AUBURN UP NEXT FOR COUGARS IN CHARLESTON CLASSIC

Transcription

1 AUBURN UP NEXT FOR COUGARS IN CHARLESTON CLASSIC COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (1-1, 0-0 SoCon) vs. AUBURN (1-1, 0-0 SEC) Game #3 ESPN Charleston Classic presented by Foster Grant November 16, :30 p.m. (ET) TD Arena/John Kresse Court (5,100) at Charleston, S.C. Television: ESPN3/WatchESPN.com Radio: College of Charleston Radio Network (ESPN Radio 910 AM) Series History: Auburn Leads 2-0 Last Meeting: Auburn def. CofC, 76-61, on Dec. 7, 2004 in North Charleston, S.C. Internet: Free Live Statistics at THE COACHES College of Charleston: Doug Wojcik First Year at CofC: 1-1 (.500) Eighth Year Overall: (.603) Auburn: Tony Barbee Third Year at Auburn: (.422) Seventh Year Overall: (.551) RADIO (College of Charleston Radio Network) Play-By-Play: Jeff McCarragher Color Analyst: Everett German TELEVISION (ESPN3) Play-By-Play: Rich Hollenberg Color Analyst: Tim Welsh

2 GAME PREVIEW After opening the first round of the ESPN Charleston Classic presented by Foster Grant with a setback to St. John s, the College of Charleston men s basketball team (1-1) will quickly look to regroup with less than 24 hours of preparation for a second-round matchup against another major-conference opponent in Auburn (1-1) out of the SEC on Friday, Nov. 16 at TD Arena. The Cougars and Tigers are scheduled to tip-off at approximately 7:30 p.m. (ET) and the game will be carried live on ESPN3 via WatchESPN.com. These tough, early tests for CofC will come in handy as the next six-game stretch includes the likes of two preseason top 25 teams in Baylor and Louisville. The Cougars continue to make strides in implementing and executing first-year head coach Doug Wojcik s system. They have outrebounded their last two opponents (+2.5 rebounding margin) and held them to 27.3 percent shooting from the perimeter. Both teams feature big men from the Peachtree State in Charleston s Trent Wiedeman and Auburn s Rob Chubb, who is the younger brother of former CofC volleyball standout Elyse Chubb ( ). A LOOK AT AUBURN Like CofC, Auburn is looking to rebound from a opening-round loss to last year s NCAA Tournament Cinderella team in Murray State. The Tigers scored only 19 first-half points against the Racers and trailed by as many as 36 points against the Isaiah Canaan-led squad. Prior to the Charleston Classic, they opened the season with a victory over IPFW on Nov. 9. Auburn currently ranks No. 59 in the nation in rebounds per game (42.5) behind the board work of Chubb, who leads the team averaging 11.0 per game and scored a team-high 12 points versus MSU. PROJECTED COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON STARTERS #22 Anthony Stitt, G, 6-1, 180, So. (9.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 3.5 apg, 32.0

3 #4 Andrew Lawrence, G, 6-1, 185, Sr. (11.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.5 apg, 27.5 #3 Anthony Thomas, F, 6-7, 207, Jr. (9.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 1.5 apg, 32.5 #44 Trent Wiedeman, F, 6-8, 255, Jr. (13.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 0.5 apg, 27.0 #1 Adjehi Baru, F, 6-9, 225, So. (6.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, 27.5 PROJECTED AUBURN STARTERS #11 Josh Wallace, G, 5-10, 170, Sr. (4.5 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 2.0 apg, 25.0 #23 Frankie Sullivan, G, 6-1, 206, Sr. (16.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 0.0 apg, 29.5 #2 Allen Payne, F, 6-6, 215, Jr. (9.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 27.0 #21 Shareif Adamu, F, 6-8, 225, Jr. (1.5 ppg, 1.5 ppg, 0.5 apg, 10.0 #41 Rob Chubb, C, 6-10, 250, Sr. (11.0 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, 23.5 SERIES HISTORY Auburn leads 2-0 in the all-time series with College of Charleston. Both meetings were part of a home-and-home series during the Tom Herrion Era. The Cougars opened the season with a close setback at Auburn on Nov. 17, 2003 in Auburn, Ala., and in the returning year, lost on Dec. 7, 2004 at the North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston, S.C. AGAINST THE SEC The Cougars are 5-37 all-time against schools hailing from the Southeastern Conference including Alabama (0-1), Arkansas (0-1), Georgia (0-2), Kentucky (0-2), Ole Miss (0-2), South Carolina (2-27), Tennessee (3-1) and Vanderbilt (0-1). CofC has defeated two SEC schools on its home court in TD Arena, most recently a win over Tennessee on Dec. 14, 2011, and an overtime thriller versus South Carolina on Nov. 28, 2008 one of the first games in the new venue.

