SIU welcomes in the Panthers of High Point to Carbondale on Saturday.
Meet the Panthers:
The Panthers are coached by Alan Huss in his 2nd year as head coach. Huss played college basketball under Dana Altman at Creighton from 1997-2001 and started his coaching career in the high school ranks. He spent time as an assistant at New Mexico and under Greg McDermott at Creighton before getting the High Point job. In his first season, the Panthers went 27-9 and 13-3 in the Big South winning the regular season championship. They fell to Longwood in the Conference Tournament and went to the CBI where they were runners-up.
Coming into the season, High Point was picked as the Preseason favorite in the Big South with 17 of 18 first place votes. They have a neutral site loss to #197 Missouri State and a road loss at #147 UNC Greensboro. Their highest quality win this year is home against #66 North Texas.
High Point has really been efficient on the offensive end this year. They're 69th in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency, 94th in the country in 3 point % (35.5%), 77th in the country in 2 point % (55.4%), 63rd in the country in effective field goal % (54.5%), and 29nd in the country in free throw % (77.7%).
On the defensive end, High Point likes to grind teams out. They're 362nd in the country in average possession length on the defensive end (19.0 seconds). They're 31st in the country in 2 point % against (44.9%) but 222nd in the country in 3 point % against (34.4%).
The leading scorer for the Panthers is 6-3 Senior D'Maurian Williams averaging 14.6 points per game. Williams spent 2 years at Gardner-Webb before transferring to Texas Tech where he was a teammate for the brief time with Drew Steffe. Williams is currently 27th in the country in 3 point % (16-31, 51.6%), 75th in the country in true shooting % (65.5%), and 160th in the country in effective field goal % (60.2%).
The leading rebounder for High Point is 7-0 Sophomore Juslin Bodo Bodo averaging 6.7 rebounds per game. Bodo Bodo was a 3 star recruit out of Cameroon and started all 36 games as a Freshman last year for High Point and led the Big South with 9.6 rebounds per game. He was named Big South Defensive Player of the Year and Big South Freshman of the Year last season. This season, Bodo Bodo is 52nd in the country in offensive rebounding % (14.6%) and 68th in the country in defensive rebounding % (24.9%). He's also 68th in the country in block % (7.8%).
6-2 Senior Kezza Giffa from France started his collegiate career at UTEP before spending a year at Daytona State. In his first season at High Point, Giffa started 36 games and was named to the Big South 1st team after the season. This season, Giffa is 121st in the country in free throw rate (57.0%) and 198th in the country in fouls drawn per 40 minutes (5.5) and when he gets to the line, he makes them. He's 158th in the country in free throw % (49-57, 86.0%).
Another player to watch for is 6-7 Junior Kimani Hamilton. Hamilton was a 4 star recruit out of Clinton, MS and started his collegiate career at Mississippi State where he played 12 games. Hamilton is 95th in the country in fouls drawn per 40 minutes (6.2) and 67th in the country in free throw rate (63.8%). Hamilton is also 207th in the country in 2 point % (39-61, 63.9%).
Links:
SIU Game Notes
High Point Game Notes
Doesn't really have anything to do with tomorrow's game, but I checked out High Point's athletic website and was wowed by the photos of the school's arena. It's fabulous -- looks like sort of a hybrid of a downsized Madison Square Garden and a high-end symphony hall. It's so pristine that I'd feel guilty about leaving peanut shells or a mustard-splattered hot dog wrapper under my seat. Seating capacity is only 5,000, but quality far outshines quantity in this case. Isn't SIU scheduled to play there next season under a 2-for-1 arrangement?
On paper this looks like a tough game. Who the heck is High Point? I think we will find out on Saturday. I hope Nagy has lit a fire under the team and they play with energy and focus. A nice attendance would help but with most students gone I think getting to 4,000 will be a stretch.
Doesn't really have anything to do with tomorrow's game, but I checked out High Point's athletic website and was wowed by the photos of the school's arena. It's fabulous -- looks like sort of a hybrid of a downsized Madison Square Garden and a high-end symphony hall. It's so pristine that I'd feel guilty about leaving peanut shells or a mustard-splattered hot dog wrapper under my seat. Seating capacity is only 5,000, but quality far outshines quantity in this case. Isn't SIU scheduled to play there next season under a 2-for-1 arrangement?
Yeah we’ll be there next year. Might try to get out there depending on the rest of our non-conference schedule
On paper this looks like a tough game. Who the heck is High Point? I think we will find out on Saturday. I hope Nagy has lit a fire under the team and they play with energy and focus. A nice attendance would help but with most students gone I think getting to 4,000 will be a stretch.
This is a really good mid-major. Seems like it’ll be a mismatch for us with their 7 footer and good 3 point shooting. High Point will be a popular upset pick in March assuming they win the Big South.
