Week 5 Game of the Week Previews
Previewing the best game for each team for the week of 11/30-12/6
We have made it passed Feast Week, for the most part, and are now into the final run of non conference games going up into conference play.
Now we are entering some really good games compared to the start of the season, neutral site battles, some tough road trips, and some sneaky home games.
So lets bask in these amazing games as we move into conference, starting with this weeks slate of games.
Nov 30th:
Nov 30th - 4pm EST - Presbyterian vs The Citadel
Presbyterian Weekly Recap:
Nov 26th: Presbyterian beats Columbia International 93-50
Khalon Hudson led the Blue Hose with 20 points, a new career high for Hudson. Hudson also added 10 rebounds, getting his 1st double double at Presbyterian.
13 was a magic number for Presbyterian. Iverson King, Jonah Pierce and Jaylen Peterson all had 13 points in the contest.
Presbyterian snapped a four game losing streak with this win, dating back to their win against Georgia State on Nov 10th.
The Citadel Breakdown:
Coach: Ed Conroy (4th season at The Citadel)
Record: 2-5
Best Win: vs Erskine 105-61 / vs North Greenville 70-57
Notable Losses: vs Charleston Southern 96-86
Record vs Presbyterian: Citadel leads 8-4
Leading Scorer: Christian Moore (11.6 PPG)
Game Breakdown: This game is interesting for a load of reasons. The teams both have shown flashes of being good, but they’ve also shown flashes of being really bad. The Citadel showing more of the latter. With both teams basically wanting to take the air out of the ball, I expect it to be a slog of a game and I think that will favor Presbyterian more than The Citadel.
Official Prediction: Presbyterian 65 - The Citadel 61
Other Games on Nov 30th:
App State vs UNC Asheville - 1:30pm EST - ESPN+
Longwood at American - 4pm EST - ESPN+
Dec 1st: No Games
Dec 2nd:
Dec 2nd - 12pm EST - Charleston Southern at UT Martin
Charleston Southern Weekly Recap:
Nov 25th: Charleston Southern beat Piedmont 93-81
Brycen Blaine led the Bucs with 25 points along with 8 rebounds and 8 assists coming off the bench.
Charleston Southern had 3 players with 11 points: Jacob Taylor, Luke Williams and Nate Brafford.
Charleston Southern out rebounded Piedmont 54-36.
Nov 28th: Charleston Southern falls to South Carolina 74-62
Brycen Blaine with 23 points, leading the Bucs once again in scoring.
A’lahn Sumler and Jesse Hafemeister both end the game in double figures, Sumler with 14 and Hafemeister with 10.
Charleston Southern out rebounded South Carolina 43-37
UT Martin Breakdown:
Coach: Jeremy Shulman (2nd season at UT Martin)
Record: 5-2
Best Win: at UNLV 86-81 / at Bradley 78-67
Notable Losses: vs Southern Miss 70-60
Record vs Charleston Southern: Charleston Southern leads 1-0
Leading Scorer: Andrija Bukumirovic (16.1 PPG)
Game Breakdown: This might be one of the best Mid Major games of the week, not just in the Big South. Charleston Southern has looked amazing to start the season and UT Martin has pulled off two pretty impressive wins. With the quicker turnaround for Charleston Southern and the fact that UT Martin is coming off a Non D1 home game, I do lean UT Martin taking this one.
Official Prediction: UT Martin 83 - Charleston Southern 77
Dec 2nd - 7pm EST - UNC Greensboro vs UNC Asheville
UNC Asheville Weekly Recap:
Nov 25th: UNC Asheville falls to Tennessee State 75-73
Heartbreak once again for Asheville as they fall at the buzzer in the 2nd straight game.
Three man show for Asheville with Kameron Taylor leading the way with 23 points, Toyaz Solomon with 21 points and Justin Wright with 20.
Apart from those 3 scorers, only DJ Patrick with 8 points and Myles Mayfield with 1 were scorers.
UNC Greensboro Breakdown:
Coach: Mike Jones (5th season at UNC Greensboro)
Record: 1-7
Best Win: vs Youngstown State 68-62
Notable Losses: at Queens 101-94
Record vs UNC Asheville: UNC Greensboro leads 3-1
Leading Scorer: Justin Neely (13.5 PPG)
Game Breakdown: The battle of the UNC satellite campuses, and both are in a somewhat familiar venue. UNCG plays their conference tournament in the Harrah’s Cherokee Center and UNC Asheville will have played there earlier in the week vs App State. Mike Jones always seems to have his worst games in Harrah’s and I don’t see that changing this go around.
Official Prediction: UNC Asheville 79 - UNC Greensboro 68
Other Games on Dec 2nd:
Winthrop at LIU - 7:30pm EST - NEC Front Row
Dec 3rd:
Dec 3rd - 7pm EST - Southern Illinois at High Point
High Point Weekly Recap:
Nov 29th: High Point beats Western Carolina 93-73
Cam’ron Fletcher led the Panthers in scoring with 20 points and a team high 9 rebounds.
