Without further ado, let’s get right into the breakdown.

Player Bio:

Before transferring to Gardner-Webb, DJ Daniel spent 2 seasons at Frostburg State, redshirting as a true freshman before playing as an RS freshman this past season.

2025-26 (RS Freshman Season):

• During Daniel’s RS Freshman season, he started in 23 of the 29 games he played in, averaging 16.7 PPG, 5.9 RPG, and 3.1 APG, shooting 38% from behind the arc.

• DJ Daniel earned 2nd Team All-MEC Honors.

DJ Daniel also had the 10th most steals in a single season in Frostburg State history with 59 steals.

Film Review:

Film for DJ Daniel on X:

Offensive Power:

The truly most impressive part about DJ Daniel’s game is how much of an offensive workhorse he was at the Division 2 level. For almost every shooting stat outside of Free Throw Percentage and 3 Point Attempt Rate, Daniel ranked in the 80th percentile or higher in all of Division 2. This includes being in the 90th percentile across all “Ball Handling” attributes, except Turnover Percentage, where he ranks in the 88th percentile.

Daniel truly only takes two kinds of shots: at the rim and above-the-break 3-pointers, ranking in the 94th percentile in At The Rim and 3 Point shots, with over 11 attempts per 40 minutes. There is a reason he takes those shots; he makes them. At the rim last season, Daniel shot 74.8%, putting him in the 88th percentile, with no real drop from the left or right, consistently 10 to 15% above the Division 2 average. That same story comes up with Above the Break 3-pointers, where DJ Daniel shot 39.4%, putting him in the 83rd percentile and near or above D2 averages from both the left and right sides of the court.

If you look at Gardner-Webb’s shooting percentages as a team last year, almost everything was below the league average. The two shots Gardner Webb took the most of were at the Rim and above the Break 3’s. Gardner Webb ranked in the 94th percentile of shots at the Rim with over 21 Attempts Per Game. In Above the Break 3’s Gardner Webb ranked in the 51st percentile, but when you combined the Above the Break 3’s and At the Rim shot numbers, Gardner Webb ranked in the 78th percentile in Attempts Per Game. Adding a player like Daniel should at least slightly bolster those putrid shooting numbers from last season.

Athletic Freak:

The only thing that can’t be quantified by analytics or generic stats but becomes very evident when watching film on DJ Daniel is that he is an ATHLETIC FREAK. Whether it is his ability to jump out of the gym, get multiple steps in front of a defender on his first step, or his ability to close a passing lane in a matter of seconds, it is all very evident on film. The only recent Big South player I can think of who is as athletic as DJ Daniel is truly Mister Dean. Even then, Dean still has issues with both stamina and offensive breakaway athleticism, neither of which is an issue for DJ Daniel.

One of the biggest athletic skills I love about Daniel is his stamina. For some of the non D2 sicko’s out there, Frostburg State is in the MEC conference, which, in my opinion, is one of the hardest conferences to play in, in ALL of College Basketball, for one basic thing. PACE.

Last season in the Big South, Charleston Southern had the highest pace in the conference at 71.9; that would have ranked 4th-slowest in the MEC. DJ Daniel played 30.2 MPG in a system where you are constantly at full go, playing a style of basketball that is controlled chaos. I believe Daniel would have zero problems playing the most minutes in Gardner Webb’s system, as he already played nearly 3 MPG more than the highest player for Gardner Webb last season.

Ball Hawk:

One thing I mentioned during the athletics portion was that Daniel can fill passing lines extremely quickly; analytics also agree with that. Last season at Frostburg State, Daniel had a 98th percentile steal percentage of 3.6% and a 99th percentile steal-to-personal foul rate. Those stats become even more evident when you look at On-Off Statistics. When DJ Daniel was on the court, Frostburg State had a Steal Per 40 Minutes of 8.2, and when DJ Daniel was off the court, that Steals Per 40 Minutes dropped to 6.6. The 1.6 Steals Per 40 Minutes drop ranked DJ Daniel in the 89th percentile of On/Off Steals Per 40. Additionally, DJ Daniel boasted an 85th percentile increase in Team Steal Percentage and a 96th percentile increase in Steals to Personal Foul Rate.

Last season, Gardner-Webb ranked in the 39th percentile in Steals Per Game and in the 32nd percentile in Steal Percentage. Additionally, Gardner-Webb has not had a player with a Steal Percentage above 3% since Nate Johnson in the 2019-20 season. Outside of the top 2 teams from last season (Winthrop and High Point), every single Big South team ranked in the bottom 50% of teams in Turnover Percentage, with 4 of those teams being in the bottom 20%. Having a player like DJ Daniel, who will punish any mistakes, is a game-changer in a league as turnover-prone as the Big South.

Play Style:

The one glaring concern for DJ Daniel’s ability to transfer up comes from multiple parts of his game that I will call “Play Style”. The main 2 issues in the “Play Style” are low assist shot rates and Pace Issues. Last season, Frostburg State as a team had an Assist Percentage of 45.3%, ranking in the 21st percentile. DJ Daniel ranked in the 11th percentile for assisted two-point shots and the 4th percentile for assisted 3-point shots. While Gardner Webb also ranked very low in assisted shots last season, ranking in the 3rd and 16th percentiles for 2- and 3-point shots, I think that will need to change for Gardner Webb to become a contender, as most unassisted shots don’t lead to good shots.

The 2nd issue with the Play Style, and the one that I think poses the BIGGEST issue for DJ Daniel’s potential success at the Division 1 level, comes from Pace of Play. Frostburg State plays at a faster pace than anyone at the Division 1 level, in part because the MEC has many teams following the Jim Crutchfield playstyle. Gardner-Webb ranked among the fastest D1 teams, in the 86th percentile, but played a style with 7 fewer possessions per 40 minutes than Frostburg State. That lack of chaos and high-speed basketball could throw Daniel for a whirl, as it did for former MEC Coach and Crutchfield Disciple Ben Howlett at IU Indy last season.

Final Thoughts:

This might be one of the favorite additions in the conference. DJ Daniel was a complete highlight reel in a very fun D2 conference and is now making the move to D1. Gardner-Webb last year lacked a star; only two players averaged over 10 PPG, and both were at 10.7 PPG, but it had 8 players with more than 6 PPG. Is DJ Daniel that star? I don’t know, but analytically it’s a very good stab at it. DJ Daniel was the 4th-best offensive Win Shares Per 40 Minutes player in one of the top D2 leagues with some of the craziest athleticism.

In the Top 25 Comps for DJ Daniels 25-26 season on CBBAnalytics, it is littered with D1 or better talents: Dallas Dillard, JJ Harper, MJ Iraldi, Qua Grant, Taelon Peter, Zach Phillipkoski, and Ziare Wells. History seems to be on DJ Daniel’s side, at least to be a CUSA-level player and maybe more. I think Gardner-Webb hit the jackpot with this transfer addition. I likely will have this as a Top 10 transfer when the portal comes to a halt, and I think DJ Daniel earns some honors at season’s end.

The one difference is that it is BIGGER and BETTER.

For those who didn’t read our portal previews from last year, or those wanting a recap of what I will provide:

The Scout

The Scout is our version of offseason previews of select Big South transfers and incoming freshmen.

In these previews, I will watch as much available film as I can tolerate, then provide my thoughts, good and bad, about what I see, along with any analytics that are relevant to what I notice.

Then, finally, I will provide my overall thoughts along with player comparisons and recap what I think you can expect from the player in the next season or many seasons.

Player Bio:

Before transferring to Charleston Southern, Anthony Ruffolo spent the past seasons at D2 Cedarville in Ohio.

2023-24 (Freshman Season)

• During his freshman season, Ruffolo played in all 35 games and started in 17 of those games. Ruffolo averaged 9.9 PPG in his freshman season, ranking 3rd on the entire team, while also averaging 3.7 RPG and 2.3 APG.

• Named to the All-G-MAC Academic Team

• Ruffolo also helped Cedarville earn their first NCCAA Title since 2019 and Third in program history.

2024-25 (Sophomore Season)

• During Ruffolo’s sophomore season, he once again ranked 3rd in scoring with 12.3 PPG, but made large leaps in averaging 4.9 RPG and 3 APG.

• Once again named to the All-G-MAC Academic Team, he was also named to the G-MAC All-Tournament Team.

2025-26 (Junior Season)

• During his junior season, Ruffolo led the team in Points Per Game with 16.6 PPG, Steals Per Game with 1.3 SPG, while also averaging 4 RPG and 2.5 APG.

• Named 2nd Team All-G-MAC.

Film Review:

Film from Anthony Ruffolo on X:

Playmaking/Basketball IQ:

Something that becomes evident when you are

watching Anthony Ruffolo on the court is his ability to run an offense. In all 3 seasons at Cedarville, he ranked in the Top 65th percentile or better in Assist Percentage, and during both his freshman and junior seasons, Ruffolo ranked in the 75th percentile or better in turnover percentage.

One of the true areas where Ruffolo excels is in the pick and roll, his ability to find the open man coupled with his ability to finish at the rim but also having the willingness to take 3 point and mid range shots. The combination of those abilities makes it so that you can’t “blitz the ball” on the screen, as he’ll find the screener, you can’t sag off, as he’ll take the 3-pointer or mid-range, and you can’t have a help defender, as he will kick it out to the open shooter.

Last season, all 3 of Charleston Southern’s point guards had an assist rate of 20% or better, and a lot of that was due to Charleston Southern’s offense. Luke Williams is no better example of this. During Luke’s 2 seasons at Maryville, he had assist rates of 12% and 11%, but during his one season at Charleston Southern, he eclipsed 20% for the first time.

Driving Ability:

One of the things I mentioned in the playmaking section was Ruffolo’s ability to drive off the pick-and-roll. The one thing I didn’t mention is that if he doesn’t kick the ball out or pass out of it, Ruffolo is also a very good finisher at the rim. During Ruffolo’s career at Cedarville, he shot over 69% at the rim, which places him in the 81st percentile on over 185 attempts.

During his junior season, Ruffolo really excelled at the rim, shooting 72% at the rim, ranking him in the 87th percentile on relatively average volume, taking around 27% of his shots at the rim, both of which were higher than Charleston Southern’s last season.

Ruffolo should be able to at least slightly affect Charleston Southern’s mediocre shooting percentages at the rim from last season. Last season, Charleston Southern was hovering around D1 average at the rim, shooting around 60%. Ruffolo, during his junior season at Cedarville, shot 72% at the rim. I do believe in seeing something higher than the 60% CSU shot at the rim in 2025-26.

Shot Diet:

One of the most promising things that I liked about Ruffolo, in Charleston Southern’s system, is his shot diet that should transition seamlessly into Coach Nimley’s system. Last season at Cedarville, Ruffolo took 343 shots, 141 of which were above the break three’s, making up 41.1% of his shot diet, and 93 shots at the rim, making up 27.1% of his shot diet. Last season, Charleston Southern as a team took 1835 shots, 688 being above the break 3’s, making up 37.5% of their shot diet, and 510 shots at the rim, making up 27.8% of their diet.

The shot diet numbers at the rim for Charleston Southern come from one big thing: their massive emphasis on playing through their big men. Last year, being Reis Jones and Lase Olalare, along with their cutting guards of A’lahn Sumler and the committee around him. This year, Lase Olalare returns, and once again, Saah Nimley has another committee of guards, including Anthony Ruffolo.

The above-the-break 3-point numbers stem from the same reason as the numbers at the rim. When you play inside the paint, it usually either leads to a shot at the rim, or leads to a double team, which forces a kick-out many times, leading to a 3-pointer above the break in open space. Charleston Southern ranked in the 82nd percentile in Inside Out efficiency, much due to their big men finding open shooters who aren’t afraid to shoot, something Anthony Ruffolo is NOT afraid to do.

Position Size/Athleticism:

The only reason I have concern is his size at the guard position, which comes from his athleticism and size as a guard. Ruffolo is a larger-bodied guard at 6’0 “, 190 lbs, which I think can be a benefit but also a downside in the Big South. I do think his size allows him to guard 1-3 to potentially some 4’s without a massive disadvantage, which is something CSU will need as they won’t have a TON of size like many mid-major teams in this new area. The size also makes him able to play a bit of bully ball against some of the smaller guards in the league, similar to how Colin Hawkins did for Gardner-Webb last season.

The one worry that comes up on film when watching Cedarville and Anthony Ruffolo is that he is not a very fast player. He does have decent quickness, but that top-end speed just is not there on film, and I do think that CAN pose an issue in the Big South against guards like Conrad Martinez and others. The one thing I do think will come to Ruffolo’s benefit is that there aren’t 5 balls on the court, you can place him off-ball on defense, which should lessen those issues.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I am a very big fan of this addition. I don’t think Ruffolo is going to be some All-Conference Level talent, but that’s not what Charleston Southern needs. Charleston Southern played their best basketball last season when everyone just played their roles, and no one tried to play hero ball. Ruffolo fits a role for CSU. He can hit shots, has a solid knack as a playmaker, and is just overall a very well-rounded guard that should be able to provide decent numbers in the minutes he is on the court.

I really think Ruffolo takes a similar role to Luke Williams’ last season. Both were high-volume D2 guards who transferred to D1 for their final seasons of basketball. Both guards were main scorers on mid-level D2 teams who could score from 3-point range and at the rim, the only real difference being that Luke Williams also had a pretty prolific mid-range game. If Ruffolo fits into that Luke Williams role, I think CSU hit another home run with a D2 transfer up and could be poised to take that next step at CSU in Year 3 of Coach Nimley’s tenure.

After the Under 16 timeout, both Longwood and UNCA Asheville quickly answered with 3-pointers from Fats Billups and Kam Taylor, respectively. A flurry of missed shots and offensive rebounds by Longwood followed until UNC Asheville benefited from a held ball, regaining possession. This led to a Julian Clarke 3 on the other end. Longwood responded immediately with another Fats Billups 3. Redd Thompson drove and missed, but Bernard’s follow briefly put Longwood ahead, only for Solomon to reply with an AND-1, restoring Asheville’s 2-point lead.

Following the Under 12 timeout, Longwood’s inbounds pass was stolen by Kam Taylor, with follow-up attempts by Solomon and Mayfield, though the play was ultimately wiped out for offensive goaltending. On their next possession, Longwood capitalized with an Elijah Tucker slam. Shortly after, Solomon broke into double figures with a layup, then quickly added a 3-pointer on the following trip. Justin Wright extended Asheville’s lead with a jump stop and swish, putting them up 6. Momentum continued for Asheville as Justin Wright hit another 3-pointer.

As play resumed after the Under 8 timeout, Longwood missed the front end of a 1-and-1, but Emanuel Richards grabbed the rebound and scored, finally ending Longwood’s field goal drought of more than four minutes. After a charge call on Kam Taylor, Jaylen Benard helped Longwood trim the deficit to 5. A travel by Toyaz Solomon followed, leading to Tucker heading to the free-throw line on the other end. Tucker made both, cutting Asheville’s lead to 3. Kam Taylor was able to briefly extend Asheville’s lead again, but Longwood answered once more before the media timeout.

Following the Under 4 timeout, Asheville got another 3-pointer from Kam Taylor, this time following two free throws from Jacoi Hutchinson. On Asheville’s next trip, Taylor hit another 3, pushing the lead to 6 and giving Taylor 16 points. After a steal by Elijah Jones, Longwood went to the line but only made one of two. UNC Asheville quickly took advantage, with Toyaz Solomon hitting a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 8. Longwood battled back to cut the lead to 4, but tension rose as Kam Taylor went down and left the game for the locker room. The 4-point lead would hold into halftime.

Despite the earlier injury scare, Kam Taylor returned for the 2nd half. However, it was Julian Clarke who opened the scoring for Asheville with a lane drive. Shortly after, Hutchinson went down hard for Longwood, pausing his free throws due to a finger issue. Taylor, unfazed, made two sharp cuts in the lane for consecutive baskets. After Asheville forced two turnovers, Jacoi Hutchinson scored a wide-open layup to tie the game for Longwood.

After the Under 16 timeout in the second half, Kam Taylor added his 21st and 22nd points at the free throw line, but Jaylen Benard tied the game again for Longwood. On the following possession, Toyaz Solomon converted an AND-1, while Elijah Tucker answered with a trip to the line, making just 1 of 2. The teams traded possessions, with Benard missing both free throws before Asheville tipped the rebound out of bounds. Longwood, however, missed its ensuing shot, which sailed over the backboard.

After the Under 12 timeout, Jacoi Hutchinson followed his own miss and scored two to bring Asheville’s lead down to 2. Solomon then split two free throws after a hard foul. On Longwood’s next possession, Hutchinson scored again in the lane. The stretch ended dramatically as Tucker took a massive fall and went down injured.

After Tucker’s injury and a lengthy review that resulted in nothing, Longwood comes down after a UNC Asheville miss and gets two more at the free-throw line. After Justin Wright split two free throws, Jacoi Hutchinson made a layup, forcing Mike Morrell to call a TO, and shortly after, we got a media TO.

After Julian Clarke went one of two at the line, Redd Thompson drove in the lane and got two points, followed by an Asheville miss and then a foul on the other end, sending Richards to the line. Richards converts both, giving Longwood a 7-point lead. Kameron Taylor once again went down with an apparent ankle injury; Thomas took the free throws in place of Taylor, converting 1 of 2.

After a series of what I can only describe as miracles, Elijah Tucker returned to the bench, and Kam Taylor checked back in for Asheville.

