Big South Conference Notebook
Regular Season Champs
With one week remaining in the regular season, Winthrop clinched its fourth regular season Big South title of the last seven years with a pair of victories this past week. The regular season championship gives the Eagles the top seed in the Big South Tournament, which starts on March 1, and also allows them to play all of their tournament games at home in the Winthrop Coliseum.
Winthrop increased its current winning streak to a school-record thirteen games and now holds a conference mark of 13-1 to go along with an impressive 22-5 overall record. Though an at-large NCAA tournament berth remains next-to-impossible, an appearance in the NIT would be likely if the Eagles were to stumble in the conference tournament due to Winthrop’s record and RPI ranking, which currently hovers around 80th in the nation.
VMI is Done
On the other end of the spectrum, VMI will not participate in the conference tournament as they cannot finish out of last place this season. The Keydets currently stand at 2-12 in the league and are three games behind eighth-place Radford with only two games remaining in the regular season.
The rest of the league is still battling for tournament seeding in this upcoming final week. Liberty has virtually clinched the second seed, but they can make it official with a win over third-place UNC Asheville this Thursday. Radford has struggled in past couple of weeks and will have to finish strong to avoid the eighth seed and a first round match-up at Winthrop. The rest of the league is in a tight battle for the third-through-seventh spots as only two games separate the five teams in the middle of the league.
Player of the Week
A badly injured ankle could not prevent Liberty sophomore guard David Dees from earning Hoopville’s Big South Player of the Week honors this week. Dees sprained his left ankle near the end of Liberty’s week-opening win against Coastal Carolina. He sat out the Flames’ next game, but returned to the lineup against Radford to close out the week. In the two games he played, he averaged 24.5 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists.
Team Reports
Winthrop Eagles (22-5, 13-1) Last Week: 2-0
Junior forward James Shuler had the best week of his career and helped lead Winthrop to their two wins last week. Shuler scored a team-high 18 points to go along with 5 rebounds as the Eagles opened the week with a 65-55 victory at Radford. However, he was even better as he notched a career-high 25 points in a 74-66 Homecoming victory over High Point over the weekend.
Winthrop closes out its regular season on the road this week, traveling to VMI on February 23 and ending the week at Charleston Southern on February 26. With the regular season already clinched, do not be surprised if the starters get a little more bench-time this week, but do not expect the Eagles to take either of these two games lightly.
Liberty Flames (12-14, 10-5) Last Week: 2-1
The Liberty Flames withstood Dees’s injury and put themselves in excellent position for the second seed in the conference tournament with another solid week. The Flames opened the week with a tight 72-68 home win over Coastal Carolina. With Dees out of the lineup in their next game at VMI, Liberty slipped a bit and fell to the Keydets, 73-67. However, Dees returned and the Flames overcame a sluggish start in their final regular season home game to beat Radford, 70-62.
Dees led the team in scoring in their two wins with 26 points against Coastal and 23 points in the win over Radford. In the loss to VMI, senior guard Brian Woodson scored 26 points to lead the team. Sophomore guard Larry Blair had a typically strong week as well, scoring 18 points against both VMI and Radford.
The Flames will take the court only one more time in the regular season, as travel to UNC Asheville on February 24. A win for Liberty would clinch the second seed in the tournament, though a loss likely will not drop them to third unless several things happen near the bottom of the standings to cause the Flames to lose a tiebreaker with the Bulldogs.
UNC-Asheville Bulldogs (11-14, 8-6) Last Week: 2-0
After starting their conference season with an 0-3 record, UNC-Asheville has become one of the hottest teams in the league, winning eight of their last eleven games, including three in a row. This past week, the Bulldogs won both of their contests. They played a pair of home games, beating Birmingham-Southern, 68-59, and defeating Coastal Carolina, 83-71.
In the victory over Birmingham-Southern, junior guard Omar Collington was the star for the Bulldogs, leading the team with 17 points. Junior forward Chad Mohn stepped up in the win over Coastal, nearly getting a double-double with 19 points and 9 rebounds. Senior forward Bryan McCullough also played well against the Chanticleers, scoring 17 points and grabbing 5 boards.
Asheville looks to be in great position for a top-four finish and at least one home tournament game. They will finish their regular season with a home game against Liberty on February 24, then a road contest at Radford two days later.
High Point Panthers (12-15, 7-7) Last Week: 1-1
The swagger of the Panthers looked to be returning as they pounced on Charleston Southern at home to start the week, beating the Bucs 74-56, however, they again found the road a difficult place to play to finish the week. High Point followed up their win against CSU with a trip to Rock Hill and left with a 74-66 loss to Winthrop. The game against the Eagles saw the return of senior forward Danny Gathings, who missed the four previous games due to a suspension stemming from a technical foul two weeks ago. Gathings played 17 minutes in the contest and scored seven points.
High Point used a balanced attack in their win over Charleston Southern, with freshman forward AZ Reid leading the Panthers with 14 points. Senior center Jerry Echenique and sophomore guard Landon Quick both scored 10 points in the contest. In the loss to Winthrop, junior guard Titus Byrd was the go-to guy, scoring 17 points.
