The Spartans snapped their eleven game losing streak in Charleston when they beat the Cougars 73-66 back on January 12. Since that time, UNCG has lost precisely one time. That was right in the middle of the Cougars going 4-9 in a thirteen game stretch, but the first loss that was truly perplexing of the bunch.
Now the Cougars have won three in a row, or (if you want to dip into the previously mentioned thirteen game stretch) four out of five, with the lone loss coming in double overtime at Elon. The Cougars find themselves just one game out of third in the South, and just one game up on Furman for fifth. So the Cougars need to keep on winning to put pressure on the Terriers and to maybe put some distance between themselves and Furman.
UNCG is up by one game on Elon for first place in the SoCon North, and up two games on Samford. With this game, a trip to Georgia Southern, a home game against Wofford, and a trip to Elon to finish off the year, nothing is guaranteed for these Spartans. They need to come up with wins to guarantee a bye, and try to put pressure on Elon to keep pace with them for first in the North.
The Spartans have had three of the last four Players of the Week. Derrell Armstrong has won two in a row a couple of weeks ago. He is averaging nearly twelve points per game. Armstrong is still coming off the bench. Trevis Simpson is the reigning Player of the Week. He leads the league with 18.1 points per game. He is fourth on the team in rebounding, averaging four per game. Armstrong is second on the team in rebounding with 4.4 per game. David Williams leads the team in rebounding with 5.2.
One of the more interesting Spartans is Drew Parker. He leads the league in three point shooting, making 51.4% from behind the arc. He only averages 5.1 points per game, so he is not a big scorer, but he is a dynamic shooter. He made three huge three pointers against Chattanooga on Saturday night, scoring nine points.
Another intriguing player is Aloysius Henry, who scored 10.5 points per game in the last four games. Henry has been playing much better, after a stretch where he really struggled. He is one of the Spartans most important players, in my opinion. If he continues playing well, he adds a whole extra dimension to the Spartans lineup. He is big, and a challenge for SoCon teams to handle at 6-10, 230 pounds.
Charleston is also a very dangerous team, despite all the injuries. In Saturday's upset of Davidson in Charleston, the Cougars played just eight players. One of those (Trevonte Dixon) played just three minutes. Andrew Lawrence, Trent Wiedeman, and Adejhi Baru are all battling injuries but playing through it.
Antwaine Wiggins played 39 minutes. He is still prone to taking ill-advised shots, but he scored 25 against Davidson, and leads the team in scoring with 16.5 points per game. Adejhi Baru, the super freshman, has been coming on, but he is still severely foul prone. He is averaging 8.3 points per game and 6.4 rebounds per game. He has come one strong recently, and seems to be developing, but all his fouls are reason for concern. He's picked up four or more fouls in ten of 26 games this year.
Wiedeman is averaging 11.4 points per game, while getting 8.4 rebounds per game. He is second in the league in rebounding, behind just The Citadel's Mike Grosselle. Andrew Lawrence is averaging 13.5 points per game along with the team high (and second in the SoCon) 5.5 assists per game. Lawrence is what makes this team go, and his injury has to be a bit of a concern.
Here's a surprising stat for you- the Cougars lead the conference in field goal percentage defense. How many people do you think realize that around the SoCon? They are only 11th in the conference in shooting. They score plenty of points (third in the conference), but really win with solid defense that can lead to a lot points.
KEYS TO THE GAME
--Foul trouble. Charleston is not deep, especially with all the injuries. They survived foul trouble against Davidson. Can they survive foul trouble on the road against the Spartans?
--Rebounding. The Spartans are the fourth best rebounding team in the league in rebounding, while the Cougars rank last in the SoCon in that. If the Cougars can keep that battle close, they will stay close in the game.
--Henry. He has been playing well lately for the Spartans. Can he keep it up? If he does, the Spartans are that much tougher to beat.
--Baru. He has been coming on strong. Can he stay out of foul trouble, stay on the floor, and continue to develop into the dominating force that he is capable of being?
LEAD PIPE LOCK PREDICTIONS THAT ARE SURE TO GO WRONG
--Simpson will score over 23 points yet again.
--Wiggins will score over 20 as well.
--Lawrence will not play as well as he could, because the injury will still be bugging him.
--UNCG 75, College of Charleston 70. The Spartans are playing so well right now. The Cougars are too. But the Spartans are at home and need this one even more than the Cougars. Should be a tremendous game that comes right down to the wire, with the Spartans pulling out the close win.
No comments:
Post a Comment