Longwood then with two makes after an Asheville 3 cut Longwood’s lead to 1 point. After the Under 4 media, UNC Asheville split one of two at the free-throw line, cutting the Longwood lead to 5.

UNC Asheville challenged an out-of-bounds call and won, but failed to capitalize on the original shot. Kam Taylor got the rebound and got sent to the free-throw line, where he sank one of two, cutting the Lancer lead to 4 points. After a circus shot missed for Longwood, Justin Wright quickly went down the court to cut the lead to two, then another turnover by the Lancers gave Asheville a chance to tie or take the lead, but ended up with a heldball favoring Longwood.

After multiple misses by Longwood and about 3-4 missed fouls, the whistle finally goes off, sending Nziemi to the line, where he split his free throws, only giving Longwood a 3-point lead.

After an Asheville timeout, Kam Taylor hit a big 3-pointer to tie the game. On the next play, Longwood had a great chance, but Thomas blocked the shot, leading to a shot-clock violation for the Lancers. Asheville had a chance to win but missed.

Longwood, with another chance, hits the rim and GOES OFF.

Longwood taps the ball out of bounds on the jump ball, and with Asheville’s first possession, they do NOT convert; Longwood converts on theirs. On the following possession, Asheville gets to the line on a block by Richards, which he was slow to get up from. Wright made both of his at the line.

Longwood would then get sent to the line, where Billups split the pair, giving Longwood a slim, one-point lead. After another review, the refs called a dead-ball tech on Hutchinson, which gave Asheville 2 points AND the ball.

Asheville was able to take advantage of the tech with a Wright jumper that gave Asheville a 3-point lead. Nzimei splits one of two, cutting the lead to 2 before Wright went to the line again, extending it to 4.

After a series of missed shots, free throws, made shots, and fouls, Asheville was able to pull out an 85-82 win.

Post Game Recap:

Mike Morrell on the toughness of his team, “That’s kinda been the story of our year, we’ve had defections due to health and other things but no one feels sorry for us. We’ve won a ton of games in this league the last years. No one felt sorry for us because we didn’t play DJ Patrick tonight, you got to throw the ball up in the air.”

Mike Morrell on winning near his hometown of Elizabethton, “I got a love hate relationship with this place, like a big one. My junior year I lost here in the district tournament in an upset. Here’s a good story for you, I actually had a girlfriend that we bought concert tickets one time and she broke up with me the next week, I think she took those concert tickets… it can be on the moon, I don’t care I want to win.”

A very emotional Elijah Tucker on Ronnie’s impact on him, “It’s meant a lot to me, Longwood changed me in a lot of ways, especially Ronnie… I remember two years ago I got hurt in the Big South tournament, him and our athetlic trainer stayed with me that whole night, in that hospital. He never left my side until he had to go that next day for the conference championship, he is the reason I came back and he’s the reason I wanted to bring a championship to Longwood.”

Same for Brycen Blaine, who hadn’t appeared since Feb 4th at High Point.

After a missed 3 by Winthrop to start the game, Jacob Taylor corked off a 3 of his own, which seemed to find the bottom of the net, which led to CSU taking a 7-1 lead into the Under 16, with Duncomb still on the bike for Winthrop.

After the Under 16, Winthrop finally got going with 2 free throws by Clouet. Kareem Rozier followed with a jumper. Next, a loud pop echoed as Logan Duncomb checked in after Ed Nnamoko’s injury. He almost immediately gave Winthrop the lead at the line with 2 free throws.

A 3 pointer from Kody Clouet put Winthrop with their biggest lead of 5 but CSU with points on back to back to back possessions to take the lead once again for Charleston Southern. CSU was not done with the scoring, though, as next time down, CSU got another one to fall before Logan Duncomb stopped the bleeding with a layup, but that layup seemed to be a bandaid on a gunshot as CSU entered the Under 8 media on a 14-2 run.

That timeout, once again, seemed to just be putting another bandaid on the gunshot as Jaquias Franklin scored on the next two CSU possessions. Winthrop was finally able to stop the bleeding and some momentum after Kody Clouet and Logan Duncomb combined to go on a 9-0 run of their own, before A’lahn Sumler made 1 of 2 to stop the bleeding.

After a foul sent us to the Under 4, Brycen Blaine headed to the line, cashing home both free throws to give CSU a 3-point lead. Ed Nnamoko comes back in after being injured early and gets 2 for Winthrop, followed by 2 more by Daylen Berry, giving Winthrop a lead before Jesse Hafemeister corked off a 3 that swished, giving CSU the lead back, a lead that would enter halftime as a 3-point CSU advantage.

Winthrop began the scoring in the 2nd half with Ed Nnamoko making 1 of 2 at the free throw line, but that was overshadowed by Logan Duncomb having ice on his foot coming out of the tunnel in the 2nd half. CSU then began their 2nd half scoring with a Jesse Hafemeister layup and Luke Williams 3 before Kareem Rozier got two of his own. After a review that led to no changes, Hendawy makes an in-bound layup to cut CSU’s lead to 3, but Nate Brafford with a goaltending AND 1 that would send up to the Under 16, which was converted.

Logan Duncomb returned to the locker room as CSU continued a run before Ed Nnamoko scored on the other end, cutting CSU’s lead to single digits. Winthrop corked a little run, separated by a CSU layup by Reis Jones. After the Under 12, Logan Duncomb returned to the game and immediately scored and helped Winthrop tie it back up at 57, and a Tommy Kamarad 3 gave Winthrop the lead, causing CSU to rip a timeout.

Winthrop continued their run with a Logan Duncomb layup before Luke Williams cut the lane, ending Winthrop’s run, before a Logan Duncomb layup gave CSU a 5-point lead into the Under 8. Coming out of the Under 8, Jacob Taylor had a crucial rebound and layup, but Daylen Berry negated that with a fadeaway on the other end.

After a series of things that you aren’t allowed to do and some turnovers, Luke Williams with a big layup to cut Winthrop’s lead to 2, but a foul on the other end extended it back to 4 with two at the line from Wilson. After two trips to the line on both ends left us at 4, A’lahn Sumler with a massive 3 to cut it to 1, and a Reis Jones layup gave CSU the lead once again, and Hafemeister with an open lane gave CSU a 3-point lead into the Under 4.

CSU continued their run with Sumler making 1 of 2 at the line, then a dunk by Reis Jones, who would later foul out, which sent Duncomb to the line, but when Winthrop seemed dead. Two CSU turnovers let Winthrop TAKE THE LEAD with just over 20 seconds, and after a LONG review, CSU loses the ball, and Winthrop gets fouled, sending them to the line where Rozier made both.

The final shot by CSU did not even happen as Hafemeister stepped out of bounds before getting his shot off, and Clouet iced the game at the line.

Post Game Recap:

Mark Prosser in his opening statement, “I have been amazed by the resolve of this team for months, if you have been following our season, you know we’ve been in difficult venues and difficult situations and during those last two media timeout they don’t blink”

Logan Duncomb when asked about his 106 word statement at Xavier, “You know I think I’ve grown a lot since my time at Xavier, you know that was a challenging time for me and I used that time to grow a lot as a person and as a basketball player, I had to figure myself out. During that time, I feel in love with the game, I want nothing more than to be playing basketball. When I saw when we were down 11, I couldn’t go out like that.”

Mark Prosser on Duncomb’s character, “If you come ever come to our arena we have this thing by our locker room, it says Culture of Joy and it sounds great sometimes, we want our kids to find the joy of playing the game and play because they love it.”

Everyone’s best chance at March glory comes here, Trae Benham, Carlik Jones, DJ Burns and many other had their legacies cemented via this tournament right here.

The bracket is set.

The regular season is done.

Every game is simple, WIN or GO HOME.

Team Previews/Season Recap:

9 Seed: Gardner Webb 3-28 (1-15)

Recap: It has been a season to forget for the Runnin Bulldogs faithful from basically the moment the ball tipped off. In Game #1, they began the game down 23-1 to Minnesota but seemed to look better against Clemson before the true nail in their coffin against North Greenville suffering a loss by double digits. It took until December for Gardner Webb to get their first win, and until Jan 23rd to get their first win over a D1 school.

Despite the awful start to the season, Gardner Webb does seem to be improve playing games way close than they were even at the start of conference play. Gardner Webb lost to High Point by 55 in the Qubein Center in Paul Porter Arena that margin cut massively. Anything can happen in March, maybe GWU can harness a bit of that 2019 magic and make a run.

8 Seed: USC Upstate 13-18 (5-11)

Recap: The story for Upstate’s season was described with their non conference and overtime games, but both of those actually went good Upstate. Their one stumble has been conference play. Upstate began non conference play with a close loss to Cal Baptist before picking up a massive road win at Fresno State. They would later pick up an overtime win against Coastal Carolina, and a win over WCU along with a very close loss to Nebraska.

Conference play began pretty rough losing 3 straight before getting their first conference win, in overtime vs Charleston Southern. Before once again losing 3 straight, then winning 2 of their next 3 including another overtime win against Charleston Southern. Upstate picked up a massive win over Presbyterian before ending their season with another big win over Gardner Webb.

7 Seed: Charleston Southern 15-16 (5-11)

Recap: The story for Charleston Southern has been very similar to USC Upstate, the non conference and Overtime. In the non conference it seemed very possible that the 2nd best team in the conference wasn’t Radford, UNC Asheville or Winthrop but Charleston Southern. CSU had marquee wins over Richmond and ECU and close losses to other mid major contenders.

The start of conference play was much of that same thing, picking up two wins over Gardner Webb and UNC Asheville before narrowly falling to Winthrop. That loss to Winthrop set up a massive game with High Point and Charleston Southern gave them a run for their money taking them to OT, but fell in overtime. That loss was apart of 7 straight losses including 4 in overtime. CSU tallied another loss in overtime, making them 0-5 in games going past regulation but CSU is finally getting healthy right as they need it. CSU could cause some havoc in this thing.

6 Seed: Presbyterian 14-17 (7-9)

Recap: The story for Presbyterian’s season has been consistency. This team has basically been playing the same way all season and most of last season. In their first 4 games, PC only dropped one to Navy including wins over Georgia State and East Tennessee State. Presbyterian would take a few more big wins before entering conference play including hold The Citadel to 41 points and beating Morehead State.

In conference play, Presbyterian was basically always in the game outside of three total non conference games. They also weren’t consistently blowing team out either as only 1 of their 7 wins came from double figures or more and a total of 5 of their games being 1 possession games. Presbyterian is built for excitement in the month where excitement is the theme.

5 Seed: Longwood 16-15 (8-8)

Recap: The story of Longwood’s season has be flashes, there have been flashes on excellence whether it’s beating James Madison, or almost beating Wake Forest but in that same non conference they suffered losses to Delaware State and Maryland Eastern Shore at home which absolutely TANKED their metrics.

Conference was about the same way starting with likely one of the flashiest wins of any team beating Winthrop on day 1 of conference play, then a very nice win over Presbyterian that now pops on the resume. Then the floor started to creep back including losing to USC Upstate but Longwood seems to be trending up after winning of their last 4.

4 Seed: UNC Asheville 14-16 (8-8)

Recap: The story of Asheville’s season, their starting 5 and heartbreakers. The non conference began with 3 of their first 4 losses coming in heartbreaking fashion including a foul in the waning seconds against Tennessee State and a buzzer beater vs Western Carolina. Despite those losses, 4 players were standing out for UNC Asheville. Toyaz Solomon, Kam Taylor, Justin Wright and DJ Patrick.

Once conference play came around, much of the heartbreak followed them including 4, one possession losses compared to only 1, one possession win. As the season has moved on Asheville still has received not much production from their 4 main stars but have seen flashes from Mayfield and Thomas but not enough to move them out of the middle of the conference ending 8-8 in conference play.

3 Seed: Radford 16-15 (9-7)

Recap: The story of Radford’s season, has simply been headlines. It began with the hiring of Zach Chu and the out of the box-ness of that hire. Then headlines shifted to their stellar portal class and their first few wins of the season. After that, the 6 game losing streak, and Dennis Parker Jr breaking the Big South single game scoring record before finding some sense of normalcy ending conference play just under .500.

Once conference play came around, this team found an overdrive gear, including starting conference play at 4-1 before running into a gauntlet of 3 of the best team in the conference. After their gauntlet of HPU, Winthrop and CSU, Radford was able to end conference at 9-7 firmly putting them in the 3 seed.

2 Seed: Winthrop 21-10 (13-3)

Recap: The story of Winthrop season is, a few more possessions. Winthrop has only lost two games by double digits, and both happened to be back to back. Winthrop was the first season to win a game, picking up an 8am game vs Queens before two very close losses to George Mason and Coastal Carolina. Winthrop really burst onto the scene this season with their near win vs Arkansas, then their near win over Nebraska. A buzzer beater over LIU, and a few more non D1 wins put the team over .500 entering conference play.

After a loss to Texas Tech, Longwood was able to pick off a worn down Winthrop team. That loss seemingly sparked a fire for Winthrop as they went on a 12 game winning streak including a win over High Point and two close wins over Radford. That streak would end with a loss to High Point by 2 points, which all but ruined Winthrop regular season title hopes.

1 Seed: High Point 27-4 (15-1)

Recap: The story for High Point has been dominance, in each of their non conference wins, not one came with a margin less than 10. Including their opening win against Furman with two more wins following before High Point stumbled against UAB. High Point picked right back up winning 9 more games only falling to Southern Illinois and App State both on late game heroics by the foes.

Once conference came along it seemed HPU was set to make a massive run tearing through the conference, but HPU showed they can be stopped. Winthrop gave them their lone loss and only lost by 2 on the road, Charleston Southern took them to Overtime, Presbyterian only fell by 3 points. In the end for the THIRD season in a row, High Point has won the regular season title, this time with Flynn Clayman at the helm which included so far tying the record for most wins by a first year coach going 27-4.

Tournament Prediction:

Now this is the part I love, trying to predict the future and predict what will happen in Johnson City (something I somehow did perfectly last season).

Wednesday:

USC Upstate vs Gardner Webb:

The season series for this one was split evenly with both teams taking their home game but falling on the road, but that’s about where the comparison ends between the two. USC Upstate has the better team by a solid margin, the resume just has so much more to point towards as reasons to win this one. Marty Richter gets the Rubber Game and gets his first Big South tournament win.

Friday:

USC Upstate (8-9 Winner) vs High Point:

No matter who wins the 8v9 game, they get the pleasure of facing a runaway train in High Point that just seems to be walking down their opponents at will. In the two games Upstate had with High Point, they won those games by 20 and 25 points. I think High Point blows past that margin but takes their foot off the pedal with 3 games in 3 days but still win pretty comfortably.

Charleston Southern vs Winthrop

The rematch of a game that changed this tournament’s trajectory massively. With Winthrop’s loss two things changed, it officially eliminated Winthrop from contention for the #1 seed but also resulted in the injury of Logan Duncomb and his status very much up in the air. If Duncomb is Out, I think Charleston Southern wins this game and actually makes it to the finals. I will air on the side of caution picking Winthrop as I think Duncomb will do everything possible to play.

Longwood vs UNC Asheville

The 4v5 game is really interesting to look at, it’s a true massive contrast. UNC Asheville is truly carried 3/4 superstars while Longwood doesn’t have that “superstar” talent but has a very solid 6-7 players who can get 8-12 points easily night in and night out. If this game was deeper in the tournament I would favor Longwood as only having stars can only get you for Asheville. With this game being the 1st game, I think depth won’t play as much of a role and Asheville does a 3-0 sweep over Longwood.

Presbyterian vs Radford

The rematch of the most exciting game in the Big South according to KenPom. It’s actually been a while since these teams played, last coming on Jan 31st. That game went to triple overtime coming out in front after going on a 12-1 run to start the half. Presbyterian enters this game on what looks like a skid to most people but I think it’s a bit of momentum with close losses to the top 2 teams. I think PC finally breaks through getting their first Big South semifinal berth after beating Radford.

Saturday:

High Point vs UNC Asheville

The final that many people expected last year comes true, but this time it’s really not as exciting. Last time these two teams played High Point held UNC Asheville to under 50 points, the first time Asheville had been held under 50 in conference play since 2022. High Point just seems to be a level above UNC Asheville with both depth and starting 5, the level up should propel them to the finals.

Winthrop vs Presbyterian

A rematch of the regular season finale this time on a neutral court. The most recent game ended with PC only losing by 4 to Winthrop with PC looking like the better team at times in that game. I do think Winthrop wins this one just simply because they won both of the other games and it just seems that High Point and Winthrop are on a collision course.

CHAMPIONSHIP SUNDAY:

High Point vs Winthrop

This game has just seemed destined to happen since last season, last season ended in heartbreaking fashion blowing a 15 point lead in the 2nd half to fall to High Point. Winthrop shocking many they beat Winthrop earlier in the season and now most recently with High Point edging out Winthrop in the Qubein Center. For Winthrop it’s simple, this is the best chance Mark Prosser has had since his first season in Rock Hill to make the tournament. For High Point, the goal is to build on last year’s success and capture back to back Big South titles.

This game is truly a 50/50 in my eyes when both teams are fully healthy and we saw that when they faced off in the Qubein Center this season. I look back at both of the BIG MOMENT games of the past 3 games and both of those went the way of High Point, but I also have to admit. It seems like Winthrop has an almost destiny like entity on their side but ultimately, I will go with the boring pick of High Point.

