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WarEagle22

The Jeremy Knight Experience v2.0 [Hoops Dynasty]

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82 BIG SOUTH TOURNAMENT (@ Lexington, Va.)

 

FIRST ROUND

[4] UNC-Asheville 80, [5] Radford 59

[3] Coastal Carolina 63, [6] Mississippi Valley State 61

[5] Alabama State 82, [4] Charleston Southern 80 (OT)

[3] High Point 87, [2] Liberty 72

 

SECOND ROUND

[4] UNC-Asheville 59, [1] VMI 54

 

*****HUGE upset by UNC-Asheville!!!! At this point I feel like the conference tournament is BSC's to win!!!

 

[2] Alabama A&M 69, [3] Coastal Carolina 67

[1] Birmingham-Southern 70, [4] Alabama State 55

[3] High Point 82, [2] Liberty 69

 

***All four teams in the semifinals are in the same division in the Big South. The conference schedule has been pretty brutal the last few seasons just cause of the overall strength of that division and playing each team twice instead of once.

 

SEMIFINALS

[2] Alabama A&M 74, [4] UNC-Asheville 66

[1] Birmingham-Southern 80, [3] High Point 62

 

At this point I feel very confident about winning the Big South Tournament. I feel like I have the best team in the Big South and I have a good game plan for Alabama A&M this time around...

 

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

[2] Alabama A&M 61, [1] Birmingham-Southern 58

 

This was a pretty crushing loss. BSC held Alabama A&M to just 16 first half point and couldn't stop them to save their lives in the second half. BSC trailed 54-53 with 1:18 left in the game and Elbert Estrella missed a layup and then missed the ensuing putback. A&M went down and hit a three to go up 57-53 with 1:01 left and it turn into a free throw game. The box score for each team is basically identical. Both teams made 21 field goals. A&M made six 3's to BSC's seven 3's. But the difference was A&M's 13 made free throws to BSC's nine made free throws. With the loss it's pretty much a certainty that BSC will not make the NCAA Tournament due to the Big South being a one-bid league. I feel like we will get into the NIT but I also wouldn't be shocked if BSC gets snubbed. It really sucks that this is probably the best team I've ever had in Hoops Dynasty and their seasons is over like that.

 

 

 

 

BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE AWARDS

Player of the Year

Robert Loar................C.....Sr.....Birmingham-Southern (14.7 ppg, 8 rpg)

 

Defensive Player of the Year

Tom Darden...............PF....Jr.....High Point (7.2 ppg, 6 rpg, 1.3 bpg)

 

Freshman of the Year

Robert Purcell...........SG...Fr.....Radford (6.8 ppg, 1.3 spg)

 

Coach of the Year

Jeremy Knight...........Birmingham-Southern

 

FIRST TEAM ALL-BIG SOUTH

PG.....Curtis Robbins (Sr., VMI)

SG.....Don Deason (Sr., Alabama A&M)

SF......Rudy Veasley (Sr., Birmingham-Southern)

PF......Wayne Kelly (Sr., VMI)

C.......Robert Loar (Sr., Birmingham-Southern)

 

SECOND TEAM ALL-BIG SOUTH

PG.....Melvin Woodard (Sr., VMI)

SG.....Paul Cheatham (Jr., Birmingham-Southern)

SF......Elbert Estrella (Jr., Birmingham-Southern)

PF......William Big (Jr., Birmingham-Southern)

C.......William Lyberger (Jr., Alabama A&M)

 

THIRD TEAM ALL-BIG SOUTH

PG.....Brian Kulas (Sr., VMI)

SG.....James Alvarez (Sr., High Point)

SF......Mathew Chaffee (Sr., Charleston Southern)

PF......Jesse Stern (Sr., Alabama A&M)

C.......Peter Rex (Sr., UNC-Asheville)

 

HONORABLE MENTION ALL-BIG SOUTH

Michael Reese (PG, Alabama A&M)

Cody Rogers (PG, Birmingham-Southern)

Ian Glick (PG, UNC-Asheville)

Clarence Anderson (SG, Coastal Carolina)

Chris Matthews (SG, Birmingham-Southern)

Howard Tomasini (SG, UNC-Asheville)

Damion Palmer (SF, Coastal Carolina)

Philip Wayne (SF, High Point)

Michael Brown (SF, Mississippi Valley State)

Lester Hitchcock (PF, Alabama A&M)

Marco Russo (PF, UNC-Asheville)

Edgar Stewart (PF, Liberty)

John Portwood (C, VMI)

Boris Graleski (C, Charleston Southern)

Stephen Davis (C, VMI)

 

Pretty pumped that Loar won POTY and I got COTY. I was also surprised that Veasley and Cheatham (both backups at their position) made the all-conference team ahead of the starters at their position. I was a little disappointed that VMI had all three point guards. I was really disappointed that Cody Rogers didn't made 2nd or 3rd team all-conference. He averaged 5.1 apg which is currently 7th in all of NCAA Division I. He only averaged right above 5 ppg but I feel like such a large apg total should count for something. I suppose I need a scoring point guard if I want him to be all-conference.

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The Birmingham News

 

Panthers Earn Rare At-Large Bid

 

BIRMINGHAM | The Birmingham-Southern Panthers are going to the Big Dance. Coach Jeremy Knight and the team found out Sunday night while watching the NCAA Selection Show at Knight's house.

 

"I was honestly very shocked when I saw our name appear on the screen" Knight said. "I figured the loss to Alabama A&M (in the Big South Tournament) and us being from the Big South that A&M stole our bid. I thought we were a 50/50 choice for the NIT."

 

It turns out that the Panthers 42nd RPI ranking was enough in the committee's eyes to push them off the bubble and into the field as a 13-seed. In fact, it was revealed that BSC earned the committee's last at-large bid as the final member of the "Last Four In." 

 

"You never want to be on the bubble this time of the year, but at the same time I would much rather be the last team in the NCAA Tournament than the first team in the NIT or even a team sitting at home watching everyone else play. We're just excited we get to keep playing."

 

Birmingham-Southern's selection to the NCAA Tournament is a rare feat because it gives the Big South Conference two teams in the NCAA field of 64. Traditionally the Big South only receives one bid to the tournament which usually goes to the conference tournament champion. Alabama A&M defeated BSC 61-58 earlier in the week to claim the Big South Tournament Championship.

 

The Panthers will face fellow in-state school Alabama in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Orlando, Florida. 

 

"We're extremely excited to be able to play in the (NCAA) Tournament once again," Knight said, "but we need to refocus and get back to work. We have to play an extremely talented and tough team in Alabama in the first game. They've been one of the top teams all season and I honestly feel like they're deserving of a 1- or 2-seed. 

 

"They're just so darn talented and they have so much depth. They have legit NBA players on their team and several elite defenders. They have three or four elite post players and a couple of elite shooters. But the good news is that they can only play five of their guys at a time and I feel like our starting five can play with any starting five in the country. The key is going to be keeping our best players on the floor."

 

This will be Birmingham-Southern's second NCAA Tournament appearance under Knight, with the first coming in 79, and the Panthers 10th overall appearance. Birmingham-Southern has an overall record of 0-9 in the NCAA Tournament. 

 

 

NCAA TOURNAMENT POD BREAKDOWN

 

MIDWEST SUB-REGIONAL (at Orlando, Fla.)

[5] Oklahoma

[12] Harvard

 

[4] Alabama 

[13] Birmingham-Southern

 

[5] OKLAHOMA SOONERS

20-7 overall record

12-4 in Big 12 (4th place)

Ranked #21 in previous AP Poll

The Sooners are looking to get back to the Final Four after falling to Florida in last year's championship game. Leading the charge will be senior guard Phillip Sykes who averages 13.6 ppg and was selected to the Honorable Mention All-Big 12 team. Sophomore power forward David Feldmann should also make an impact for the Sooners. Feldmann averages 11.8 ppg and 4.5 rpg and was selected to Third Team All-Big 12 honors. Feldmann is also viewed as a likely early entry into the NBA Draft after next season. Oklahoma was upset by Nebraska in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament and should be refocused for the NCAA Tournament. If not, the Sooners will find themselves back in Norman a couple of weeks sooner, no pun intended, than expected. 

 

[12] HARVARD CRIMSON

21-6 overall record

12-4 in Ivy League (3rd place)

Unranked in previous AP Poll

The Crimson are making their fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and Billy Thomas and Zlatko Golembiewski are two big reasons why. Thomas, a junior center, earned First Team All-Ivy League recognition after averaging 11 ppg and 6.4 rpg. Thomas should make things interesting in the post against Oklahoma. Shooting guard Golembiewski is just a sophomore but the leads the team in scoring with 11.1 ppg and in assists with 3.2 apg. The Ukrainian also earned Third Team All-Ivy League honors. Harvard is a talented team but also a very young team. Harvard's youth could ultimately end up being it's Achilles heel.

 

[4] ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE

23-5 overall record

14-2 in SEC (SEC Champions)

Ranked #19 in previous AP Poll

The Tide has been rolling all season long down in Tuscaloosa. Alabama looked like heavy favorites to win the SEC Tournament before falling to Kentucky in the semifinals. Paul Smith is the main reason Alabama has been so dominant this season. The SEC Player of the Year averages an incredible 17.7 ppg and is currently ranked third on the latest NBA Draft Big Board. Smith is elite at every skill set a guard needs - athleticism, speed, defense, shooting, ball handling and passing. He's also a better low post player than the majority of post players in the country. In short, Smith has it all. He is as complete of a player as there is in all of college basketball right now. For any team to have a chance of beating Alabama they'll need to stop Smith. Should a team stop Smith, or even slow him down, watch out because 6-7 center Jacob Lowery will wreak havoc in Smith's place. The junior First Team All-SEC performer averaged 14.7 ppg and 7.8 rpg this season. With the most talented roster in the sub-regional, the Tide should continue to roll on into a deep tournament run.

 

[13] BIRMINGHAM-SOUTHERN PANTHERS

25-4 overall record

14-2 in Big South (2nd place)

Unranked in previous AP Poll

The Panthers just barely got into the tournament and as a reward for making the final field they get to play one of the most talented teams in the country. However, don't sleep on Birmingham-Southern. While they are certainly less talented than several teams in the tournament they are definitely not short on talent. Big man Robert Loar earned Big South Player of the Year honors after averaging 14.7 ppg and 8 rpg. The key for the Panthers to make an upset or two in the tournament will be slowing the game down and keeping their best players on the floor as long as they possibly can. Birmingham-Southern has a couple of players that can hold their own with some of the nation's best, and while their bench is certainly one of the better low- to mid-major reserve groups in the game, it's just not capable of hanging around with the reserves from the high-major teams.

 

PREDICTIONS

Oklahoma comes into Florida on a mission after being embarrassed by Nebraska. That, fueled with Harvard's youth, sends the Crimson home with a fourth straight first round loss. Birmingham-Southern does it's best to slow down the game against Alabama, but the Crimson Tide's superior talent, especially at the guard positions, easily advance them into the second round. Oklahoma meets Alabama in an intriguing and exciting second round matchup with a trip to the Sweet Sixteen on the line. Once again, Alabama's ridiculous talent level proves to be too much and the Tide rolls onto Detroit.

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[4] Alabama vs. [13] Birmingham-Southern

 

TALE OF THE TAPE

 

 

OVERALL RECORD

Alabama 23-5; Birmingham-Southern 25-4

 

POINTS

Alabama 77.6 ppg; Birmingham-Southern 74.7 ppg

 

FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE

Alabama 51.7%; Birmingham-Southern 51.2%

 

3-POINT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE

Alabama 43.8%; Birmingham-Southern 44.4%

 

FREE THROW PERCENTAGE

Alabama 73.5%; Birmingham-Southern 70.3%

 

REBOUNDS

Alabama 34.9 rpg; Birmingham-Southern 33.9 rpg

 

ASSISTS

Alabama 17.5 apg; Birmingham-Southern 18.8 apg

 

TURNOVERS

Alabama 12.4 top; Birmingham-Southern 12 topg

 

STATISTICAL LEADERS:

PPG

ALA: Paul Smith (17.7 ppg)

BSC: Robert Loar (15.6 ppg)

 

RPG

ALA: Jacob Lowery (7.8 rpg)

BSC: Robert Loar (7.8 rpg)

 

APG

ALA: Michael Vreeland (4.7 apg)

BSC: Cody Rogers (5.1 apg)

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The Birmingham News

 

Tide crush Panthers in NCAA opener

 

ORLANDO, FLA. | Birmingham-Southern's 74-50 loss against 4-seed Alabama in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament was definitely a tale of two halves for the Panthers. After 20 minutes the Panthers were hanging around, trailing 35-31. Then in the second half the Crimson Tide's bench came alive and ran away with the game.

 

"You definitely have to give (Alabama) a lot of credit," BSC coach Jeremy Knight said. "I thought we had a terrific game plan for them and we did an excellent job executing that gameplay in the first half. We went cold in the second half and we couldn't keep up with their bench players and they really put it on us a result."

 

In the first half the Panthers shot 50 percent from the floor and held the Crimson Tide's bench to just eight points. During the second half BSC shot 28.5 percent from the floor, including 14 percent from 3-point range, and were outscored 20-2 by the Alabama bench.

 

"They did a fantastic job of making adjustments at the half," Knight said. "They did a much better job of getting out and guarding us and contesting our shots. Robert (Loar) got into some foul trouble in the second half and that really hurt us offensively as well."

 

Loar, the Big South Player of the Year, played only 24 minutes and scored eight points with five rebounds. William Big stepped up in Loar's absence and led BSC with 17 points and eight rebounds. Rudy Veasley added 10 points for the Panthers. 

 

The Birmingham-Southern bench totaled 56 minutes of floor time, but only shot 27.3 percent from the floor and produced eight points, one assists, and seven rebounds. Alabama was led by Paul Smith, the SEC Player of the Year and potential number one pick in June's NBA Draft, with 18 points while facing a double-team all night long. 

 

"You always want to win and keep playing this time of year," Knight said about the experience of this season, "but at the same time I think it's quite a testament to these guys and an accomplishment that they were able to get an at-large bid coming out of the Big South. The seniors on this team won 94 games during their time at Birmingham-Southern. They have a combined 3.4 GPA. They were part of the school's first conference tournament championship in over 20 years. They had the opportunity to play in two NCAA Tournaments, which is something only two other senior classes in the history of Birmingham-Southern can say. 

 

"I'm disappointed our season is over, but I'm not gonna let that overshadow all of the wonderful things these guys have accomplished at our university."

 

Alabama (24-5) will play 5-seed Oklahoma (21-7) Saturday in the second round with the winner advancing to the Midwest Regional in Detroit. Birmingham-Southern is now 0-10 in NCAA Tournament games and ends the season with a 25-5 record.

