Feb 19th Conference Play Previews
Breaking down the notable moments and previewing the action on Feb 19th
We have a new #1, by technicality, as High Point is BACK in the first place by having played more games than Winthrop.
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