And a little aside, I think either that represents this league will take home a game in the NCAA tournament.

Likely by the end of this day, we will have a good idea of the who will be the 1 and 2 seeds in Johnson City, and potentially the 3 and 9 seeds as well.

As I stated last preview, this will be the final preview before the conference tournament preview which will be coming out the night of the 28th. (or morning of the 29th I haven’t decided to be honest).

Feb 19th Recap:

Winthrop beats USC Upstate 68-64

Winthrop Takeaways:

• Logan Duncomb led the Eagles with 24 points and 16 rebounds while also setting the record for most Free Throw Attempts by a Winthrop Eagles in a single season.

• Kody Clouet joined Duncomb in double figures with 17 points, this was Clouets 5th straight game in double figures.

• Winthrop has now had Back to Back 20 wins seasons, and got their 700th win as a program.

USC Upstate Takeaways:

• Carmelo Adkins lead the Spartans with 21 points, his 4th 20+ point game of the season.

• Karmani Gregory joins Adkins in double figures with 18 points, his 8th game straight with double figures.

• USC Upstate won the turnover battle 14-9 including forcing 9 steals.

High Point beats UNC Asheville 74-48

High Point Takeaways:

• Rob Martin and Terry Anderson led the Panthers with 16 points each, Conrad Martinez joined them in double figures with 12 points.

• Cam’ron Fletcher hauled in a team high 11 rebounds including 5 offensive rebounds while also adding in 6 points off the bench.

• High Point forced UNC Asheville into 16 turnovers, including 11 steals.

UNC Asheville Takeaways:

• DJ Patrick lead UNC Asheville with 15 points, Myles Mayfield joined him in double figures with 11 points.

• UNC Asheville’s big 3 of Solomon, Wright and Taylor were kept quiet only having 20 points on 9-33 shooting along with 12 turnovers.

• Daniel Thomas hauled in a team high 12 rebounds for UNC Asheville.

Presbyterian beats Longwood 72-65

Presbyterian Takeaways:

• Triston Wilson with a new career high of 28 points led the Blue Hose in scoring along with 4 steals.

• Carl Parrish with 15 points and Jonah Pierce with 13 points joined Wilson in double figures, Pierce also had 4 steals.

• Jaylen Peterson fell one point shy of a double double with 9 points and 11 rebounds.

Longwood Takeaways:

• Elijah Tucker led the Lancers with 22 points, along with a tied for team high 6 rebounds.

• Johan Nziemi with 13 points and Jacoi Hutchinson with 10 points joined Tucker in double figures.

• Jaylin Payne with tied on his D1 career high with 8 points, on a perfect 4-4 from the field.

Radford beats Gardner Webb 82-70

Radford Takeaways:

• All 5 Highlanders in double figures led by Dennis Parker Jr with 22 points.

• Del Jones with 14 points, 10 of which coming from the free throw line, he was also 100% at the free throw line.

• Tyson Brown with a double double having 11 points and 14 rebounds.

• Jaylon Johnson missed the game with Flu Like Symptoms

Gardner Webb Takeaways:

• Jacob Hudson lead the Runnin Bulldogs in scoring with 16 points.

• Jacob Hogarth with 12 points and 10 rebounds double double.

• Colin Hawkins, Curtis Williams and DJ Jefferson all joined Hogarth and Hudson with 10 points each.

• Gardner Webb was down 27 points with 6 minutes to go in the game.

Feb 21st Preview:

Winthrop at High Point - 4pm EST

Preview: I billed this game as the game of the weekend in the Carolina’s, simply because it is. The #1 and #2 seeds in the Big South facing off, with massive implications on the line. Mark Prosser has openly said, you need to hang banners at Winthrop. If he wins this one, he likely hangs at least 1 banner. On the other hand, High Point wants revenge after losing in Rock Hill earlier in the season, and obviously they’d love a banner of their own. High Point last home conference loss came in 2024 to USC Upstate, I think their home winning streak continues as they beat Winthrop in a close one.

Score Prediction: High Point 102 - Winthrop 98 (OT)

Longwood at Charleston Southern - 4pm EST

Preview: Another one of the wins that slipped away in the first half of non conference for CSU has to travel to the Buc Dome, this game went to OT in Farmville, and would have likely went to a 2nd if CSU had played better transition defense. CSU comes in with the slight rest advantage after playing on Tuesday beating Gardner Webb, I think CSU continues to roll and picks off a must win vs Longwood.

Score Prediction: Charleston Southern 83 - Longwood 75

Radford at UNC Asheville - 4:30pm EST

Preview: One of the early non conference shockers, at least in hindsight, was UNC Asheville going to Radford and winning by 19, that now being their only loss outside of the Top 2 seeds. This game will very likely play a massive role in who gets the #3 seed in the Big South tournament. I think this being Asheville’s homecoming does play into this but I do think Radford gets their get back and pulls up a massive road win.

Score Prediction: Radford 76 - UNC Asheville 74

Presbyterian at USC Upstate - 4:30pm EST

Preview: This game just doesn’t have the pop as the others, Presbyterian won the first game by 9 points after a very uninteresting game. I do think Upstate has became better since that first matchup but I also like what I’ve seen from Presbyterian during that time period as well. USC Upstate being at home does move the needle for me but just not enough to pick them to win the game.

Score Prediction: Presbyterian 83 - USC Upstate 80

At the end of the week, we will see if that holds true, but before that both teams have games to preview, along with two other big games that could change the middle of the league.

Johnson City is fast approaching, and it’s DO OR DIE TIME.

PROGRAMMING NOTES: The final Big South Conference Play Preview will be Feb 21st. I will not be providing previews for the 26th and 28th as I prepare conference tournament content.

Feb 14th Recap:

Presbyterian beats UNC Asheville 58-57

Presbyterian Notables:

• Jaylen Peterson led the Blue Hose with 20 points, his 3rd 20 point game of the season.

• Carl Parrish with 13 points, Jonah Pierce with 12 points and Triston Wilson with 10 point joined Peterson in double figures.

• Jonah Pierce also tallied another double double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, his 14th double double of the season.

• This was the 21st game of the year where team had 0 bench points and still won the game.

• Triston Wilson reached 100 assists this season, and currently has the 8th most in a single season since Presbyterian’s move to D1 in 2007-08.

UNC Asheville Notables:

• Kameron Taylor led UNC Asheville in scoring with 19 points along with a team high of 5 assists.

• DJ Patrick with 14 points and Justin Wright with 10 points joined Taylor in double figures.

• UNC Asheville’s 4 bench points, along with Presbyterian’s bench point made this the 3rd lowest scoring bench game of the season with a total of 4 points.

High Point beats Gardner Webb 112-87

High Point Notables:

• Rob Martin lead the Panthers with 21 points, his 3rd doing so in the last 4 games.

• 7 Panthers in total joined Rob in double figures, including Cam’ron Fletcher, his first doing so since his return to the team.

• High Point won the rebounding total 44 to 15, including 16 offensive rebounds to Gardner Webb’s 0.

• Chase Johnston passed 400 career made 3PT’s, his current mark of 401 places him currently 27th all time along side former Radford player Doug Day.

Gardner Webb Notables:

• Jacob Hudson led the Runnin Bulldogs with 20 points, marking back to back games in double figures.

• All of Gardner Webb’s starting 5 was in double figures. Talbert with 17 points, Hawkins with 15 points, and both Hogarth and Ferere having 12 points each.

• This was the 2nd game this season in which a team had 0 offensive rebounds, the other being Middle Tennessee State against Liberty.

Radford beats Charleston Southern 90-80

Radford Notables:

• Jaylon Johnson led the Highlanders with 17 points on senior night, his 2nd straight 17 point game and 5th of the last 6 in double figures.

• Del Jones with 14 points along with Dennis Parker and Mari Jordan with 12 points each joined Johnson in double figures.

• Dennis Parker Jr also hauled in 11 rebounds for his 4th of the season.

Charleston Southern Notables:

• A’lahn Sumler led the Bucs in the BIG 3 stats with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, his 2nd straight game with 16 points after returning from injury.

• Nate Brafford and Jacob Taylor with 14 points along with Trent Coleman with 12 points joined Sumler in double figures.

• Jacob Taylor won his 3rd Big South FOTW, joining Phlandrous Fleming as the only Bucs player to do so.

Longwood beats USC Upstate 82-75 (OT):

Longwood Notables:

• Alphonzo Billups led the Lancers with a career high 25 points, his second straight game with 20+ points helping him earn Big South POTW.

• Redd Thompson Jr with 12 points and Elijah Tucker with 11 points joined Billups in double figures.

• Elijah Tucker also gathered 11 rebounds for his 7th double double of the season.

• Tucker also hauled in his 500th career rebound.

USC Upstate Notables:

• Karmani Gregory led USC Upstate with 23 points, his 7th straight game in double figures.

• Mason Bendinger with 19 points and Carmelo Adkins with 13 point joined Gregory in double figures.

• Jafeth Martinez with 4 blocks, moves his season total to 46 which moves him to 6th most in a season at USC Upstate.

• This game marked USC Upstate 3rd OT game of conference play and 4th of the season.

Feb 19th Previews:

USC Upstate at Winthrop - 6:30pm EST

Preview: Both of these teams are entering this game in a very different situation, but both need the same result. A Win. Winthrop enters this game with nations 5th longest winning streak, USC Upstate comes in with 2 losses, the most recent of which coming in OT to Longwood. The only concern for me would be Winthrop looking ahead, but I truly do not see a Prosser looking ahead and losing because of that so I am riding with Winthrop.

Score Prediction: Winthrop 91 - USC Upstate 80

UNC Asheville at High Point - 7pm ET

Preview: The ESPN U game for this week takes us to the Qubein Center to once again see UNC Asheville on the road, this time facing High Point. UNC Asheville comes off a loss to Presbyterian and High Point enters rolling after their only conference loss to Winthrop. While UNC Asheville looks really solid at times, sometimes they can truly have zero spark like they did against Presbyterian. HPU seems to always have some kind of spark with that and being at home, I think HPU wins setting up game of the year in the Big South.

Score Prediction: High Point 89 - UNC Asheville 77

Longwood at Presbyterian - 7pm EST

Preview: Both of these teams entering with very grueling wins over UNC Asheville and USC Upstate respectively. Both teams are pretty evenly matched in my opinion with a slight lean talent wise towards Longwood. I just don’t like when a team with little depth faces a team with a lot of depth. Despite being at home, I think Presbyterian falls to the Lancers.

Score Prediction: Longwood 77 - Presbyterian 72

Gardner Webb at Radford - 7pm EST

Preview: Thought under the congratulate the gag order helped Radford come back to be successful. When Gardner Webb played Radford, Radford only lost by 9 as Gardner Webb. Radford has improved greatly but not enough to sway the results. This time with the game being at Radford, I think Radford wins substantially more.

Score Prediction: Radford 93 - Gardner Webb 77

High Point, Winthrop, and UNC Asheville.

And that gets trimmed to just High Point and Winthrop with the next High Point win or UNC Asheville loss.

Despite that clear hierarchy at the top, the middle of the league continues to be one of the most exciting in the country. Team 3-6 are only separated by 1.5 games and if you count seeds 7 and 8, it’s 3.5 games. ALL VERY MUCH WITHIN REACH.

Let’s break down a massive Thursday night of hoops and preview the lovers day ahead:

Feb 12th Recap:

Winthrop beats Gardner Webb 103-85

Winthrop Notables:

• Kareem Rozier with a CAREER HIGH 33 Points, including going 9-15 from behind the arc.

• Logan Duncomb with another double double, this time with 24 points and 15 rebounds, along with a team high 6 assists.

• Kody Clouet joined Logan and Kareem in double figures with 19 points.

• Winthrop with 11 straight wins, currently the nations 4th longest winning streak.

Gardner Webb Notables:

• Jacob Hogarth led the Runnin Bulldogs with 20 points along with 8 rebounds.

• Jacob Hudson and Colin Hawkins joined Hogarth in double figures, Hudson with 17 points and Hawkins with 13 points.

UNC Asheville beats Longwood 79-74

UNC Asheville Notables:

• Toyaz Solomon led Asheville with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Solomon also joined the 1000 points, 500 rebound, 100 blocks club, the 20th player to do so in Big South history.

• Justin Wright joined Solomon with 24 points, Kam Taylor joined both in double figures with 22 points.

Longwood Notables:

• Alphonzo Billups led Longwood with 20 points, a season high for Billups.

• Elijah Tucker with a 15 points and 11 rebound double double.

• Johan Nziemi with 11 points and Redd Thompson Jr with 10 points joined Tucker and Billups in double figures.

Charleston Southern beats Presbyterian 84-67

Charleston Southern Notables:

• A’lahn Sumler returned from injury and led CSU in scoring with 16 points in just 21 minutes off the bench.

• Lase Olalare with a new career high in points with 13 and career high in assists with 4.

• Jesse Hafemeister with 15 points and Nate Brafford with 11 points joined Sumler and Olalare in double figures.

• Charleston Southern breaks a 8 game losing streaking with this win.

Presbyterian Notables:

• Jonah Pierce with 23 points led Presbyterian in scoring, Carl Parrish joined Pierce in double figures with 14 points.

• Peterson, Pickett and Wilson all with 8 points each, only 6 bench points for the Blue Hose.

High Point beats USC Upstate 95-70

High Point Notables:

• Rob Martin with 27 points led the Panthers in scoring, this is the 3rd time in the last 5 Martin has led the Panthers in scoring.

• Owen Aquino with 12 points and 10 rebounds, along with a tied for team high steals with 4.

• Conrad Martinez with 15 points and Terry Anderson with 14 points joined Martin and Aquino in double figures.

• High Point with 19 steals and 27 total forced turnovers.

USC Upstate Notables:

• Mason Bendinger led USC Upstate with 15 points, his 7th time leading the Spartans in scoring.

• Gregory, Skinner and Adkins all joined Bendinger with 13 points each.

• Jafeth Martinez returned to the team and tallied 12 rebounds and 3 blocks.

• Learic Davis missed another game with a shoulder injury but could be back by Saturday.

Feb 14th Previews:

Presbyterian at UNC Asheville - 2pm EST

Preview: Last time these two teams faced off UNC Asheville almost pulled off one of the most impressive comebacks of the season but fell short at the buzzer. Now UNC Asheville is at home, coming off a massive win on ESPNU but Presbyterian is coming in motivated after their loss. Both of these teams don’t provide a ton off the bench and I think Asheville has the better Starting 5, so I think Asheville gets a big home win.

Score Prediction: UNC Asheville 70 - Presbyterian 66

High Point at Gardner Webb - 2pm EST

Preview: Early in the season, HPU beat Gardner Webb by the largest margin in Big South Conference history, but a decent amount has changed since then. Gardner Webb got their first D1 win and seems much improved, and High Point have been to be at least beatable. While Gardner Webb is much improved and High Point has slipped up at times, I do think High Point wins this one but I think Gardner Webb keeps it close than many expect.

Score Prediction: High Point 94 - Gardner Webb 80

Charleston Southern at Radford - 2:30pm EST

Preview: Charleston Southern has finally snapped their cold spell and now they have to face Radford coming off 1 weeks rest. Last time the two faced off Radford pulled out an 84-75 win in the Buc Dome. In that game CSU shot horribly while Radford shot around there averages. I think CSU finally gets some momentum rolling and picks off Radford on the road.

Score Prediction: Charleston Southern 86 - Radford 80

USC Upstate at Longwood - 3pm EST

Preview: Longwood and USC Upstate are both coming off losses at home, now Upstate has to travel to play Longwood. Last time Upstate faced Longwood, Upstate won in the Hodge Center in something that I could barely even call basketball. Longwood I think takes this one pretty easily, the were pretty good near the end of the 2nd half and if it weren’t for a circus by Karmani Gregory, Longwood likely wins that game. I see Longwood getting revenge and splitting the season series.

Score Prediction: Longwood 73 - USC Upstate 65

None of the games were decided by more than 9 points, one overtime thriller, and some upset bids being spoiled down the stretch.

We recap the notable moments, along with preview our games for Thursday.

Feb 7th Recap:

Winthrop beats Longwood 79-74

Winthrop Takeaways:

• Tommy Kamarad led the Eagles with 15 points, Duncomb and Clouet with 14 points each and Josh Meo with 10 points join Clouet in double figures.

• Winthrop has won 10 straight, that is currently the 5th longest winning streak.

Longwood Takeaways:

• Johan Nziemi led the Lancers for the 2nd straight game, this time with 13 points, Jacoi Hutchinson joined Nziemi in double figures with 11 points.

• Alphonzo Billups was ejected in the 1st half after receiving two technical fouls, Billups had 8 points in 10 minutes of action.

• 32 fouls is tied for the most in a Longwood game at the D1 level, the other game also happened against Winthrop in which Longwood won 84-74 in 2024.

Presbyterian beats Gardner Webb 68-62

Presbyterian Takeaways:

• Carl Parrish led the Blue Hose with 16 points, Jaylen Peterson with 14 points, Khalon Hudson with 12 points and Triston Wilson with 10 points joined Parrish in double figures.

• Jonah Pierce and Jaylen Peterson both with double digit rebounds, Pierce with14 and Peterson with 10.

• Jonah Pierce was held quiet with only 7 points, only his 3rd game this season with less than 10 points.

Gardner Webb Takeaways:

• Jamias Ferere led the Runnin Bulldogs with 13 points, his 2nd straight game of doing so.