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82 POSTSEASON 

 

NCAA DIVISION III TOURNAMENT

 

FIRST ROUND

MIDWEST

[1] Ferrum College def. [16] Elms College

[9] Montclair State def. [8] Nebraska Wesleyan

[5] California Tech def. [12] City College of New York

[4] Wisconsin-Stevens Point def. [13] Juniata College

[6] Methodist def. [11] Delaware Valley

[3] Centre College def. [14] Endicott College

[7] Bethany College def. [10] Eureka College

[2] Chestnut Hill def. [15] Wittenberg

EAST

[1] Averett def. [16] Worcester State

[8] Westminster (MO) def. [9] Massachusetts Liberal Arts

[5] Fairleigh Dickinson-Madison def. [12] Roanoke College

[4] Dallas def. [13] Rutgers-Camden

[6] Capital def. [11] Wisconsin-Superior

[3] Howard Payne def. [14] Monmouth College

[7] Johnson and Wales def. [10] Philadelphia Biblical

[2] Greensboro College def. [15] Franklin & Marshall

SOUTH

[1] North Carolina Wesleyan def. [16] Pittsburgh State

[9] William Patterson def. [8] Southwestern

[5] Chicago def. [12] Catholic

[4] Union College def. [13] Lycoming College

[6] Christopher Newport def. [11] Williamette

[3] Wisconsin-Stout def. [14] Wesleyan

[10] Ogelthorpe def. [7] Dominican

[2] Wisconsin Lutheran def. [15] St. Olaf College

WEST

[1] Chowan College def. [16] Bridgewater State

[8] Anderson def. [9] Brooklyn College

[5] Colorado College def. [12] Rochester

[4] Yeshiva def. [13] Ramapo

[6] La Grange College def. [11] Heidelberg

[3] Augustana College def. [14] Sul Ross State

[10] Palm Beach Atlantic def. [7] Wisconsin-Oshkosh

[2] Menlo College def. [15] Cabrini College

 

SECOND ROUND

MIDWEST

[1] Ferrum College def. [9] Montclair State

[4] Wisconsin-Stevens Point def. [5] California Tech

[3] Centre College def. [6] Methodist

[2] Chestnut Hill def. [7] Bethany College

EAST

[8] Westminster (MO) def. [1] Averett

[5] Fairliegh Dickinson-Madison def. [4] Dallas

[3] Howard Payne def. [6] Capital

[2] Greensboro College def. [7] Johnson and Wales

SOUTH

[1] North Carolina Wesleyan def. [8] Anderson

[4] Union College def. [5] Chicago

[6] Christopher Newport def. [3] Wisconsin-Stout

[2] Wisconsin Lutheran def. [10] Oglethorpe

WEST

[1] Chowan College def. [8] Anderson

[4] Yeshiva def. [5] Anderson

[6] La Grange College def. [3] Augustana College

[2] Menlo College def. [10] Palm Beach Atlantic

 

SWEET SIXTEEN

MIDWEST

[1] Ferrum College def. [4] Wisconsin-Stevens Point

[3] Centre College def. [2] Chestnut Hill

EAST

[8] Westminster (MO) def. [5] Fairleigh Dickinson-Madison

[3] Howard Payne def. [2] Greensboro College

SOUTH

[4] Union College def. [1] North Carolina Wesleyan

[6] Christopher Newport def. [2] Wisconsin Lutheran

WEST

[4] Yeshiva def. [1] Chowan College

[2] Menlo College def. [6] La Grange College

 

ELITE EIGHT

MIDWEST

[1] Ferrum College def. [3] Centre College

EAST

[8] Westminster (MO) def. [3] Howard Payne

SOUTH

[4] Union College def. [6] Christopher Newport

WEST

[2] Menlo College def. [4] Yeshiva

 

FINAL FOUR

[8] Westminster (MO) def. [1] Ferrum College

[2] Menlo College def. [4] Union College

 

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

[2] Menlo College def. [8] Westminster (MO)

 

 

NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT

 

FIRST ROUND

MIDWEST

[1] Angelo State def. [16] Minnesota-Duluth

[8] Oakland City def. [9] San Francisco State

[12] Ashland def. [5] Northwest Nazarene

[4] Washington Adventist def. [13] Mansfield

[6] Metro State def. [11] St. Michael's

[3] Limestone College def. [14] Grand Valley State

[7] New Jersey Tech def. [10] Rollins College

[2] Cal State-Chico def. [15] Wisconsin-Parkside

EAST

[16] Virginia Union def. [1] Philadelphia

[9] USC-Upstate def. [8] Gannon

[5] Merrimack College def. [12] Northeastern State

[4] Cal State-Santa Barbara def. [13] Charleston

[6] Green Mountain def. [11] Delta State

[3] Grand Canyon def. [14] Saginaw Valley State

[10] Eastern New Mexico def. [7] Molloy College

[15] West Virginia Wesleyan def. [2] Mount Olive

SOUTH

[1] Sonoma State def. [16] UNC-Pembroke

[8] Fairmont State def. [9] Indiana (PA)

[12] Abilene Christian def. [5] Florida Southern

[4] North Dakota State def. [13] Bloomfield College

[6] Northern Michigan def. [11] Longwood

[14] Arkansas-Monticello def. [3] Quincy

[10] Cal State-Los Angeles def. [7] West Florida

[2] University of D.C. def. [15] Fort Valley State

WEST

[1] Cal State-Dominguez Hills def. [16] Kentucky State

[8] Armstrong Atlantic def. [9] Indianapolis

[5] Findlay def. [12] Ouachita Baptist

[4] Tarleton State def. [13] West Texas A&M

[11] Seattle def. [6] LIU-CW Post

[14] Post def. [3] Tusculum

[7] Western State def. [10] California-San Diego

[15] Wayne State (MI) def. [2] Bowie State

 

SECOND ROUND

MIDWEST

[1] Angelo State def. [8] Oakland City

[4] Washington Adventist def. [12] Ashland

[6] Metro State def. [3] Limestone College

[7] New Jersey Tech def. [2] Cal State-Chico

EAST

[9] USC-Upstate def. [16] Virginia Union

[4] Cal State-Santa Barbara def. [5] Merrimack College

[3] Grand Canyon def. [6] Green Mountain

[15] West Virginia Wesleyan def. [10] Eastern New Mexico

SOUTH

[1] Sonoma State def. [8] Fairmont State

[12] Abilene Christian def. [4] North Dakota State

[14] Arkansas-Monticello def. [6] Northern Michigan

[2] University of D.C. def. [10] Cal State-Los Angeles

WEST

[1] Cal State-Dominguez Hills def. [8] Armstrong Atlantic

[4] Tarleton State def. [5] Findlay

[11] Seattle def. [14] Post

[7] Western State def. [15] Wayne State (MI)

 

SWEET SIXTEEN

MIDWEST

[1] Angelo State def. [4] Washington Adventist

[7] New Jersey Tech def. [6] Metro State

EAST

[9] USC-Upstate def. [4] Cal State-Santa Barbara

[3] Grand Canyon def. [15] West Virginia Wesleyan

SOUTH

[12] Abilene Christian def. [1] Sonoma State

[14] Arkansas-Monticello def. [2] University of D.C.

WEST

[1] Cal State-Dominguez Hills def. [4] Tarleton State

[11] Seattle def. [7] Western State

 

ELITE EIGHT

MIDWEST

[1] Angelo State def. [7] New Jersey Tech

EAST

[3] Grand Canyon def. [9] USC-Upstate

SOUTH

[14] Arkansas-Monticello def. [12] Abilene Christian

WEST

[1] Cal State-Dominguez Hills def. [11] Seattle

 

FINAL FOUR

[1] Angelo State def. [3] Grand Canyon

[1] Cal State-Dominguez Hills def. [14] Arkansas-Monticello

 

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

[1] Angelo State def. [1] Cal State-Dominguez Hills

 

NIT

 

FIRST ROUND

[1] Michigan 62, [8] Sam Houston State 45

[5] Prairie View A&M 68, [4] Villanova 64

[3] Dartmouth 83, [6] Richmond 70

[2] Texas-San Antonio 73, [6] Albany 61

[1] San Diego State 71, [8] New Mexico State 52

[4] Eastern Kentucky 84, [5] Texas 76

[3] South Carolina 66, [6] Hampton 48

[7] South Florida 81, [2] Central Connecticut State 73

[8] North Carolina State 54, [1] Purdue 44

[5] Brown 64, [4] Idaho State 57

[3] BYU 88, [6] Drake 86

[2] Tennessee 100, [7] Missouri 68

[1] Cincinnati 63, [8] Georgia 51

[5] North Carolina 54, [4] Kansas State 48

[3] Notre Dame 66, [6] Holy Cross 54

[2] Santa Clara 91, [7] Stanford

 

SECOND ROUND

[1] Michigan 62, [5] Prairie View A&M 49

[2] Texas-San Antonio 78, [3] Dartmouth 58

[1] San Diego State 56, [4] Eastern Kentucky 52

[3] South Carolina 73, [7] South Florida 54

[8] North Carolina State 77, [5] Brown 74

[2] Tennessee 87, [3] BYU 66

[5] North Carolina 71, 1] Cincinnati 58

[3] Notre Dame 69, [2] Santa Clara 58

 

THIRD ROUND

[1] Michigan 58, [2] Texas-San Antonio 36

[1] San Diego State 69, [3] South Carolina 58

[8] North Carolina State 75, [2] Tennessee 65

[5] North Carolina 52, [3] Notre Dame 50

 

SEMIFINALS (at New York, N.Y.)

[1] San Diego State 61, [1] Michigan 44

[8] North Carolina State 57, [5] North Carolina 42

 

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME (at New York, N.Y.)

[8] North Carolina State 63, [1] San Diego State 52

 

 

NCAA DIVISION I TOURNAMENT

 

FIRST ROUND

MIDWEST

[1] Ohio State 101, [16] Austin Peay 58

[9] Arizona 77, [8] UAB 67

[5] Oklahoma 79, [12] Harvard 67

[4] Alabama 74, [13] Birmingham-Southern 50

[6] Providence 77, [11] Bradley 71

[3] Duke 70, [14] Howard 53

[7] Illinois 73, [10] Fresno State 58

[2] Utah 71, [15] Miami (OH) 67

EAST

[1] Seton Hall 72, [16] Fairfield 52

[8] Wake Forest 90, [9] New Hampshire 87

[12] Northwestern 70, [5] LSU 66

[4] Colorado 65, [13] San Jose State 53

[6] Kentucky 72, [11] Nebraska 61

[3] UCLA 121, [14] Stephen F. Austin 64

[7] Virginia Tech 68, [10] North Texas 57

[2] Michigan State 85, [15] Chicago State 55

SOUTH

[1] Virginia 116, [16] Cal State-Fullerton 67

[8] Rutgers 64, [9] Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 54

[5] Columbia 70, [12] Oklahoma State 57

[4] Ole Miss 76, [13] Northern Arizona 52

[11] Texas Southern 61, [6] Washington 60

[3] Connecticut 93, [14] DePaul 83

[7] Wisconsin 76, [10] Monmouth 62

[2] Texas A&M 80, [15] Furman 59

WEST

[1] Iowa 74, [16] William & Mary 72

[8] Baylor 73, [9] Xavier 66

[5] Miami (FL) 68, [12] Oregon State 49

[4] Syracuse 79, [13] Air Force 66

[6] California 67, [11] Boston College 54

[3] Florida 90, [14] Louisiana-Lafayette 66

[7] Georgetown 78, [10] Minnesota 75 (OT)

[2] Kansas 68, [15] Alabama A&M 49

 

SECOND ROUND

MIDWEST

[1] Ohio State 67, [9] Arizona 43

[4] Alabama 74,  [5] Oklahoma 69

[6] Providence 60, [3] Duke 54

[7] Illinois 57, [2] Utah (OT)

EAST

[1] Seton Hal 69, [8] Wake Forest 55

[12] Northwestern 59, [4] Colorado 57

[3] UCLA 71, [6] Kentucky 61

[2] Michigan State 67, [7] Virginia Tech 65 (OT)

SOUTH

[1] Virginia 69, [8] Rutgers 60

[4] Ole Miss 80, [5] Columbia 62

[3] Connecticut 62, [11] Texas Southern 52

[2] Texas A&M 57, [7] Wisconsin 50

WEST

[1] Iowa 74, [8] Baylor 64

[4] Syracuse 56, [5] Miami (FL) 55

[3] Florida 75, [6] California 56

[2] Kansas 79, [7] Georgetown 72

 

SWEET SIXTEEN

MIDWEST (at Detroit, Mich.)

[4] Alabama 56, [1] Ohio State 44

[6] Providence 61, [7] Illinois 46

EAST (at Boston, Mass.)

[1] Seton Hall 62, [12] Northwestern 57

[3] UCLA 79, [2] Michigan State 74

SOUTH (at Atlanta, Ga.)

[1] Virginia 78, [4] Ole Miss 62

[2] Texas A&M 75, [3] Connecticut 66

WEST (at Salt Lake City, Utah)

[1] Iowa 58, [4] Syracuse 56

[3] Florida 91, [2] Kansas 80 (OT)

 

ELITE EIGHT

MIDWEST (at Detroit, Mich.)

[6] Providence 65, [4] Alabama 61

EAST (at Boston, Mass.)

[1] Seton Hall 74, [3] UCLA 66

SOUTH (at Atlanta, Ga.)

[1] Virginia 89, [2] Texas A&M 79

WEST (at Salt Lake City, Utah)

[3] Florida 102, [1] Iowa 91

 

FINAL FOUR (at Minneapolis, Minn.)

[6] Providence 65, [1] Seton Hall 62

[1] Virginia 106, [3] Florida 96

 

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME (at Minneapolis, Minn.)