The Panthers get to face the bottom two teams in the standings this week as they look to finish in the top four of the conference and earn at least one home game in the tournament. They will host Radford on February 23 before traveling to VMI to close out their regular season on February 26.
Charleston Southern Buccaneers (10-14, 6-7) Last Week: 1-1
There was very little drama this past week for Charleston Southern, as both of the games they were involved in ended in blowouts. For the Bucs, the results were mixed as they were on the wrong end of a 74-56 score at High Point, but beat cross-town rival Citadel, 65-46, before a rowdy home crowd in a non-conference match-up.
The only bright spot for CSU in their loss to High Point was the performance of junior guard Terrell Brown. Brown used his sharp outside shooting to the lead the Bucs with 17 points in the loss. Junior guard Thomas Harrison was the hero in the win over the Citadel, scoring 17 points. Senior center Nathan Ball made his presence known with 14 points and a couple of early blocked shots, and sophomore guard Donnell Covington added to cause an 11 point, 7 rebound effort.
The Buccaneers find themselves with a busy final week, though they do not have to go too far away over the course of the week. CSU will open at in-state rival Coastal Carolina on February 21 before ending the regular season with a pair of home games. Birmingham-Southern will be the first team to visit the BucDome on February 24, then Winthrop will arrive on February 26 to end the regular season.
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (9-17, 6-8) Last Week: 0-2
The road continues to give Coastal plenty of problems, as they lost both of their games this week to move their current losing streak to three games and their overall road record to 2-13 for the season. The Chanticleers opened the week at Liberty and gave the Flames a battle throughout, but fell 72-68. A regionally televised match-up at UNC Asheville proved to be worse, as the Chants could not stop the Bulldogs in the second half and fell 83-71.
Freshman guard Jack Leasure continues to put up big numbers for Coastal, as he scored 16 points against Liberty and notched 22 points against UNCA. Junior guard Pele Paelay also played well, getting to double-figures in both games this week with 11 points at Liberty and 15 points at Asheville.
The Chants will be at home to finish the regular season this week. First they will host Charleston Southern on February 21, and then they will entertain Birmingham-Southern on February 26.
Birmingham-Southern Panthers (14-12, 6-8) Last Week: 2-1
The week did not start too well for Birmingham-Southern, as they fell on the road to UNC Asheville, 68-59, however, the Panthers did manage to win a pair of games to close out the week. First, BSC hosted Texas-Pan American in a non-conference battle, and came away victorious, 78-69. The Panthers then showcased their defense in a 60-48 comeback win over VMI to finish the week.
Senior guard Jakob Sigurdarson was the Panthers’ leading scorer in two of their games, scoring 15 points against UNCA and 17 points against VMI. Sophomore guard Bucky McMillan led the way for BSC with 19 points in the victory over Texas-Pan American. The biggest offensive surprise came from senior center Augustinas Vitas, who scored in double-figures in all three games of the week, a rare feat for a player who usually does not play many minutes and is relied on mainly for rebounding.
With a modest two-game winning streak in their pocket, the Panthers will travel to the coast of South Carolina to finish the regular season. On February 24, BSC will play at Charleston Southern, and then they will battle Coastal Carolina at Kimbel Arena on February 26. The Panthers are preparing for their first-ever appearance in the Big South Tournament and their first ever opportunity to advance to the Big Dance.
Radford Highlanders (10-15, 5-9) Last Week: 0-3
The short-handed Radford team is really feeling the sting from the recent suspensions that have left the team with only 10 players on the roster. This past week, the Highlanders were unable to find the win column in any of their three games. They started the week at home, but fell to both VMI (67-54) and Winthrop (65-55). The Highlanders then hit the road and gave Liberty a tough game, leading most of the way, but they were unable to stop the Flames in the second half and fell 70-62.
Senior guard Olumuyiwa Popoola reached double-figures in all three Radford games this past week, and also reached the 1000-point plateau for his career with his 13 points against Liberty. Senior forward Brandon Jeffers led the Highlanders with 15 points against VMI while Popoola’s 14 points were the team’s high against Winthrop. In the loss to Liberty, junior guard Andre Bynum was the team’s leading scorer with 14 points.
The Highlanders face a pair of stiff challenges in order to snap their current skid. They will hit the road to start the week and battle High Point at the Millis Center on February 23. Then Radford will return home to face one of the hottest teams in the league, UNC Asheville, on February 26.
VMI Keydets (8-17, 2-12) Last Week: 2-1
As mentioned near the top of this Notebook, VMI clinched last place this week, but they did not go out without a fight. After opening the season with eleven consecutive conference losses, the Keydets managed to beat Radford on the road, 67-54, and then beat Liberty at home, 73-67, before falling 60-48 at Birmingham-Southern.
Freshman forward Reggie Williams did his part to help VMI this week, leading the team in scoring in all three games with 25 points against Radford, 13 points against Liberty, and 12 points against Birmingham-Southern. Williams shared team-high honors against BSC as sophomore guard Matt Coward also scored 12 points.
Though they are only playing for pride, VMI will look to give the home crowd something to cheer about as they host a pair of games to end the season. Winthrop will be their first visitor on February 23 while High Point will come to town on February 26.