• Jacob Hogarth and Spence Sims joined Ferere in double figures with 12 points each.

USC Upstate beats Charleston Southern 100-94 (OT)

USC Upstate Takeaways:

• Karmani Gregory with a new career high of 29 points, Mason Bendinger with 25 points and Carmelo Adkins join Gregory with 20+ points.

• Breylin Garcia joins the aforementioned player in double figures with 16 points.

• USC Upstate was without Learic Davis (shoulder) and Jafeth Martinez (internal matter)

Charleston Southern Takeaways:

• Jesse Hafemeister led the Bucs with 32 points, a new career at CSU.

• Jacob Taylor joined Hafemeister in setting a new career high with 24 points, Carraway joined those two in double figures with 11 points.

• CSU was down Brycen Blaine, A’lahn Sumler and Luke Williams, all out with injury but not expected to be season ending.

High Point beats Radford 86-77

High Point Takeaways:

• Terry Anderson led the Panthers with 24 points, his 6th game leading the Panthers in conference play.

• Owen Aquino with 17 points, Scotty Washington with 15 points, Rob Martin and Vincent Brady with 13 points each join Anderson in double figures.

• Aquino had 12 rebounds, earning a double double on senior night for High Point.

Radford Takeaways:

• Dennis Parker Jr led the Highlanders with 24 points, Del Jones joins him in double figures with 17 points.

• Parker fell one rebound short of a double double with 9 rebounds.

Feb 12th Previews:

Winthrop at Gardner Webb - 7pm EST

Preview: When this game was played earlier, Gardner Webb actually was leading in the 1st half before eventually falling to Winthrop. This time I don’t think Winthrop lets GWU get in front too much, while Gardner Webb has improved to this point, Winthrop has as well and I think Winthrop is just the more talented roster and home court advantage won’t change the talent gap enough to level out the playing field.

Score Prediction: Winthrop 95 - Gardner Webb 77

UNC Asheville at Longwood - 7pm EST

Preview: The ESPN U Wildcard game takes us to Farmville as UNC Asheville plays Longwood on their white out. UNC Asheville comes in with the rest advantage, but I do believe it is diminished with Longwood having 5 days off before this one. Longwood did lose the first matchup but Longwood has seen a bit of growth since that game something I have not seen from UNC Asheville. I think the white out, along with Longwood’s improved roster gives them the edge.

Score Prediction: Longwood 73 - UNC Asheville 68

Presbyterian at Charleston Southern - 7pm EST

Preview: Coming off a win vs Gardner Webb, ending their 3 game skid, Presbyterian now travels to Charleston Southern who is looking to end their 8 game losing skid. CSU comes off an overtime thriller against USC Upstate, and I saw a lot I liked from CSU in that one. I think CSU finally ends their skid and gets back going the right way with what will be a 3 in the win column.

Score Prediction: Charleston Southern 87 - Presbyterian 80

High Point at USC Upstate - 7pm EST

Preview: The “last” off the 4 games takes us to the smallest D1 arena as High Point plays against a pretty good USC Upstate team. The first 30-ish minutes of their first matchup was close until High Point pulled away. If Upstate can close up those last 10 minutes of the game, I think they could give High Point troubles. In the end, I do think HPU just has the talent to control this one despite the road trip.

Score Prediction: High Point 93 - USC Upstate 82

Now we move to the first Saturday in 3 weeks where all 4 games are actually being played on Saturday and none of them have been moved around.

Feb 4th Recap:

UNC Asheville beats USC Upstate 76-67

UNC Asheville Notables:

• Kameron Taylor led UNC Asheville in scoring 21 points, along with tying for the lead in assists with 5. Taylor has lead Asheville in 7 of 10 conference games.

• Toyaz Solomon had 15 points and 11 rebounds, along with that same team high 5 assists. This is Solomon’s 6th double double of the season.

• Justin Wright with 13 points and DJ Patrick with 12 points also finished with double figures.

USC Upstate Notables:

• Karmani Gregory led USC Upstate with 22 points, Carmelo Adkins joined Gregory in double digits with 12 points.

• USC Upstate won the turnover battle 12-9.

• Isaiah Skinner had 9 points which is his most in a conference game this season.

Winthrop beats Radford 80-78

Winthrop Notables:

• Logan Duncomb led the Eagles with 18 points and 12 rebounds, but most importantly scored on his own putback to give Winthrop the eventual win.

• Kody Clouet with 17 points, Kareem Rozier with 13 points, and Joshua Meo with 11 points joined Duncomb in double figures.

• With this win, along with other results, Winthrop clinched AT LEAST the 7th seed in the Big South Tournament.

Radford Notables:

• Del Jones led the Highlanders with 21 points, Dennis Parker joined him with 20 points.

• Radford had a buzzer beater waived off at the end of the first half, this one being clearly late on the clock.

Longwood beats Gardner Webb 86-66

Longwood Notables:

• Johan Nziemi had a career high 20 points, which lead the Lancers in scoring.

• Elijah Tucker with 16 points, Jacoi Hutchinson with 15 points and Emanuel Richards with 12 points joined Nziemi in double figures.

• Longwood with 11 steals to only 11 turnovers.

Gardner Webb Notables:

• Freshman Jamias Ferere led Gardner Webb with 16 points, a new career high.

• Colin Hawkins with 11 points, DJ Jefferson with 11 points and Jacob Hogarth with 10 points joined Ferere in double figures.

• 21 losses ties the 2nd most in Gardner Webb’s history in D1 (24 in 2003 is the most)

High Point beats Charleston Southern 80-55

High Point Notables:

• Rob Martin led the Panthers with 22 points, but more notably 8 steals which is the 2nd most in High Point Program History.

• Owen Aquino with 18 points, Conrad Martinez with 13 points and Braden Hausen with 12 points joined Rob Martin in double figures.

• High Point forced 29 turnovers, the 3rd most in program history.

• High Point clinched AT LEAST the 6th seed in the Big South tournament.

Charleston Southern Notables:

• Jesse Hafemeister led Charleston Southern with 21 points, Brycen Blaine joined him in double figures with 18 points.

• Outside of those 2 in double figures, Charleston Southern had 16 points.

• Charleston Southern was missing A’lahn Sumler in this contest.

Feb 6th Previews:

Longwood at Winthrop - 2pm EST

Preview: In week one, one of the biggest noticeable results was Longwood beating Winthrop in Farmville. Now we get that rematch, this time in Rock Hill, SC. One more big thing changed between those two games, travel. Last time Winthrop was coming off a trip from Texas Tech compared to Longwood facing a Non D1, while Coach Prosser didn’t blame the “lag” it was obviously a factor. Without that factor, and being at home for this one, I think Winthrop pulls this one and gets revenge on Longwood.

Score Prediction: Winthrop 87 - Longwood 73

Gardner Webb at Presbyterian - 2pm EST

Preview: Before NIL, these teams would be in opposite places in the standings with GWU trending near the top and PC being the bottom feeder. GWU is now the bottom with PC being middle of the road. I do not like this spot for GWU, momentum seems to be gone once again and now they travel to play a WELL RESTED and HUNGRY Presbyterian team, I am taking the Blue Hose.

Score Prediction: Presbyterian 81 - Gardner Webb 68

Charleston Southern at USC Upstate - 2pm EST

Preview: This game went to overtime in the Buc Dome, now we go to the even smaller GB Hodge Center where CSU hopes to end their 7 game losing skid. Both of these teams entered conference play in their best position in years and now seems like this could be the game that decides the other team in the 8-9 game in Johnson City. I still believe both of these teams can turn it around but I think I’ve seen more from CSU to believe it will happen. Despite that, I think Upstate takes this game with their home court advantage.

Score Prediction: USC Upstate 77 - Charleston Southern 71

Radford at High Point - 7pm EST

Preview: Probably the most exciting game of the Saturday slate, and luckily, it’s the nightcap. The game in Radford, had Radford taking an early hold but eventually High Point winning by 10, that game, after Kody Clouet beat Radford at the buzzer. Now Radford after once again losing to Winthrop at the buzzer plays High Point. I think this game has a similar result, I think Radford might get out early but once again fall to a 2nd half High Point spurt.

Score Prediction: High Point 87 - Radford 80

Now we get to look towards our last Wednesday gameday of the year, but I think it goes out with a BANG.

Jan 31st Recap:

Winthrop beats UNC Asheville 84-71

Winthrop Notables:

• Logan Duncomb lead Winthrop with 26 points and 10 rebounds along with setting the Winthrop record for most free throws attempted with 19 and tying makes with 18.

• Kody Clouet with 19 points and Kareem Rozier with 17 points were the other double figure scorers.

UNC Asheville Notables:

• Kameron Taylor led Asheville with 25 points, his recent performances has gained the attention of NBA twitter scouts.

• Toyaz Solomon with 14 points and Justin Wright with 21 points joined Taylor in double figures, the 8th straight game all 3 have been in double figures.

Radford beats Presbyterian 93-84 (2OT)

Radford Notables:

• Jaylon Johnson led the Highlanders with 23 points, this plus his performance earlier in the week earned him Co Player of the Week.

• Del Jones, Dennis Parker and Lukas Walls all joined Johnson in double figures.

• Radford forced 12 steals, including 11 from their starting 5, while only giving up 9 turnovers total as a team.

Presbyterian Notables:

• Jonah Pierce lead Presbyterian with 28 points and 17 rebounds, 17 rebounds is the 2nd most in a game in Presbyterian’s D1 history. This is also the 2nd 17 rebound game this season for Presbyterian (Jaylen Peterson, 11/5/2025).

• Triston Wilson with a double double having 19 points and 11 assists, along with playing all 50 minutes of game time.

High Point beat Longwood 71-59:

High Point Notables:

• Terry Anderson lead High Point with 22 points, Anderson has lead High Point in scoring for 5 of the 9 Big South conference games.

• 5 Panthers in total were in double figures, including 4 of the 5 starters.

• High Point forced 13 steals and a total of 18 turnovers compared to only 8 turnovers by the Panthers.

Longwood Notables:

• Redd Thompson led the Lancers with 16 points, Johan Nziemi and Emanuel Richards joined him in double figures.

• Longwood won the rebounding battle by 10 including +7 with offensive rebounds.

Feb 4th Previews:

USC Upstate at UNC Asheville - 6:30pm EST

Preview: The 2nd game of the Ingles I-26 Rivalry, this time in Asheville. Last year this game came down the wire due to Upstate mounting a late charge from their defense. Upstate comes in with the rest advantage and coming off a big win over Longwood, as Asheville comes in off a loss to Winthrop. I just see this as a perfect spot for Upstate to get some momentum rolling as they take this one on the road.

Score Prediction: USC Upstate 76 - UNC Asheville 72

Winthrop at Radford - 7pm EST

Preview: The time these two played just a few games ago, it was an all time classic like game with Kody Clouet getting the win at the buzzer. Since then, Winthrop has continued to cruise past their competition and Radford has struggled at time losing to High Point and going to 2OT’s with Presbyterian. Despite being 6-3, Radford is still viewed a middle of pack by the metrics, I personally still haven’t seen enough to think Radford can win these BIG games even at home.

Score Prediction: Winthrop 86 - Radford 79

Longwood at Gardner Webb - 7pm EST

Preview: Well, the break is over for Gardner Webb but they face a Longwood team that has looked beatable as of late. Longwood has lost two straight and almost fell to Charleston Southern. I do still believe Longwood has top tier potential but they undeniably have one of the lowest floor in the Big South. Despite that floor, Gardner Webb has a lower floor and hasn’t show much of a ceiling despite beating USC Upstate. I think Longwood gets right with a win over Gardner Webb heading into Winthrop.

Score Prediction: Longwood 72 - Gardner Webb 66

Charleston Southern at High Point - 7pm EST

Preview: Another rematch of a thriller from earlier in the season, this time one team has continued rolling while the other one has been on a massive skid. Charleston Southern comes in with a week off themselves, which truly I don’t like in this spot. I felt CSU needed that GWU game to shake the skid off but now they are going to the top dog in many peoples eyes in the conference and I just feel this could be bleak for Charleston Southern.

Score Prediction: High Point 93 - Charleston Southern 80

With us hitting the halfway point, that also means I will unfortunately be cutting the recaps of games in the previews to save precious writing time for some postseason content, I will still give shine to the best performances of the previous gameday and recap any BIG milestones players hit the previous gameday.

Best Performances and Major Milestones for Jan 29th:

UNC Asheville beats Gardner Webb 69-50

UNC Asheville Notables:

• DJ Patrick with a game high 16 points, all from the 3PT Line with 1 Free Throw

• Daniel Thomas with his FIRST CAREER Double Double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.

• Kameron Taylor’s streak of 20 Points Games ends at 7 as Kameron Taylor went down with an apparent leg injury early in the 2nd half only have 12 points, Taylor returned to the bench WITHOUT a boot on.

Gardner Webb Notables:

• Spence Sims led Gardner Webb with 13 points and 8 rebounds.

Radford beats Charleston Southern 84-75

Radford Notables:

• Del Jones led Radford in scoring with 27 points, tying his career high, including a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line.

• Jaylon Johnson had 18 points and 6 rebounds.

• Dennis Parker Jr had 16 points and 9 rebounds, falling 1 rebound short of a double double.

Charleston Southern Notables:

• A’lahn Sumler with 26 points, his 4th straight with 20+ points.

• Armani Carraway returned from injury, getting his first action since Gardner Webb on 12/31, Carraway had 8 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist in 35 minutes of game time.

USC Upstate beats Longwood 65-60:

USC Upstate Notables:

• Karmani Gregory led Upstate with 19 points along with 5 assists and 4 steals, his 12th game this season with 15 or more points.

• Carmelo Adkins had his SECOND Career Double Double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

• Coen Collier with 4 blocks, this single game is tied for 10th all time. This is the 6th game for Upstate with 4 or blocks by a single player this season and Coen Collier’s 2nd 4+ block game this season.

Longwood Notables:

• Elijah Tucker led Longwood with 13 points and 12 rebounds, his 4th double double in the last 5 games.

• Jacoi Hutchinson had 12 points.

High Point beats Presbyterian 84-81:

High Point Notables:

• Rob Martin led High Point with 21 points, his 6th game this season with 20+ points.

• Terry Anderson with 18 points and 6 rebounds.

• Cam’ron Fletcher returned after missing the past 6 games with an “internal matter”, Fletcher had 5 points and 3 rebounds before injuring his wrist in the 2nd half. According to Steven Beck from Prowled Sports, Cam is good to go for their next game at Longwood.

Presbyterian Notables:

• Jonah Pierce and Triston Wilson both led Presbyterian with 25 points.

• Jonah Pierce recorded his 12th double double of the season also hauling in 10 rebounds, his 12 double double’s is the most in the Big South.

• Presbyterian tied their season high in blocks with 7.

Jan 31st (and Feb 2nd) Previews:

UNC Asheville at Winthrop - 12pm EST

Preview: The first of two games that got moved due to YET ANOTHER winter storm, this one being moved up 2 hours, but we don’t mind. This game should be really fun one, Asheville always seems to play their best ball when it matters, and well IT MATTERS. This game could come down to Kam Taylor’s availability and I do lean towards him not playing with the quick turnaround. I do like Winthrop to take this one, especially with being at home and coming off a week of rest.

Score Prediction: Winthrop 89 - UNC Asheville 82

Radford at Presbyterian - 2pm EST

Preview: Radford is now solely in 3rd place in the Big South, but PC and train of other teams are RIGHT on their tail. This game just screams trap game for Radford, having to make a road trip to Presbyterian, looking ahead at a home game vs Winthrop. I am still not convinced they are the 3rd best team but if they win this, I will eat crow on that. Give me Presbyterian to get a win before their week long break.

Score Prediction: Presbyterian 72 - Radford 70

High Point at Longwood - 3pm EST

Preview: High Point is back tied for 1st place in the Big South, and by tip time we will know if this game will be for 1st place or once again just a tie. Last time High Point entered Farmville in 1st place, they lost to Colby Garland at the buzzer. The time before that, lost to Walyn Napper at the buzzer. Will this be 3rd times the charm for High Point? I actually think not. Longwood is coming in EXTREMELY motivated and High Point is coming off a scary game vs Presbyterian, with the slight but still noticeable rest advantage I am taking Longwood.

Score Prediction: Longwood 83 - High Point 80

Gardner Webb at Charleston Southern - Feb 2nd - 6pm EST

Preview: The only game to be moved a full day, takes us to the currently 8th and 9th seeds in the conference. Charleston Southern has been on a MASSIVE skid on 6 straight, but none by more than 9 points. Gardner Webb has been playing their best ball of the season but there is still a clear talent gap. That talent along with CSU being at home gives me the stuff I need to take CSU to win this one.

Score Prediction: Charleston Southern 74 - Gardner Webb 66

In just around a month from now, we will be finding out who wins Big South Hardware and being halfway through the season we have some clear front runners.

We will be breaking down, who are those front runners, who has the best case, and my prediction of who wins the award.

Freshman of the Year, to DPOY, to POTY, to even Coach of the Year.

Disclaimer: Opinions are mine and mine only, any of the players I name has a case currently to win the award.

Freshman of the Year:

Freshman of the Year Watchlist:

• Gardner Webb - Guard - Spence Sims

• UNC Asheville - Forward - Myles Mayfield

• Charleston Southern - Guard - Jacob Taylor

• Radford - Forward - Frederik Erichsen

• High Point - Forward - Caden Miller

• Presbyterian - Forward - Chidi Chiakwelu

Case Reasoning:

Gardner Webb - Guard - Spence Sims:

Supporting Points:

• Leads the Big South Freshman in MPG and PPG.

