Winthrop Basketball

Washington State University will begin their NCAA Tournament run in Denver, CO this coming Thursday against Winthrop University of Rock Hill, SC. The Cougars are the No. 4 seed, while the Eagles visit to the Big Dance this time around as a No. 13 seed.

Both teams have experience playing in the tournament. Winthrop knocked off Notre Dame last year in the first round. That's some experience! The Cougs didn't equal the Eagles, losing to Vanderbilt in a very close, hard fought game.

This game might be one that only ardent fans of either school will relish.

What?

We're talking about two of the best defensive clubs in the country. Great defenses make for a low scoring and methodical paced contest. Translation. A game devoid of ESPN Top Ten Plays. Heck, fans will probably need to be jacked up on Mountain Dew or Red Bull to stay awake.

Here's a trite generalization to throw at you.

Defense wins.

OK.

If defense wins, what happens when you match up a couple of teams focused on that very thing? Just about anything except high scoring, which will be the probable outcome of this first round pairing.

A glance at Winthrop by WSU Coach Tony Bennett is like looking in the mirror. Almost. The Eagles only have two players scoring in double figures, senior guard Michael Jenkins who pours in a little over 14 points a game and senior Taj McCullough who adds another 12 points per game.

The Eagles bring plenty of experience to any game this season. Four of their five starters are seniors. That even tops the Cougs who start three seniors. Yes, these clubs are loaded with experience.

Reviewing team stats for either the Eagles or the Cougs reveals that these are two very well coached teams. They don't beat themselves. Each will try to control the pace of the game.

Wait.

They each like to play deliberate basketball so it won't take much to control the pace when both want the same thing. Here's a thought. Might one team try to push the ball rather than take their time and set up half court offense? Right. That'll happen.

Winthrop Coach Randy Peele will have the Eagles prepared to make an even deeper run into the tournament this time around. His players experienced success last season and will be intent on doing even better this time around.

Washington State is in great shape physically. Daven Harmeling was the lone question mark and he looked very good in the Pac-10 Tournament. WSU seniors Derrick Low, Robbie Cowgill and Kyle Weaver aren't ready to hang up their jerseys just yet. This group wants to do something no other WSU team has done. They want to make a serious run at the Final Four.

This time of year, everyone who's still playing is either good or great. You're good to get in. Making at least the Elite Eight qualifies as great.

The Cougars are on their way to greatness.

GO COUGS!!!

When i first saw that West Virginia got a seven seed i was thinking "what an upset in the making". West Virginia is a battle-tested team in and out of Conference; with a respectable RPI of 29, SOS of 45 and a record of 5-5 against RPI top 50.they finished the season 24-10 and 5th in the Big East. WVU played Tennessee and lost by 2. They also played Winthrop,Oklahoma, and at Auburn. West Virginia has great guard play from Senior Darris Nichols who has averaged 10-3-3 this season. Also G Alex Ruoff makes 3 threes a game and shoots 46 percent from the floor. They also have 4 players averaging double figures in scoring. Theirs two things needed to make a tourney run; A pair of guards who can control the game and a great scorer WVU has both.

WVU will play the #10 Arizona Wildcats in the first round. Arizona did have the #1 toughest schedule but they lost 14 games, they should not be in the tourney. Arizona the last two years has showed me nothing. It seems that all they are thinking about is getting Lute Olsen back next year. PF Joe Alexander is shooting like another big man i have seen Larry Johnson. Alexander is averaging 17 points and shooting 47 percent from the floor. But in the Big East tournament he averaged 22 and lost in the 3rd round to Georgetown. Arizona's big man does not want to come outside the paint to play defense. Joe will put on a clinic in this game with his mid range jumper.

WVU's potential opponent in the 2nd round will be the winner of Duke vs Belmont. I'm from Nashville so i have seen Belmont play they are a very good perimeter team. I expect them to give a good game to Duke but will not win. WVU will give Duke all it wants on the defensive end. West Virginia plays great perimeter D and we all know Duke lives and dies by the three. Again Duke doesnt have a good enough big defender to slow down Joe Alexander. JOE will carry WVU on his back to the SWEET 16!

This is not the first tournament for coach Bob Huggins. While with Cincinnati and Kansas State Bob lead his teams to 14 of the last 15 NCAA tournaments. He took Cincy to the Final Four in his 3rd year as coach in 1991-92. Then later took them to the Elite 8 twice once in 93 then later in 96. This is Bob Huggins first year with WVU and you can see the toughness he brings to the team. Bob is a very experienced coach and will lead the Mountaineers to the Sweet 16 and who knows maybe further on... 

Winthrop is back.

Contrary to what several critics have said about the Eagles, they never really left.

Despite an average first half of the season, the Winthrop Eagles rallied late in the year to pull off their fourth Big South Conference Championship in a row—and an unprecedented eight out of the last 10 years.

Leaning on their experience, Winthrop defeated the University of North Carolina-Asheville in convincing fashion Saturday afternoon.  The Eagles’ took the Bulldogs down, 66-48, at the Justice Center in Asheville.   

But, really, who was surprised by this?

Winthrop is a senior-laden team rich with history.  Plus, playing in front of a nationally televised audience like this is nothing new to these guys.

And it didn’t hurt that the Eagles lost the first two games to UNC-A this season.  

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs can be summarized in one word:  inexperienced.

While UNC-A’s enormous center Kenny George has gotten plenty of press, can you name another member on the Bulldogs’ roster (the same roster that was bounced from the Big South tournament in the first round the three previous years)?  

Home court advantage for UNC-A was no matter.  The Bulldogs were clearly rattled, and it showed.

UNC-A was held to only 18 first half points.  A mere six made field goals, although a late run did cut a nine-point deficit to only four before the break.

For the game, however, UNC-A shot only 33 percent from the field, including an ice-cold 4-21 from three-point range—usually a strength for the Bulldogs.

In the second half, the Eagles broke away and UNC-A couldn’t get the deficit under seven for the rest of the game.  Winthrop held the Bulldogs at arm’s length, and hopes for a comeback seemingly ended at the three-minute mark.

That’s when Taj McCullough (playing in a No. 23 jersey since his No. 31 jersey was stolen two weeks ago) threw down an emphatic and downright nasty dunk.  He was fouled, still managing to put the Eagles up by 20.

Winthrop players and fans went wild after the dunk.  Even though McCullough missed the free throw, the energy from the Bulldogs was zapped.

And so the Eagles go dancing again.

Head coach Randy Peele has to feel vindicated after this win.  When Gregg Marshall bolted for Wichita State, Peele (Marshall’s assistant for three years) had the difficult and highly pressured task of continuing Winthrop’s Big South dominance.

Having lost two starters and roughly 28 points of production per game, Peele faced a tough string of matches.  And the transition wasn’t easy at first.

After ripping off an unblemished 14-0 conference record last season, Winthrop lumbered through an uncharacteristic and sometimes ugly 10-4 conference record this season.  Due to Winthrop’s struggles, UNC-A became the new chic pick for the tournament.

But in the end, the Winthrop Eagles just kept doing what they do—winning big games and making the record books.

During the championship game, senior Chris Gaynor broke the Big South career assist record, and senior Michael Jenkins plain went off—good for a Big South tourney record-tying 33 points.

Since the Eagles pasted Notre Dame in the first round of the tournament last year, it will be hard for Peele and Company to sneak up on anyone this season.

But it will be fun to watch them try.