March 6, 2024
The Big South Tournament for men and women’s basketball tips off on Wednesday March 6 with both of HPU’s teams waiting in anticipation for who they will play in the quarterfinals. The first round of the women’s bracket starts Wednesday at 6 p.m. with No. 8 Gardner-Webb playing No. 9 UNC Asheville. The men’s bracket begins at 8 p.m. with No. 8 USC Upstate taking on No. 9 Radford.
The USC Upstate Spartans come into the tournament with a 10-19 record and are 5-11 overall in the conference. Guard Trae Broadnax is the team’s leading scorer with an average of 14.4 points per game. Broadnax also leads the team in assists, averaging 3.6 per game. On the defensive end, Justin Bailey averages 1.4 steals per game. Ahmir Langlais compliments this defensive presence by averaging 1 block per game. Langlais also cleans up the boards, averaging 6.2 rebounds per game.
The Radford Highlanders come into the tournament with a 15-16 record and are 5-11 overall in the conference. Daquan Smith is the team’s leading scorer with an average of 15.1 points per game. Kenyon Giles leads the team with an average of 2.9 assists. Forward Justin Archer comes in as the team’s leading rebounder with an average of 7.7. Defensively the Highlanders matchup nicely with the Spartans, with Bryan Antoine averaging 1.4 steals per game and D’Auntray Pierce averaging 1.4 blocks.
This will be a competitive matchup between the two teams, especially with the Highlanders having the same overall record in conference as the Spartans. Radford and Upstate have played each other twice this season so far, with each team winning one game each. In their first encounter Radford beat Upstate 64-61, with Antoine scoring 18 points for the Highlanders. In the second matchup, Upstate got the leg-up winning 78-69, and Broadnax finished with 19 points.
Both teams are well matched against one another as seen in their stats and in their games played against each other. It’s March and anything can happen during this madness, but one thing is for sure, both teams are hungry for a win and a chance to take on No. 1 High Point University.
For women’s basketball we have Gardner-Webb with a record of 6-23 and a 5-11 conference record. While UNC Asheville has a record of 10-19 with a 4-12 conference record. This should be another great game because both teams have split their series against one another. Both teams have lost to HPU in close games, so whoever moves on will give the No.1 seed a challenge.
Ashley Hawkins leads the Runnin’ Bulldogs in average points scored with an average of 15.1. Hawkins also leads the team with an average of 5.7 assists. Defensively, Anaya Harris leads with about 1.3 steals per game. Ramatoulaye Keita leads the team with 0.5 blocks per game and 6.8 rebounds per game.
For the UNC Asheville Bulldogs, McKinley Brooks-Sumpter is dominant and leads the team in points (14.1), rebounds (6.9) and assists (2.7). Jaila Lee leads the team in steals with about 1.1 per game. Abigail Wilson leads the team in blocks with an average of 0.7 per game.
Tune in to see this bulldog on bulldog match up as the Panthers wait to see who they compete against on Friday!