• One of the better players on their team.

• 4 Big South Player of the Week Awards

Opposing Points:

• Not an analytical darling, 1% percentile +/- in CBB, 11.0 PER, -0.5 WARP

UNC Asheville - Forward - Myles Mayfield

Supporting Points:

• 2nd most minutes played by a over 140 minutes, leads in RPG, 60% 2PT shooter

• 1 Big South Player of the Week Award

Opposing Points:

• Hasn’t really had a notable game/moment that was good

• Pretty underwhelming player with 24.4 MPG

Charleston Southern - Guard - Jacob Taylor

Supporting Points:

• Has earned the most starts by a freshman this season, 2nd best +/-, 60th percentile RAPM.

• Minutes increased throughout the season.

• 1 Big South Player of the Year Award

Opposing Points:

• Lowest WARP of all Watchlist Players

• Non factor in many games.

Radford - Forward - Frederik Erichsen

Supporting Points:

• 2nd highest PPG, 2nd on Watchlist for RPG, 2nd Highest 2PT% with 73.5% on only 4th most minutes and 0 starts.

• 7th best 2PT shooter of all freshman players.

• 2 Big South Player of the Week Awards

Opposing Points:

• Worst Defensive Wins Shares of all Watchlist Players.

• Had a really forgettable non conference and has only really good for 1/2th the season

High Point - Forward - Caden Miller

Supporting Points:

• Highest 2PT percentage, Best +/-, Highest Win Shares, Highest PER

• Best team success, only freshman on a Top 2 seed

• Two Big South Player of the Week Awards

Opposing Points:

• Non qualifier for most stats on CBBAnalytics

Presbyterian - Forward - Chidi Chiakwelu

Supporting Points:

• Tied PC D1 era record for blocks

• Best freshman defender, Best WARP, 2nd Highest PER

• One Big South Player of the Week

Opposing Points:

• Non qualifier for stats on CBBAnalytics

• Very limited offensive output

• Lowest minutes player out of all Watchlist Players

Prediction: Spence Sims

Reasoning: This case is just very similar to Mister Dean at USC Upstate last season. Sims is putting up really good stats because he is one of the limited options at Gardner Webb and because he’s the PG, he can rack up a ton of stats at will. No other player really has that option.

Sleeper Pick: Frederik Erichsen - Radford

Defensive Player of the Year

Defensive POTY Watchlist:

• High Point - Forward - Owen Aquino

• Charleston Southern - Forward - Reis Jones

• Presbyterian - Forward - Jonah Pierce

• USC Upstate - Forward - Jafeth Martinez

• Longwood - Guard - Alphonzo Billups

Case Reasoning:

High Point - Forward - Owen Aquino

Supporting Points:

• Highest Defensive Win Shares and Defensive Wins Share Per 40 of all Watchlist Players

• 2nd Highest Steal Rate of all Watchlist Players

• Highest PF Efficiency of all Watchlist Players

Opposing Points:

• 11th percentile in Fouls Per Game

Charleston Southern - Forward - Reis Jones

Supporting Points:

• 2nd Highest Watchlist Block Rate

• 2nd Highest Defensive Win Shares Per 40

• Most Blocks in the Big South

Opposing Points:

• Most fouls and fouls per game.

• Negative DRAPM

Presbyterian - Forward - Jonah Pierce

Supporting Points:

• Most Defensive Rebounds in the Big South and Highest Watchlist DRB%.

• 2nd highest Watchlist Defensive Win Shares

• Lowest Fouls Per Game of all Watchlist Big Men

Opposing Points:

• Lowest Block Rate for Watchlist Big Men

• Lowest Hakeem Percentage of all Watchlist Players

USC Upstate - Forward - Jafeth Martinez

Supporting Points:

• 2nd most blocks in the Big South

• Highest Block Rate of Watchlist Players

• Highest Hakeem Percentage of all Watchlist Players

• Highest Blocks Per PF of Watchlist Players

Opposing Points:

• Lowest Steal Rate of all Watchlist Players

• Least minutes player of all Watchlist Players

Longwood - Guard - Alphonzo Billups

Supporting Points:

• Highest Steal Rate of all Watchlist Players

• Highest Hakeem Percentage for any guard with significant playing time in the Big South

• Top 80th percentile shot blocking guard in the nation.

Opposing Points:

• Doesn’t put up the sheer stats that other Watchlist Players have.

• Doesn’t rebound well, even for a guard.

Prediction: Owen Aquino

Reasoning: I truly went back and forth on this one for a while but just ended up picking Owen Aquino. He doesn’t really pop out on the “Big Man” defensive stats, but if you look deeply into the other stats and wins shares, his impact pops off the page. All 5 players I listed are really good and all could very well win the award.

Sleeper Pick: Jafeth Martinez (but really any of these 5 and a few more)

Coach of the Year

Coach of the Year Watchlist:

• Winthrop - Mark Prosser

• High Point - Flynn Clayman

• Charleston Southern - Saah Nimley

• Presbyterian - Quinton Ferrell

Winthrop - Mark Prosser

Case Reasoning: Well, one usually the coach that is the league winner or tied for the win usually wins the award and Winthrop currently has the tiebreaker over High Point, but that’s not the only reason Prosser has a case. When you look at his predecessor in Pat Kelsey, Mark is closing in on the higher KenPom finish and potentially the first tournament berth of his career. I also think we might see High Point voter fatigue (more on that later) which leaves the door open, even if Mark doesn’t win the league for him to win the award.

High Point - Flynn Clayman

Case Reasoning: In year one, Flynn Clayman has kept the house that Alan Huss built chugging right down the track and even took them up a massive step on the defensive end. While the numbers on analytical sites make the defensive changes seem smaller, when you see the film, it’s very evident that High Point cares about defense way more than last season. Along with that, Flynn has High Point with the best overall record in the Big South and tied for the Big South lead. I do see the potential of voter fatigue for High Point because of this being their 3rd straight chance of winning the award and maybe that league record losses it’s luster after a 3rd amazing season.

Charleston Southern - Saah Nimley

Case Reasoning: Year two (.5) for Saah Nimley and this team has made a solid turnaround. Already passing last seasons win total just two games into conference play including two buy game wins over Richmond and East Carolina. If Charleston Southern were to finish the 16-15 as projected by KenPom that would be their best season since 2019 and would finish with their biggest jump in KenPom history. Despite the recent fall in conference play, I think if CSU can find their footing once again they can finish around that 16-15 and Saah Nimley can be a contender for COTY.

Presbyterian - Quinton Ferrell

Case Reasoning: Many people saw the Field of 68’s Anonymous Job Rankings that had Presbyterian in last. Well if you look at the Big South standings, that team that has the worst resources in the conference, isn’t in last place. The job Quinton Ferrell has done at Presbyterian deserves more than just his flowers. Coach Ferrell is on pace for his best season at Presbyterian, which likely ends up being the 2nd best season in school history behind Dustin Kerns in 2019.

Prediction: Presbyterian - Quinton Ferrell

Reasoning: This was probably the hardest award to pick from, all 4 coaches I listed have really good chances of winning this award, and even a few I left off. The reason I picked Coach Ferrell over everyone else comes down to 2-3 things. 1, this job is one of if not the hardest job in the Big South and likely one of the hardest non service academy jobs in the nation and the job he has done is unreal. 2, Coach Ferrell finished 2nd in voting last year with actually more 1st place votes than Alan Huss. 3, it’s far overdue, Coach Ferrell has made PC a real contender for now 3 seasons straight and deserves his flowers.

Sleeper Pick: Charleston Southern - Saah Nimley

Big South Player of the Year:

Big South Player of the Year Watchlist:

• Charleston Southern - Guard - A’lahn Sumler

• Charleston Southern - Guard - Brycen Blaine

• High Point - Forward - Terry Anderson

• Presbyterian - Forward - Jonah Pierce

• Radford - Guard - Dennis Parker Jr

• UNC Asheville - Guard/Forward - Kameron Taylor

• Winthrop - Center - Logan Duncomb

DISCLAIMER: For this award to take away ANY biases, I am using a formula to pick the projected winner.

The categories and weights goes as follows:

• Team Success (1x)

• Big South Player of the Week Awards (1x)

• Non Conference Stats (2x)*

• Conference Play Stats (3x)*

• Best Single Game Performance against D1 (1x)**

• Wins Above Replacement Player (2x)***

• Bonus Categories: Top 5 in PPG, RPG, APG, SPG (Stocks Per Game) +5 for 1st, +4 for 2nd… 1pt for 5th (.5x)

Reasoning for this Metric Formula: This metric formula, at least in my opinion, best reflects what you need to win Big South Player of the Year. Last year showcased, it’s not always the best player on the best team that wins the award, hence why I only rated Team Success at 10%, the same as Big South Player of the Week awards as I believe those CAN factor in but SHOULDN’T decide the award. The things that should reflect that award are represented with higher weights, your stats SHOULD matter, with Conference Play being more important as THAT is what decides your seeding and chance to make the Big Dance and WARP shows if you are TRULY better than your peers.

* based on PRPG!

** based on Game Score

*** based on WARP on CBBAnalytics

The Results:

Prediction: Winthrop - Logan Duncomb

Reasoning: To be honest, the number kind of went how I expected, Logan Duncomb just has been having a historic season. Duncomb is currently on pace for highest PER in the Big South since Chris Clemons in 2018-19 and the highest PER in Winthrop history. Along with that leads the Big South in ORB’s, FG%, FTA and FTM, and Box +/-. It would take someone having an amazing end to conference play to really take this award away from Logan Duncomb in my opinion.

Sleeper Pick: High Point - Terry Anderson or Charleston Southern - A’lahn Sumler

Two game winners, one overtime, three double digits lead evaporated.

And that’s not even counting the stellar game from Saturday, we break down that and MUCH MORE.

Snow Day Recap:

Gardner Webb beats USC Upstate 67-65

Recap: Coming into this one, Gardner Webb hadn’t beaten a D1 team all season and early in the going it looked like that trend would continue. Despite starting with a 5-0 lead, Gardner Webb was quickly down 10, then down a game high of 13. Unlike 3 of the past 4 though, Gardner Webb didn’t give up going on a 9-0 run to close the gap to 4. Upstate was able to stretch the game back out to 9 points, but GWU ended the half on a 6-0 run only being down 3 entering the 2nd half.

That 6-0 run, became 8-0 before a series of back and forth left Upstate with a small lead for around 8 minutes. With just under 12 minutes to go, Gardner Webb took their first lead since being up early in the game. After GWU took the lead, a LONG series of back and forth then over 2 minutes of stagnation and another bit of back and forth gave Gardner Webb a 5 point lead, but that was almost squandered as USC Upstate tied it at 65 with 20 seconds remaining. Luckily for Gardner Webb, they have the pride of Colorado Springs, CO in Colin Hawkins who hit the game winning layup with 3 seconds left as Gardner Webb got their first win against a D1 team and first Big South win this season.

Gardner Webb Takeaways:

• Hungry, Hungry, Hogarth: Jacob Hogarth with 17 points and 11 rebounds, led GWU in both stats and had his 5th double double of the season.

• The Icebreaker: The first one is always the hardest one to get, will be interesting to see if GWU can rattle of some momentum after this.

USC Upstate Takeaways:

• Gardner Webb Woes: Since Marty Richter has taken over at Upstate, USC Upstate is now 4-0 against USC Upstate.

• Bleak Out Look: With only 1 new opponent left, Longwood, Upstate’s schedule looks VERY bleak having to face Top tier teams at their place and playing their winnable games away from home.

High Point beats Radford 93-83

Recap: Coming off a 6 day break, High Point came out sluggish being down 7-0 before taking their first lead with 10-9 right after the 16 minute mark. After a bit of back in forth in which High Point held the advantage for the majority of the time but never getting the lead past 3, Radford went on an 8-0 run to take the lead something they would hold onto for the rest of the half. Radford would get the lead to 10 points but High Point was able to cut the lead to 6 before halftime.

After halftime, it was all High Point as by the 14 minute mark that 6 point Radford advantage had flipped to a 6 point High Point advantage with Radford only scoring 3 points in those 6 minutes of game time. High Point was able to keep the lead at multiple possession for a majority of the 2nd half. High Point was finally able to deliver the “KO” punch with Radford hitting another dry spell as High Point held Radford scoreless until 2 minutes left in the game and High Point would win another game by double figures, this time by 10.

High Point Takeaways:

• Scary Terry: Once again Terry Anderson stood out, this time with 31 points and 11 rebounds, his 2nd straight double double.

• Aquino Assists: Owen Aquino has added a nice new tool to his bag, Assists, in his past 2 games he has led the team in assists with 7 and 8, far above his Liberty average of 2.7 APG.

Radford Takeaways:

• Turnovers: For the 2nd straight games, turnover issues really take Radford out of a win, this time losing the turnover battle 18 to 7.

• Lead Management: Something has became glaringly obvious, any lead is not big enough for Radford, Radford has been up double digits in each of the last 3 games and have only won one on a late game buzzer beater.

Longwood beats Charleston Southern 81-79 (OT)

Recap: The last of the three games moved to Friday evening with the two farthest Big South schools squaring off in Farmville, VA. Charleston Southern began with the lead before Longwood quickly took the lead going up 7. Charleston Southern was able to tie the game at 19 but Longwood then rattled off an 11-0 run then another 8-0 run to end the half with an 18 point halftime lead.

In the 2nd half that lead would quickly evaporate as within 6 minutes, Charleston Southern had cut the lead to 4 points. Longwood was able to extend their lead to 11 with just over 4 minutes to go but just like the Presbyterian/CSU game, this one was far from over as Charleston Southern cut that lead to single digits, then a single possession until with 12 seconds A’lahn Sumler hit a circus shot to tie the game at 67.

The overtime period was began with Longwood making a layup and Charleston Southern converting only 1 of 2 at the free throw line. Despite Longwood getting the early OT lead CSU seemed to be the better team starting the overtime period. That became evident as A’lahn Sumler scored 11 points but the game came down to one player, Jaylen Benard hitting a game winning layup to put Longwood up 80-79, which they would seal off winning 81-79.

Longwood Takeaways:

• Whole > Sum: The famous saying "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts" is a clear thing at Longwood, 4 player with 10 more points and 2 players with 9 for Longwood in this one.

• Make Your Free Throws: The main thing that won Longwood this game was Free Throws, Longwood made 82% of theirs, Charleston Southern made 65%.

Charleston Southern Takeaways:

• Heartbreaker: Another loss for Charleston Southern, in their 5 straight losses, they have lost by a combined 17 points.

• Sumler’s Simply Stellar: Once again, A’lahn Sumler with a stellar game this time 30 points, his 2nd 30pt game of conference play.

Winthrop beats Presbyterian 82-72

Recap: The only Big South game on Saturday, but it seemed to have a bit of the Friday Flash. Winthrop jumped out to the lead early but after back and forth no one really had control until Winthrop went on 7-0 run to take a 22-13 lead. Another 7-0 run gave Winthrop a 29-17 lead near the end of the first half. Winthrop was able to get their lead to 13 points before Presbyterian was able to cut that lead to 8 before halftime.

The 2nd half began with Winthrop extending their lead to double figures once again, getting their to as much as 12. Despite that 12 point lead this game was FAR from over as Presbyterian came back and even tied the game at 54 but alas it still wasn’t enough as Winthrop got up 8 with just over 5 minutes to go and was able to hold Presbyterian scoreless over the last 2 minutes of action to win 82-72.

Winthrop Takeaways:

• Triple D’s: Logan Duncomb once again with a double double, this time 38 points and 15 rebounds, and is seemingly paving a clear path to Big South POTY (more on this coming at a later date)

• Turnovers: Winthrop with only 5 turnovers tied for 2nd least by a Big South team this season.

Presbyterian Takeaways:

• The 4 P’s: Presbyterian with 4 players starting with P in their starting 5 for this game. Parrish, Pickett and Pierce all in double figures.

• Not The Old PC: Sometimes has become clear, despite losing this one. Presbyterian is not that bottom feeder they used to be.

Jan 29th Previews:

Gardner Webb at UNC Asheville - 6:30pm EST

Preview: The game between two of the Western NC teams should be a fun one, both teams are one down seasons but both teams have something nice to come off of. Gardner Webb is coming off their first win of Big South conference play and UNC Asheville is coming off 1 weeks rest. I do think Asheville is just far better talent wise and with both home court advantage and 1 weeks rest. With all that being said I will side with the Bulldogs… of UNC Asheville.

Score Prediction: UNC Asheville 81 - Gardner Webb 68

Radford at Charleston Southern - 7pm EST

Preview: Entering this game, both CSU and Radford need a win bad, but one way more than the other. CSU enters on a 5 game skid that just seemingly can’t be stopped. Radford on the other hand has blown 3 straight double digit leads and if it weren’t for late game heroics would have lost all 3. I’m going to make a prediction that the team that is leading at the 35 minute mark won’t win the game and I think the leader at the 35 minute mark will be Radford with CSU coming back to win.

