HIGH POINT, N.C. – The No. 8 seed High Point University men’s basketball team returns to the National Invitation Tournament for the second time in three seasons Tuesday when the Panthers head to Columbia for a first round matchup with South Carolina.
Tip-off in Colonial Life Arena between the Panthers and Gamecocks is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday’s game will be broadcast live on ESPNU, with Rich Hollenberg (play-by-play) and Dino Gaudio (color commentary) on the call. In addition, Evan Lepler and Stafford Stephenson also will call the game on the High Point Panthers Radio Network, with pre-game coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m.
PAW PRINTS
• High Point is 0-1 all-time in the NIT, losing to 2014 champion Minnesota, 88-81, in first round action in Minneapolis.
• HPU is 1-3 all-time in Div. I postseason tournaments. The Panthers won their first ever DIv. I postseason game vs. Maryland Eastern Shore in the first round of the 2015 CIT.
• High Point will be without Big South Player of the Year/Defensive Player of the Year John Brown (foot) and All-Big South Second Team pick Adam Weary (knee) for the remainder of the 2015-16 season.
• HPU posted a 1-1 record in the 2016 Big South Championship. Without Brown and Weary as the No. 1 seed, the Panthers defeated No. 8 Longwood in the quarters (89-78) and fell to eventual champion, No. 4 seed UNC Asheville (80-69) in the semifinals.
• Redshirt-junior forward Miles Bowman Jr. became HPU’s first Big South All-Tournament Team selection since 2007. The Winston-Salem product averaged 21.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and shot 72 percent during HPU’s two tourney games.
• Senior Haiishen McIntyre averaged 13.5 points and 4.5 assists in the tournament, while sophomore Austin White averaged 13.0 ppg and shot 60 percent from the field in the two games.
• McIntyre has 33 assists and five turnovers over HPU’s past nine games. That adds up to an excellent 6.6 assist/turnover ratio. He is 11th in the nation this season in assist/turnover ratio (3.43).
• High Point is shooting 89.2 percent (66-74) from the free throw line over the past three games.
• Without Brown, High Point has had to rely more on outside shooting over the past four games than during the majority of the season. HPU averaged just 14.0 3pt FG/game and shot 39.4 percent through the first 27 games. Since the Brown injury, HPU has attempted 19.8/game and shot 32.9 percent.
• HPU’s 21 wins this season are third-most in the program’s Div. I history. High Point has won 20 games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1994-95/1995-96.
GAMECOCK CONNECTIONS
An assistant coach under Darrin Horn at Western Kentucky in 2007-08, High Point head coach Scott Cherry followed Horn to South Carolina and served as an assistant coach for the Gamecocks during the 2008-09 campaign. He was named the head coach at HPU the following season. In addition, HPU assistant coach Trey Brown was a four-year student manager at South Carolina from the 2004-05 to 2007-08 seasons and served as a graduate assistant for the Gamecocks in 2008-09.
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), Gonzaga (WCC) and Stephen F. Austin (Southland) are the only other programs nationally that have claimed conference titles in each of the past four years (2012-13 to 2015-16).
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 17.2 points, 9.6 rebounds and is shooting 67.4 percent (29-43) over HPU’s past five games. He notched his first career double-double (15 pts, 11 reb) in the 87-85 win vs. Winthrop on Feb. 25 and posted a monster 23 points and 16 rebounds in the Big South semifinals vs. eventual champion UNC Asheville.
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, 29,29,28
Scoring progression: 0,0,0,2,0,0,4,6,6,17,15,12,19,23
WHO’S GONNA STEP UP?
Big South Player of the Year/Defensive Player of the Year John Brown and All-Big South Second Team selection Adam Weary accounted for 41 percent of the team’s scoring, 30.8 percent of its rebounding and 34.1 percent of its assists during HPU’s 20-9 regular season. High Point will look to fill that production void with a committee of versatile players in the NIT opener. In addition to Bowman Jr.’s outstanding Big South Tournament performance, senior Haiishen McIntyre (13.0 ppg, 4.5 apg), sophomore Austin White (13.0 ppg, 60.0 FG%) and Anthony Lindauer (10.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg) all contributed significantly during the tournament. A total of six student-athletes averaged seven points or more in Brown and Weary’s absence.