[6] Providence 74, [1] Virginia 72

 

 

 

82 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS:

Division III: Menlo College (35-0) *3rd National Championship in school history (74, 77, 82)*

Division II: Angelo State (35-1) *3rd National Championship in school history (46, 50, 82)*

NIT: North Carolina State (19-14) *2nd NIT Championship in school history (71, 82)*

Division I: Providence (27-6) *2nd National Championship in school history (23, 82)*

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82 AP DIVISION I NATIONAL AWARDS

 

 

AP PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Tony Albert....................PG.....Sr.....UAB

23.5 ppg, 4.5 apg

 

AP DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Douglas Newman..........PF.....Sr.....UCLA

6.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.7 bpg

 

AP FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR

Eric Hunter.....................SG....Fr.....Florida

10 ppg, 2.6 apg

 

AP COACH OF THE YEAR

Seth Banks....................Virginia

29-2 overall record entering Sweet Sixteen, ACC Champion, ACC Tournament Champion, 1-seed in NCAA Tournament

*1st COTY Award

 

FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICA

PG: Tony Albert (Sr., UAB)

SG: Gary Swarts (Sr., Wake Forest)

SF: Justin Harrison (Sr., La Salle)

PF: Dustin McCoy (Sr., Florida)

C: Bryan Chacon (Sr., Virginia Tech)

 

SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICA

PG: Kevin Cooper (Sr., New Hampshire)

SG: Patrick Merrill (Sr., UCLA)

SF: Walter Landry (Jr., UCLA)

PF: Mark Bertram (Jr., Loyola (MD))

C: Jacob Lowery (Jr., Alabama)

 

THIRD TEAM ALL-AMERICA

PG: James Blackwelder (So., Arizona)

SG: Paul Smith (Sr., Alabama)

SF: Rosario Marino (Sr., Virginia Tech)

PF: Timothy Canipe (Jr., Colorado)

C: Benjamin Sims (Sr., UAB)

 

HONORABLE MENTION ALL-AMERICA

Alberto Gallo (PG, American)

Antonio Davis (PG, Ole Miss)

Gregory McKenney (PG, Loyola (MD))

Roy Ross (SG, UCLA)

Kermit Merchand (SG, New Hampshire)

Mark Whisenhunt (SG, Santa Clara)

Donald King (SF, Furman)

Donald Palmquist (SF, Northwestern)

Eric Henderson (SF, Ole Miss)

Billy Turner (PF, Monmouth)

David Vigna (PF, LSU)

Shawn Holman (PF, Navy)

Clarence Calaway (C, Illinois)

Robert Loar (C, Birmingham-Southern)

Donald Basham (C, Iowa)

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BIRMINGHAM-SOUTHERN FINAL STATITSTICS 

 

Robert Loar (Sr., C)

30 GP/30 GS     26 mpg     51.4%/0%/68.3%     15.3 ppg     7.7 rpg

*1st in Big South scoring

 

Cody Rogers (Sr., PG)

30 GP/30 GS     23.3 mpg     46.3%/37.1%/72.5%     5.4 ppg     5 apg

*1st in Big South assists

 

William Big (Jr., PF)

30 GP/30 GS     23 mpg     58.9%/n-a/60.5%     8.6 ppg     4.9 rpg

*1st in Big South FG percentage

 

Elbert Estrella (Jr., SF)

30 GP/29 GS     20.5 mpg     47.1%/40%/52.4%     7.8 ppg     3.6 rpg

 

Chris Matthews (Jr., SG)

29 GP/29 GS     19.3 mpg     48%/38.8%/69.9%     9.4 ppg     2.1 apg

 

Rudy Veasley (Sr., SF)

30 GP/1 GS     17.8 mpg     55.1%/54.9%/81.4%     8.3 ppg     3.1 rpg

*1st in Big South 3-point FG percentage

*1st in NCAA 3-point FG percentage

 

Michael Stutes (Fr., PF)

30 GP/0 GS     16.5 mpg     61.1%/n-a/78.6%     1.1 ppg     3.4 rpg

 

Paul Cheatham (Jr., SG)

30 GP/0 GS     16.5 mpg     47.4%/43.4%/84.4%     9.9 ppg     1.4 apg

 

Jared Lobdell (So., PG)

30 GP/0 GS     14.6 mpg     63.3%/0%/73.3%     2 ppg     3.4 apg

 

William Wright (Jr., C)

30 GP/0 GS     14.4 mpg     46.8%/n-a/76.9%     3.9 ppg     5.3 rpg

 

Richard Kanagy (So., PG)

18 GP/1 GS     7.8 mpg     66.7%/100%/66.7%     1.1 ppg     1.3 apg

 

Donald Bowen (Fr., PG)

23 GP/0 GS     5.3 mpg     48.4%/48.1%/100%     2.3 ppg     0.5 apg

 

 

Birmingham-Southern Team Statistics

Offense:

73.8 ppg (2nd in Big South)

33.6 rpg (5th in Big South)

18.4 apg (1st in Big South) (11th in NCAA)

3.9 bpg (T-2nd in Big South)

7.7 spg (6th in Big South)

14.2 fouls-per-game (1st in Big South) (T-11th in NCAA)

11.9 topg (T-1st in Big South) (T-13th in NCAA)

50.8% FG percentage (1st in Big South) (14th in NCAA)

43.6% 3-point FG percentage (1st in Big South) (6th in NCAA)

70.4% FT percentage (8th in Big South)

 

Defense:

59.6 ppg (2nd in Big South)

29.8 rpb (2nd in Big South)

11.1 apg (2nd in Big South)

3.1 bpg (3rd in Big South)

5.8 spg (2nd in Big South) (T-22nd in NCAA)

18.8 fpg (4th in Big South)

14.6 topg (T-6th in Big South)

40.6% FG percentage (2nd in Big South) (T-14th in NCAA)

28.9% 3-point FG percentage (1st in Big South) (4th in NCAA)

75.9% FT percentage (12th in Big South)

 

 

Really pumped about several guys leading the conference in different categories. Especially with Veasley leading the NCAA in 3-point FG percentage. Looking at the overall team statistics I'm pretty pleased with our offense which was one of top offenses in all of the NCAA in most categories. We need to improve in rebounding and especially in FT percentage. One of the main goals of our offense is to be aggressive and get to the line for easy points and putting the other team in foul trouble. We definitely need to shoot better from the foul line. Our defense was pretty good as well. We trailed VMI in most of the Big South categories (their superb defense is one of the reasons they've made the run they have the last two seasons). 

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82 NBA DRAFT RECAP

ROUND 1

 

PK.....TEAM...................................PLAYER........................POS.....YR......HT.....WT.....COLLEGE

1........Orlando Magic......................Paul Smith.....................SG.......Sr........6-0....178....Alabama

2........Philadelphia 76ers................David Vigna...................PF........Sr........6-6....215....LSU

3........Miami Heat...........................Omar Parker..................PF........So.......6-8....234....Washington

4........Milwaukee Bucks.................Antonio Davis.................PG.......Sr........6-4....206....Ole Miss

5........Denver Nuggets...................Timothy Canipe..............PF........Jr.........6-8....239....Colorado

6........Detroit Pistons......................Danny Mathias...............SF........Jr.........6-7....209....Michigan State

7........Indiana Pacers.....................Dustin Moses..................PF........Jr.........6-8....214....Connecticut

8........San Antonio Spurs...............Lester McCarthy..............SF........Jr.........6-5....208....Wisconsin

9........Dallas Mavericks..................Joshua Graham..............SF........Sr.........6-6....204....Duke

10......Charlotte Hornets.................Howard Burton................SF........Jr.........6-5....216....Kansas

11......Phoenix Suns.......................David Jones....................SG.......So........6-2....185....Utah

12......Washington Wizards.............Michael Wiggins.............PG.......Jr.........5-9....165....Seton Hall

13......Brooklyn Nets.......................Shawn Marshall..............PF........Jr.........6-8....204....Michigan State

14......Toronto Raptors....................Clarence Calaway...........C.........So........6-9....212....Illinois

15......Los Angeles Clippers............Donald Basham..............C.........Sr.........6-7....230....Iowa

16......Houston Rockets..................Charles Kimmel...............SF.......Jr..........6-7....215....Seton Hall

17......Oklahoma City Thunder........Daniel McRae..................PF.......So........6-8....217....Providence

18......Portland Trail Blazers............Fred Aquino.....................C........Sr.........6-11...232....Washington

19......Cleveland Cavaliers..............Joseph Duncan...............PG......Jr.........5-11....168....Duke

20......New Orleans Pelicans...........Chris Delatte...................SF.......Sr.........6-5.....209....Virginia

21......Atlanta Hawks.......................Arden Dykstra..................SF......Jr..........6-6.....207....Ohio State

22......Sacramento Kings.................Marvin Cavalier...............PG......Sr.........6-3.....194....Seton Hall

23......Utah Jazz...............................Maximo Romano............C.........Sr.........6-11....256...Miami (FL)

24......New York Knicks....................Tony Albert......................PG......Sr.........6-2......184....UAB

25......Memphis Grizzlies..................Douglas Newman...........PF.......Sr.........6-8......227....UCLA

26......Los Angeles Lakers................Steven Springer..............SF.......Jr.........6-1......198....UCLA

27......Boston Celtics.........................Jim Oliver.......................PF.......Sr.........6-8......204....Wisconsin

28......Golden State Warriors...........Jim Thompson................SG.......Jr.........5-11....166....Minnesota

29......Minnesota Timberwolves.......Bryan Chacon.................C.........Sr.........6-9.....235....Virginia Tech

30......Chicago Bulls.........................Paul Klein........................PG......Jr.........5-10....174....Ohio State

 

ROUND 2

 

PK.....TEAM...................................PLAYER........................POS.....YR......HT.....WT.....COLLEGE

31......Orlando Magic......................Andrew Palladino..........C..........Sr........6-6....203....Texas A&M

32......Philadelphia 76ers...............Danny Clark...................PF........Sr........6-9....210.....LSU

33......Miami Heat...........................William Doering.............PF........Jr.........6-5....205....Oregon State

34......Milwaukee Bucks.................Roy Ross.......................SG.......Sr.........6-1....177....UCLA

35......Denver Nuggets...................John Yamaguchi............SG.......Sr.........6-3....201....UCLA

36......Detroit Pistons......................Robert Frost..................SG.......Jr..........6-1....184....Kentucky

37......Indiana Pacers......................Walter Landry................SF........Jr.........6-5.....213....UCLA

38......San Antonio Spurs................Dustin McCoy................PF........Sr.........6-2.....191....Florida

39......Dallas Mavericks...................Donovan Judd...............SG......Jr..........6-1......177....Kansas

40......Charlotte Hornets..................Henry Armand...............PG......Sr..........6-0.....173.....Providence

41......Phoenix Suns........................Louis Rupp....................SF.......Sr..........6-3.....187....Duke

42......Washington Wizards.............Arthur Bartow.................SG......Sr..........6-0.....170....Northwestern

43......Brooklyn Nets.......................David Morgan.................PF.......Jr...........6-7.....231....Utah

44......Toronto Raptors....................Thurman Mims...............C.........Sr..........6-9.....245....Florida

45......Los Angeles Clippers............Rosario Marino...............SF......Sr...........6-6.....200....Virginia Tech

46......Houston Rockets..................Daniel Drinkard...............SF......Sr...........6-2.....187....Texas A&M

47......Oklahoma City Thunder........Keith Walser...................SF.......Sr...........6-5....218....Ohio State

48......Portland Trail Blazers...........Terry Burkley...................PG.....Sr...........6-1.....187....Georgetown

49......Cleveland Cavaliers..............Calvin Wason.................PF......Sr...........6-9.....215....Syracuse

50......New Orleans Pelicans..........Elbert Shealy...................PG.....Jr...........6-2.....202....Virginia Tech

51......Atlanta Hawks.......................Jeffrey Plunk..................SG.....Sr...........5-10...167....Virginia

52......Sacramento Kings.................Ernest Lebeau...............C........Sr..........6-7......229....Baylor

53......Utah Jazz..............................Robert Tartaglia..............PF......Sr..........6-4......206....California

54......New York Knicks...................Michael Bess..................PG.....Sr..........6-5......214....California

55......Memphis Grizzlies.................Luke Heppner................C........Sr..........6-8......228....Michigan State

56......Los Angeles Lakers...............John Phillips..................PG.....Sr...........6-5.....197....Wisconsin

57......Boston Celtics.......................Sean Edwards...............SF......Sr...........6-3.....206....Baylor

58......Golden State Warriors..........Olin Wiszynski................PG.....Jr...........5-9.....160....Michigan

59......Minnesota Timberwolves......Dennis Moore.................PF......Sr...........6-9....237....Northwestern

60......Chicago Bulls........................Patrick Greenwald.........PG.....Jr............6-3....180....Providence

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Birmingham-Southern Athletics Press Release

 

Panthers Finalize Recruiting Class

 

BIRMINGHAM | Coach Jeremy Knight announced the signing of three prep players for the Birmingham-Southern men’s basketball team. The signees include power forward Donald Dargan and centers Jeffrey Cain and Shawn Beauvais. The addition of the three post players brings BSC’s roster size to the NCAA limit of 12 players.

 

“We’re really pleased with the three guys we’re bringing into our family here at Birmingham-Southern,” Knight said. “We played all year last season with just four post players. One of those four was a freshman so we really played a good portion of the season with just three post guys. I made it clear that we needed to focus on post players this signing period to try and balance out our roster and my fantastic staff went out and did just that.”

 

Donald Dargan                    PF     6-6     212     Russellville, Ala./Russellville HS

Dargan earned ASWA 3rd Team All-State honors after leading Russellville High School to the Class 5A Northwest Regional Semifinals in the postseason. He also earned a spot on Rivals Top 300 list as the No. 291 overall player in the class of 83, and the No. 68 power forward. During his senior season Dargan averaged 18.2 points on 70 percent shooting from the field.

 

“Donald is a guy that we targeted from the beginning of the [recruiting] process. He’s a great athlete and a pretty good defender and rebounder as well. His post game is extremely raw, but with his work ethic he has the potential to become a two-way force in the paint. His ceiling is extremely high and we’re thrilled to have him on our team.”

 

Jeffrey Cain                           C       6-8     239     Auburn, Ala./Lee-Scott Academy

Cain averaged 26.9 points and 8.3 rebounds a game and was awarded the AISA Player of the Year award. Cain led Lee-Scott Academy to the AISA Class AAA Semifinals. Rivals ranks Cain as the No. 191 center in the class of 83.

 

“Jeff is another guy we noticed early on and decided we wanted to have him. He’s a really good athlete with a well-developed post game and good rebounding skills. He’s also a capable defender and rim protector. He flew a little under the radar due to playing in a smaller athletic association, but we really believe he has the potential to become a great defender. That, along with his offensive skillset, will make him one of the top post players in the Big South before he graduates.”

 

Shawn Beauvais                  C       7-0   258     Sumter, S.C./Wilson Hall Academy

Beauvais joins the Panthers squad as the most heralded recruit in Jeremy Knight’s tenure. Rivals ranks Beauvais as the No. 79 overall player and the No. 19 center in the class of 83. Beauvais also earned a three-star rating. The seven-footer averaged 25.8 points a game in just 22 minutes of action per game while leading his team to the SCISA Class AAA Semifinals. Beauvais also earned the SCISA Player of the Year award for accomplishments on the court.

 

“Shawn was big signing for us. He didn’t get the attention he was probably expecting coming out of high school as a three star prospect. He’s definitely the most highly decorated recruit we’ve signed here at BSC from a national standpoint. Shawn is going to make an immediate impact for us on defense. His rebounding and shot blocking skills are at an elite level. He’s not overly athletic, which in my opinion is why he didn’t draw much attention from the high majors, and he’s a decent man-to-man defender. His low post game is developing and will continue to improve. He’s a very good passer for a big man; there aren’t many guys that play the 5 and can pass as well as he does. He’s also a great free throw shooter and has a 3.4 GPA. He’s very reminiscent of Robert Loar.”

 

“We’re extremely pleased with the three young men that will be joining our program. We believe that we not only brought in three terrific basketball players, but also three terrific young men who will take care of business on the court and in the classroom.