Score Prediction: Charleston Southern 91 - Radford 87

Longwood at USC Upstate - 7pm EST

Preview: Truly this game doesn’t pop off the table like the others, so it will probably be the best game of the day. This game does provide a lot to love, Fats Billups and Learic Davis were both some of the most talked about transfers this offseason and both teams have fun returners like Elijah Tucker and Karmani Gregory. With all that said, Longwood does have the better team but I think coming off a win like CSU in OT gives Upstate a chance to pull off a win, especially at home coming off a loss to Gardner Webb.

Score Prediction: USC Upstate 76 - Longwood 74

Presbyterian at High Point - 9pm EST - ESPNU

Preview: The first of four ESPNU wildcard games takes up to High Point, NC as High Point welcomes the Blue Hose to the Qubein Center. High Point is looking to take advantage with Winthrop having the day off as we reach halfway in the season. Presbyterian looks to catch High Point looking ahead at Longwood on (potentially) Saturday. I think HPU comes out in front of their home crowd and the fans watching on ESPNU as they enter a tie for 1st place once again in the Big South.

Score Prediction: High Point 92 - Presbyterian 80

WINTHROP takes a .5 game lead over High Point in the conference standings, and now High Point makes any early trip to Radford due to the incoming snow storm.

All 4 games in total have been moved with 3 being moved to Friday with Winthrop/PC being earlier on Saturday.

Lets break down a rare Big South Friday and Saturday slate and much more.

Jan 21st Recap:

UNC Asheville beats USC Upstate 83-69

Recap: The first game of the Ingles I-26 rivalry which happen to begin with UNC Asheville breaking out into a 5-0 lead before Upstate could get on the board. Upstate was able to comeback and tie the game at 10 and kept it close through most of the first half but was never able to break through and take the lead. With the game tied at 30, Upstate seemingly stalled out to end the half as Asheville went on a 6-0 run to end the half leading 36-30.

Just like the end of the first half, Asheville continued their run getting it to 8-0 before Upstate was able to score. Upstate was able to keep it close throughout the 2nd half until giving up a run with around 8 minutes to go which game Asheville their first double digit lead of the game. Asheville was able to hold onto such a lead winning 83-69.

UNC Asheville Takeaways:

• KTwenty: Kam Taylor is the 1st UNC Asheville player to score 20 points in the first 7 games of conference play.

• Burning Sage: Sage Tolentino with 4 points, 3 rebounds and 3 stocks in a very useful 14 minutes something Asheville could use going forward.

USC Upstate Takeaways:

• Martinez Block Party: With his 2 blocks in this game, Jafeth moves to 7th all time for most blocks in a season by an USC Upstate Spartan.

• Bendinger’s Best: Mason Bendinger with likely his best game this season, 28 points on 12-15 from the field and 4-4 from behind the arc.

Winthrop beats Radford 76-75

Recap: In a game that would decide 1st place in the conference entering this week, it was like neither team wanted it with the first 3 possessions ending in turnovers before Winthrop opened up the scoring with a 3. After a long series of back and forth, Radford got up to a 18-12 lead before once again a long series of back forth ended with Radford taking the lead at the free throw and taking a 33-32 lead into halftime.

The second half started just like the entire first half was, constant back and forth until Winthrop hit a dry spell which sparked off a 11-0 Radford run giving them a 10 point lead and what seemed to be all the momentum. The Radford’s curse struck again as Winthrop was able to cut into the lead as Radford hit dry spell’s of their own even taking a 3 point lead late. Radford come back and took the lead, and was sent to the free throw line with 19 seconds left but only converted 1 of 2 giving Winthrop a chance to tie or win. And Win they did as Kody Clouet hit a buzzer beater 3 to win the game after Radford’s late heave did not go in.

Winthrop Takeaways:

• FIGHT: Despite not having the game go the way the Eagles likely wanted, they found a way to win and comeback from down 10.

• COMMANDER CLOUET: Kody Clouet with his 2nd big buzzer beater this season to give Winthrop a big win, the first coming against LIU.

• Turnovers: Winthrop forced 14 1st half turnovers and 19 in the entire game, Radford came in averaging around 12 per game.

Radford Takeaways:

• Leads: Radford has now blown back to back double digit leads, last week Del Jones saved them, this game he tried but was out done, Radford has GOT to control their leads better.

• Rebounding: Winthrop entered the game as one of the best rebounding teams in the Big South but was out done on the boards by Radford 31-28.

Longwood beats Gardner Webb 91-56

Recap: In a game Longwood really needed after the heartbreaker in Radford, they came out from the opening jump. Gardner Webb got their first lead 3-2 but after that it was all Longwood. Longwood began with a 10-0 run as they took their lead back going up 12-3 before Gardner Webb cut it to 5 before once again Longwood went on a this time 16-2 run going up 28-10. Despite Gardner Webb having the lead down to 12 at one point, Longwood carried an 18 point lead into the locker room.

The 2nd half was much like the first half on repeat, Gardner Webb was able to cut the lead to 14 but then Longwood fired off their last big run of the game this one being a 12-2 run putting then up 22. Gardner Webb was not able to get it any closer than 20 for the rest of the game as Longwood went on to win by a margin of 35.

Longwood Takeaways:

• Double Double Fever: Both Elijah Tucker (21 points and 10 rebounds) and Jacoi Hutchinson (14 points and 10 assists) had double doubles.

• Steal City: Pittsburgh must have rubbed on Longwood as in this one Longwood had 14 steals, including 5 from Benard which is tied 8th most in school history in a single game.

Gardner Webb Takeaways:

• I am completely out on this team until further notice.

Presbyterian beats Charleston Southern 87-83

Recap: Coming off a weeks rest, Charleston Southern had the first leads of the game with 2-0 and 4-3 but took the 6-4 lead and then after back and forth took a 10-9 lead. After taking that lead, PC went on a 13-2 run going up 23-11 and then over the next nearly 5 minutes only 5 points got scored, all by Charleston Southern. Presbyterian then stretched their lead to 11 and would maintain a similar gap until a buzzer beating layup by Sumler cut the lead to 9 before halftime.

In the 2nd half, Charleston Southern kept in double digits for most of the first chunk cutting the lead to 6 and 7 multiple times but never getting over the hump. Presbyterian then was able to stretch it to 12 before once again CSU cut the lead to 6 but Presbyterian got it back to double figures. Presbyterian got the lead to 15 with just over 5 minutes to go but CSU didn’t stop fighting cutting the lead to 4 with just 15 seconds left but Sumler missed a free throw for a 4 point play and after the usual foul game Presbyterian escapes with a 4 point win.

Presbyterian Takeaways:

• FAB FIVE: Presbyterian with all 5 starters in double figures led by Jonah Pierce with 21 points.

• Chidi ChiakBLOCKU: Chidi Chiakwelu with a stellar 4 blocks coming off the bench for Presbyterian.

Charleston Southern Takeaways:

• Stellar Sumler: A’lahn Sumler with another stellar game, this time 26 points and 6 assists with the absence of Luke Williams.

• 1 Possession Away: CSU’s 2-4 record is VERY deceiving, if a few players go different in each game, CSU could very well be 6-0 in conference.

Jan 23rd and 24th Preview:

USC Upstate at Gardner Webb - Jan 23rd - 7pm EST

Preview: The first of the three games to have been postponed to Friday is a rematch of the 8-9 game last season in Johnson City, and both teams enter this game in those same spots, just flipped. As I said in my takeaways for Gardner Webb, I am completely out on this team, if there was a game they could win, it would be this one but I still have seen nothing in their past 2 games that makes me think that will happen, especially with this game being in a weird scheduling spot. I think Upstate wins this one pretty handedly and gets their 2nd win, and 2nd road win.

Score Prediction: USC Upstate 82 - Gardner Webb 66

High Point at Radford - Jan 23rd - 7pm EST

Preview: High Point gets their week off cut one day short thanks to this game being moved and now they have to face a Radford team coming off a loss to Winthrop at the buzzer. This game comes down to two things for me, one how does High Point handle coming off their rest and how does Radford come off their loss and having a look ahead spot having to go to Charleston Southern next week. This game will probably be the better of the 3 games but in the end I think the rest is the deciding factor as High Point gets a statement road win over a very interesting Radford bunch.

Score Prediction: High Point 91 - Radford 85

Charleston Southern at Longwood - Jan 23rd - 7pm EST

Preview: The “last” of the Friday night Big South games has Charleston Southern going to Farmville to face Longwood. Longwood coming off one of their best wins of the season and CSU seemingly coming off their worst loss of the year. This game being on Friday is rough for Charleston Southern considering they just played at Presbyterian. I think CSU is the better team, but I think Longwood being at home for both games and having an easier game headed into this one gives them the edge.

Score Prediction: Longwood 77 - Charleston Southern 73

Winthrop at Presbyterian - Jan 24th - 2pm EST

Preview: The only game to stay on it’s scheduled day was Winthrop at Presbyterian but even this game was effected moving up around 2 and 1/2 hours. Winthrop now with sole possession of first place until their bye game are coming off a massive buzzer beater win over Radford. Presbyterian is a shocking 4-2 after rattling off 3 straight, but I do think that streak ends. Winthrop could come out and lose like they did after their buzzer beater win over LIU but I don’t think that happens and this trip is not like the others where they have a massive drive back and little rest, this is a quick trip (not pun intended) for Winthrop and I see them stopping at Quik Trip after they get the win in this one.

Score Prediction: Winthrop 84 - Presbyterian 79

Both were answered, so we still have 3 teams with one loss atop the conference. Two of them face off, the other has the day.

Will we have a new team in SOLE possession of #1 in the conference or will we have a new team tied with High Point atop the conference?

That AND SOOOOO MUCH in this preview.

Jan 17th Recap:

Winthrop beats UNC Asheville 69-67

Recap: The first of our 1 loss scares comes from Asheville in a game they NEEDED to win to continue any hopes of trying to win the conference or get a good seed in the conference tournament. Both teams seemingly wanted the other team to win in the first half with both teams having a sluggish back and forth until Winthrop finally broke away a little going up 14-9 with 12 minutes to go. Asheville would cut that lead to 2 points but Winthrop would continue to extend their lead to as much as 9 before halftime before Asheville hit a free throw to cut it to 33-25 going into halftime.

In the start of the second half, Asheville was the hot shot team cutting the lead to 3 in just under 4 minutes. After Asheville cut to 3, Winthrop went on a near kill shot with a 9-0 run putting them up 12 and seemingly putting Asheville away. Much like the game vs Presbyterian, Asheville wanted to fight until the very end cutting it to 2 with 36 seconds left and after a good defensive possession they had a shot to win it. Despite having 3 timeout, Coach Morrell let the possession play out, and that would result in Kareem Rozier poking the ball away from Justin Wright and falling on it to win the game 69-67.

Winthrop Takeaways:

• Commander Clouet: Kody Clouet was the superstar for Winthrop with 21 points including 5 3’s along with 6 rebounds.

• History in the Making?: As of Jan 21st, Logan Duncomb is on pace for the HIGHEST PER in Winthrop history by over 3 points, and the 6th highest in Big South history.

UNC Asheville Takeaways:

• Can’t Take Them Home: Simply put, YOU NEED TO CALL A TO THERE. You can’t take them home with you.

• One Score Games: UNC Asheville has been in 3 one score games in conference play and a total of 7 (counting WCU). The amount they’ve won: ZERO.

• Thomas Turn Around: Daniel Thomas has been a solid piece in conference play and is showing a breakout we did not see during non conference play.

Presbyterian beats Gardner Webb 92-55

Recap: Coming off a close game to Radford, Gardner Webb was looking to keep that momentum rolling as this game was basically over when it tipped off. Presbyterian scored on their first possession and didn’t look back. By the first media timeout, Presbyterian was up 11-1. That 11-1 was apart of a 21-3 run which ended with Gardner Webb getting a few to fall through the hoop. Presbyterian’s response, a 10-0 run going up 31-9. Presbyterian would carry that momentum leading 40-21 at halftime.

The second half followed the pace of the first half with Presbyterian in complete control including a 10-2 run mid way through the 2nd half and then a final massive 13-0 run to end the game before Gardner Webb hit a layup as the final make for either team as Presbyterian won 92-55.

Presbyterian Takeaways:

• Perfect Game?: If you are Presbyterian, this has to be a perfect game in your eyes, 1.31 Points Per Possession, lead the entire game (outside of the first 20 seconds at 0-0) and the 18th most dominant win this season.

• Hudson Hornet: Khalon Hudson with 17 points off the bench was a nice spark for Presbyterian, only missing 1 FG and 1 FT all game.

Gardner Webb Takeaways:

• Open Letter to GWU’s Admin: I don’t need to put any takeaways, I understand the issue at Gardner Webb. It’s been the issue all year, it’s not the coaching staff, it’s not the players. It’s the Green, The Moolah, The $$$. I am asking the admin, as a fan of all 9 Big South schools, PLEASE give this team support, found a collective, do SOMETHING MORE to support your program. I can’t believe there is not 5-10 people who could cut a check to help this team. I know football is KING, it always will be but I ask, Nate Evans, Brenden Fahey if you see this.
  
  PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS, your fans, players, students and coaches deserve it.

Radford beats Longwood 85-83

Recap: The Battle of Virginia in the Big South looked like the Slaughter of Virginia to begin this one with Radford starting out with a 17-3 lead just over 6 minutes into the game. Radford was able to get that lead to 17 multiple times led by their hot 70% shooting from inside the arc and 53% shooting from beyond the arc. Longwood just wasn’t able to cut into the lead in the 1st half entering halftime down 17.

In the 2nd half, slowly but surely Longwood would capitalize on Radford’s achilles heel, that being holding on to a 2nd half lead. Longwood was able to cut it from 18 to 11 with 14 minutes left to go. Longwood continued to cut the lead getting to the 7 points with 10 minutes to go, then finally to 3 with just over 4 minutes to go. Radford started to sense the comeback it was too late, Longwood was back in it tying it at 80 with 1:10 left, after two three’s from both teams, the game was in Zach Chu’s hands. Then the game entered the hands of Del Jones, and with a quick drive to the rim, HE CALLED GAME.

Radford Takeaways:

• 2nd Half Horrors: No matter what happens, it seems Radford can’t hold onto a 2nd half lead. Radford allows the 341st defensive 2nd half points.

• Fantastic Freshman: Frederik Erichsen won Big South Freshman of the Week including 8 points and 2 rebounds in this content.

Longwood Takeaways:

• Tucker’s Sweet 16: Elijah Tucker ended the game with 17 points and 16 rebounds, a new career high for rebounds for Tucker.

• Turnovers: Longwood lost the turnover battle 15-10 but only 4 of which were steals.

• Redd, Yellow, GREEN: Redd Thompson has the GREEN light in Ronnie Thomas’ system having 21 points in this game including the 3 that tied the game at 83.

High Point beats USC Upstate 89-69

Recap: Coming off their loss to Winthrop, High Point was looking to hit the rest button before entering their off week, Upstate wanted to keep their momentum rolling. Upstate began the scoring at the free throw line before quickly losing the lead to High Point which would be the only lead change of the game. High Point would jump to a 12-3 lead their largest lead of the game to that point before Upstate cut into a bit before once again they got a 9 point lead. Once again Upstate came back even tying the game at 27 but entered the half behind High Point 35-31.

The second half started much like the entire first half with High Point in control but not really able to pull away, Upstate just seemingly kept themselves in the game via the offensive glass and making shot even tying the game at 53 with 12 minutes left to go in the game. After that bucket, High Point ended the game on 36-16 run over the last 12 minutes to win the game 89-69.

High Point Takeaways:

• Scary Terry: Terry Anderson in a self described “not good” game led the team in points with 22 and rebounds with 12.

• All Around Aquino: Owen Aquino with one of the most interesting stat lines I’ve seen all season with 8 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 blocks and 0 assists. The only player to have such a stat line this season.

• The Return of the Cam: In the post game press conference, one massive elephant question was answered, “Where is Williams?” which was corrected to “Where is Cam Fletcher?”, Flynn addressed it as a internal issue which wasn’t news, but added “We expect him to be back.”

USC Upstate Takeaways:

• Glass Cleaners: Jafeth Martinez and Breylin Garcia combined for 20 rebounds including 13 offensive rebounds between the duo.

• Leader Learic: In Big South conference play, Learic Davis has lead Upstate in scoring in 3 of the 5 games including their win over Charleston Southern.

Jan 21st Previews:

UNC Asheville at USC Upstate - 6pm EST

Preview: The biggest Big South rivalry, the world renowned Ingles I-26 Rivalry has their first game on Wednesday and it should be an interesting one. This game is truly a matter of depth vs talent. UNC Asheville has probably 2-3 of the best players in the game but has nothing really outside of those, Upstate has a ton of medium level talent but no really “WOW” player. I think this game being at home really helps Upstate pull away with a close, but very much needed win.

Score Prediction: USC Upstate 75 - UNC Asheville 73

Radford at Winthrop - 6:30pm EST

Preview: The game that is either first place, or a tie for first place depending on the winner. Winthrop currently has the tie breaker over High Point but with a win they will have 1st place by .5 games due to not having their bye game yet. Radford would become first if they win due to again a tie breaker which would set up a true game for first on Saturday against High Point. Sadly, I don’t think that game for first will happen on Saturday. Winthrop has played a harder schedule and I’m not convinced Radford is all that despite their 4-1 record so for that reason, and home court, I am taking Winthrop.