4 JOHNSON & JOHNSON Though they are not related or brothers, CofC reserves Nori Johnson (Greer, S.C.) and Theo Johnson (Sacramento, Calif.) have been playing as if they came from the same family. Nori Johnson led the Cougars with a team-high 11 points against St. John s, while Theo Johnson is the team s current block leader (4). In fact, both combine for seven of the team s 10 block shots on the season making them a dynamic Swat-Team and threat off the bench for the Cougars. COUGAR SIDEBARS Coach Wojcik has posted a 1-1-record versus schools from the newaligned SEC in his eight years as a Division I head coach. His Tulsa squad defeated Texas A&M (67-56) at the South Padre Island Classic, while his squad fell nine points short on the road at Arkansas (68-59). Ironically, this is Wojcik s second appearance in the tournament in back-to-back seasons after the Golden Hurricane posted a 1-2 record against Western Kentucky (W, 65-49), Northwestern (L, 69-65) and Saint Joseph s (L, 79-75) in the 2011 Charleston Classic. He is the only head coach to lead two different teams in tournament history. Coach Wojcik and Auburn Head Coach Tony Barbee formerly coached against each other at Tulsa and UTEP respectively. Wojcik went 6-4 on the sidelines in the Golden Hurricane-Miners series during their time in Conference USA. This will be the 11th time both will meet face-to-face. CofC junior big man Trent Wiedeman, who is a native of Suwanee, Ga., played AAU basketball with Auburn freshman guard Jordan Price, who is a native of Decatur, Ga. ST. JOHN S RECAP St. John s 64, CofC 53

5 For the second-straight game, the Cougars used the starting lineup of sophomore Anthony Stitt, senior Andrew Lawrence, junior Anthony Thomas, sophomore Adjehi Baru and junior Trent Wiedeman. St. John s takes a 1-0 lead in the all-time series in the first-ever meeting between the alma mater of legendary CofC head coach John Kresse and the school he spent 23 years with. The Cougars donned all-black uniforms for the first time in program history (0-1). Junior Nori Johnson came off the bench and registered a team-high 11 points which marked the third time of his career to lead the team in scoring. Trent Wiedeman turned in his second-straight game in double figures with 10 points. Anthony Thomas led the Cougars in the rebounding column with a career-high 11 boards. CofC won the battle of the boards with the Red Storm, 38-35, and has now outrebounded back-to-back opponents in Towson (+2) and St. John s (+3). Freshman Theo Johnson continues to impress tying a career-high with two blocked shots against the Red Storm. He has totaled four in the last two games of his young career. COUGAR SOUND BITES It s still a long year. At some point, size, speed and quickness matters. They (St. John s) just had that on us tonight. But, we are going to be a really good team. I m very encouraged by Nori Johnson and Theo Johnson. Willis Hall and Matt Sundberg will have their moments down the road. We can t dwell on it and have to move on. I ve been in this situation before. Two years ago in Anaheim, my team lost to a very good UNLV team and then beat a Stanford team in the second round and won the third game as well. We are trying to get better and trying to get more depth. We look forward to playing either Murray State or Auburn. CofC Head Coach Doug Wojcik on moving on from the St. John s loss and getting ready for the quick turnaround in the Charleston Classic

6 One thing we like to do under Coach Wojcik s system is to get better every day. It s unfortunate we do not have a day to watch film and look back at our mistakes. But, the good thing is, we get to move on and play again tomorrow (Friday). We are excited to get back out there on the court and want to get a win. Junior Forward Trent Wiedeman on the quick turnaround in the three-day tournament in four days format -