JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Coaching college basketball is
an incredibly tough business.
Nobody feels that more than Gardner-Webb’s Jeremy Luther and
USC Upstate’s Marty Richter. The two newest head coaches in the Big South battled
in the conference tournament’s play-in game Wednesday, with their teams looking
to close challenging seasons on high notes.
Gardner-Webb got four double-figure scorers and turned a
tense halftime battle into a decisive victory, taking down Upstate, 83-63, at
Freedom Hall. Richter and Upstate got something, too – more on that in a bit.
“I love this team that we have,” Luther said after the game.
“We have shown a lot of spurts of good basketball, especially early in the
year. We kind of lost our way a little bit, had some injuries, had to deal with
some stuff off the floor with some of these guys. The last few weeks haven't
been too fun. I know the type of team they can be. We've shown it.”
Gardner-Webb (11-19) got to work early. After Upstate broke
the seal with a Carmelo Adkins bucket 50 seconds into the game, the Runnin’
Bulldogs trailed for just one more minute. Anthony Selden converted a layup to
give Gardner-Webb a lead it would not surrender – though not without some tense
moments – to key a nearly seven-minute burst that put the eighth-seeded Runnin’
Bulldogs up by 12.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs grew their lead to 13 at the 7:34 mark
before one of those tense moments unfolded. Upstate (6-26) keyed a charge bookended
by guard Karmani Gregory. Gregory started the run with a pair of free throws
and closed it with a layup that knifed the lead in half. Brit Harris drained a
triple and Mister Dean hit a jumper to continue to whittle away at the margin.
After Selden made a bucket with 1:52 remaining in the first half, Nic Book
closed the first half with a jumper to send Upstate to the locker room down just
three at 31-28.
“I’ve got to give credit to Gardner-Webb,” Richter said. “They did an unbelievable job that second half. They got up 28-13 in the first half. My guys fought back. They did an awesome job of fighting back. We got it to 31-28 at the half, so we closed the half the way we needed to.”
The second half proved to be a different story.
Gardner-Webb quickly neutralized the Upstate threat, getting
back-to-back makes from Pharrell Boyogueno and Buddy Simmons to push the lead
back to eight. Shahar Lazar again created a double-digit lead for the eighth
seed with a layup.
Upstate continued to fight. The Spartans got two Dean baskets and two from Harris that snipped the deficit to four. Gardner-Webb would then stagger the lower seed with a quick 6-0 flurry that again extended the lead back to double digits. Upstate tried to return serve and reduced the distance to seven points, but Gardner-Webb countered with a knockout blow in a 6-0 run over 1:34 that put the Runnin’ Bulldogs ahead by double digits to stay.
“Their physicality wore us down. Their being fifth and
sixth-year seniors, their body types wore our first-year guys down,” Richter
said. “We're the youngest team in college basketball this year on KenPom, so
that just wore us down in the second half and that's why -- I mean, their second chance points -- they had
19 and then we had five offensive rebounds in the first half. They ended up
with 16, so they got 11 in that second half. They got in the paint and they
lived in the paint.”
Selden and forward Isaiah Richards helped key Gardner-Webb’s
success inside.
“They don't have a lot of shot blockers, not a lot of size,”
Luther said. “So we were just trying to get paint touches, and we'd get in the
paint, get off two (feet), and just go finish strong.”
Richards noted the team’s strategy in stemming the tide
during the Upstate run.
“So (our) being who we are, a bunch of vets, you know, guys
that listen to us and buy into what we want to do and what we want to
accomplish, (we) just keep doing what we're doing,”Richards said. “There's
really no conversation or change to be made -- just keep pressuring them, keep pounding
them. At some point, they're going to break, and they broke.”
Richter’s first season came to an end with Wednesday’s loss,
but he displayed his trademark optimism in his postgame remarks.
“(Other league coaches) helped change this league to a
league that is respected by basketball coaches. And that is one thing that is
so great about our league, I think,” Richter said. “I've got to improve as a
head coach. Players have to improve. My assistants have to improve. My
strength coach has to get better.”
“We've got to get better as an organization, because we've
got a spot at Spartanburg, USC Upstate, that is special. And you guys
are looking at me like, right now, Coach, you only won six games. Just trust
me, it's a special place.”
Richter left the dais with a funny – and truthful – parting shot.
“I'm going to remember this score for the rest of my life. My
kids won't let me forget, either.”
Selden paced Gardner-Webb and all scorers with 18 points,
buoyed by a 10-of-13 mark from the free throw stripe. Simmons added 16, hitting 7-of-16 tries. Boyogueno
contributed 14 to the Gardner-Webb effort, while Richards booked a
double-double while scoring 11 points and boarding 12 misses. The Runnin’
Bulldogs shot 46.3 percent (31-of-67) from the deck and knocked down 16-of-20
attempts from the line.
Gregory and Dean logged 17 apiece for the Spartans. The duo
hit 13 combined tries from the field, with Gregory finishing 6-for-8 from the line.
Harris added 12 in reserve duty, hitting 4-of-8 field goal tries. The Spartans
shot 37.1 percent (23-for-62) from the field and converted 12-of-19 from the
line (63.2 percent).
The eighth-seeded Runnin’ Bulldogs advance to Friday’s
quarterfinal round, where they will square off with regular-season champion
High Point in a noon contest streamed over ESPN+. Luther knows the task his
team faces but does not lack confidence.
“These guys right here, you know, when you're down to your
last possible game, it's like that all across the country,” Luther said. “I'll
take these guys fighting because I've seen what they can do, and I really
believe that if we go out there and we fight and we compete and we don't back
down -- which I know these guys aren't -- anything can happen, and I feel
great. I feel really confident that we can, you know, shock the world.”
“We're going to go out and fight. We're going to make some
shots. We're going to shock the world.”
GARDNER-WEBB 83, USC UPSTATE 63
USC UPSTATE (6-26)
Helterhoff 1-4 1-2 3, Skinner 1-6 2-2 5, Adkins 1-8 0-0 2,
Gregory 5-14 6-8 17, Johnson 1-5 0-0 3, Book 2-3 0-0 4, Harris 4-8 2-2 12,
McConnell 0-0 0-0 0, Dean 8-13 1-5 17, Rich 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-62 12-19 63.
GARDNER-WEBB (11-19)
Boyogueno 6-9 0-0 14, Richards 4-5 1-1 11, Selden 4-16
10-13 18, Mann 2-7 2-2 6, Simmons 7-18 1-1 16, Badmus 1-1 0-0 2, Lazar 3-4 1-2
7, Mykalcio 0-1 0-0 0, Hudson 4-7 1-1 9. Totals 31-677 16-20 83.
Halftime: Gardner-Webb 31-28. 3-Point
goals: Gardner-Webb 5-16 (Boygueno 2-4, Richards 2-2, Selden 0-3,
Simmons 1-6, Lazar 0-1), USC Upstate 6-25 (Helterhoff 0-1, Skinner 1-5, Adkins
0-5, Gregory 1-6, Johnson 1-3, Harris 2-4, Dean 0-1). Fouled out: Adkins
(UPST). Rebounds: Gardner-Webb 45
(Richards 12), USC Upstate 34 (Book 7). Total fouls: USC Upstate 17,
Gardner-Webb 15. Technicals: NA.
Points off turnovers: Gardner-Webb 22, Upstate
10. Points in the paint: Gardner-Webb 46, USC Upstate 34.
Second-chance points: Gardner-Webb 19, USC Upstate 8. Fast-break
points: Gardner-Webb 9, USC Upstate 5. Bench
points: USC Upstate 33, Gardner-Webb 18.
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