Score Prediction: Winthrop 87 - Radford 80

Gardner Webb at Longwood - 7pm EST

Preview: This is a game Longwood needs, after their heartbreaking loss to Radford they now sit at 2-3 and have a chance to get to .500 before facing Charleston Southern. Gardner Webb still looking for win #1 and this is a game where it could be done as Longwood has stumbled at time. I don’t think Longwood stumbles this time though as I think they roll past Gardner Webb and win pretty handedly.

Score Prediction: Longwood 73 - Gardner Webb 65

Charleston Southern at Presbyterian - 7pm EST

Preview: Charleston Southern comes off their bye week after suffering 3 brutal losses to Winthrop, High Point and USC Upstate and now have to face Presbyterian which is coming off two big wins over UNC Asheville and Gardner Webb. This game will come down to how CSU used their off time to prepare, if they failed to fix their mistakes from the last 3 games, they’ll drop this game. I think CSU used this time correctly and I think they get a perfect get right road win over Presbyterian and get back to .500.

Score Prediction: Charleston Southern 77 - Presbyterian 72

NONE.

And right now, we have a tie atop the Big South standings with both Winthrop and High Point at 4-1 but Radford is not far behind at 3-1. Will someone get sole possession of 1st place? Or will be enter next week with a tie atop the standings again?

Jan 14th Recap:

Winthrop beats High Point 92-75

Recap: This game went about how everyone expected, for about 4 minutes of action. High Point began the scoring before a little back and forth gave Winthrop the lead at 5-4, a lead they would maintain for the rest of the game. Winthrop would extend that lead to 8 until before High Point cut the lead to 3 with a 3 pointer from Scotty Washington and a dunk from Terry Anderson. Then Winthrop gave, what really seemed to be the fatal blow, being a 15-2 run over a 3 minute stretch extending Winthrop lead to 16 points. That 16 point lead would then balloon over the next 9 minutes to 24 points entering halftime.

At the start of the 2nd half, it seemed like shades of Johnson City as High Point sparked off a 10-0 run but unlike in Johnson City, their comeback was thwarted as Winthrop continued to really just protect their lead and not thwart their own chances by playing aggressive. Winthrop would never let their lead fall below 14 points in the 2nd half as they cruised to their biggest resume win of the season and entering a tie for 1st place in the Big South.

Winthrop Takeaways:

• 106 Words: On October 3rd, 2023 Logan Duncomb stepped away from basketball with a 106 word statement. Now in March of 2026, he could very well hear 6 words. Big South All Conference 1st Team, and potentially a bigger 6 words.

• D2 Shootas: Tommy Kamarad and Kody Clouet, both former D2 stars, both ended the game in double figures. Kamarad with 17 points and Clouet with 14.

• Turnover Battle: Winthrop becomes one of the few team to beat Winthrop in the turnover battle, even having more steals that the Panthers in this one.

High Point Takeaways:

• Cam’ron Fletcher: The spotlight, at least off the court is turned toward Cam’ron Fletcher after Rico Bosco posted that he was “dismissed”. This was stated to be false by the program

• Stumble but Don’t Fall: Realistically, High Point was going to lose in conference play. It was just a matter of when, now you got to get back up and push forward.

• Feb 21st: Not to look ahead at the schedule, but the home game vs Winthrop on Feb 21st now is a MUST WATCH game. (and sadly won’t be a Wild Card game.)

USC Upstate beats Charleston Southern 86-81 (OT)

Recap: Both teams entered this game needing and win and both teams played like it. Charleston Southern began the scoring but Upstate took the lead back, which would become a common sight in the game with 2 baskets on back to back trips down the floor. The lead swapped numerous times throughout the first half with neither team holding more than 6 point advantage, which was the exact lead CSU took into halftime 41-35.

At the start of the 2nd half, CSU finally got their lead to 8 points, the largest of the game at the time. Then, just like clockwork USC Upstate storms back and take their largest lead of the game thus far being 4 points around the midway point of the 2nd half. Then it seemed as if CSU was finally going to put Upstate away being up 8 with less than 4 minutes to go, but Upstate wasn’t done just yet despite their 3.4% chance to win as they storm back and tie the game with just over minute to go as they held CSU scoreless for the last 3:41 of regulation but neither team hits their last shots and we headed to Overtime.

In overtime, Reis Jones began the scoring with a dunk on the first possession and then Jaquias Franklin forced a turnover leading to free throws, but CSU could only convert 1 of 2 allowing Upstate to stay within one possession. After a bit of back and forth, Learic Davis hit the biggest shot of the game giving Upstate a 2 point lead after his 3 went through the bottom of the next. After an Upstate miss, down 3, Brycen Blaine takes a transition 3 which goes off the rim and CSU has to wait over 5 seconds to foul, Karmani Gregory then ices the game at the line giving Upstate that 86-81 win.

USC Upstate Takeaways:

• 3.4%: 3.4% was the chances given to USC Upstate when down 8 with 3:41 left in the 2nd half. That is the lowest chance to win in ANY Big South game this season resulting in a win and 67th (6-7) in the nation.

• Do-It-All Davis: Learic Davis had a new career high of 22 points along with 8 rebound and 2 steals.

• Chuck Town Lovin: Marty Richter is now 2-0 in the Buc Dome, coming off his win 79-69 last season in the same venue.

Charleston Southern Takeaways:

• The Masked PG: Luke Williams gets banged up and couldn’t return against Upstate. While Franklin played very good minutes, Williams absence was felt, definitely something to watch entering PC on 1/21.

• Rebounding: One thing Coach Nimley hammered home in his post game presser, REBOUNDING. Mainly offensive rebounding, their next game? Against the #2 Offensive Rebounding team in the Big South.

• Sumler is BACK: If there was any DOUBT that Sumler was truly him again, 35 points 5 assists and ZERO TURNOVERS. Only the 3rd such game this season.

Presbyterian beat UNC Asheville 71-70

Recap: One of the more under appreciated games of Wednesday was between the red hot UNC Asheville team playing at Presbyterian. The game began with a little bit of back and forth before Presbyterian took a 12-7 lead, then Asheville took their final lead of the game going up 22-19. After Asheville took that lead, Presbyterian had a 9-0 run to take the lead back and hold for the rest of the 1st half. After a Justin Wright buzzer beater, Presbyterian carried a 6 point lead into halftime.

The 2nd half began like the 1st half ended with Presbyterian holding onto a single digit lead until Presbyterian broke through that glass ceiling extending their lead to 13 with 10 minutes left in the game. Asheville would cut that lead down to single digits but once again with 5 minutes to go, the lead was 13 points. With 2 minutes to go, it seems that Presbyterian would coast their second victory with a 12 point victory but UNC Asheville didn’t give up cutting that lead down to 2 with just under 1 minute to go, but they would miss their buzzer beater 3 to tie it and only tip it back in for 2 and after two missed free throws by Presbyterian and a tipped around rebound, Presbyterian escapes 71-70.

Presbyterian Takeaways:

• Triple P: The trio of Carl Parrish, Jonah Pierce and Jaylen Peterson scored 63 of Presbyterian’s 71 points.

• Perfection Parrish: Carl Parrish went 5-5 from behind the arc, and was the only PC player to make a 3 in the contest.

• Block Party: Both Pierce and Peterson had 3 blocks, along with Iverson King with 1.

UNC Asheville Takeaways:

• Bench Issues: Once again, the bench just has NOT shown up for Asheville, only scoring 4 points for the Bulldogs.

• Wright, Right on Time: Justin Wright had his best game of conference play so far with 26 points, leading UNC Asheville in scoring.

• KT: Kameron Taylor with his 5th straight 20+ point game, all coming in conference play.

Radford beats Gardner Webb 89-80

Recap: Likely the game that Gardner Webb was pointing at as a very good chance to win was this one. Rest advantage and a Radford team that is as streaky as a C List Actor, put Gardner Webb in a good spot to win. Early in the game, it seemed like they would as Gardner Webb jumped out to 20-8 lead but within 5 minutes, that changed as Radford took their first lead 27-25 with 8 minutes to go. Then at the end of the half after a Del Jones buzzer beater layup, Radford entered halftime up 45-31.

The 2nd half started out much like the 1st half ended with Radford nursing their lead and even extending to a high of 16 until Gardner Webb came storming back. Gardner Webb cut the lead to 10, then to 6 with just over 10 minutes to go. Radford then once again stretched their lead to 11 but Gardner Webb didn’t go away cutting the lead to 5 with just over 5 minutes to go. Then the killshot came after Dennis Parker Jr was fouled on a 3 which he made allowing Radford to extend the lead to 9, a lead they would hold onto winning 89-80.

Radford Takeaways:

• Del and Dennis: Once again the ACC transfers were the star of the show, Del Jones leading Radford with 27 points and Dennis Parker with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

• Thinner Bench: Something I’ve noticed, Radford has been playing less players and it’s working as Radford is 3-1 in conference.

• Double Double: Along with Dennis Parker, Tyson Brown also had a double double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Gardner Webb Takeaways:

• The Corner: It seems like Gardner Webb is turning the corner, they have been playing some of their best basketball while missing a few big pieces, once those comeback, GWU could be interesting.

• Turn it up: DJ Jefferson led the Runnin Bulldogs with 21 points, his 2nd straight 20 point game and the first two of his career.

• Injuries: 4 out of 5 Day 1 Starters missed this game, will be interesting to see how GWU plays when they comeback.

Jan 17th Previews:

Winthrop at UNC Asheville - 2pm EST

Preview: We go from Winthrop’s White Out, to Asheville’s Black Out as Winthrop now travels to Asheville to face UNC Asheville. A game that Asheville in my opinion NEEDS to win and a game Winthrop would very much LOVE to win. This game is simply coming down to does Asheville get production from their bench and can Winthrop control their emotions and not let people down. Based off the history of the season, I lean No and Yes, there for I lean Winthrop to get a massive road win.

Score Prediction: Winthrop 82 - UNC Asheville 74

Presbyterian at Gardner Webb - 2pm EST

Recap: According to Jeff Goodman’s anonymous rankings, this is a game between the two worst Big South jobs but don’t tell either coach that. Both of these teams are playing some of their best basketball of the season, really making this one a game to watch. This game will likely come down to Gardner Webb hitting their 3’s and Presbyterian playing bully ball down low. I do lean Presbyterian to win this one simply because they seem to be playing their best ball as well.

Score Prediction: Presbyterian 75 - Gardner Webb 71

Longwood at Radford - 2:30pm EST

Recap: A good ole VA throw down with a diaper dash during halftime, and two first year coaches facing off. This game will be one won at the free throw line, both teams get to the line at massive rates and both teams send team to the line at massive rates. The issue is, one team hits 76% at the line, one hits 72.2%, and the one that hits 76% is better at both getting to the line and limiting teams getting there. For that reason, and because I am still not sure what to make of Radford, give me Longwood.

Score Prediction: Longwood 79 - Radford 73

USC Upstate at High Point - 7pm EST

Recap: The night cap, and it’s a TRUE weekend night cap with this one tipping off at 7pm. USC Upstate enters coming high off their overtime win over Charleston Southern and High Point enters at a low point after their loss to Winthrop. Both teams are in need of this one, and realistically it will come to the turnover battle. HPU and USC Upstate provide insane pressure on PG’s and whichever teams PG group doesn’t crack likely wins this one. I do think Upstate performs really well but falls in the end has High Point gets back on track with a win.

Score Prediction: High Point 91 - USC Upstate 80

but now High Point enters one of their toughest test of the season having to make the trip to Rock Hill and face Winthrop, for their white out.

That and MANY more getting previewed, but first let’s recap last Saturday’s action.

Jan 10th Recap:

Winthrop beats USC Upstate 71-50

Recap: It took a bit for either team to get the lid off the basket, but finally after 2 mins of no scoring, USC Upstate began the game with a 3-0 lead. That 3-0 lead would be their only lead of the game as after 4 minutes Winthrop began their scoring which was also the start of a 12-0 Winthrop run taking the lead of which they would hold for the rest of the game. Upstate stopped that 12-0 run with 2 free throws, just for Winthrop to then spark another 8-0 run taking a 20-5 lead over just 10 minutes of action. Winthrop just kept piling onto their lead including sparking a 16-0 run between the end of the first half and start of the 2nd half as Winthrop entered halftime doubling Upstate’s total 38-19.

As I said above Winthrop started a 16-0 run that ended in the 2nd half, but by the time Upstate was able to end that run, it was already 46-19 with only 17 minutes remaining. After a bit of back and forth between Winthrop and Upstate including cutting the lead to under 20 multiple times. The lowest Upstate would close it up to was 15 with just under 4 minutes left in the 2nd half but eventually Upstate would ultimately fall to the hands of Winthrop 71-50.

Winthrop Takeaways:

• Berry Returns: Daylen Berry returned from injury after missing last game, only put up 3 points but also had 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in 21 minutes.

• Welcome Back Wilson: Not a true welcome back, but Isaiah Wilson finally seems to be finding his footing with two double digit point games, the first since his injuries that sidelined him for two seasons.

• Duncomb Dominance: Despite only having 8 points, Logan Duncomb still made his impact felt with 13 rebounds, the most of all players.

USC Upstate Takeaways:

• Bench Mob: 39 of USC Upstate’s 50 points come from the bench including Breylin Garcia with 16 points and Adkins with 14.

• Rebounding: USC Upstate lost the rebounding battle 49-31 with their leading rebounder having only 6 and allowing 18 offensive rebounds for Winthrop.

• Smith The Swipper: Tyler Smith with a game high 4 steals, his 4th game with 4 more steals and first since Tennessee Tech.

High Point beats Charleston Southern 84-82 (OT)

Recap: It might be early to crown a game as Game of the Year, but this definitely the front runner so far. Charleston Southern started out with a small 5-0 lead and held a similar advantage throughout most of the first half occasionally having cut to one but never being able to push the lead past 7. That small lead finally get cut to 0 with just over 5 minutes left in the 1st half when High Point took the lead 31-30 but that lead was short lived as CSU with 1:48 left, just to give it back on the next possession with a High Point score on the other end. High Point held onto a narrow 1 point, 41-40 lead headed into halftime.

The 2nd half started with CSU taking the lead and seemingly trying to put High Point away going up as much as 10 points with just 8 minutes of action left. Then High Point stormed back tying the game at 67 with just over 4 minutes left and then taking the lead again 68-67 after a late free throw with just over 3 minutes to go. After a bit of back and forth, it seemed like High Point would escape with a win in regulation as they were up 4 with 38 seconds left. Luke Williams had other ideas, with two big shots to take the game to overtime.

In the overtime period, High Point took the first lead at the free throw then Jacob Taylor hit a massive 3 to give Charleston Southern a 2 point lead, just for Conrad Martinez to hit an even bigger 3 on the next possession to give High Point the lead again. After a Terry Anderson layup and two Owen Aquino free throws, it seemed like High Point FINALLY put CSU away, but alas CSU got to the line and made 3 of 4 and stopped two High Point attempts to ice the game giving CSU a chance to end it, but A’lahn Sumler’s buzzer beater feel short and High Point escaped 84-82.

High Point Takeaways:

• ConRAD: Conrad Martinez is slowly becoming an undernoticed Big South Player of the Year candidate, that’s might not indicate it but he is tied for most Game MVP’s for HPU on KenPom and is tied for highest Big South PRPG! on Torvik.

• Double Digit No More: Entering this game, EVERY High Point win came by double figures, this was their first single digit win of the 25-26 season.

• JC Rematch: If the league plays out how it seems, we might be in store for a rematch of this one in Johnson City.

Charleston Southern Takeaways:

• Real Deal: Despite being 2-2 this team has proven they are FOR REAL, those two losses are against the Top 2 in the league and one was AT Winthrop.

• Turnovers: CSU kept their turnovers to only 12, while also forcing 9 from High Point, a team that DOES NOT turn it over much.

• Lead Management: This is about the 5th-6th where CSU has a late lead but allows the opponent to pull back in, that could be something to watch as the season rolls on.

UNC Asheville beats Radford 91-72

Recap: Despite this one being close at the start, UNC Asheville led this one wire to wire with only one tie. The scoring began with Asheville getting out to a 4-0 lead, with Asheville continuing to hold onto a slim margin until Radford tied it up at 10 early in the first half. Then once again Asheville took the lead, this time extending it to 8 before Radford proceeded to cut the lead to 2, the closest it would be for the remainder of the game. After some sluggish offense on both sides, UNC Asheville had a 45-36 advantage headed into halftime.

At the start of the 2nd half, Asheville came out sluggish allowing Radford to cut the lead to 5, before Asheville took it to 9 again, but once again having it cut to 5 by Radford. The one thing that has plagued Radford all season showed up once again, a shooting slump as UNC Asheville started a 20-5 run, basically putting the game away. Radford did charge a late game comeback but Dennis Parker Jr getting into foul trouble cut their comeback effort short by 8 points before Asheville closed out the game winning 91-72.

UNC Asheville Takeaways:

• Kam (Taylor’s Version): Kam Taylor fell 2 points short of his career high but was the clear star for Asheville with 27 points along with 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

• DJ Patrick Star: DJ Patrick once again with a big game, this time 24 points, a new season high.

• Bench Bummer: This time, Mike Morrell put out his normal starting 5 and once again Asheville only saw 8 bench points.

Radford Takeaways:

• 3 from 3: Radford once again seems to entering a shooting slump as they went 3-26 from behind the arc.

• Dennis, The Menace: Dennis Parker Jr, leads the Big South in scoring with 20.1 PPG, and is paving his path to a potential Big South POTY campaign.

• Frederik The Freshman: Frederik Erichsen, despite not starting out great, had his first double digit game against a D1 team with 11 points.