 

“We’re looking forward to the guys arriving on campus so we can continue our journey to winning the Big South championship and making the NCAA Tournament for a second consecutive season.”

 

 

 

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RIVALS 83 RECRUITING ROUNDUP

 

The signing period for the “Year of the Small Forwards” is officially over and it’s time to see which teams and conferences fared the best. A year after winning the NCAA Championship the Florida Gators win the Rivals Recruiting Championship. The Gators signed all six of their players from within their own backyard. Florida’s class is led by the No. 7 overall player and No. 1 center Robert Jones (Monticello, Fla./Aucilla Christian Academy). Jones is listed as 7-foot-1 and already boasts athleticism, rebounding, defense, shot blocking and low post skills that are making NBA scouts salivate. Kansas cashed in big time with the No. 2 overall class led by the signing of our number one overall player Warren Kelly (St. Louis, Mo./Gateway HS). The 6-4 small forward brings an elite skill set to the Jayhawk’s wing and he already has the athleticism, defense, low post, and passing skills for the NBA. The Jayhawks have reached the Sweet Sixteen in five of the last seven seasons, but have only advanced to the Elite Eight once in those five trips. Will Kelly be one of the key pieces needed for Kansas to make a long awaited Final Four run? Defending national champion Providence only had a few holes to fill, but the Friars were able to fill them with some very talented individuals on their way to the No. 14 overall class. The key signee for Providence is small forward Leroy Rollins (Maplewood, N.J./Columbia HS). Rollins is ranked as the No. 3 overall player and the No. 2 small forward behind Kelly. Rollin’ overall skill set isn’t as developed as Kelly’s, but his perimeter game is way ahead of Kelly’s and he might be the best defender in the entire class. The Friars were also able to add foreign power forward Miro Zook (Belgrade, Serbia) during the signing period. The five-star recruit averaged 42 points-per-game last season and should be legit low post threat for Providence in his freshman campaign. The final signee for Providence is three-star point guard Mark Bailey (Norwell, Mass./Norwell HS). Bailey comes in as the No. 75 overall player and the No. 16 point guard. Bailey is by no means a scoring point guard, but he can facilitate with the best of them. His speed, athleticism, defense, ball handling, and passing are already among the elite level. It’ll be interesting to see if he stays in college long enough to develop his shooting ability or he will make the jump to the NBA solely as a facilitator.

 

Here are the Top 25 recruiting classes according to Rivals experts:

1.       Florida (SEC)

2.       Kansas (Big 12)

3.       Seton Hall (Big East)

4.       Duke (ACC)

5.       Illinois (Big Ten)

6.       Texas A&M (Big 12)

7.       Iowa (Big Ten)

8.       Washington (Pac-12)

9.       Columbia (Ivy League)

10.   Virginia Tech (ACC)

11.   Georgia (SEC)

12.   Miami (FL) (ACC)

13.   Syracuse (Big East)

14.   Providence (Big East)

15.   Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Southland)

16.   VMI (Big South)

17.   Texas (Big 12)

18.   Michigan State (Big Ten)

19.   Tennessee (SEC)

20.   Xavier (Atlantic 10)

21.   Ole Miss (SEC)

22.   Bradley (Missouri Valley)

23.   Penn State (Big Ten)

24.   Virginia (ACC)

25.   Kentucky (SEC)

 

Here is how each conference performed on the recruiting trail this season:

1.       SEC

2.       Big Ten

3.       ACC

4.       Big East

5.       Pac-12

6.       Big 12

7.       Northeast

8.       Missouri Valley

9.       Ivy League

10.   Mountain West

11.   Atlantic 10

12.   Patriot League

13.   Big West

14.   Big Sky

15.   MEAC

16.   MAC

17.   CAA

18.   Conference-USA

19.   MAAC

20.   West Coast

21.   Southland

22.   Ohio Valley

23.   Big South

24.   Summit League

25.   Sun Belt

26.   Horizon

27.   Southern

 

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THE BIRMINGHAM NEWS

 

Birmingham-Southern Season Preview

 

BIRMINGHAM | Coming off of last season’s NCAA Tournament at-large berth, Jeremy Knight’s 83 Birmingham-Southern squad is in a position to do something no team in the history of BSC has done before – make the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons.

 

“[Making the tournament] is always a goal of ours, each year,” said Knight. “So from that standpoint, nothing has changed. We have the same goals this year that we’ve had every single year since I’ve been here – that is to win the Big South championship, win the Big South Tournament championship, and make the NCAA Tournament. However, the opportunity to make the NCAA Tournament in consecutive years is a special opportunity, but we cannot get caught up in that. We need to continue to take things one game at a time, and if we do what we’re supposed to do everything will take care of itself.”

 

Last season was Birmingham-Southern’s second NCAA Tournament appearance with the first coming in 79. The big difference between this season’s BSC squad and the last team that attempted to make repeat NCAA Tournament appearances will be a huge factor – experience.

 

The 80 BSC team had only six players with any experience and featured nine underclassmen. This year will be different. The Panthers will return nine players from last season’s tournament team and will be loaded with upperclassmen. Birmingham-Southern will have the luxury of having five seniors and two juniors to help lead the team this season.

 

“That’s definitely something that hurt us last time,” Knight said in reference to his team’s inexperience in the past. “It’s a challenge in itself trying to get younger guys to adjust to the college lifestyle and pace and intensity of the college game. Our youth and inexperience cost us a couple of games back then, but the good thing is that it’s finally come full circle. The players that were freshmen on that team and got thrown into the fire are now seniors and battle tested. They know what the expectations here are and they know how to go about putting in the work to meet those expectations.”

 

GUARDS

 

Jared Lobdell is expected to take over the reigns of the BSC offense this season after serving as the primary backup last season. Lobdell isn’t known as a scoring threat (he’s averaged 2.4 ppg his career so far), but he is a superb facilitator (he has a career 3.1-to-0.8 assist-to-turnover ratio).

 

“I would love to have a point guard who also poses an added threat as a scorer,” said Knight, “but the ability to take care of the ball and run our offense trumps the ability to score at our point position. Jared does a fantastic job of that and we’re really excited to see what he can do now that he’s running the show.”

 

Paul Cheatham didn’t start a single game last season after starting 16 games during his sophomore campaign. However, he made the most of his minutes (16.4 mpg) with a 47.4%/43.4%/84.4% shooting split and averaged 9.9 ppg (a career high) en route to earning 2nd Team Big South honors – as a backup. As to whether or not he’ll start this season at the 2-guard position or come off the bench again, there’s no telling. One thing is for sure though; Cheatham can shoot the ball with the best of them. Cheatham’s worst 3-point shooting percentage during his career was during his freshman campaign (40.9%) and it has improved each season.

 

“Paul is just a terrific kid. Like any other kid out there he wants to start every game, but he also understand that starting a game isn’t as important as what you do with the minutes you get. He’s always made the most of every minute he’s played. Whether he starts or not it’s going to be hard to keep him off the court. He’ll see plenty of playing time one way or another.”

 

Chris Matthews started every game at the 2-guard position last season and averaged a career high of 9.4 ppg. The senior has had a very mixed career during his time at BSC. He started his first 21 games as a freshman before losing the job to the more experienced Cheatham. He started his sophomore season as Cheatham’s backup before taking over the starting spot the final 12 games. Last season he started every game and averaged almost 10 ppg, but he shot a career low 38.8% from 3 and earned Honorable Mention All-Big South honors. Matthews has just as much ability as Cheatham, if not more, and it will be interesting to see what happens with him this season.

 

“Chris is a very talented player. He can score if we need him to score. Both of our main options at the 2 are very talented and very capable scorers which is a great thing to have. If one of them isn’t having a good game it’s a luxry to be able to pull him and put in another player just as good. Chris is also a very good ball handler and passer so he will see some time at the point as well. There’s a chance we will play Chris and Paul together on the court at the same time if we feel like we need more scoring options on the floor. We’ll see how things sort themselves out once we really get into practice and play a few games.”

 

Richard Kanagy has been buried in an immensely deep backcourt throughout his time at BSC. The junior has only played 254 total minutes in his career and only saw action in 18 games last season. However, Kanagy did get to start in the NCAA Tournament against Alabama when the Panthers faced the eventual first pick in the NBA Draft, Paul Smith. His perimeter game is good but not great. Kanagy’s greatest skillset is his combination of speed and athleticism and his ability to defend.

 

“Richard is a guy who could have transferred somewhere else for more playing time and instead he chose to ride it out. He’s had to wait behind some really good guards during his career, some of the best we’ve had since I’ve been here, and he’s used that opportunity to learn from them and better himself. He’s not a guy that’s going to lead you in scoring and he’s not a great ball hander or passer. But that kid can lock you down defensively. He’s the fastest kid on our team and one of the best defenders. He’s athletic and fast enough that I feel comfortable playing him from the 1 to the 3. His willingness to hang around for so long combined with his defensive ability will allow him to see the floor more this season than he probably has since he’s been here.”

 

Donald Bowen played very sparingly last season (5.3 mpg in 23 games), but he showed why he was recruited to Birmingham-Southern during his freshman campaign – he can shoot the 3. Bowen shot 48.4% from the floor last season and 48.1% from the 3-point line. He also made all nine of his free throw attempts. While he only played 5 minutes a game last season, he averaged 2.3 ppg during his appearances. This season Bowen should see action as a 3-point specialist off the bench. Look for his scoring average, and his minutes played average, to increase this season.

 

“Donald is such a great kid for our program. He wasn’t very highly regarded coming out of high school and a lot of people thought we were crazy for signing him, but last season he showed flashes of what we saw in him and thought he could become. He didn’t as many opportunities to display his ability as he probably would have liked due to our stacked backcourt the last few years, but anytime he was on the floor opposing defenses had to know where he was. He had continued to get better and we’re really looking forward to seeing what he does this season.

 

SMALL FORWARDS

 

Elbert Estrella returns as the only small forward on the BSC roster. Last year he started 29 of 30 games and saw an average of 20.5 minutes per game. Estrella averaged 7.8 ppg, 1.5 apg, and 3.6 rpg which earned him 2nd Team Big South recognition. Estrella has never quite lived up the hype surrounding his arrival in Birmingham (he was the No. 25 small forward in the class of 80), but that’s not to say he hasn’t been a good player. He’s been a very solid player for the Panthers and is probably the most complete inside-out scoring option during Knight’s tenure. Estrella will face no competition for the starting 3 spot, but expect Matthews, Cheatham, and Kanagy to see some time at the 3 spot as a backup.

 

POST PLAYERS

 

William Big had a breakout year last season when he averaged 8.6 ppg and 4.9 rpg while earning 2nd Team Big South honors. He also led the Big South in field goal percentage, shooting 58.9% from the field. Big is an exceptional athlete with great speed for a power forward. He also is solid in rebounding, defending, shot blocking, and his low post game is very good. In short, Big is a very well developed, complete big man. He can do a little bit of everything. Look for him to be the featured player in Knight’s offense this season.

 

“William is just a fantastic player. He can really do everything for us. Ever since he arrived on campus he’s been working hard and preparing for this moment where he’s the center point of the offense. I can honestly say that if he plays like he is capable of playing that we will once again have the Big South Player of the Year on our team.”

 

Michael Stutes played as the primary backup at the 4 last season as a true freshman and averaged 1.1 ppg and 3.4 rpg. Stutes also shot 61.1% from the field and an impressive (for a power forward) 78.6% from the free throw line. Stutes is still very raw player and definitely would have benefitted from a redshirt season last year but the Panthers weren’t in a position where they could let him sit out. Stutes continues to grow and it will be interesting to see where he falls on the depth chart with incoming freshman Donald Dargan.

 

“Michael did a fantastic job for us last season. Not many freshmen can come in and play 16 minutes a game from the get go. He was able to come into a situation where he just needed to give our guys a break and grab some rebounds while he was in the game. He did just that. He’s continuing to develop as a player and as he develops so will his role with this team. His ball handling and passing are unreal – the best I’ve ever seen in a post player. We’re very excited about Michael’s future with our team.”

 

William Wright has spent his entire career as Robert Loar’s backup. Granted, Loar was BSC’s best player in recent memory, but Wright still might have some work to do to prove that he’s earned the vacant starting center position. Last year Wright’s numbers dropped (6.4. ppg to 3.9 ppg and 5.4 rpg to 5.3 rpg) which can partially be attributed to Loar staying on the court as much as possible, but you have to wonder if he has what it takes to be a full time starter or if he’s just a career backup who excels at rebounding.

 

“Will has been great for us during his time here. He’s an outstanding rebounder and he’s a pretty good defender too. He’s pretty athletic and has a good low post game also. He’s definitely gotten lost in the shuffle during his time here due to Robert Loar also playing the center position, but I really do believe and expect for him to perform at a high level this year – he’s very capable.”

 

Shawn Beauvais will walk on Birmingham-Southern’s campus as the most highly decorated recruit during Knight’s tenure and possibly in the history of BSC. Beauvais was ranked as the No. 79 overall player and the No. 19 center by Rivals. He also earned a three-star ranking. While not overly athletic, Beauvais made a name for himself on the prep circuit as a rebounder and rim protector. Beauvais should offer serious competition to Wright for the starting center position.

 

“Shawn is just a man when it comes to grabbing rebounds and blocking shots. We would watch some of his high school games or AAU games and it’s just crazy at how developed his games was at those two areas, which are two areas we identified as needing immediate help. Shawn will provide that immediate help for us and we’ll see how things go in practice as far as who will be our starting center.”

 

Donald Dargan begins his BSC career with an opportunity to earn a spot as William Big’s primary backup at the 4. Dargan will be competing against Stutes for the spot. Both players are fairly similar in their overall skill sets at this point. Dargan really needs to work on his low post games. His lack of a decent low post game and college experience will more than likely have him sitting behind Big and Stutes this season – at least to start with.

 

“We’re really excited about Donald joining our program. He’s going to have every chance to compete with Michael Stutes for that first backup position at power forward and we’ll see what happens. He’s a very good player with a pretty good skill set. He’s definitely got some areas he needs to work on and improve, but that’s just part of it. He has a very high ceiling and we’re looking forward to helping him reach his potential as a player.”

 

Jeffrey Cain will more than likely redshirt during his first season at BSC. The incoming center was a very highly decorated prep player at Lee-Scott Academy in Auburn, but failed to draw the national interest all high school players seek. Cain was ranked as the No. 191 center by Rivals. Cain is athletic and has a good low post game. He is also an okay rebounder, defender, and shot blocker. He should experience a lot of growth and development during his redshirt season and could one day join the group of great post players Knight has coached at BSC.

 

“We really like Jeff’s potential. We really feel like he was overlooked due to playing in the smaller athletic association in Alabama. He just has so much potential and can be a very good post player before he leaves here. He has a very bright future at Birmingham-Southern.”

