Week 6 Game of the Week Preview
Previewing the best game for each team for the week of 12/7-12/13
As we close in on conference play, with many of our Big South teams having 10-ish games played, many will take massive breaks either now, or the week before conference play.
For that reason this week we have a TOTAL of 9 games, with both High Point and Presbyterian taking the week off.
So for that reason, instead of giving each team a “Game of the Week”, I will just preview the entire 9 game slate.
Dec 7th - 2:30pm EST - St Francis (PA) at Radford
Radford Weekly Recap:
Dec 3rd: Radford falls to Southern Miss 82-75
Tyson Brown led the Highlanders with 19 points, a season high for Brown along with 5 rebounds.
Jaylon Johnson with 18 points, all coming in the 2nd half.
Del Jones and Dennis Parker round out those in double figures with 15 points for Jones and Parker with 10.
Radford suffered the “epitome of brutality” as they paid Southern Miss for this game.
St. Francis Breakdown:
Coach: Luke McConnell (1st year at St. Francis)
Record: 2-7
Best Win: vs Franciscan (OH) 85-60
Notable Losses: vs Mt. St. Mary’s 74-66
Record vs Radford: Radford leads the series 1-0
Leading Scorer: Skylar Wicks - 19 PPG
Game Breakdown: If you asked me before the season, how much I thought Radford would win this one by, I would have said nearly 30. Now I am having a hard time picking them at all, everything I have seen from Radford is just, not good. With that being St Francis is basically a D3 team, just staying at D1 until they make their drop down next season. If Zach Chu drops this one, I feel his time at Radford might be nearing an end.
Official Prediction: Radford 82 - St Francis 78
Dec 8th - 7pm EST - SC State at Charleston Southern
Charleston Southern Weekly Recap:
Dec 2nd: Charleston Southern falls to UT Martin 73-56
Luke Williams led the Bucs with 19 points
Brycen Blaine was the only other Buc in double figures, but also had his 5th double double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Dec 4th: Charleston Southern beats Warren Wilson 124-63
Armari Carraway broke the single game 3PT’s made record for CSU with 11, as he had a team high 39 points.
CSU set a new team record for 3PT’s made with 24 in total.
Jesse Hafemeister with 26 points, a season high.
Luke Williams with 13 assists, the most in a Charleston Southern game since Ed O’Neil had 13 in 2004 vs High Point.
SC State Breakdown:
Coach: Erik Martin (4th year at SC State)
Record: 0-9
Best Win: N/A
Notable Losses: at Winthrop 101-79
Record vs Charleston Southern: SC State leads the series 23-14
Leading Scorer: Owen Bronston Jr - 13 PPG
Game Breakdown: This is a really good game for Charleston Southern. Other than SC State entering winless, they have not been able to stop good shooting teams in Louisville, Winthrop and Missouri. I do think it will be close than the Missouri and Louisville games, but I expect the same result.
Official Prediction: Charleston Southern 83 - SC State 74
Dec 9th - 6:30pm EST - Toccoa Falls at Winthrop
Winthrop Weekly Recap:
Dec 3rd: Winthrop beats LIU 94-92
Logan Duncomb led Winthrop with 28 points along with 6 rebounds.
Daylen Berry with 21 and Kareem Rozier with 13 round out those in double figures.
Kody Clouet hit a buzzer beater in overtime to give Winthrop the win.
Dec 6th: Winthrop falls to Coastal Carolina 88-84
Kareem Rozier led all scorers with 19 points along with having 8 rebounds.
Logan Duncomb with his 2nd double double of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Kody Clouet with 18 points and Daylen Berry with 11 points.
Game Breakdown: Winthrop should steamroll Toccoa Falls pretty handedly. Winthrop has the talent gap, size gap, and home court advantage compared to Toccoa Falls, and really any Non D1 buy game team.
Official Prediction: Winthrop 113 - Toccoa Falls 67
Dec 10th - 6pm EST - Miami (OH) at UNC Asheville
UNC Asheville Weekly Recap:
Nov 30th: UNC Asheville beats App State 67-55
Toyaz Solomon led Asheville with 25 points, also bringing in 8 rebounds.
Kameron Taylor with a double double having 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Justin Wright and DJ Patrick both in double figures with 13 and 11 respectively.
Dec 2nd: UNC Asheville beats UNC Greensboro 82-77
Toyaz Solomon in back to back games with 20+ points, 20 in this one once again leading Asheville in scoring.
DJ Patrick with 19 points, a season high for Patrick.
Justin Wright and Kameron Taylor with 18 points each.
Capped off a 2 game, 2-0 stretch at Harrah’s Cherokee Center.
Dec 6th: UNC Asheville falls to NC State 75-63
Kameron Taylor with 20 points led the Bulldogs, along with a team high 7 rebounds.
Justin Wright with 16 points, DJ Patrick with 15, and Toyaz Solomon with 12.
The rest of UNC Asheville shot 0-2, and had 0 points.
Miami (OH) Breakdown:
Coach: Travis Steele (4th year at Miami OH)
Record: 8-0
Best Win: vs UNC Greensboro 82-71
Notable Losses: N/A
Record vs UNC Asheville: FIRST EVER MATCHUP
Leading Scorer: Evan Ipsaro - 14.8 PPG
Game Breakdown: As much as I like what I have seen for UNC Asheville, they are facing a buzzsaw of a team in Miami (OH). I do think Asheville gives Miami a run for their money. In the end I do think Miami takes this one, but in a close one.
