HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men’s basketball team opens the 2016 Big South Championship Friday with a quarterfinal contest in Buies Creek, N.C.
HPU enters the Big South Tournament as the No. 1 seed and earned a bye into the quarterfinals. HPU will take on No. 8 Longwood on Friday at noon. The Lancers won their first round game over Charleston Southern, 75-69.
Friday’s game will be broadcast live on ESPN3, with Evan Lepler (play-by-play) and Ralph Patterson (color commentary) on the call. In addition, Kevin Burke and Stafford Stephenson also will call the game on the High Point Panthers Radio Network, with pre-game coverage beginning at 11:30 a.m.
PAW PRINTS
• HPU claimed a share of the 2015-16 Big South regular season title. The Panthers are one of just three programs ever to win four-straight Big South regular season championships (Winthrop 2005-08; Coastal Carolina 1988-91).
• High Point has won 20 games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1994-95/1995-96.
• HPU is the first program in Big South history to win 12+ league games in four-straight seasons.
• The Purple & White posted seven Big South road wins for the first time in program history (7-2 record in BSC away games).
• HPU is 10-14 (.417) all-time in the Big South Tournament and 7-7 all-time in quarterfinal action. The Panthers have never faced Longwood in the tournament.
• High Point redshirt-senior John Brown became the first player in league history to earn Big South Player of the Year and Big South Defensive Player of the Year in the same season. He is a two-time BSC Player of the Year selection (2014, 2016).
• Brown’s status (foot) is unclear heading into the BSC Tournament.
• Brown also is just the second player in Big South history to earn first team all-conference honors in four-straight seasons.
• Adam Weary was named to the All-Big South Second Team. It’s the first time HPU has claimed a pair of all-conference selections (1st or 2nd team) since 2012-13 (Brown – 1st Team; Allan Chaney – 2nd Team).
• Weary was named Lou Henson National Player of the Week and Big South Player of the Week on Feb. 29 after averaging 23.5 points, 6.0 assists and shooting 60.7 percent (62.5 3pt FG%) in a pair of wins over Winthrop (Feb. 25) and at Presbyterian (Feb. 27). He’s posted 23+ points in three of the past four games.
• HPU clinched the Big South title with an 80-60 victory at Presbyterian Saturday. Senior Adam Weary posted 20+ points for the third time in four games (23 pts, 4 ast) while redshirt-junior Miles Bowman Jr. added 12 points and nine rebounds. Senior Lorenzo Cugini chipped in 14 points (4-6 3pt FG).
• HPU’s senior quartet of Brown, Weary, Cugini and Haiishen McIntyre will graduate as the program’s all-time winningest Div. I class. The group has won 76 games over four years.
BEST OF THE BIG SOUTH
Since the start of the 2012-13 season, HPU leads the Big South in league wins (50) and winning % (50-18, .735). The Panthers are the first team since Winthrop (2004-07) under Gregg Marshall to win four consecutive Big South regular season championships and just the third program all time to accomplish the feat. High Point, Kansas (Big 12) and Gonzaga (WCC)have won four-straight regular season conference titles. Stephen F. Austin (Southland) is the only other program nationally with a chance to match the trio and claim conference titles in each of the past four years (2012-13 to 2015-16).
BROWN NAMED BIG SOUTH DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Redshirt-senior forward John Brown was named the 2015-16 Big South Defensive Player of the Year, becoming just the second Panther to ever earn the award (Issa Konare, 2005-06). When combining blocks and steals, Brown leads the Big South with 97 (49 blk, 48 stl), 18 in front No. 2 Dwayne Sutton of UNC Asheville (79 – 42 stl, 37 blk). Brown is the only player in the league with at least 40 steals and 40 blocks.
HIGH POINT IN ELITE SHOOTING COMPANY
High Point and Virginia are the only two schools in the nation to rank in the top-25 nationally in field goal percentage, 3-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage.
BILLY GOAT’S TOUGH
After missing the better part of two seasons with a pair of knee injuries, redshirt-junior Miles “Billy Goat” Bowman Jr. has returned and become a major factor during the Panthers run to another Big South title. Bowman is averaging 10.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 20.0 minutes during HPU’s six-game winning streak and has posted 12+ points in each of the past three contests. He notched his first career double-double (15 pts, 11 reb) in the 87-85 win vs. Winthrop on Feb. 25.
Bowman’s game-by-game minute progression since returning from injury on Jan. 9: 2,2,2,8,2,2,7,12,21,27,24, 29; Scoring progression: 0,0,0,2,0,0,4,6,6,17,15,12
CUGINI CATCHING FIRE
Senior sharpshooter Lorenzo Cugini led the nation in 3-point field goal percentage from Jan. 4-20 and was shooting a blistering 60.6 percent from deep (43-71) through 16 games. The Stow, Ohio, native then fell into a 13-for-56 slump (.232) over the next 12 games, before rebounding with a critical 4-of-6 effort (.667) from deep in HPU’s 80-60 win at Presbyterian. No one will be surprised if the PC game is a sign of things to come for a hot-shooting Cugini in the Big South Tournament.
HISTORY AS THE NO. 1 SEED
HPU has never officially entered the Big South Championship as the No. 1 overall seed, but the Panthers served as the No. 1 South Division team during divisional play seasons in both 2012-13 and 2013-14. HPU was 0-2 in those two years, losing a pair of quarterfinal games by a combined three points. High Point fell to Liberty, 61-60, in 2013 and dropped a 62-60 contest to Winthrop on a buzzer beater in 2014.
HISTORY IN THE BIG SOUTH QUARTERFINALS
HPU is 7-7 all-time in Big South quarterfinal action, although the Panthers are looking to break an 0-3 slump over the last three seasons in the quarterfinal round (3 losses by a total of four points). HPU won five-straight quarterfinal games from 2004 to 2008.
HISTORY vs. LONGWOOD
A quarterfinal meeting with Longwood would mark the 27th all-time matchup between the Panthers and the Lancers. HPU has won 20 of the 26 matchups, including 10 of the last 11. The two teams have never met in the Big South Tournament. The Panthers’ .769 winning percentage against the Lancers is its best vs. any of the current members of the Big South Conference. The teams first met on Dec. 1, 1984, with HPU picking up a 66-63 win in Farmville. HPU swept both meetings this season, including a 90-66 win in High Point (Dec. 2) and 88-80 triumph in Farmville (Feb. 18). Adam Weary averaged 18.5 points and 2.5 assists over the two games, including a career-high 26-point performance in Farmville (14-14 FT). John Brown averaged 18.0 points while Anthony Lindauer (13.0 ppg) and Lorenzo Cugini (10.5 ppg) also averaged double figures against the Lancers.
UP NEXT
With a victory, High Point will move on to the Big South semifinals Saturday at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN3. The Panthers would play the winner of the quarterfinal game between No. 4 seed UNC Asheville and No. 5 seed Liberty.