 

PROJECTED LINEUP

 

PG  Jared Lobdell (Jr.)

SG   Chris Matthews (Sr.)*

SF   Elbert Estrella (Sr.)*

PF   William Big (Sr.)*

C     William Wright (Sr.)

-----

6     Paul Cheatham (Sr.)

7     Shawn Beauvais (Fr.)

8     Richard Kanagy (Jr.)

9     Donald Bowen (So.)

10   Michael Stutes (So.)

11   Donald Dargan (Fr.)

*- Returning Starter

 

 

FINAL VERDICT

 

The Birmingham-Southern Panthers are loaded with experience and talented entering the 84 season. They should compete with VMI and Alabama A&M for the Big South championship. Due to their experience, we’re giving to edge to BSC to unseat VMI as Big South champions. The Keydets have won the last two regular season titles, but have to replace six players from last season’s team. Look for the Panthers to not only win the Big South for the first time since 79 but also make the NCAA Tournament for consecutive seasons for the first time ever. Keep up with the Birmingham-Southern Panthers and follow them all season with The Birmingham News.

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THE BIRMINGHAM NEWS

 

Birmingham-Southern Releases 83 Schedule

 

 

BIRMINGHAM | The Birmingham-Southern Panthers’ road to back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths will be a challenging one. The Panthers released their schedule for the 83 season and its highlighted by three games against high major teams and four teams that played in the NCAA Tournament last season. Two of those NCAA Tournament teams, No. 5 Seton Hall and No. 10 Texas A&M, advanced to the Final Four and Elite Eight, respectively.

 

“We definitely didn’t want to have an easy schedule this season,” BSC coach Jeremy Knight said. “I think one of the main reasons we made the NCAA Tournament last season was because we played such a tough schedule. We don’t want to play a bunch of cupcakes. We need to challenge ourselves and beat some good teams, and this schedule gives us that opportunity.”

 

Birmingham-Southern will also play the other two Division I schools located in Birmingham. The Panthers will host UAB who won the Conference-USA regular season and tournament championships before falling in the 1st Round of the NCAA Tournament. This will be the second consecutive meeting between the two top teams in the Magic City. Birmingham-Southern will also host Samford in their sixth consecutive meeting, also known as the Battle for Birmingham. Birmingham-Southern is 5-0 against Samford during Knight’s tenure.

 

“I think its great anytime you can play quality Division I teams within a close proximity, much less your own city,” Knight added. “Its great for the programs because these are obviously games the fans care very much about which brings in a lot of money for the host teams. Its also great because the teams are very good teams. UAB won 28 games last year and made it to the NCAA Tournament. It’s a great situation for us to test ourselves against them while also not having to travel more than 10 to 15 miles.”

 

Also included on BSC’s schedule is a pair of exhibition games against SEC opponents. The Panthers will host Georgia in their first exhibition game before traveling to Columbia to play South Carolina in their final exhibition games.

 

“I’m really excited about the exhibition games. They will be very good tests for our team right out of the gate. We feel like we have a very strong schedule with Georgia, South Carolina, Seton Hall, UAB, Texas A&M, and West Virginia included. It can really be a great benefit to us for playing such tough competition, however, it can also burn us if we don’t win some of those games. So we’ll see how we fare. I’m very confident in our team this season and we’re just ready to get started. The game against Georgia can’t get here fast enough.”

 

The highlight of the Panthers Big South schedule will be the game against VMI, which will also be Senior Night for the Panthers. That game will in all likely hood determine who wins the Big South regular season championship and gets to host the Big South Tournament.

 

Birmingham-Southern’s schedule is listed below.  Make sure to keep up with all the happenings of the Birmingham-Southern men’s basketball program by following The Birmingham News all season.

 

 

 

Georgia [exhibition] (15-14, NIT 1st Round)

at South Carolina [exhibition] (18-13, NIT 3rd Round)

at Troy (10-18)

at Arkansas State (17-11)

#5 Seton Hall (28-5, Big East Champion, NCAA Final Four)

at Georgia State (11-17)

UAB (28-2, Conference-USA Champion, Conference-USA Tournament Champion, NCAA 1st Round)

#10 Texas A&M (26-6, Big 12 Champion, NCAA Elite Eight)

Montana (19-8)

at West Virginia (13-14)

Samford (3-24)

Liberty* (16-11)

High Point* (20-9)

at Alabama A&M* (20-10, Big South Tournament Champion, NCAA 1st Round)

UNC-Asheville* (15-14)

at Coastal Carolina* (17-11)

at Radford* (2-25)

Alabama State* (7-21)

Alabama A&M* (20-10, Big South Tournament Champion, NCAA 1st Round)

at Mississippi Valley State* (4-23)

at Charleston Southern* (10-17)

Mississippi Valley State* (4-23)

at Alabama State* (7-21)

at UNC-Asheville* (15-14)

Winthrop* (2-25)

VMI* (21-6, Big South Champion)

at High Point* (20-9)

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THE BIRMINGHAM NEWS

 

Birmingham-Southern Tops Georgia in Exhibition

 

BIRMINGHAM | Birmingham-Southern’s journey to another NCAA Tournament berth stated on a high note with a 52-41 victory over SEC foe Georgia. Paul Cheatham led BSC with 13 points and William Big added 11 points.

 

The Bulldogs looked to be taking hold of the game with a 16-10 lead with 7:33 remaining in the opening half. However, the Panthers were able to keep up with Georgia and prevent them from running away with the game. Cheatham nailed two big 3’s in the final eight minutes of the opening half, including one from the right corner at the end of half to give Birmingham-Southern a 25-23 lead at the break.

 

Birmingham-Southern’s roster full of experience proved to be too much for the Bulldogs youthful team in the second half. The Panthers never trailed in the second half and pushed their lead to 16 with 6:46 remaining after a shot by Big gave BSC a 46-30 lead. The Birmingham-Southern defense held Georgia to just 18 second half points on the way to final score of 52-41.

 

“I was really proud of our guys and how they played today,” BSC coach Jeremy Knight said. “Georgia is a very talented team. They’re very inexperienced with five freshmen and four sophomores on their team, but you can tell they’re going to be very good down the road.”

 

Freshman Shawn Beaubais got the starting nod at center and finished the game with six points and 10 rebounds. Beaubais was also 4-of-4 from the free throw line.

 

“I was really pleased with all of our guys today and their performances – especially our newcomers. Shawn was huge being able to come in and grab 10 rebounds against a quality high major team in his first collegiate game. Donald Dargan only played five minutes but scored three points. I was really pleased with our effort and performance today, but now we have to turn our attention to our next game against South Carolina.”

 

As Knight referenced, the Panthers will travel to Columbia to play the South Carolina Gamecocks in their final exhibition warm up before the regular season begins. South Carolina defeated Charlotte 83-66 in their first exhibition game.

 

“[south Carolina] is very good. They’re another quality team from the SEC. They’re not as inexperienced as Georgia is. They’ve been to the NIT the last four years and I think they’ve made it to the third round the last two years. Almost all of their guards can shoot the ball and a couple of their posts are men down low. It’ll be another good challenge for us and I’m excited to see how our guys perform against them.”

 

Birmingham-Southern will play South Carolina at 3:00 pm CST on Friday. 

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THE BIRMINGHAM NEWS

 

Panthers Run Out of Gas, Fall to South Carolina

 

COLUMBIA, S.C. | After an exhilarating back and forth contest throughout most of the game, Birmingham-Southern went flat during the final seven minutes against South Carolina and ultimately lost the game 73-65.

 

Chris Matthews hit a free throw with 7:03 remaining in the game to cut the Gamecock’s lead to 56-54. From that point on the Panthers shot 2-of-9 (22.2%) from the field, including 1-of-6 (16.7%) from 3-point range. Birmingham-Southern also turned the ball over twice and connected on four of their six free throw attempts during that stretch. Jared Lobdell was 0-2 from the charity stripe during the final seven minutes, missing the front end of a one-and-one twice.

 

“Our execution down the stretch today was awful,” BSC coach Jeremy Knight said, frustrated. “We played so well for the first 30 minutes and then we just stopped making good basketball decisions and took some bad shots. Everything kind of snowballed downhill from there.”

 

The Panthers gave South Carolina everything they could handle in the first half as they went into the break with a 35-30 lead in a tightly contested half. Birmingham-Southern shot 62.5 percent from the 3 in the opening half (5-for-8) and scored 12 points off 10 Gamecock turnovers. The Panther’s bench also contributed 16 points in the first half.

 

The second half performance from BSC was the complete opposite from the first as they made 2-of-10 3-point attempts (20%) and failed to score zero points off just three South Carolina turnovers. Birmingham-Southern’s bench also only accounted for three points in the second half.

 

“Our bench did a great job of getting involved in the first half and our guys were getting into their guys and forcing some turnovers. We were able to turn those turnovers into fast break opportunities and scored some easy baskets. In the second half we relaxed a little bit on defense and it hurt us. We went cold from the 3 and continued jacking them up instead of getting to the rim.”

 

William Big led BSC in scoring with 18 points, but only managed to get two rebounds. Elbert Estrella added 16 points and a team-high five rebounds. Shawn Beaubais struggled mightily, only grabbing four rebounds and failing to score. South Carolina’s Michael Messer also took advantage of Beaubais’ inexperience on his way to a 18 points, 11 rebound performance.

 

“I thought for the most part William and Elbert played really well. William has to get more than two rebounds for us. Shawn had a tough day today. He was matched up against a senior that averaged 13 and 7 in the SEC last year. Not to make any excuses for his performance today, because the bottom line is he needs to perform better than that, but this is why we play these games; to see how our guys perform against quality competition.

 

“You can only tell so much about these guys from conditioning and practice, especially the freshmen, so it’s nice to have these two exhibition games to see how our guys perform against other teams. No we’ll have to sit down and evaluate each of our players and figure out how to play everyone going forward.”

 

Birmingham-Southern will open the 83 regular season on Friday with a road trip against the Troy Trojans. Last season the Trojans went 10-18 and BSC defeated them 80-54 in the season opener. Troy defeated Division II Nebraska-Omaha 72-55 in their only exhibition game earlier this week. Tip off is set for 7:00 pm. 

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THE BIRMINGHAM NEWS

 

Knight Pleased With Panthers Entering Big South Play

 

BIRMINGHAM | Birmingham-Southern head coach Jeremy Knight said he was pleased with his team’s performance during the nonconference portion of the schedule. The Panthers are currently 8-2 with their only losses coming against two ranked opponents – BSC lost 74-60 to then No. 5 Seton Hall and 65-50 to then No. 9 Texas A&M.

 

“Overall we’re really pleased with how our guys have been performing,” said Knight of his team’s first 10 games. “We’ve really done a good job of playing defense overall. We won all of the game we probably should have won and lost the games we should have lost. I felt like there were a few games that could have gone either way on our schedule and we won them, so I think we’re in a pretty good situation heading into conference play.”

 

The highlight victories for BSC include a 51-47 road win over a young Auburn squad and a 76-57 thrashing of crosstown rival UAB. Making BSC’s victory over the Blazers much sweeter is the fact that UAB coach Greg Olmander gave Knight his first coaching job as an assistant at Division III East Texas Baptist. After the 73 season Olmander made the move to Division II Indianapolis which allowed Knight to take over East Texas Baptist for his first head coaching job. Knight led the Tigers to a Division III National Championship during his first season as a head coach.

 

“I think my past with Coach Olmander is pretty well documented,” said Knight. “I’ll always be forever grateful to him for giving me the opportunity to get into the coaching business. We used to coach against each other during scrimmages at practices years ago at East Texas. It’s crazy to sit back and see how our different paths led each of us to Division I programs in Birmingham, which gives us the opportunity to play each other.

 

“It was really nice to get a win over [uAB] for those reasons, but we also got to get some revenge from the beating they put on us last year,” Knight said with a grin.

 

The Panthers best win of the season so far came on the road against West Virginia (RPI: 26). Birmingham-Southern went to Morgantown and picked up an 80-71 victory.

 

“The West Virginia game was huge for us. To be able to play a quality opponent on the road and beat them was a huge boost to not only our program and postseason hopes, but also to our players. When you’re able to go on the road and beat an Auburn or a West Virginia it really gives your players a boost of confidence. Our coaching staff tells them all the time that we belong on that level with some of those teams and whenever you’re able to beat them it just really affirms it for the players. They have proof that we’re not just saying these things – they’re true!”

 

The leader for the Panthers this season has been William Big. The senior from California is averaging 16 points and eight rebounds a game, which ranks first and third in the Big South Conference, respectively. Big is also shooting a Big South leading 59.8 percent from the floor. Big is on pace to become the sixth BSC player to be named Big South Player of the Year during Knight’s tenure. During Knight’s nine years at the helm of BSC, a player has won the award seven times.

 

Fellow seniors Paul Cheatham and Chris Matthews aren’t far behind in production. Cheatham averages 13.8 ppg (second in the Big South) and Matthews averages 10.8 ppg in a reserve role. Cheatham is also third in the Big South in three-point field goal percentage (46.4%) and free throw percentage (88.9%). Matthews ranks fourth in the Big South three-point field goal percentage at 45.2 percent. Junior point guard Jared Lobdell leads the Big South in assists with 5.2 per game.

 

“I said coming into the season one of our strengths would be our senior leadership and it’s really shown through our first 10 games. William is doing a fantastic job in scoring and getting boards. On top of that he’s taking good shots, which is leading to his high field goal percentage. Paul and Chris have been phenomenal. Together they’re averaging 25 points a game. They understand that it’s not about who starts and who comes off the bench, it’s about what you do on the court while you’re in the game. They’ve both done a great job of playing whichever role gives our team the best chance to win, no matter what role it is.

 

“Jared is another upperclassmen who just does a great job of playing his role. He understands that we don’t need him to score 15 points every night. He goes out and just does a great job of reading defenses and finding an open man to get the ball to. He’s had four games so far with at least seven assists. His ability to draw defenders in and then kick out to other players is a big reason why Paul and Chris and other guys are getting great looks at the basket. Our veteran presence and leadership on this team has been phenomenal.”

 

Birmingham-Southern is in the driver’s seat entering Big South play. Based off of the first 10 games of the season it appears that the Big South Championship will run through the Magic City. The next 16 games on the Panthers’ schedule may not feature many marquee opponents, but the games will be immensely important to BSC and its quest to return to the NCAA Tournament.

 

“We’ve done a great job to get to where are right now at 8-2. But the reality is that, for the most part, none of that matters. Right now there are 12 teams in the Big South Conference that are 0-0. It’s a brand new season. We need to attack these next 16 games like we did the first 10 and we’ll be in pretty good shape. Everyone has a blank slate right now and we just need to do our jobs one game at a time.”

 

The Panthers will open Big South play Thursday night at home against Liberty (6-4). Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.

