The Shadow
WHITE SULPHUR SPGS- Basketball got underway this past weekend at the Greenbrier in White Sulphur with the River Division of the Greenbrier Tipoff and a women’s game between Navy and Radford, but this coming weekend, things are amping up just a tad.
On Friday, Nov. 22, four Power 4 teams will invade the Hotel for the much-anticipated Mountain Division tournament of the Greenbrier Tipoff.
Pitt (ACC) will battle LSU (SEC) at 2:30 on Friday while Wisconsin (Big 10) and UCF (Big 12) will play at 5:00.
“We expect to have somewhere around 1,300 people in Colonial Hall this weekend, and all of them will have incredible views of the highest level of college basketball. It’s looking like all four teams could come in undefeated, and there will be a lot of eyes on what’s happening at The Greenbrier. There should be quite a buzz in the air, and a new audience will get to experience the magic of America’s Resort,” Director of PR Cam Huffman said.
Sitting as close to the floor as you can find in any college arena is one of the main attractions to this tournament.
“Those who attended the opening weekend found out that fans are right on top of the action inside Colonial Hall. This type of access to power conference basketball is difficult to find, and it will be a unique experience for the fans who are lucky enough to capture a ticket,” Huffman concluded.
First Round Matchup Previews:
Pitt Panthers vs. LSU Tigers:
The Panthers from Pitt sit at 5-0 and just defeated VMI, the third-place finisher in the River Division at the Greenbrier, 93-48. Pitt also just blasted West Virginia–ouch– 86-62 last Friday night and showed the ability to make literally every shot they threw up although they seem to only play like that against the Mountaineers.
Damian Dunn had 23 points vs. WVU and is the team’s second leading scorer at 15.2 per game. Ishmael Leggett leads the Panthers in scoring at 17.6 per game and also grabs just under seven boards per contest. Jaland Lowe (13.6 ppg, 5.8 apg), Cameron Corhen (12.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg), and 7-footer Guillermo Diaz-Graham (10 ppg, 7.8 rpg) are all big contributors for coach Jeff Capel’s team.
LSU is off to a strong start at 3-0 on the season including an impressive 76-65 victory at Kansas State last week. The Tigers are led by standout guard Cam Carter who is scoring at a 20.3 clip so far this year and had 20 in the KSU win. Jordan Sears and Jalen Reed are two more Tigers that fill the stat sheet. Sears is averaging 13.3 points per game while Reed is scoring 11.7 points and bringing down 6.3 rebounds. Dji Bailey (10.7 ppg) is the other double-digit scorer as LSU has shown the ability to go 11 players deep into their bench early in the season.
Wisconsin Badgers vs. UCF Knights
Arguably no basketball team in the country had a better weekend than the Badgers. They defeated 9th ranked Arizona on Friday night and did so with a lot of offense. They won 103-88 behind a huge 41-point effort from John Tonje. Tonje was 8-14 from the floor and 21-22 at the free throw line as the Wildcats had no answer for him whatsoever. After that explosion, Tonje leads Wisconsin in scoring with 22.6 points per game. Max Klesmit is the Robin to Tonje’s Batman and is scoring at a 14.4 clip, while John Blackwell, who could also be considered Robin, averages 16.2 points and is shooting 40 percent from 3-point range. Early on, the Badgers look to be a sleeper in the Big 10 Conference and could very well challenge for a championship and come into this tournament as the 19th ranked team in the country. An interesting note, however, is the Badgers just narrowly defeated UTRGV 87-84 on Monday night. UTRGV won the River Division of the Greenbrier Tipoff last weekend.
The Knights are no slouch, however. Coming from what is perceived to be college basketball’s best conference, the Big 12, UCF, under coach Johnny Dawkins, has held their own out of conference so far. Their biggest win to date is a victory over then 13th ranked Texas A&M, but they have not won a game by more than seven points so far in their 3-0 start.
Jordan Ivey-Curry is the leader in the Knight clubhouse with 18.7 points per game so far. Darius Johnson also is a big-time player and averages 17.3 points, 5.0 assists, and 2.3 steals. He also shoots over 40 percent from downtown. The third scorer in the three-headed monster of offense is Keyshawn Hall. Hall has scored 16.7 points per game and grabbed 7.3 rebounds up to this point. Those three players are the engine that makes UCF go.
The Mountain Division should be a fun tournament to watch. In person, fans are right near the floor and close to the action. If you cannot make the games, they will be televised by CBS College Sports Network.
*All stats and team records courtesy of ESPN.com and were updated as of Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 19.