Rob Martin with 17 points, Terry Anderson with 16, and Conrad with 12 end the game in double figures.
Chase Johnston went 3-3 from behind the arc for the Panthers, totaling 9 points.
Southern Illinois Breakdown:
Coach: Scott Nagy (2nd season at Southern Illinois)
Record: 4-4
Best Win: vs Delaware 79-59
Notable Losses: at North Dakota State 92-85
Record vs High Point: High Point leads 1-0
Leading Scorer: Quel’ron House (15.5 PPG)
Game Breakdown: In the preseason, SIU was viewed as one of the major tests on High Point’s schedule and it seems like it will be as expected. While SIU enters with a not great record, their losses have to came to very good teams, including a shared loss with UAB. With all that being said, I think High Point doesn’t let this one slip out of their grasp as they try to build a resume for a potential tournament bid.
Official Prediction: High Point 93 - Southern Illinois 85
Dec 3rd - 7pm EST - Southern Miss at Radford
Radford Weekly Recap:
Nov 24th: Radford falls to SMU 89-72
Dennis Parker Jr led the Highlanders with 18 points.
Del Jones and Jaylon Johnson both end the game in double figures, Jones with 16 and Johnson with 15.
Radford forced 12 steals from the Mustangs.
Nov 29th: Radford beats Notre Dame (MD) 102-75
Mari Jordan with a 20 points double double after leading the team in scoring and rebounds with 10.
Dennis Parker Jr with 19, Frederik Erichsen with 14 and Lukas Walls with 10 all in double figure for the Highlanders.
Jaylon Johnson with a solid performance with 9 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists.
Southern Miss Breakdown:
Coach: Jay Ladner (7th season at Southern Miss)
Record: 4-3
Best Win: vs UT Martin 70-60
Notable Losses: at Grambling State 75-70
Record vs Radford: FIRST MEETING BETWEEN THE TWO PROGRAMS
Leading Scorer: Tylik Weeks (18.3 PPG)
Game Breakdown: Radford is interesting, against the ACC teams in UNC and SMU they looked really good. The D2 games, much of that same story. Every other game, has looked ugly to say the least. I do think Radford wins this one, I think Southern Miss while having more rest, I doubt it helps them with over a week and a half of rest.
Official Prediction: Radford 91 - Southern Miss 87
Dec 3rd - 7pm EST - Gardner Webb at Queens
Gardner Webb Weekly Recap:
Nov 26th: Gardner Webb falls to Navy 84-51
Jacob Hudson and Jacob Hogarth were the only player in double figures both with 11 points.
Gardner Webb shot 37% from the field and 16% from behind the arc.
51 is the lowest amount of points scored in a Gardner Webb game since 2022.
Nov 28th: Gardner Webb falls to SE Louisiana 76-68
Ace Talbert led the Runnin Bulldogs with 15 points, his 2nd time in double figures this season.
Jacob Hudson with 13 and Curtis Williams with 10 round out those in double figures.
Gardner Webb had their first halftime lead of the season in this contest.
21 turnovers for GWU, a season high.
Nov 29th: Gardner Webb falls to UNCW 88-62
Spence Sims led Gardner Webb 19 points, Curtis Williams joined him in double figures with 14.
Jacob Hogarth was 1 point off a double double with 9 points along a team high 11 rebounds.
Queens Breakdown:
Coach: Grant Leonard (4th season at Queens)
Record: 3-5
Best Win: vs Sacred Heart 81-64
Notable Losses: vs Winthrop 81-74
Record vs Gardner Webb: Queens leads 4-2
Leading Scorer: Nasir Mann (14.5 PPG)
Game Breakdown: I don’t know what to expect for Gardner Webb, they have not looked good at all. I have trust in this staff to figure it out, the talent is there and the coaching staff looked good last season. I sadly do not see them fixing in this game, Queens is a very solid ASun team and should take this one pretty handedly in front of their home crowd.
Official Prediction: Queens 77 - Gardner Webb 66
Other Games on Nov 3rd:
Coastal Carolina at USC Upstate - 7pm EST - ESPN+
Pfeiffer at Longwood - 7pm EST - ESPN+
Presbyterian at Wofford - 7pm EST - ESPN+
Nov 4th: No Games of the Week
Other Games on Nov 4th:
Warren Wilson at Charleston Southern - 7pm EST - ESPN+
Nov 5th: No Games of the Week
Other Games on Nov 5th:
NJIT at High Point - 7pm EST - ESPN+
Nov 6th:
Nov 6th - 2pm EST - Coastal Carolina at Winthrop
Winthrop Weekly Recap:
Nov 23rd: Winthrop beats Jackson State 80-62
Logan Duncomb led the Eagles in scoring with 14 points, his 2nd straight in double figures.