 

 

 

BIRMINGHAM-SOUTHERN NONCONFERENCE SCHEDULE

at Troy                                    W        78-61

at Arkansas State                  W        80-69

No. 5 Seton Hall                     L          60-74

at Auburn                              W        51-47

at Georgia State                     W        88-50

UAB                                         W        76-57

No. 9 Texas A&M                   L          50-65

Montana                                 W        75-64

at West Virginia                     W        80-71

Samford                                 W        89-56

 

 

BIRMINGHAM-SOUTHERN STATS (BIG SOUTH RANKING)

POINTS

William Big                 Sr.        PF        16 (1st)

Paul Cheatham          Sr.        SG        13.8 (2nd)

Chris Matthews         Sr.        SG        10.8 (13th)

 

REBOUNDS

William Big                 Sr.        PF        8 (3rd)

Shawn Beauvais        Fr.        C          5 (T-20th)

 

ASSISTS

Jared Lobdell             Jr.        PG       5.2 (1st)

Donald Bowen           So.       PG       2.4 (17th)

Richard Kanagy         Jr.        PG       2.1 (T-20th)

Elbert Estrella           Sr.        SF        2.1 (T-20th)

 

BLOCKS

Shawn Beauvais        Fr.        C          1 (T-8th)

William Wright          Sr.        C          0.9 (T-10th)

William Big                 Sr.        PF        0.8 (T-13th)

 

STEALS

Chris Matthews         Sr.        SG        1.5 (T-5th)

William Big                 Sr.        PF        1.2 (T-11th)

Jared Lobdell             Jr.        PG       1.1 (T-20th)

 

FG %

William Big                 Sr.        PF        59.8% (1st)

Chris Matthews         Sr.        SG        51.4% (7th)

Paul Cheatham          Sr.        SG        47.7% (14th)

 

FG3 %

Paul Cheatham          Sr.        SG        46.4% (3rd)

Chris Matthews         Sr.        SG        45.2% (4th)

 

FT %

Paul Cheatham          Sr.        SG        88.9% (2nd)

Jared Lobdell             Jr.        PG       76.9% (11th)

William Big                 Sr.        PF        60.5% (23rd)

 

BIG SOUTH STANDINGS

EAST

Charleston Southern              6-4

VMI                                         6-4

Radford                                  5-5

Liberty                                    4-6

Winthrop                               4-6

Coastal Carolina                    3-7

 

WEST

Birmingham-Southern         8-2

Mississippi Valley State        4-6

UNC-Asheville                        3-7

Alabama A&M                        3-7

Alabama State                       3-7

High Point                              0-10

 

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BIG SOUTH SPORTS BLOG

 

Birmingham-Southern Claims Big South Regular Season Crown

 

The Birmingham-Southern Panthers have claimed at least a share of the Big South Conference regular season championship with its 80-62 road win over Alabama State Saturday night. Should Birmingham-Southern (20-2 overall, 12-0 Big South) lose the remaining four games and Coastal Carolina (13-11, 10-4) win out them the two teams will share the regular season crown, however, BSC will host the Big South Conference Tournament due to its 96-94 OT win against Coastal Carolina earlier in the season.

 

The championship will be Birmingham-Southern’s fourth regular season title during coach Jeremy Knight’s 10-year tenure. This will also mark just the second time the Panthers have hosted the Big South Conference Tournament during Knight’s tenure. Birmingham-Southern hosted the tournament in 79 when they used their home court advantage to win the Big South Conference Tournament and earn an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. Birmingham-Southern will visit UNC-Asheville (7-16, 4-9) Thursday night where it should wrap up the Big South championship outright. Should the Panthers fall it seems extremely unlikely that they will lose their final four games, so it should only be a matter of time before BSC wins the conference outright.

 

Knight has never had a losing record, overall or conference, while at the helm of the BSC Panthers and this will mark his seventh season with at least 12 Big South victories. This is also Knight’s eighth season with at least 20 wins at BSC. Knight has already established himself as one of the top coaches outside of the high major conferences and its been known that he desires to move to a high major school – in the past three years he’s expressed interest in openings at Oregon, California, Auburn, Vanderbilt, Gonzaga, and Memphis to name a few. With his impressive resume continuing to build and the recent noise the team has been making on the national scene the last few years, one can only wonder how much longer it will be until he gets a call from a high major.

 

CURRENT BIG SOUTH STANDINGS

1          Birmingham-Southern         20-2                12-0~

2          Coastal Carolina                    13-11             10-4

3          Alabama A&M                        11-13             8-6

4          Radford                                  12-10             7-5

5          Charleston Southern           13-10             7-6!

6          Liberty                                    11-12             7-6

7          Mississippi Valley State        9-13                5-7@

8          VMI                                         11-11             5-7#

8          Winthrop                               9-13                5-7#

10       UNC-Asheville                        7-16                4-9

11       High Point                              3-19                3-9

12       Alabama State                       6-17                3-10

 

~ - Birmingham-Southern has clinched a share of the Big South championship and will host the Big South Tournament

! – Charleston Southern currently owns tiebreaker over Liberty. CSU and LU will play in the season finale.

@ - Mississippi Valley State owns tiebreaker over VMI and WU

# - VMI and Winthrop split their regular season meetings

 

BIG SOUTH AWARDS PROJECTIONS

 

Player of the Year

William Big                 PF        Sr.        Birmingham-Southern (17 ppg, 7.6 rpg)

 

Defensive Player of the Year

Joshua Mallery          PG       Jr.        Winthrop (13 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.8 spg)

 

Freshman of the Year

Shawn Beauvais        C          Fr.        Birmingham-Southern (6.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1 bpg)

 

Coach of the Year

Jeremy Knight           HC                   Birmingham-Southern (20-2, 12-0)

 

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NBA DRAFT PROSPECT RANKINGS

The 83 college basketball regular season is winding down and now its time to start looking ahead to the 83 NBA Draft. Below we rank the top 10 prospects at each position and give our current overall ranking as well. Obviously this is an early draft and the rankings will change over the final two weeks, conference tournaments, and the NCAA Tournament. Additionally, players will announce their intentions to return to school for another season. At first glance this draft is very weak in guards and wings that can make in immediate impact. While the draft’s immediate contributors will be post players, the post positions are very top heavy while the guard and wing spots are more balanced throughout the class. Oklahoma junior power forward David Feldman is our current top rated prospect in the draft. Feldman’s main competition for the first overall pick will be Kentucky junior point guard John Clark (No. 2) and Connecticut sophomore center Ernest Murphy (No. 3). The case for Clark will be that he is an elite point guard capable of making an immediate impact in the NBA. He benefits from a very weak guard class where there is most likely only one other point guard worthy of a lottery pick. The first overall pick will most likely be either Feldman or Clark, but Murphy could enter the conversation as a dark horse candidate. The sophomore from Connecticut hasn’t put up the type of numbers he was expected to as an elite high school prospect (Murphy is currently averaging 8.8 ppg and 6.6 rpg), however, Murphy’s skill set and natural physical abilities has NBA scouts drooling over the potential of the seven-footer in the NBA. Follow Rivals to get the most up to date information on the top NBA Draft prospects throughout the remainder of the season.

 

 

POINT GUARD

2          John Clark                  5-9      159     Jr.        Kentucky

13       Joe Nisbett                 6-1      196     Jr.        Virginia

18       Michael Smith            5-11    174     So.       UCLA

19       Dwayne Bryant         6-4      195     Sr.        Duke

25       DennisJiminez           5-11    182     Jr.        Ole Miss

27       James Blackwelder    6-0      187     Jr.        Arizona

34       Paul Shires                 6-3      198     So.       Michigan State

36       Derek Johnson           5-11    169     Jr.        Michigan State

38       Bruce Walsh              6-0      176     Sr.        Texas A&M

55       Richard Harber         6-5      215     Sr.        Minnesota

 

SHOOTING GUARD

7          Gilbert Dingman        6-0      186     Jr.        Seton Hall

11       Daniel Zahradnik      6-4      204     Jr.        Michigan

14       Bernardo Rivera        6-1      194     So.       Iowa

22       Ronald Antunez         6-3      207     Jr.        Syracuse

23       Robert Shaw              6-4      184     Jr.        Ole Miss

28       Ronald Bowman        6-0      164     Sr.        Kansas

30       Douglas Oakley          6-1      192     Sr.        Kansas

31       Lonnie Butler             6-3      208     Jr.        Miami (FL)

39       Jurica Zediker             6-0      181     So.       Oklahoma

53       James Kunze              6-3      179     Sr.        Virginia

 

SMALL FORWARD

6          Clarence Hankins      6-6      219     Sr.        Washington

8          Glen Singleton           6-7      215     Sr.        Boston College

15       Edward Wolski          6-8      217     So.       North Carolina

16       Louis Chan                 6-4      204     Jr.        Ole Miss

17       Eric Hunter                5-11    189     So.       Florida

21       Eric Henderson         6-7      214     Jr.        Ole Miss

33       Russell Bell                 6-5      220     Jr.        Illinois

37       Warren Kelly             6-4      204     Fr.        Kansas

40       Darren Banks             6-2      196     Jr.        Iowa

42       Clarence Davis           6-4      184     Jr.        Duke

 

POWER FORWARD

1          David Feldman             6-5      211     Jr.        Oklahoma

4          Antonio Boyd                 6-6      215     Sr.        Ohio State

9          Michael Daughtry         6-6      219     So.       Kansas

20       Kenny Calabrese           6-6      199     Jr.        Connecticut

24       Raymond Berry             6-11    253     Jr.        Connecticut

29       David Johnson               6-9      243     Jr.        Georgetown

32       Mike Knudson               6-7      213     Sr.        Rutgers

47       Samuel Bowen               6-8      225     Jr.        Seton Hall

52       Vincent Harrison            6-5      222     Jr.        Iowa

56       Christopher Yungbluth   6-8      212     Sr.        California

 

CENTER

3          Ernest Murphy          7-0      264     So.       Connecticut

5          Adam Gray                 6-5      217     Jr.        Duke

10       Charles Myles           6-8      214     Sr.        Providence

12       William Agostini        6-9      224     Sr.        Texas A&M

26       Eric O’Bryan              7-1      270     Jr.        Iowa

35       Eric Harris                  6-11    227     Sr.        Ole Miss

41       Kevin Malone            6-11    258     Jr.        Connecticut

43       Ronald Moss              6-6      208     So.       Michigan State

45       Angel Lombardi         6-11    233     Jr.        Virginia Tech

46       Ellis Gurganus           7-0      257     So.       Miami (FL)

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BIG SOUTH SPORTS BLOG

 

83 Big South Tournament Field Finalized

 

 

The 83 Big South Tournament bracket is officially finalized. Birmingham-Southern will host the tournament on its campus in the Bill Battle Coliseum. Birmingham-Southern captured the Big South regular season championship with a perfect 16-0 record after defeating High Point 84-63 Saturday afternoon. This is the first time a Big South team has ran the table in the regular season since BSC accomplished the feat in 79. The Panthers hosted that year as well and won the Big South Tournament and accompanying automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

 

The beauty, or curse depending on who you ask, of playing in what is normally a one-bid league is that it is truly a new season for every team. How the teams have performed over the previous 16 games doesn’t matter – all that matters is what happens over the next four days. Survive and advance will be the motto for each team this weekend as, in all likelihood, the Big South will once again receive only one bid to the Big Dance. Birmingham-Southern could potentially sneak into the tournament with a loss in the championship game, as it did last season, but there is no guarantee that the Panthers are locked in. Last season BSC just made the field of 64 as the final at-large bid and the Panthers fell two spots to 50th in the latest projection report. The Panthers could have a tough match with Radford in the semifinals before potentially playing Coastal Carolina, who pushed BSC to overtime in the regular season, to claim the Big South Tournament crown. Neither of those two games are guaranteed wins, but the Panthers are the clear favorite to cut down the nets this weekend. Below we break down the bracket and give you a prediction for each team. Check back throughout the tournament as we update the bracket and breakdown the top performers for each round.

 

83 BIG SOUTH TOURNAMENT

at Bill Battle Coliseum – Birmingham, Ala.

 

FIRST ROUND (Wednesday)

Game 1: Mississippi Valley State vs. Charleston Southern

Game 2: Liberty vs. Alabama State

Game 3: VMI vs. High Point

Game 4: UNC-Asheville vs. Winthrop

 

SECOND ROUND (Thursday)

Game 5: Coastal Carolina vs. Mississippi Valley State/Charleston Southern

Game 6: Alabama A&M vs. Liberty/Alabama State

Game 7: Birmingham-Southern vs. VMI/High Point

Game 8: Radford vs. UNC-Asheville/Winthrop

 

SEMIFINALS (Friday)

Game 9: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner

Game 10: Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner

 

CHAMPIONSHIP (Saturday)

Game 11: Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner

 

 

PREDICTION:

This tournament should play out chalk the entire way. Coastal Carolina is blessed with being in the weaker bracket and should have no trouble getting to the championship game. Alabama A&M has a reputation for playing its best ball during the tournament (see last year’s upset of BSC and VMI) and have won four of the last six Big South Tournaments. Its possible the Bulldogs could make another postseason run, but we believe the Chanticleers will handle Alabama A&M just like they did earlier in the season. VMI should advance to play BSC in the second round. Normally this is a match you would see in the semifinals if not the championship game. The Keydets have had BSC’s number lately having won two straight against Knight’s squad, but the Panthers broke that streak with a dominating 79-55 victory Thursday night. This year VMI features six true freshmen while BSC plays five experienced seniors. This year BSC’s experience will trump VMI’s youth and inexperience. The semifinals should feature an intriguing matchup between BSC and Radford. Radford boasts 10 sophomores on its 12-man roster, but senior small forwards Anton Basinger and Daniel Akins (13.2 and 11.7 ppg, respectively) lead the Highlanders. Despite having an army of underclassmen Radford was able to win 10 Big South games. Radford might be a year away from being an unstoppable force in the Big South, but don’t sleep on them this year. Birmingham-Southern’s path to the Big South Tournament title isn’t a cake walk, but having the league’s top two scorers in William Big (16.9 ppg) and Paul Cheatham (15.3 ppg) certainly make it more manageable. Don’t be surprised if Alabama A&M or Radford show up in the championship game, but the final verdict is most likely going to be Coastal Carolina and BSC in a great game. We have the Panthers coming out on top. Stay connected to the Big South Sports Blog to get the latest up to date information and scores throughout the Big South Tournament. 

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BIG SOUTH SPORTS BLOG

 

Big South Tournament Day 1 Recap

 

The first day of the 83 Big South Tournament is over and its time to recap all of the action from the first round.

 

Game 1: Mississippi Valley State 79, Charleston Southern 71

The first game of the tournament featured an upset as the Delta Devils pulled off an eight-point win over the Bucs. Mississippi Valley State had four players score in double digits and were led by senior small forward Michael Brown’s monster performance with 29 points and seven rebounds. The Delta Devils also made 21-of-26 free throws (80.8%) while the Bucs chucked shots up from behind the arc (8-of-28 28.6%).  Charleston Southern’s bench also only accounted for eight points.

