Why High Point men’s basketball should be scared of the Big South
High Point basketball has been the most impressive team in the Big South conference this season by a considerable margin. After an electric start to the season that blew their preseason projections out of the water, first-year coach Alan Huss has turned HPU into a dangerous force to be reckoned with, one that currently sits atop the standings with only three games remaining in the regular season. High Point boasted the nation’s longest winning streak during the season, and started in-conference play with 10 straight wins after career games from numerous players on their talented roster.
Barring any end-of-season collapses, High Point is in prime position to finish the year as the top seed for the Big South tournament, being hosted on HPU’s campus during the second week of March. However, the young team has looked complacent in recent games, nabbing their first two conference losses with a heartbreaker against UNC Asheville and a surprising upset on the road by a struggling USC Upstate squad.
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The success of the team is going to fall on one conditional; defense. High Point’s offense has been explosive, boasting the seventh-highest scoring total of any school in the nation. However, the Big South is full of teams that have a tendency to get red-hot, and HPU’s loss to Upstate is a prime example of being unable to capitalize on the defensive side, especially to a team that has consistently sat near the bottom of the conference all season.
UNC ASHEVILLE LOOMS
Realistically, the biggest threat to the Panthers comes in the form of last year’s Big South Player of the Year, Drew Pember. Pember, a forward on UNC Asheville, has now played High Point twice, with the teams splitting one game each. However, both games saw Pember put on weak shooting performances, something not consistent with the way he has shined during his time at Asheville. Part of the reason UNC Asheville has surged recently has not just been Pember, but the increased play of Fletcher Abee and Josh Banks, as well as strong depth off the bench that has brought the Bulldogs to a five-game win streak. If High Point cannot work on their defense, especially in the post and from mid-range, expect teams like Asheville to exploit the holes and run up the score. High Point and Asheville have just about locked their names in for the top two seeds in the tournament, and a championship final between the two would mark their third matchup this season in a game that’s sure to be electric.
SHOOTING STRUGGLES
High Point has seen an improvement in play by a large part of their team over the season, including Kimani Hamilton and Juslin Bodo Bodo continuing to prove why their frontcourt is not one to be toyed with. However, a concern for the Panthers recently has been the shooting of their guards Duke Miles and Kezza Giffa, who have both hit a slump in a crucial point of the season. Giffa, who relies on his strong free throw shooting, has not been getting as many calls as he did during the beginning of the season and has gone 0–15 over the past five games from behind the 3-point line. After a short stint away with a toe injury, Miles has had trouble adapting his skills back on the court, with a large drop in his overall efficiency since his return. While High Point has been lucky enough to rely on other players for scoring recently, the Panthers are going to need their dynamic duo to get back in the groove if they intend to be competitive come March.
Only time will tell how the Panthers perform in the Big South tournament. However, this is a completely different team than the one that was dominating all their opponents just a short month ago.
