Warren Wilson Preview: Getting Well

Time: 7:00
TV: None (MocsVision)

The Mocs are desperately trying to win a game. Any game will do. After three straight losses, the last one a most unexpected loss at home against Kennesaw State, the Mocs really need to find a team that they can shoot the ball against and get some offensive confidence.

Enter Warren Wilson.

The NAIA team is 3-4 overall now, including winning three of their last four games. They have beaten Johnson Bible College, Alice Lloyd College, and Hiwassee (in overtime). They played Pikeville, the reigning NAIA national champs and number one team in the country, and were hammered by thirty, 88-58.

Still, this is a key game for the Mocs. They need to come up with a big performance to instill some confidence into themselves and into the fan base. Not that the fan base will be encouraged by this game regardless of how much they win this game by, but they sure can hurt the confidence of that fan base with another sloppy, poor shooting performance.

Anthony Barringer scored 25 points and came up with nine rebounds and four assists against Alice Lloyd College. Rashad Ali had 18 points and six rebounds. Dan Jackson had 17 points and four rebounds. The team on the whole mad 28 of 33 free throws. Wow.

Prior to that Warren Wilson was making around fifty percent of their free throws, but Barringer and Ali both score and score well. Ali is 6-6, 185, while Barringer is a 6-0 point guard. This makes them a dangerous inside-out combo. It will be a challenge for the Mocs inside playerrs to contain Ali. That will be the job of Early- if he plays. Bell will be put to the task of containing Barringer- if he plays.

Coach Shulman has announced two changes to the starting lineup. Drew Baker and Dontay Hampton will be starting in the place of Ricky Taylor and Chris Early. Taylor has been the leading scorer in the last two games, but frustrated Shulman with his quick shot against Indiana at the end of the first half. Early has been lethargic on offense and defense so far, even though his numbers are decent. He's just not working hard, it has looked like.

So, Hampton and Baker, two walk-ons, have been inserted into the starting lineup. Will that motivate these Mocs to start performing better? It better. They need to start showing something, and let's face it, Baker and Hampton aren't going to win many SoCon games by themselves. Taylor and Early are required to get some playing time. Why Rico White is not starting is a little beyond me, but I guess we'll see how this works out.

KEYS TO THE GAME
--Rebound. Show energy on the boards and dominate the boards from the beginning of the game.
--Start shooting better. The Mocs have been ice cold shooting the ball so far. They have to start shooting better...and it has to start now. The Mocs have changed up their offensive sets, getting the ball to Zlovaric in a different spot on the floor, it sounds like. Should be interesting.
--Bell vs. Barringer. This is an interesting match-up. Barringer is a very good player and should be fun to see how Bell matches up with him. Maybe Bell gets some energy playing against a guy like him.
--Zlovaric. He should dominate. No one is taller on the Owls than Ari, who is 6-6.

LEAD PIPE LOCK PREDICTIONS THAT ARE SURE TO GO WRONG
--Early and Taylor do not get their wake up call. They continue to struggle.
--Zlovaric has a huge game.
--Bell plays well.
--Barringer throws a bit of a scare into the Mocs fans for the first half of the first half.
--Mocs 79, Warren Wilson 54. Omar Wattad will have a good shooting day, but Zlovaric finishes with 20 points, and the Mocs dominate the boards, playing their best game so far this year. They don't exactly inspire a ton of confidence in Mocs fans, but they quiet the complaints for at least a few days.

GO MOCS!