 

Game 2: Liberty 84, Alabama State 69

Liberty dominated Alabama State from the opening tip en route to a blowout victory. The Flame forced 18 turnovers, won the rebound battle 35-28 and outscored Alabama State’s bench 45-27. Leading the way for Liberty was junior point guard John Boyle with 13 points. Junior power forward Jame Hasenberg also scored 13 points and had six rebounds and three blocks coming off the bench for Liberty. Junior shooting guard Richard Cate was the leading scorer for Alabama State with 16 points off the bench.

 

Game 3: High Point 67, VMI 62

VMI’s starting five put up a valiant effort against High Point, but in the end it was the Panthers depth and ability to make free throws that won the game. Four starters for VMI scored in double digits, led by sophomore point guard Antonio Hyden with 18 points while playing small forward, but the Keydets bench could only account for seven points. High Point’s bench scored 30 points. VMI was an abysmal 10-of-19 (52.6%) from the free throw line. Senior power forward Tom Darden was High Point’s leading scorer with 13 points.

 

Game 4: UNC-Asheville 79, Winthrop 76

The nightcap game was a thriller with the UNC-Asheville Bulldogs pulling out a three-point victory. Winthrop suffered from the misfortunes of an 11-of-19 (57.9%) performance from the free throw line and star point guard Joshua Mallery fouling out in 27 minutes. Mallery scored 14 points with five rebounds and three steals. UNC-Asheville fired away from behind the arc hitting 8-of-18 (44.4%) shots from 3-point range. Senior point guard Ian Glick led the Bulldogs with 16 points and sealed the victory by scoring the final four points for UNC-Asheville.

 

 

Here’s the lines for the second round matches in the Big South Tournament

 

Mississippi Valley State (11-16)

Coastal Carolina (15-11)                             [-9]

 

Liberty (14-13)

Alabama A&M (12-14)                                 [-2]

 

High Point (5-22)

Birmingham-Southern (24-2)                     [-38]

 

UNC-Asheville (10-17)

Radford (15-11)                                           [-4]

 

 

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BIG SOUTH SPORTS BLOG

 

Big South Tournament Day 2 Recap

 

The second day of the 83 Big South Tournament is over and four teams are left in the hunt for the Big South Tournament Championship. Below we’ll recap each game from Day 2 and look ahead to the semifinals.

 

Game 5: Coastal Carolina 74, Mississippi Valley State 64

The Chanticleers jumped all over Mississippi Valley State from the get go. Coastal Carolina forced 18 MVSU turnovers and scored 26 points off of those takeaways. On top of that Coastal Carolina hit 10 shots from beyond the arc. Don’t let the final score fool you – this game was all Coastal Carolina. Mississippi Valley State had three players score in double digits led by point guard Freddie Fulghum’s 15 points. Small forward Damion Palmer led Coastal Carolina with 15 points.

 

Game 6: Liberty 71, Alabama A&M 68 (OT)

The Liberty Flame upset Alabama A&M in the second game of the day to move onto the semifinals where it will play its third game is as many days. Alabama A&M’s season is over as well as the chance to win its fifth Big South Tournament in the last seven years. Liberty shooting guard Francis Young finished the game with 12 points and eight rebounds. Young also nailed a corner 3 with one second remaining in regulation to send the game to overtime. Liberty pulled down an impressive 45 rebounds and scored 22 points off of 19 Alabama A&M turnovers. The Bulldogs did themselves no favors from the free throw line, shooting 60 percent (15-of-25) from the charity stripe. Center Richard Jeanbaptiste led Liberty with 13 points and six rebounds. Alabama A&M’s leading scorers were point guard Seth Hall (13 points) and center William Lyberger (10 points and 13 rebounds).

 

Game 7: Birmingham-Southern 80, High point 65

The top team in the Big South was all over High Point in this game. Birmingham-Southern played stifling defense and held the High Point starters to just 25 combined points. Power forward William Big led BSC with 16 points, five rebounds, and three blocks. Shooting guard Paul Cheatham added 12 points and seven assists. Thomas Hendrix and Eric Smith led High Point with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

 

Game 8: Radford 71, UNC-Asheville 70

It appeared as if there would be another upset in the final game of the day when UNC-Asheville had a five-point lead at the half. Despite shooting just 61.5 percent from the free throw line (16-of-26), Radford was able to bounce back and take control in the second half. The Highlanders were never able to run away with the game, but there was no question who was winning this game throughout most of the second half. Daniel Akins led Radford with 15 points. Ian Glick once again put together an impressive performance and led UNC-Asheville with 14 points, five assists, and four steals.

 

 

The semifinals are set and four teams are left with hopes of making the NCAA Tournament. Liberty, fresh off its upset over Alabama A&M, should challenge Coastal Carolina in the first game. It will be interesting to see what effect playing three games in three days will have on Liberty. The main attraction of the semifinals will be top seed Birmingham-Southern and Radford. The Highlanders played fairly well against UNC-Asheville, however, they can’t afford to fall too far behind against BSC or the Panthers will run them out of the gym. Both games in the semifinals should be great. Look forward to a championship game featuring Coastal Carolina and Birmingham-Southern.

 

SEMIFINAL MATCHUPS

 

Liberty (15-13)

Coastal Carolina (16-11)                 [-5]

 

Radford (16-11)

Birmingham-Southern (25-2)         [-18]

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BIG SOUTH AWARDS

 

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

William Big                 PF        Sr.        Birmingham-Southern (17.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg)

 

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

William Lyberger      C          Sr.        Alabama A&M (12.3 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 1.2 bpg)

 

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR

Shawn Beauvais        C          Fr.        Birmingham-Southern (6.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg)

 

COACH OF THE YEAR

Jeremy Knight           HC                   Birmingham-Southern

 

 

FIRST TEAM ALL-BIG SOUTH

PG       James Bing                 Jr.        UNC-Asheville (11.5 ppg, 3.4 apg)

SG        Paul Cheatham          Sr.        Birmingham-Southern (16.1 ppg, 2.5 apg)

SF        Damion Palmer         Sr.        Coastal Carolina (15.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg)

PF        William Big                 Sr.        Birmingham-Southern (17.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg)

C          William Lyberger      Sr.        Alabama A&M (12.3 ppg, 10.3 rpg)

 

SECOND TEAM ALL-BIG SOUTH

PG       Jared Lobdell             Jr.        Birmingham-Southern (5.3 ppg, 5.7 apg)

SG        Chris Matthews         Sr.        Birmingham-Southern (8.5 ppg, 3.1 apg)

SF        Elbert Estrella           Sr.        Birmingham-Southern (9.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg)

PF        Lester Hitchcock        Sr.        Alabama A&M (9.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg)

C          Nathan Forbes           Jr.        Charleston Southern (8.4 ppg, 7.4 rpg)

 

THIRD TEAM ALL-BIG SOUTH

PG       Freddie Fulghum      Jr.        Mississippi Valley State (12.1 ppg, 4.2 apg)

SG        Glenn Allan                Jr.        Charleston Southern (10.3 ppg, 2.8 apg)

SF        Michael Brown          Sr.        Mississippi Valley State (12.6 ppg, 6.9 rpg)

PF        Edgar Stewart           Sr.        Liberty (9.4 ppg, 6.0 rpg)

C          Shawn Beauvais        Fr.        Birmingham-Southern (6.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg)

 

HONORABLE MENTION ALL-BIG SOUTH

PG       Joshua Mallery                      Winthrop

            Richard Kanagy                     Birmingham-Southern

            William Claussen                   Coastal Carolina

SG        Francis Young                        Liberty

            Christopher Peake                Alabama A&M

            Peter Smith                            VMI

SF        Anton Basinger                      Radford

            Joel Longoria                          Charleston Southern

            Daniel Akins                           Radford

PF        William Allmon                      Coastal Carolina

            Tom Darden                          High Point

            Gordon Penney                     UNC-Asheville

C          Daniel Summers                    Coastal Carolina

            Brian Storm                           Mississippi Valley State

            Christopher Perlman             VMI

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BIG SOUTH SPORTS BLOG

 

Big South Championship Game Set

 

And then there were two! The semifinals for the Big South Tournament is over and two teams are left standing with hopes of winning the championship and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. As most predicted the championship game will be played between Coastal Carolina and Birmingham-Southern. Below we’ll have a recap of the two semifinal games to see how the Chanticleers and Panthers advanced to the championship game.

 

Game 9: Coastal Carolina 75, Liberty 60

Liberty played in its third game in as many days. The Flame held their own in the first half against Coastal Carolina, the Chanticleers only led by three at the half. However, the fatigue finally caught up with Liberty in the second half as Coastal Carolina outscored the Flame 45-33 to run away with the game. Coastal Carolina forced 23 Liberty turnovers and converted them into 26 points. The Chanticleers also pounded Liberty inside for 26 points in the paint. The other main difference in the contest was difference in fouls. Coastal Carolina was only whistled for 12 fouls while Liberty racked up 24 fouls. Additionally, Liberty was only able to get to the free throw line nine times. Coastal Carolina was too fresh and too much for Liberty and the Chanticleers found their way to the title game without facing a huge challenge, just as many experts predicted. Liberty’s leading scorers were Paul Bard and Stewart Hayhurt with 12 and 11 points off the bench, respectively. Damion Palmer has continued to be a force to be reckoned with for Coastal Carolina as he scored 13 points.

 

Game 10: Birmingham-Southern 79, Radford 57

Birmingham-Southern wasted no time in this game jumping all over Radford and letting their opponent know that they are the best team in the Big South Conference. The Panthers raced out to a 40-27 halftime lead. Birmingham-Southern pounded Radford inside for 34 points in the paint and turned 15 Radford turnovers into 18 points. Paul Cheatham led the way for BSC with 18 points, including a 4-for-7 performance from behind the arc. William Big and Elbert Estrella each scored 14 points for BSC as well. Radford’s Anton Basinger was held to just 11 points on 3-of-9 shooting. The Birmingham-Southern defense dominated Radford throughout most of the game and held the Highlanders to just 26 total rebounds and 2-of-12 (16.7%) from the 3-point line.  Birmingham-Southern also recorded eight steals and five blocks.

 

The match that most people predicted and want to see for the championship game will happen. Birmingham-Southern and Coastal Carolina will square off once again. Earlier this season BSC was able to escape a road game against Coastal Carolina with a 96-94 overtime victory. Birmingham-Southern freshman Shawn Beauvais had his best game of the year with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Coastal Carolina has been impressive throughout the Big South Tournament, but BSC is on an entirely different level right now. The Panthers sent a message with their semifinal victory that they came here to dominate, and so far this season that is what BSC has done. With a win BSC could wrap up just its second undefeated streak in Big South play (BSC went 16-0 and won the Big South Tournament in 79, also). The Panthers could also win their 10th Big South Tournament Championship, which would put them in second place behind Alabama A&M’s 14 tournament titles, and give the Panthers an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. A victory for Coastal Carolina would be its ninth Big South Tournament Championship and send the Chanticleers to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 71.

 

 

BIG SOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Coastal Carolina (17-11)

Birmingham-Southern (26-2)                     [-10]

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The Birmingham News

 

Perfection! Birmingham-Southern Claims Big South Championship

 

BIRMINGHAM | The Birmingham-Southern Panthers defeated Coastal Carolina 78-66 to claim the 83 Big South Tournament Championship. The Panthers’ victory is historic because it gives BSC its 10th Big South Tournament Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Birmingham-Southern will be making back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.

 

“This is absolutely incredible,” said an excited Jeremy Knight. “When you look back all the way to last summer and all the hard work these guys have put in since then. They took everyone’s best shot each night and they did what it took to find a way to win. I just can’t express how special this is to be a part of what this team has done so far this season.”

 

The Panthers went 16-0 during the regular season in Big South play and then won all three games in the Big South Tournament for a perfect 19-0 overall record against Big South teams. This is just the second time in program history that BSC has accomplished that feat, with the other coming in 79 – also under Coach Knight’s tenure. Although he has already experienced a perfect Big South season, Knight said this one was more special.

 

“Don’t get me wrong, anytime you go undefeated it’s a very special thing,” Knight said. “But this time was different than the first time. The last time we did this we knew we had a good team but they weren’t expected by their peers and fans and outside sources to go undefeated. They took each game one at time, like we always try to do, and they found a way to win them all. This year our team once again had high expectations from the staff, just like they do every year, but the expectations and pressure from the outside was so much greater than it’s ever been since I’ve been here. For the guys to not get caught up on that and focus on the task at hand and accomplish our goals is something that is truly special to me.”

 

This BSC squad is perhaps the most talented from top to bottom since Knight took over the program. Seven players earned all-conference recognition and William Big and Shawn Beauvais were named Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, respectively.

 

Big showed why he is the best player in the conference during the biggest stage the Big South can offer. Big finished the championship game with 20 points and 12 rebounds and was named Tournament MVP.

 

“William has just been incredible for us all season long. Coming into the season we knew he was going to have to be our leader and we put a lot on him in terms of workload and expectations. And every single night he delivered. Most nights he dominated in the post and on the boards. On nights when he was off he did a good job of getting other teammates involved and letting them step up and make plays. Every single game he did whatever was necessary for the team to get a win. Every member of this team did that and that’s why we’re in the position we are right now.”

 

Birmingham-Southern will play in the NCAA Tournament for the 11th time and in consecutive years for the first time ever. This will be Knight’s third trip to the Big Dance with BSC. Birmingham-Southern is currently projected as a 12-seed matched up with 5-seed Oklahoma.

 

“We’re excited about winning the tournament. We’re gonna celebrate. But we also need to refocus and realize that there is more basketball to be played. We’ve accomplished every goal we’ve set for this season. Now it’s time to add ‘win an NCAA Tournament game’ to our list of goals. It’s going to be a step up in competition, but our guys are experienced enough to know what’s ahead of them and what they need to do to prepare to be successful. We’ll enjoy this victory and watch the selection show and then it’s time to get back to work.”

