TOLEDO, Ohio – The College of Charleston men's basketball team shut down Toledo with its press, 64-51, to go 2-1 in the subregional round of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer held Sunday afternoon at Savage Arena.
The Cougars (4-2) scored 21 of their points off of 13 turnovers by the Rockets (0-5) including 14 off of nine miscues in the first half where CofC shot a scorching 50.0 percent from the floor. Coming into the contest, the Cougars were ranked No. 24 nationally in field-goal percentage (.511) and held Toledo to an opponent season-low 40 percent shooting.
Open looks created several opportunities for the Cougars' to show off their range as preseason Southern Conference Player of the Year Andrew Goudelock (Stone Mountain, Ga.) drained three of the team's eight three-pointers in the ballgame. He was named to the all-tournament team with a game-high 17 points combined with a 23-point outing against Rhode Island and 26-point outburst versus Illinois-Chicago.
With a 36-22 halftime lead, the CofC defense continued to keep the Rockets at bay holding them without a basket for a five-minute stretch until Delino Dar sank the second of two makes from the charity stripe at 10:52.
Sophomore Andrew Lawrence (London, England) gave CofC its largest lead with a three-pointer at the 6:19 minute mark of the second half, 62-36, as Toledo tried to make a comeback, but was only able to come within 13 in the final minutes of regulation.
Senior Jeremy Simmons (Lithonia, Ga.) and senior Donavan Monroe (Waxhaw, N.C.) joined Goudelock in double figures with 14 and 10 respectively, while UT was paced by 12 from Malcolm Griffin.
The Cougars will enjoy a bye week in preparation for an anticipated rematch at No. 8-ranked North Carolina on Sunday, Nov. 28 in Chapel Hill, N.C. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. (ET) and the game will be televised nationally on Fox Sports Net.
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the sixth time this season and sixth-straight contest, CofC used the starting lineup of senior Donavan Monroe, senior Andrew Goudelock, redshirt junior Antwaine Wiggins, sophomore Willis Hall and senior Jeremy Simmons (4-2).
• With the win, the Cougars take a 1-0 lead in the all-time series with Toledo and are 2-1 in road games this season.
• Andrew Goudelock was named to the 2K Sports Classic All-Tournament Team. He averaged a team-leading 22.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game against Rhode Island, Illinois-Chicago and host Toledo combined. Goudelock shot 41.9 percent from the floor going 26-of-62 with 10 threes.
• Jeremy Simmons registered 14 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 shooting from the charity stripe. He and Goudelock are currently on a six-game double-digit scoring streak.
• The Senior Class of Goudelock, Simmons and Donavan Monroe combined for 41 of the team's 64 points versus Toledo.
• The Cougars made a season-high tying nine steals against the Rockets next to nine versus Illinois-Chicago on Nov. 20. They also made their second-fewest turnovers in a single game this season (14).
• CofC held Toledo to an opponent season-low 40 percent shooting from the field (18-of-45).
• The Cougars have now outrebounded back-to-back opponents by nine boards, 35-26.
POSTGAME QUOTES
College of Charleston Head Coach Bobby Cremins
On the game …
“We didn't finish it the way we wanted to, but to leave here with two wins after playing three games in three days is fantastic. Rhode Island got upset in the game before us. Illinois-Chicago played a great game and had a big win over Rhode Island. I thought this game was going to be tougher. We went on a beautiful run right before the half and our press was working beautifully with Antwaine Wiggins in there. At halftime, I told the team, 'let's try to concentrate on the first five minutes of the second half and not let them come back into the game. Let's finish and go out and be strong.' We did and the press continued to work. We did a lot of good things there. Toledo started a zone instead of man-to-man in the second half. We had a great lead, but I wanted to give our freshmen some playing time that meant something. Things got crazy and we had to put Andrew (Goudelock) and Jeremy (Simmons) back in the game. Toledo is rebuilding their program. They're not as bad as they played against us today. In their two previous games, they almost beat Illinois-Chicago and gave Rhode Island a good game. Today, they didn't look the same and were missing a player. We did a great job with our press and have great players. Goudelock made some great shots. I'm just glad to go home, so we can concentrate on school and come back to practice on Wednesday and get ready for North Carolina.”
