spoiler alert) it has not had much impact on my All-SoCon voting
• Trent had a very nice game. 13 and 9 in just 20 minutes coming off the bench. Why is there no SoCon Sixth Man of the Year award? 

Closing Out the Regular Season with a Trip to Furple

Furman University (6-22, 3-14)
College of Charleston (21-9, 13-4)
Free Concessions Arena
Tipoff at 4pm 

The Cougars drew a pretty nice opponent to close out the regular season. Furman has the worst record of any team in the SoCon and the Cougars get to play them on the road. You know, where we've been winning! Even though CofC is looking to sweep another upstate rival this season, the game against this Paladin team at TD Arena was about as close to a loss as the Cardiac Cougars have had. Had it not been for some clutch threes by Willis Hall and Andrew Lawrence the Cougs would have had an early season SoCon hole to climb out of.

That's why the should have a chip on their shoulder for this one. Losing to Citadel the other day, Furman assured themselves that they would finish the regular season as the worst team in the league. Yet they match up pretty favorably against CofC. Furman is going to run zone all afternoon so the Cougars have to do a better job of executing offense against it.

Six-foot-nine senior forward Colin Reddick has the size to bully Adjehi one-on-one like he did in the first matchup. It's Reddick's senior night and he'll be one motivated Paladin after the season Furman has had.

Fortunately for the Cougars the Paladins also have a number of weaknesses that have gotten them to this esteemed position in the first place. They turn the ball over a lot, they are not a strong rebounding team and they struggle to score points. You don't get to last place in one of the country's worst D1 conferences by chance. The fact that this game is on the road and against this team should equal positive momentum for the Cougars heading into Asheville.

If the Cougars do not drive away from Greenville tonight with rested starters and increased confidence matching up against the zone; something went very wrong.

Cougars Sweep Wofford in Final Home Game

College of Charleston 55, Wofford 50

Top Performers:

Andrew Lawrence 10 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists

Karl Cochran 23 points, 2 steals

Senior night could not have gone much better for Bart Benton. The walk-on, who's career high of three points came in his freshman season, got his first career start last night. Minutes into the game he swished a three, the TD Arena crowd erupted and he reveled in the spotlight on the night in which he and teammates Andrew Lawrence and Matt Sundberg were recognized.

Even though Bart's start was honorary, the team needed his bucket. Minutes before the game Anthony Stitt was scratched with a minor knee injury he had suffered against Gardner Webb. Stitt is still listed as day-to-day and despite telling doctors he was good to go he was held out for precautionary purposes. This could have been trouble for two reasons. One, the Cougar offense and outside shooting flows much better with Stitt on the court. Two, Anthony was largely responsible for defending Karl Cochran the last time around. As Cochran goes so do the Terriers and the responsibility would fall to Nori Johnson.

What was disconcerting though was the zero minutes registered by Trevonte Dixon with Stitt out. The sophomore guard hasn't seen much time this season with Lawrence and Stitt being so productive, but just two weeks ago we were talking about his potential role in three-guard lineups. One would think he would be first off the bench with Stitt out but alas Wojcik went with different choices.

For one stretch in the first half Coach went with a no point guard lineup that had Anthony Thomas facilitating the offense. The results were pretty disastrous. The Cougars committed a number of their 16 turnovers in that period (Baru had 7 on the night). Wojcik quickly got Andrew Lawrence back into the game and the team recovered. So really strange scenario that few would expect.

The zone once again gave the Cougars some trouble, but I think we looked better against the 2-3 than we did against Garder Webb. Hall and Lawrence made some buckets from the elbow cavity and Trent was able to neutralize some of the inside pressure by converting on some strong moves to the basket. In the pregame post I mentioned how I wanted the team to get more experience against this defensive set and Mike Young obliged.

Still a lot of positive in this win however. The Cougars absolutely dominated the rebounding margin 44-27. That was a big factor in sticking in the game early despite the missed threes and multiple turnovers. Nori Johnson also stepped up big in limiting Cochran. Nori got caught up in a few two-man screens and Cochran finished with 23 points- but he shot 10 for 27. Attempting nearly half your teams shots and hitting 37%? Johnson, Wojcik and any other team will take that all day.

Three years ago, when these two teams were atop the conference, I would have expected this type of boxscore. But if you told me one team had a shooting guard attempt 27 shots and the other out-rebounded them by 17 I would assume the teams on last nights score sheet were switched.

In the second half things opened up for the Cougs offensively. CofC shot 4-8 from three and 58% from the floor to cruise to one final home victory this season. Only Willis Hall and Andrew Lawrence finished in double figures but the bench contributed 29 points and even Bart Benton got on the score sheet. That should make your day right there.