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NCAA TOURNAMENT

DIVISION III

 

FIRST ROUND

MIDWEST

[1] California Tech def. [16] Oswego

[8] Grinnell def. [9] William Paterson

[12] Ferrum def. [5] Marietta

[4] Lewis and Clark def. [13] Wisconsin-Oshkosh

[6] Wisconsin-La Crosse def. [11] Albright

[14] Tufts def. [3] St. Joseph's (ME)

[7] Sewanee def. [10] City College of New York

[2] Averett def. [15] Endicott

EAST

[1] Palm Beach Atlantic def. [16] Castleton State

[8] Dominican def. [9] Upper Iowa

[12] Redlands def. [5] Heidelberg

[4] Yeshiva def. [13] Catholic

[6] Clarkson def. [11] Louisiana

[3] Augustana def. [14] Olivet

[7] Wisconsin-Superior def. [10] Mount St. Joseph

[2] Utica def. [15] College of New Jersey

SOUTH

[1] Oglethorpe def. [16] Frostburg State

[8] Anderson def. [9] St. Norbert

[5] Wisconsin-Stevens Point def. [12] Sul Ross State

[13] Ramapo def. [4] Union

[6] Christopher Newport def. [11] Brooklyn

[3] Dallas def. [14] St. Mary's (MN)

[7] Mount Union def. [10] Ohio Wesleyan

[2] Westminster (MO) def. [15] Haverford

WEST

[1] Centre def. [16] Keene State

[8] Chicago def. [9] Capital

[12] Old Westbury def. [5] Piedmont

[13] Bethany College def. [4] Howard Payne

[11] Wisconsin-Stout def. [6] Wisconsin Lutheran

[3] Greensboro def. [14] Neumann

[7] Coe def. [10] Wilmington

[2] Colorado def. [15] Ripon

 

SECOND ROUND

MIDWEST

[1] California Tech def. [8] Grinnell

[4] Lewis and Clark def. [12] Ferrum

[6] Wisconsin-La Crosse def. [14] Tufts

[2] Averett def. [7] Sewanee

EAST

[1] Palm Beach Atlantic def. [8] Dominican

[4] Yeshiva def. [12] Redlands

[3] Augustana def. [6] Clarkson

[2] Utica def. [7] Wisconsin-Superior

SOUTH

[1] Oglethorpe def. [8] Anderson

[5] Wisconsin-Stevens Point def. [13] Ramapo

[3] Dallas def. [6] Christopher Newport

[7] Mount Union def. [2] Westminster (MO)

WEST

[1] Centre def. [8] Chicago

[13] Bethany def. [12] Old Westbury

[3] Greensboro def. [11] Wisconsin-Stout

[2] Colorado def. [7] Coe

 

SWEET SIXTEEN

MIDWEST

[1] California Tech def. [4] Lewis and Clark

[2] Averett def. [6] Wisconsin-La Crosse

EAST

[4] Yeshiva def. [1] Palm Beach Atlantic

[3] Augustana def. [2] Utica

SOUTH

[1] Oglethorpe def. [5] Wisconsin-Stevens Point

[3] Dallas def. [7] Mount Union

WEST

[1] Centre def. [13] Bethany

[3] Greensboro def. [2] Colorado

 

ELITE EIGHT

MIDWEST

[1] California Tech def. [2] Averett

EAST

[4] Yeshiva def. [3] Augustana

SOUTH

[1] Oglethorpe def. [3] Dallas

WEST

[3] Greensboro def. [1] Centre

 

FINAL FOUR

[1] California Tech def. [4] Yeshiva

[1] Oglethorpe def. [3] Greensboro

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

[1] Oglethorpe def. [1] California Tech

 

 

NCAA TOURNAMENT

DIVISION II

 

FIRST ROUND

MIDWEST

[1] Cal State-Dominguez Hills def. [16] Washington Adventist

[9] Armstrong Atlantic def. [8] Adams State

[5] Fort Valley State def. [12] Findlay

[13] Southwest Minnesota State def. [4] Seattle

[6] Mount Olive def. [11] Cal State-Los Angeles

[3] Philadelphia def. [14] Charleston

[7] Abilene Christian def. [10] North Dakota State

[15] Wisconsin-Parkside def. [2] Ouachita Baptist

EAST

[1] Merrimack def. [16] Truman State

[9] Ashland def. [8] Fairmont State

[5] USC-Upstate def. [12] West Virginia Wesleyan

[4] LIU-CW Post def. [13] Colorado School of Mines

[6] Northwest Nazarene def. [11] Bloomfield

[3] Grand Canyon def. [14] Indianapolis

[10] Southwest Baptist def. [7] Tusculum

[2] Eastern New Mexico def. [15] Lane

SOUTH

[16] Western Oregon def. [1] New Jersey Tech

[8] Northeastern State def. [9] Grand Valley State

[5] Western State def. [12] St. Michael's

[4] Cal State-Chico def. [13] Minnesota State-Mankato

[11] Christian Brothers def. [6] Molloy

[3] Mercyhurst def. [14] West Texas A&M

[10] University of D.C. def. [7] West Florida

[2] Bowie State def. [15] Limestone

WEST

[1] Green Mountain def. [16] Salem International

[8] Wayne State (MI) def. [9] Post

[5] San Francisco State def. [12] Mansfield

[4] Pace def. [13] Rollins

[6] Angelo State def. [11] Felician

[3] Quincy def. [14] Morehouse

[7] Delta State def. [10] Cal State-Santa Barbara

[2] UNC-Pembroke def. [15] Southern New Hampshire

 

SECOND ROUND

MIDWEST

[1] Cal State-Dominguez Hills def. [9] Armstrong Atlantic State

[13] Southwest Minnesota State def. [5] Fort Valley State

[3] Philadelphis def. [6] Mount Olive

[7] Abilene Christian def. [15] Wisconsin-Parkside

EAST

[9] Ashland def. [1] Merrimack

[4] LIU-CW Post def. [5] USC-Upstate

[3] Grand Canyon def. [6] Northwest Nazarene

[2] Eastern New Mexico def. [10] Southwest Baptist

SOUTH

[8] Northeastern State def. [16] Western Oregon

[5] Western State def. [4] Cal State-Chico

[3] Mercyhurst def. [11] Christian Brothers

[2] Bowie State def. [10] University of D.C.

WEST

[1] Green Mountain def. [8] Wayne State (MI)

[4] Pace def. [5] San Francisco State

[3] Quincy def. [6] Angelo State

[2] UNC-Pembroke def. [7] Delta State

 

SWEET SIXTEEN

MIDWEST

[13] Southwest Minnesota State def. [1] Cal State-Dominguez Hills

[3] Philadelphia def. [7] Abilene Christian

EAST

[4] LIU-CW Post def. [9] Ashland

[3] Grand Canyon def. [2] Eastern New Mexico

SOUTH

[5] Western State def. [8] Northeastern State

[3] Mercyhurst def. [2] Bowie State

WEST

[1] Green Mountain def. [4] Pace

[2] UNC-Pembroke def. [3] Quincy

 

ELITE EIGHT

MIDWEST

[3] Philadelphia def. [13] Southwest Minnesota State

EAST

[4] LIU-CW Post def. [3] Grand Canyon

SOUTH

[3] Mercyhurst def. [5] Western State

WEST

[1] Green Mountain def. [2] UNC-Pembroke

 

FINAL FOUR

[3] Philadelphia def. [4] LIU-CW Post

[3] Mercyhurst def. [1] Green Mountain

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

[3] Philadelphia def. [3] Mercyhurst

 

 

NIT

 

FIRST ROUND

[8] Texas Christian 60, [1] Santa Clara 52

[4] Loyola (MD) 69, [5] Gardner-Webb 56

[3] Purdue 80, [6] Kansas State 71

[2] Louisville 77, [7] Murray State 71

[1] Idaho State 82, [8] South Florida 64

[4] Fresno State 80, [5] North Texas 69

[3] Florida State 70, [6] Baylor 65

[7] Columbia 75, [2] Southern Methodist 65

[1] Oklahoma State 57, [8] St. John's 43

[5] Georgia Tech 69, [4] Furman 55

[6] Bradley 79, [3] Indiana 78

[2] San Diego State 70, [7] Prairie View A&M 68

[1] UMBC 69, [8] Cleveland State 55

[5] Harvard 74, [4] Wisconsin 66

[3] Arizona State 84, [6] Wichita State 77

[7] George Washington 62, [2] Texas Southern 59

 

SECOND ROUND

[8] Texas Christian 59, [4] Loyola (MD) 52

[2] Louisville 77, [3] Purdue 61

[1] Idaho State 85, [4] Fresno State 77

[7] Columbia 58, [3] Florida State 56

[1] Oklahoma State 58, [5] Georgia Tech 49

[2] San Diego State 73, [6] Bradley 58

[5] Harvard 81, [1] UMBC 75

[3] Arizona State 66, [7] George Washington 58

 

THIRD ROUND

[2] Louisville 80, [8] Texas Christian 68

[1] Idaho State 68, [7] Columbia 66

[1] Oklahoma State 62, [2] San Diego State 42

[5] Harvard 52, [3] Arizona State 49

 

SEMIFINALS (@ New York, N.Y.)

[1] Idaho State 67, [2] Louisville 66

[1] Oklahoma State 63, [5] Harvard 60

 

CHAMPIONSHIP (@ New York, N.Y.)

[1] Oklahoma State 71, [1] Idaho State 69

 

 

NCAA TOURNAMENT

DIVISION I

 

FIRST ROUND

MIDWEST

[1] Duke 78, [16] Central Michigan 42

[9] BYU 78, [8] South Carolina 71 (OT)

[5] Syracuse 78, [12] Navy 61

[4] Oklahoma 72, [13] DePaul 55

[11] Texas 75, [6] Minnesota 72

[3] UCLA 69, [14] George Mason 54

[7] Wake Forest 72, [10] Gonzaga 65

[2] Tennessee 89, [15] Western Carolina 61

EAST

[1] Ole Miss 90, [16] Long Island 62

[8] Arizona 70, [9] Richmond 58

[5] Michigan State 61, [12] Birmingham-Southern 56

[4] Seton Hall 84, [13] Stephen F. Austin 59

[11] LSU 63, [6] Virginia Tech 59

[3] Illinois 81, [14] Marist 67

[7] Oregon State 61, [10] Rutgers 48

[2] Kansas 89, [15] Hampton 65

SOUTH

[1] Ohio State 75, [16] California-Irvine 49

[9] Mississippi State 71, [8] Georgetown 69

[12] North Carolina 55, [5] California 44

[4] Colorado 91, [13] Northern Arizona 81 (OT)

[6] Air Force 55, [11] Dayton 42

[3] Miami (FL) 87, [14] Dartmouth 55

[7] Kentucky 61, [10] Missouri 46

[2] Providence 82, [15] Chicago State 69

WEST

[1] Iowa 88, [16] Eastern Kentucky 60

[8] Florida 86, [9] Boston College 81

[12] San Jose State 77, [5] Washington 71 (OT)

[4] Connecticut 86, [13] Drake 60

[11] Alabama 60, [6] Utah 58

[3] Virginia 75, [14] South Alabama 65

[10] Northwestern 65, [7] Stanford 57

[2] Texas A&M 85, [15] Houston 68

 

SECOND ROUND

MIDWEST

[1]  Duke 69, [9] BYU 53

[5] Syracuse 68, [4] Oklahoma 65

[3] UCLA 82, [11] Texas 75

[7] Wake Forest 60, [2] Tennessee 59

EAST

[1] Ole Miss 73, [8] Arizona 63

[4] Seton Hall 71, [5] Michigan State 65

[11] LSU 64, [3] Illinois 61

[2] Kansas 80, [7] Oregon State 70

SOUTH

[9] Mississippi State 72, [1] Ohio State 59

[4] Colorado 53, [12] North Carolina 50

[6] Air Force 76, [3] Miami (FL) 72

[7] Kentucky 57, [2] Providence 54

WEST

[1] Iowa 80, [8] Florida 53

[4] Connecticut 69, [12] San Hose State 64

[3] Virginia 85, [11] Alabama 68

[10] Northwestern 61, [2] Texas A&M 58

 

SWEET SIXTEEN

MIDWEST (@ Milwaukee, Wis.)

[1] Duke 68, [5] Syracuse 58

[7] Wake Forest 64, [3] UCLA 57

EAST (@ Brooklyn, N.Y.)

[1] Ole Miss 83, [4] Seton Hall 58

[2] Kansas 90, [11] LSU 78

SOUTH (@ New Orleans, La.)

[9] Mississippi State 63, [4] Colorado 57

[7] Kentucky 68, [6] Air Force 62

WEST (@ Seattle, Wash.)

[1] Iowa 59, [4] Connecticut 49

[3] Virginia 66, [10] Northwestern 58

 

ELITE EIGHT

MIDWEST (@ Milwaukee, Wis.)

[1] Duke 67, [7] Wake Forest 57

EAST (@ Brooklyn, N.Y.)

[2] Kansas 63, [1] Ole Miss 61 (OT)

SOUTH (@ New Orleans, La.)

[9] Mississippi State 71, [7] Kentucky 61

WEST (@ Seattle, Wash.)

[1] Iowa 99, [3] Virginia 58

 

FINAL FOUR (@ Glendale, Ariz.)

[1] Duke 79, [2] Kansas 69

[1] Iowa 79, [9] Mississippi State 67

 

CHAMPIONSHIP (@ Glendale, Ariz.)

[1] Iowa 76, [1] Duke 70

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THE BIRMINGHAM NEWS

 

Birmingham-Southern Runs Out of Gas Against Michigan State

 

PHILADELPHIA, PENN. | One minute and thirty seconds. That is how close Birmingham-Southern came to upsetting 5-seed Michigan State in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers had four possessions in the final 1:30 of the game with the score tied 54-54. Birmingham-Southern was only able to make a layup in that span along with a missed 3-point shot and two turnovers. The Spartans were able to score on all of their final possessions and pulled out a 61-56 victory over BSC.

 

“This loss is one of the hardest, if not the hardest, that I’ve ever experienced in my career as a coach,” BSC coach Jeremy Knight said. “We had our chances all throughout the game. We get down to the final 1:30 of the game and we couldn’t take care of the basketball.”

 

Birmingham-Southern executed a great game plan to stay in the game and held Michigan State’s future NBA guards Derek Johnson and Paul Shires to a combined 20 points and combined three assists. The biggest difference in the game was at the free throw line. Birmingham-Southern, which makes getting to the charity stripe a priority in its offense, was only 5-of-8 (62.5%) while Michigan State was 14-of-17 (82.4%).

 

“I thought we didn’t do a good job of getting to the line. We only had eight shots all night. Part of our offensive philosophy is being aggressive and going to the rim and drawing fouls to get to the free throw line. Tonight we shot a few more 3’s than we typically do and I believe that was part of the reason why we didn’t get to the line as often as we normally do.”

 

Birmingham-Southern’s one-two punch of William Big and Paul Cheatham once again led the Panthers in scoring in their final collegiate game. Big scored a team-high 12 points with six rebounds and Cheatham added 11 points. Freshman center Shawn Beauvais scored six points, seven rebounds, and two blocks.

 

“Our seniors have done a lot for this program during their time on campus. Every night each one of them gave everything they had and tonight was no different. This is one of the best senior classes we’ve had at BSC and there’s going to be big expectations for incoming classes to carry on the tradition and expectations they helped establish. But we’ve also got some great young guys in our program. Shawn had a good game tonight and my staff is always trying to bring in the best players that they can for our system. This class brought BSC to great, new heights and I believe that we will only go higher in the following years.

 

“We’ll be back in the NCAA Tournament. Every year one of our goals is to make it here. We will be back.”

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