Red Wolves to take on the Big South regular season champion on ESPN2

Only 12 D1 college basketball programs score more points per contest than the Panthers of High Point – 84.5 ppg led by four players averaging double figures (and a fifth averaging better than eight). You may recognize the Panthers’ leading scorer: Duke Miles (17.7 pts per game), who transferred from Troy last season. Miles is the 2023-24 Big South Newcomer of the Year, and leads the team assists and steals as well.

After enjoying a first round bye only the highest seeded program in the College Basketball Invitational can enjoy, High Point demolished #9 seeded Cleveland State in the quarterfinals 93-74, paced by 6’4″ sophomore guard Abdoulaye Thiam, who contributed a game high 27 points via 6/9 three-point shooting.

NET speaking, the Big South is comparable with the Sun Belt, with the Big South ranking 19th as a conference and the SBC ranking 17th. High Point was the highest NET rated program in the CBI at 110 (compared to the Red Wolves 148). To underestimate the Panthers (26-8), or to discount their statistics as products of weak competition, would be to your peril.

However, the Red Wolves have become a surprisingly stout defensive team as of late, with sophomore guard Derrian Ford shutting down Montana’s leading bucket man Aanen Moody to just four points in a 74-61 victory over the Grizzlies. A showdown between Ford and Miles/Thiam is eminent, though Freddy Hicks and Izaiyah Nelson will be just as busy keeping the Panthers bigs Kimani Hamilton and Juslin Bodo Bodo from making high-percentage shots in the paint. The battle between the seven-foot freshman Bodo Bodo (averaging around 9 rebounds and 2 blocks per game) and the 6’10” Nelson should be quite a sideshow.

The win over Montana secured the Red Wolves 20th victory of the season – the most ever from a first time head coach (Bryan Hodgson) and the first season of twenty wins over D1 opponents since 1990-91. Not even the much venerated Grant McCasland has accomplished what Hodgson has at Arkansas State.

With the NCAA Tournament taking a breather, the semi-finals of the CBI will enjoy national coverage with limited viewing competition on ESPN2 tonight, with the Red Wolves and Panthers tipping off at 6:00 PM CST and Fairfield and Seattle squaring off at 8:00 PM.

PHOTO CREDIT: Sun Belt Media