Seifeldin Hendawy and Tai Hamilton both set or tied career highs with their double digit performances.
Winthrop outscored Jackson State 48-30 in the 2nd half to pull away with the win.
Nov 25th: Winthrop falls to Nebraska 80-73
Kareem Rozier led the team in scoring with 14 points.
Daylen Berry with 12 and Pharrell Boyogueno with 11 both end the game with double figure points.
Logan Duncomb was 2 points shy of a double double having 8 points and 10 rebounds.
Winthrop won the rebounding battle 48-38.
Nov 29th: Winthrop beats SC State 101-79
Kody Clouet led the Eagles with 21 points, including 5 3 pointers.
Logan Duncomb and Tommy Kamarad with 19 points each, Duncomb was 1 rebound shy of a double double.
Kareem Rozier had 15 points and 6 assists rounding out those in double figures.
2nd straight 100+ point game for Winthrop at home, last one was vs Mercer on homecoming.
Coastal Carolina Breakdown:
Coach: Justin Gray (2nd season at Coastal Carolina)
Record: 4-3
Best Win: vs Winthrop 72-66
Notable Losses: vs Western Michigan 76-71
Record vs Winthrop: Coastal Carolina leads 46-41
Leading Scorer: Joshua Beadle (15.7 PPG)
Game Breakdown: A rematch of their game early in the season, Winthrop has been looking amazing since that game only losing two close games to Top 30-ish level teams. Coastal has looked ok since that early season game but hasn’t moved the needle too much. These games are always close, and with Winthrop caring a ton of momentum and motivation, I think they take it this go around and split the season series.
Official Prediction: Winthrop 86 - Coastal Carolina 80
Nov 6th - 2pm EST - Western Carolina at USC Upstate
USC Upstate Weekly Recap:
Nov 25th: USC Upstate beats NC Central 82-67
Mason Bendinger led Upstate with 19 points, 1 point shy of extending his 20+ point game streak to 3 games.
Karmani Gregory had 17 points along with a tied for team high 5 assists.
Jafeth Martinez with 16 points, a new career high along with 5 blocks, also a new career high.
Nov 29th: USC Upstate falls to Nebraska 72-63
Karmani Gregory led the Spartans with 20 points, along with a team high 4 assists.
Mason Bendinger with 13, Isaiah Skinner with 12 and Carmelo Adkins with 11 round out those in double figures.
Both Adkins and Jafeth Martinez were 1 rebound away from double figures with 9 rebounds each.
USC Upstate forced 13 turnovers, including 4 by Isaiah Skinner.
Western Carolina Breakdown:
Coach: Tim Craft
Record: 3-4
Best Win: vs UNC Asheville 80-73
Notable Losses: at Lipscomb 83-62
Record vs USC Upstate: Upstate leads 3-2
Leading Scorer: Cord Stansberry (15.6 PPG)
Game Breakdown: Last year, Marty Richter got his first win over a D1 opponent against Western Carolina, but last year doesn’t matter when talking about right now. Both of these teams look vastly better than last years roster. I do think Marty gets it done at home vs Tim Craft but I expect it to be a really good game.
Official Prediction: USC Upstate 87 - Western Carolina 84
Nov 6th - 4pm EST- Longwood at Morgan State
Longwood Weekly Recap:
Nov 23rd: Longwood falls to Columbia 95-70
Redd Thompson Jr led the Lancers with 13 points.
Elijah Jones and Jacoi Hutchinson round out those in double figures with 10 points each.
Columbia made 18-36 3PT shots, the most in school history against a D1 foe.
Nov 28th: Longwood falls to Siena 70-63
Redd Thompson Jr led the Lancers with 15 points, his 2nd straight game leading the team in scoring.
Jacoi Hutchinson joined Thompson with 15 points, those two being the only two in double figures.
Longwood with 19 turnovers, 12 being steals by Siena.
Nov 29th: Longwood beats Maine 65-61
Elijah Tucker and Jaylen Benard led the Lancers in scoring with 13 points each, Tucker had 5 rebounds and Benard had a tied for team high 6 rebounds.
Hutchinson and Richards both end up with 11 points.
Longwood with 19 turnovers, 12 being steals by Maine.
Morgan State Breakdown:
Coach: Kevin Broadus (7th season at Morgan State)
Record: 1-6
Best Win: vs Central Pennsylvania 101-77
Notable Losses: vs NC A&T 79-73
Record vs Longwood: Longwood leads 3-1
Leading Scorer: Alfred Worrell Jr (14.6 PPG)
Game Breakdown: Despite Longwood not playing their best basketball, I don’t see this game ending like the UMES game. Morgan State really hasn’t shown any flashes outside of against Drexel and UMBC, two teams I think Longwood is likely better than. I think Longwood takes this on pretty handedly.
Official Prediction: Longwood 81 - Morgan State 67