Longwood beats Presbyterian 77-70

Recap: Both teams entered this one needing a win but obviously only one could leave with it. For the first 6 minutes, this one seemed like it would be a dog fight as both Longwood and Presbyterian swapped the lead until Longwood got their final lead of the game 9-8 at the 15 minute mark. Longwood would extend that lead to 23-17 before they put that lead to 15 after Longwood sparked off a 9-0 run. Presbyterian would close that lead to 12 points after a buzzer beater layup.

Despite being down 12, Presbyterian didn’t stop fighting sparking off a 6-0 run cutting Longwood’s lead to 9 points. Longwood then once again extended the lead to 14 points before Presbyterian once again cut the lead this time to 10 points with 8 minute remaining. Then link a rubber band effect in a video game, Longwood extended their lead to 16 before Presbyterian once again sparked off a run this time an 8-0 run cutting the lead to 8 but time just ran out as Presbyterian had to begin fouling allowing Longwood to put the game away and win 77-70.

Longwood Takeaways:

• Double Trouble: Elijah Tucker got his 2nd double double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

• Hot Shot: Longwood got hot in this one shooting 47% from 3PT land, their best performance of the season.

• Turnover Battle: Longwood won the turnover battle 13-10 including 10 steals 3 by VCU Transfer Alphonzo Billups.

Presbyterian Takeaways:

• Peterson Breakout: Jaylen Peterson led the Blue Hose in scoring with 21 points, his 2nd 20 point game in the past 5.

• King of the Bench: Iverson King led Presbyterian with 12 points off the bench, his highest total against a D1 school.

• Turnovers: Presbyterian had 13 turnovers, 6 off their star big man Jonah Pierce.

Jan 14th Previews:

High Point at Winthrop - 6:30pm EST

Preview: The rematch of Johnson City is finally here, the stars might be different and so is one of the head coaches but this game should still be a good one. This game likely comes down to Logan Duncomb and his impact. Duncomb has been the clear star for the Eagles and if High Point is able to limit his production, something they managed to do well against Toyaz Solomon but that was WITH Cam’ron Fletcher who has missed time due to an “internal matter” and has a very unclear status for this game. With that being said, I do think High Point is able to weather the storm and take home another MASSIVE non conference win.

Score Prediction: High Point 91 - Winthrop 85

USC Upstate at Charleston Southern - 7pm EST

Preview: This game also has the likelihood to be a very fun one as both teams need a win, USC Upstate has started 0-3 after their best non conference start since joining the conference and Charleston Southern has lost two big games but can get right with a win at home. The key for this one is truly turnovers, if Tyler Smith and others for Upstate can force CSU to give up the ball they could be in for an upset. I do think CSU limits their turnovers like they did against High Point but I think Upstate stays in this one and even maybe takes a late lead but falls in the end.

Score Prediction: Charleston Southern 81 - USC Upstate 76

UNC Asheville at Presbyterian - 7pm EST

Preview: This game really just doesn’t stand out like other two in my opinion. Both teams in my opinion lack 1/2 pieces off being a top tier Big South contenders. The matchup in the paint will be interesting between Toyaz Solomon and the two headed monster of Peterson and Pierce. I also do think Carl Parrish and Justin Wright is another matchup worth watching. In the end, I do see these teams on similar tiers and I think Presbyterian being at home court is the deciding factor of this one.

Score Prediction: Presbyterian 67 - UNC Asheville 64

Radford at Gardner Webb - 7pm EST

Preview: I think this game will be interesting, I am still not 100% sold on what Radford is and isn’t. Radford started out conference play 2-0 then got their teeth kicked in by UNC Asheville with really only 4 players. Gardner Webb has not had a good season so far, but they come in with the rest advantage and home court. Really this game will come down to can Zach Chu coach this team to this win, and I’m not confident it happens. I think Gardner Webb shocks the Big South and gets a MASSIVE home win.

Score Prediction: Gardner Webb 72 - Radford 66

SO… as the title says, with the New Year, KenPom chose to release a new metric and it’s a very interesting one.

2PT Distance.

On paper, many might think “well that’s a stupid metric, who cares about the distance of 2’s you take.” and that’s where I come in to break down the new metric, how it translates to winning and pointing out some outliers that may negate some teams data.

Why should I care about 2PT Distance?

Simply put, taking shots closer to the rim, USUALLY score more.

You might be saying “well they are both worth 2 points.” which yes is TECHNICALLY correct.

Here is where my nerd brain that died out in middle school shows back up takes over.

One thing is evident from chart above, the farther you get from the rim, the less points you get per make and that is USUALLY the fact for most teams.

One more thing is becoming glaring, I am using “USUALLY” a lot, let me explain why with one word.

Outliers.

In fact, High Point ran into one of the biggest outliers of them all last season in the NCAA Tournament with Purdue. Both Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn are considered “elite” or “high level” mid range players. Their shot production from that area of the court makes Purdue’s 2PT Distance almost null and void because you can’t really force them into long 2’s as those are shots the team is somewhat willing to take.

In that Round of 64 game versus Purdue, The Boilermakers took over 50% of their shots from over 4.5 feet from the basket and with shots 4-10 feet and 15+ they shot over 5% over the NCAA average shooting percentage from that range.

Another outlier that is worth noting, more for the defensive end is something that usually leaves crying when I leave the bar, can also make me cry by ruining this metric. BLOCKS. For this example, I am headed back to 2023-24 McNeese State, the team that everyone thought would be the Cinderella (even though they did this in 2024-25 too).

In 2023-24, McNeese was 352nd in defensive 2PT Distance, but yet only allowed teams to shoot 54% at the rim and 34.1% from 4.5 Feet to 10 Feet, why was that? Their 6’ 6” big man down low in Christian Shumate. Shumate, despite being only 6’ 6” had the 112th block rate in the country and was 5th in the Southland conference in Block Rate. The issue came when they faced a team that could deal with McNeese’s defense by just stretching the floor which Gonzaga was able to do shooting over 49% from behind the arc and cruising past McNeese by 21.

Now back to the chart.

The two most recent Big South champs, 2023-24 High Point and 2024-25 High Point. Both of those team ranked Top 60 both Offensive and Defensive 2PT Distance.

This year High Point is only 103rd in offensive 2PT Distance partial due in part to their own outliers in SEMO transfer Rob Martin who is currently at the time of writing 11/22 from 10-15 Feet from the rim along with CSUN transfer Scotty Washington who is 7/14 from 10-15+.

So, who is #1 in the Big South?

The current #1 for the Big South in Offensive and Defensive 2PT Distance, The Charleston Southern Buccaneers.

CSU ranks 45th in Offensive 2PT Distance along with 38th in Defensive 2PT Distance and they are for two different reasons. The offensive is because they spread the floor with their lights out shooting which thus weakens the defense opening the floor for either their quick guards like A’lahn Sumler to cut to the rim or their stellar big men like Reis Jones or Lase Olalere to finish in the paint. Those big men are also the reason teams can’t GET to the rim, their paint presence along Reis Jones’ 33rd best in the nation block rate limits the opponents ability to take and make GOOD 2’s.

What about the rest of the Big South?

Format: Team - Off FT (Off Rank) / Def FT (Def Rank)

1. Charleston Southern - 5.0 FT (45th) / 6.9 FT (34th)

2. Gardner Webb - 5.4 FT (94th) / 4.8 FT (354th)

3. Winthrop - 5.4 FT (99th) / 6.0 FT (162nd)

4. High Point - 5.5 FT (103rd) / 6.0 FT (150th)

5. Longwood - 5.7 FT (146th) / 5.9 FT (185th)

6. Radford - 6.0 FT (199th) / 5.9 FT (177th)

7. USC Upstate - 6.0 FT (203rd) / 6.0 FT (156th)

8. Presbyterian - 6.1 FT (219th) / 6.3 FT (112th)

9. UNC Asheville - 7.0 FT (321st) / 4.8 FT (356th)

Main Takeaway.

Take more close two’s and less mid range two’s. The analytics nerds are usually right.

With Charleston Southern and Presbyterian losing their first conference games of the season, we have two undefeated teams left. Radford and High Point.

Will both of them stay undefeated until their matchup on Jan 24th, I personally think at least one will slip up, most likely Radford but High Point also doesn’t have an easy stretch either.

High Point has to travel to CSU, Radford hosts UNC Asheville, will either of them lose this week?

Jan 7th Recap:

UNC Asheville beats Longwood 72-61

Recap: After a little bit of back and forth the start the game, including the only two lead changes of the matchup. UNC Asheville went on a 9-0 run to make their 3-2 deficit into a 11-3 lead which became a pretty steady cushion for Asheville throughout the first half. Longwood would periodically cut it down to as little as 3 points before Asheville would stretch it back it, at time to as much as 15 points. Asheville’s offense would stagnate near the end of the half allowing Longwood to cut the lead to 5.

Much of that stagnation followed UNC Asheville into the start of the 2nd half allowing Longwood to cut the lead to 1 within 3 minutes of the 2nd half starting and even allowing them to tie the game at 50 with just under 11 minutes to go in the game. Then Asheville went on a 10-2 run giving them a 60-52 lead with around 6 minutes to go and that seemingly be enough as Longwood just ran out of gas only scoring 11 points in the last 10:25 of action allowing UNC Asheville to win 72-61.

UNC Asheville Takeaways:

• Morrell Magic Tricks: Last game Morrell had Solomon coming off the bench, this game it was Kam Taylor, both players with some of their best performances of the year.

• DJ PaTREYick: DJ Patrick with 6-10 from 3, one of his best games of the season and is 1 of 9 Big South players to average 40% from behind the arc on volume.

• Double Digit Dan: Dan Thomas with his 1st double digit rebound game, along with 8 points.

Longwood Takeaways:

• Turnovers: Longwood held their turnovers to 10, and had their lowest TO% since their loss to American earlier in the season.

• 3PT Woes: Longwood once again shot below 30% behind the arc, and even shot below their season average of 28% which is 348th in the country.

• Rebounding: Longwood allowed 14 offensive rebounds, compared to Longwood’s 9 including ZERO in the 2nd half.

Winthrop beats Charleston Southern 81-77

Recap: Likely the most anticipated game of the day, and it did not fail to meet expectations. After a bit of back and forth, Charleston Southern took the first notable lead of the game with a 19-12 lead after a 6-0 from the Bucs gave them that advantage. CSU even stretched that lead to 9 going up 30-21 with 7:02 remaining before Winthrop went on a 13-1 run going up 34-31 before once again cooling off and even losing to lead before an Isaiah Wilson half court heave gave Winthrop a slim 37-36 advantage going into halftime.

The 2nd half was much of the same with almost non stop back and forth until Charleston Southern broke out a 6 point with just under 8 minutes to go. CSU would hold onto that lead until 4 minutes left in the game but two massive things happened in those 4 minutes as both Lase Olalare and Reis Jones would foul out of the game, leaving CSU with only 1 big man in Devin Brafford left in the game. While Brafford did play very good in those minutes, Logan Duncomb was too much of a headache as he scored 12 points in last 5 minutes to help Winthrop win 81-77.

Winthrop Takeaways:

• Duncomb POTY: Logan Duncomb is quietly becoming the front runner for Big South POTY, which would be Winthrop’s first since DJ Burns in 21-22.

• No Berry, No Issue: Daylen Berry missed this game due to an ankle injury in which he suffered last game.

• DEFENSE: Despite allowing teams to shoot over 35% from 3, Winthrop held CSU to 25.8%.

CSU Takeaways:

• Sumler Resurgence: In all 3 Big South games so far for CSU, A’lahn Sumler has led the team in scoring, averaging 23 PPG in conference play.

• No Worries: I have no reason to be out on this CSU team, Blaine had his worst game of the season and as a team shot 25.8% from 3, which is unlikely to be a trend.

• Brafford Block Party: Devin Brafford had 5 blocks, which is tied for 2nd most this season and had the least minutes of anyone with 5 blocks this season in the Big South.

High Point beats Gardner Webb 104-49

Recap: This game was truly a blood bath from the beginning, High Point jumped out to a 16 point lead before Gardner Webb got even their first points of the game. After that maybe Gardner Webb began a run, nope. High Point then scored another 14 before Gardner Webb got their next points of the game. High Point finally capped off their 40-6 run and almost immediately began another 13-1 run before Gardner Webb hit a layup to enter halftime down 40, which considered this game, as Erik Haslam form HaslamMetrics would say #AnalyticallyFinal.

After a little bit of back and forth to begin the 2nd half, High Point went on their 3rd and final big run of the game. This time it was a 21-3 run which put them up 80-20 and High Point continued to cruise to their 104-49 victory which was the largest in Big South conference history.

High Point Takeaways:

• This Year’s Bobby, Conrad: One of the best players this year for High Point, much like last year, is their bench PG. Last year it was Bobby, this year it’s Conrad Martinez. Conrad currently has a 3.6 PRPG!, which ties him for 2nd in the Big South.

• Dominance: This is currently the 4th most dominant win in all of CBB this season, the most dominant in a conference game, and High Point 3rd game in the Top 100 most dominant games.

• Elite Company: In the post game presser, Flynn Clayman mentioned High Point and Houston are the only two teams to be Top 15 in Offensive Turnover % AND Defensive Turnover %. HPU is 6th in Offensive and 11th in Defensive.

Gardner Webb Takeaways:

• DJ Jefferson Breakout: DJ Jefferson led Gardner Webb with 20 points, many of which coming in the 2nd half. It would be interesting to see if he can build off it.

• Bo Knows: Bo Barber, a Grad Assistant at the start of the year, led GWU in assists with 4.

• KenPom Gains: Thanks to The Citadel losing by 38 to Mercer, Gardner Webb actually moved up to 358 on KenPom, gaining 1 spot from their previous spot at 359th.

Radford beats Presbyterian 80-61

Recap: The final of the four Big South games on Jan 7th, and this one was guaranteed to take aways one of the team’s 0 in the loss column in conference play. The first half was a near constant back and forth between Presbyterian and Radford until Radford took the lead at the 10 minute mark and continued to hold their narrow margin until at the buzzer Carl Parrish hit a 3 to tie that game at 36.

The second half was different story, after the 18 minute mark where Presbyterian once again tied the game, this time at 40. Radford started to take hold of this contest, due in part to Del Jones with 2 3’s and Tyson Brown getting 2 of his own sparking off an 8-0 run. Radford was able to keep their lead pretty healthy and finally delivered a final blow with 12-0 run over 5 minutes of game time and extending Radford lead to 19, which is the exact margin Radford would win by, 80-61.

Radford Takeaways:

• Del and Dennis Show: Radford might have one of the best two player duos in the Big South with Del Jones and Dennis Parker, Parker has averaged 23 PPG in conference and Jones is averaging 19.5 PPG in conference.

• Radford is Rollin: Despite starting the season 2-6, Radford is now 9-8 with those only 2 losses coming to a in hindsight pretty decent Southern Miss team and CAA contender William and Mary.

• Keep the 0: Radford has kept their 0 in the loss column for the first time since Mike Jones in the 2020-21 season.

Presbyterian Takeaways:

• Free Throw Woes: Presbyterian shot 50% from the free throw line, 16% lower than the season average for PC.

• Homegrown Talent: 58 points of PC’s 61 came from players who were in the program last year.

• Pierce and Peterson: Jonah Pierce and Jaylen Peterson both with stellar performances including a double double for Pierce and 7 points and 8 rebounds for Peterson.

Jan 10th Preview:

Winthrop at USC Upstate - 2pm EST

Preview: Winthrop pulled likely the biggest resume win so far in Big South conference play, and their reward? Traveling to USC Upstate which coming off a week of rest. So far teams taking a week off are 2-0, one funny enough faced USC Upstate. The game will really come down to the matchup down low between Duncomb and the duo of Coen Collier and Jafeth Martinez. I think the rest, and home court advantage along with their two defense forward centers gives Winthrop issues as Upstate cruises to their first conference win.

Score Prediction: USC Upstate 78 - Winthrop 72

High Point at Charleston Southern - 2pm EST

Preview: This game right here, could be potentially game of the year for the Big South. High Point just got done with biggest win in Big South history and CSU is MOTIVATED after losing a close one to Winthrop. This game likely comes down to what High Point can stop, I think High Point will do what they want on the offensive end and I think CSU has to make this a true shootout and start out hot. In the end, it’s hard to pick against High Point, they seem to be the Killdozer and the Big South is the town of Granby.

Score Prediction: High Point 91 - Charleston Southern 87

UNC Asheville at Radford - 2:30pm EST

Preview: Another must see Big South game on Saturday, this time it’s two teams that both seem to some of the most interesting teams in the conference. Radford despite an awful start seems to be playing their best hoops of the season and UNC Asheville has 4 all conference level players, but really seemingly have no other offensive output from the others. If this game gets into crunch time, I favor Radford and with this being a conference game, I think we get into crunch time and that depth will take Radford to the finish line before UNC Asheville.

Score Prediction: Radford 72 - UNC Asheville 70

Presbyterian at Longwood - 3pm EST

Preview: I will be honest, this game just doesn’t pop off the page like the others. Not slight to either team as I think both are still very high level and could very well put on a good game. Longwood seemingly can be the Top Dog but can also stumble and be the bottom, PC is much more consistent but can also stumble that same way. I do think Longwood handles business at home and gets back to .500 in conference play.

Score Prediction: Longwood 68 - Presbyterian 61