The Big South Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament tips off Tuesday, and, as tipoff gets closer, here’s a quick preview of each team entering the tournament this week:
#1 UNC Asheville
In what is becoming an annual occurrence under 5th year head coach Nick McDevitt, UNC Asheville finished atop the Big South Standings with a 13-5 mark in league play this season. The Bulldogs have won 20+ games for 3 straight seasons, and are seeking their 5th ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. As the regular season champ, Asheville will host the tournament at Kimmel Arena, where they are 13-1 this year. UNCA has a senior laden team led by Ahmad Thomas, Kevin Vannatta, Alec Wnuk, and Raekwon Miller. Asheville is also the only team with two players named to the Big South first team, as Thomas and sophomore MaCio Teague received the honor. The Bulldogs begin tournament play Thursday evening against the winner of the 8/9 game featuring Charleston Southern and Presbyterian. KenPom has Asheville as the favorite, with a 30.7% chance of winning the championship.
#2 Radford
The Highlanders won the tiebreaker for the 2-seed over Winthrop due to a better RPI. After racing out to a 6-1 start in conference play, Radford struggled through the middle of their league slate, dropping 5 out of 7, before closing strong with 4 straight wins. They are looking to claim their 3rd Big South Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2009. Mike Jones’ squad is led by first team all-conference honoree Ed Polite and Big South Freshman of the Year Carlik Jones. The Highlanders begin tournament play Thursday afternoon against the winner of High Point-Longwood. KenPom gives Radford a 17.7% chance of winning the championship.
#3 Winthrop
The defending tournament champion will have to make a run at a repeat as a 3-seed, as the Eagles controlled their own destiny of the 1-seed and tournament host until dropping their final two games of the season. Is this two game swoon just an anomaly? We’ll find out Thursday afternoon when they host Gardner-Webb, a team they swept this year. Big South Player of the Year Xavier Cooks will look to end his collegiate career with consecutive trips to the Big Dance. The Eagles have made the NCAA Tournament a conference best 10 times. KenPom gives Winthrop a 26.7% chance of winning the championship.
#4 Campbell
Can Campbell duplicate the success they had in last year’s Tournament as they made a run to the championship game as a 7 seed behind Chris Clemons’ 140 points over the 4 games. That’s an average of 35 points per game, including his 51 points which helped propel the Camels to the upset of #2 UNC Asheville in the quarterfinals. This year, Clemons, who was named to the league’s first-team all-conference Monday, has some help in Marcus Burk who is averaging 15.4 points per game while making 41.3% of his three pointers. Kevin McGeehan’s team faces Liberty in the quarterfinals Thursday night. The Camels have only made the NCAA Tournament one time, doing so in 1992. KenPom gives Campbell a 5.7% chance of winning the championship.
#5 Liberty
The Flames come in to the Big South Tournament after an up and down conference season, defeating Winthrop and UNCA in 3 out of 4 games but head-scratching losses like losing at home to Longwood. Liberty will have to try to figure out Campbell, its opponent in the quarterfinals on Thursday, after losing both games to the Camels this season. In those 2 games, Campbell was 38/60 from 3 point range, good for 63.3%. The Flames are also looking to snap a 4 game losing streak in the Big South Tournament, having not won since the 2013 Championship run. Liberty has been eliminated in their first game in 7 of the past 8 Big South Tournaments. The Flames have made the Big Dance on 3 occasions. KenPom gives Liberty a 10.1% chance of winning the championship.
#6 Gardner-Webb
Gardner-Webb comes into the Big South Tournament riding the momentum of knocking off regular season champion Asheville on Saturday. With Campbell’s improbable run last year, many forget just how close GWU was to winning the whole thing. They took 1-seed and host Winthrop to the brink in the semifinals before coming up short. Each of the past two years, the Runnin’ Bulldogs have been knocked out by Winthrop in the semifinals, the Eagles face Tim Craft’s squad in the quarterfinals Thursday. Gardner-Webb hasn’t been eliminated in their first game of the Tournament in Craft’s 4 seasons, advancing to the semifinals 3 straight years, but never having advanced to the championship game in school history. The Runnin’ Bulldogs have never made the NCAA Tournament. KenPom gives Gardner-Webb a 2.4% chance of winning the championship.
#7 High Point
The Panthers fell into the play-in round despite being tied for 5th due to tiebreakers. They will face Longwood Tuesday night. High Point is 2-0 against the Lancers this season, winning each meeting by an average of 19.5 points. The winner of that matchup will face #2 Radford in the quarterfinals Thursday. Scott Cherry’s team goes as his trio of Andre Fox, Jahaad Proctor, and Brandonn Kamga go. These three combine to score 43.4 points per game. The Panthers have never made the NCAA Tournament. KenPom gives High Point a 4.7% chance of winning the championship.
#8 Charleston Southern
In mid-January it looked as though the Buccaneers would be fighting with Presbyterian and Longwood to stay out of the basement as they were sitting at 1-6 in conference play and having lost 6 straight. Since then, CSU is one of the hottest teams in the league winning 8 out of 11 games as they enter this week’s tournament. They’re also coming off impressive back-to-back victories knocking off the Camels and Eagles in their last two ball games. CSU meets Presbyterian in the opening round Tuesday night. The Buccaneers have only made the NCAA Tournament one time, doing so in 1997. KenPom gives Charleston Southern a 1.8% chance of winning the championship.
#9 Presbyterian
In Dustin Kerns’ first season at the helm, the Blue Hose won 4 times as many conference games as they did a season ago. Granted, Presbyterian was just 1-17 in the Big South last year. Still, they’ve proven to be a difficult out this year, keeping many of their games competitive late into the 2nd half. PC split with Charleston Southern during the regular season as the two will meet Tuesday night. The Blue Hose have never made the NCAA Tournament. KenPom gives Presbyterian a 0.06% chance of winning the championship.
#10 Longwood
Longwood is reeling, having lost 12 straight games, they enter the tournament 6-25 overall and 3-15 in conference play. Their last win came back on January 15th. Their 3 Big South wins are their only Division I wins of the season. Longwood’s struggles has many of their fans questioning the future direction of the program. They open play in the Big South Tournament Tuesday night at High Point. The Lancers have never made the NCAA Tournament. KenPom gives Longwood a 0.02% chance of winning the championship.