SUCCESS ON THE ROAD
HPU posted a 1-4 road record during the non-conference season but excelled on the road in league play. The Purple & White posted seven Big South road wins for the first time in program history (7-2 record in BSC away games). The previous record of six had been set last season.
HANGIN’ WITH THE POWER 5
HPU dropped its three guarantee games to Power 5 conference teams this season by a combined 10 points. The Panthers fell at NCAA Tournament qualifier Texas Tech by four (77-73), at NIT qualifier Georgia by three (49-46) and at ACC foe NC State by three (76-73). HPU led by three (65-62) at Texas Tech with 3:02 to play, had a chance to tie the game on its last possession at Georgia and fell at NC State on a Cat Barber buzzer beater.
CUGINI SHOOTING KEY HEADING INTO NIT
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. Cugini was then a combined 2-of-9 (.222) from deep in the Big South Tournament. HPU will need Cugini on the mark to be successful during it NIT run.
HISTORY IN THE NATIONAL INVITATION TOURNAMENT
High Point is making its second ever appearance in the National Invitation Tournament. HPU’s previous trip came in 2013-14, when the Panthers fell at eventual NIT champion Minnesota, 88-81, at The Barn. HPU legendary sharpshooter Devante Wallace scored 20 points, then-redshirt-sophomore John Brown added 19 points and then-sophomore Lorenzo Cugini had 16 points (5-9 FG, 4-7 3pt FG). There are some interesting similarities between that NIT berth and this 2016 edition. Brown also was named Big South Player of the Year that season. And HPU was without Brown and Weary for much of the contest, although the issue was foul trouble, and not injury.
POSTSEASON HISTORY
High Point is 1-3 all-time in postseason play. The Panthers made their Div. I postseason debut during the 2012-13 season when the Panthers fell at UC Irvine, 80-71, in the CIT on March 20, 2013. The Purple & White earned their first ever NIT berth in 2014 and almost knocked off eventual tournament champion Minnesota before falling to the Gophers, 88-81, in Minneapolis. Last season, HPU picked up its first ever postseason victory with a 70-64 win over Maryland Eastern Shore in the first round of the CIT. The Panthers then came within a point of knocking off Eastern Kentucky (66-65) in Richmond, Ky., in the second round.
HISTORY vs. SOUTH CAROLINA
Tuesday’s game marks the first ever matchup between High Point and South Carolina in men’s basketball.
ALL-TIME SEC SERIES
The Panthers are 0-12 (.000) all time against current members of the Southeastern Conference. HPU’s most common opponents are Kentucky (0-3) and Florida (0-3). The Panthers played Kentucky regularly during the head coaching tenure of HPU alumnus Tubby Smith (’73). In the most recent meeting with an SEC program, HPU fell at Georgia, 49-46, on Nov. 20 in Athens. Lorenzo Cugini posted 14 points (6-12 FG) and eight rebounds in that contest.
A LOOK AT THE GAMECOCKS (24-8, 11-7)
South Carolina finished third in the SEC witn an 11-7 league mark and fell in the SEC quarterfinals to Georgia (65-64). The Gamecocks started the season 15-0 (2-0 in SEC) and were ranked as high as 15th in the USA Today Coaches Poll (No. 19 AP) but finished the season 9-8. The team is ranked seventh nationally in offensive rebounds per game (14.3/game) and 19th in field goal percentage defense (.395). USC is led by first team all-SEC pick Michael Carrera, who leads the team in scoring and rebounding (14.5 ppg, 7.7 rpg), including 16.1 points and 8.9 rebounds in league play. SEC All-Defensive Team member Sindari Thornwell leads the team in assists (3.8 apg), steals (1.5 spg) and is second on the team in scoring (13.4 ppg). SEC Sixth Man of the Year Duane Notice averages 11.1 ppg.
UP NEXT
With a victory, High Point will advance to the second round of the National Invitation Tournament, which will be played in the vicinity of March 18-23.