Official Prediction: Miami (OH) 78 - UNC Asheville 77
Dec 12th - 7pm EST - Brevard at Gardner Webb
Gardner Webb Weekly Recap:
Dec 3rd: Gardner Webb falls to Queens 107-74
Jacob Hogarth, Spence Sims and Ace Talbert led the Bulldogs with 15 points each.
Curtis Williams was the lone GWU player in double figures, but not 15. Williams had 13.
Hogarth and Williams led GWU with 7 rebounds each.
Dec 6th: Gardner Webb falls to Georgia Southern 88-84
Jacob Hudson lead Gardner Webb with 22 points, Spence Sims joins him with 20 points.
Hogarth with 13 and Hawkins with 12 rounds out those in double figures.
Hogarth was 1 rebound off a double double with 9 rebounds.
Game Breakdown: This season has been long and torturous for Gardner Webb. Starting the season with 11 straight losses including one to North Greenville. Luckily, I see that streak coming to an end. Simply, I feel Brevard likely won’t shoot 50%+ from 3 to follow in North Greenville’s footsteps.
Official Prediction: Gardner Webb 85 - Brevard 80
Dec 13th - 2pm EST - USC Upstate at North Carolina
USC Upstate Weekly Recap:
Dec 3rd: USC Upstate beats Coastal Carolina 85-78 (OT)
Mason Bendinger led the Spartans with 27 points, Karmani Gregory joins him in the 20 point club with 21.
Carmelo Adkins with 14 points and Learic Davis with 11 rounds out those in double figures.
Upstate took their first lead of the game just under 1 minute into overtime.
Dec 6th: USC Upstate beats Western Carolina 78-67
Gregory and Bendinger led the Spartans with 15 points each.
Join Gregory and Bendinger in double figures were Adkins with 14 and Davis with 11, their 2nd straight game with those exact point totals, along with Skinner having 10 points.
Learic Davis fell 1 rebound short a double double, with 11 points and 9 rebounds (which he also had vs Coastal Carolina)
North Carolina Breakdown:
Coach: Hubert Davis (5th year at North Carolina)
Record: 7-1
Best Win: at Kentucky 67-64
Notable Losses: vs Michigan State 74-58
Record vs USC Upstate: FIRST EVER MEETING
Leading Scorer: Caleb Wilson - 19.2 PPG
Game Breakdown: Upstate looks much improved over last year and should be a solid contender in the Big South. With that being said, I don’t think Upstate wins this one. North Carolina looks like a pretty solid national title contender and should win this one pretty handedly.
Official Prediction: North Carolina 92 - USC Upstate 77
Dec 13th - 2pm EST - St Thomas at UNC Asheville
UNC Asheville Recap Above on Dec 10th vs Miami (OH)*
St Thomas Breakdown:
Coach: Johnny Tauer (14th year at St Thomas)
Record: 6-4
Best Win: vs Northern Colorado 73-72
Notable Losses: vs Cal State Fullerton 88-80
Record vs UNC Asheville: FIRST EVER MATCHUP
Leading Scorer: Nolan Minessale - 20.1 PPG
Game Breakdown: This game is extremely underrated, St Thomas is a really solid MM program despite this being their first NCAA Tournament eligible season and UNC Asheville is always a contender to make the tournament. I do think Asheville takes this one, simply because Kimmel Arena is a very tough place to play, especially on a quick turnaround like St. Thomas will have.
Official Prediction: UNC Asheville 79 - St Thomas 75
Dec 13th - 3pm EST - Delaware State at Longwood
Longwood Weekly Recap:
Dec 3rd: Longwood beats Pfeiffer 101-55
Elijah Tucker led the Lancers with 24 points, a new career high for Tucker.
Emanuel Richards with 17 points, Hutchinson with 15, Billups with 14 and Thompson with 12 round out those in double figures.
Longwood won the rebounding battle 42-25.
Dec 6th: Longwood beats Morgan State 84-80
Johan Nziemi and Jacoi Hutchinson both with 15 points led the Lancers in scoring.
Lancers had 9 player scoring in the contest, all ranging between 5-15 points each.
Longwood won the rebounding battle 36-27 and got to the line over twice as much as Morgan State.
Delaware State Breakdown:
Coach: Stan Waterman (5th year at Delaware State)
Record: 3-8
Best Win: vs Delaware 75-72
Notable Losses: vs Virginia State (D2) 62-58
Record vs Longwood: Longwood leads series 6-0
Leading Scorer: James Ponce - 12.9 PPG
Game Breakdown: Both teams should be well rested with 1 week to rest before this one. Delaware State is coming off their best performance of the season against Delaware, and I would expect a little bit of a let down from them. With this game being at Longwood, and the let down factor for Delaware State. I will be taking Longwood in this one.
Official Prediction: Longwood 73 - Delaware State 62
Dec 13th - 6:30pm EST - Bob Jones at Winthrop
Winthrop Recap Above on Dec 9th vs Toccoa Falls*
Game Breakdown: Much like the Toccoa Falls game above, I do not think Winthrop will have any trouble with Bob Jones. Winthrop just has more talent and size than Bob Jones, along with home court advantage.
Official Prediction: Winthrop 107 - Bob Jones 64