POSTGAME VIDEO COMMENTS
RODNEY CONNER, STACY HARRIS, JERMEL PRESIDENT CEREMONY
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The College of Charleston men's basketball team used a balanced scoring attack to hold off an upset-minded UNC Greensboro squad, 87-69, on Saturday night at Carolina First Arena.
The Cougars (19-7, 12-2) are currently on a four-game winning streak and remain the front runner in the Southern Conference regular-season race.
Sophomore Willis Hall (Charlotte, N.C.) and freshman Trent Wiedeman (Suwanee, Ga.) each scored a game-high 18 points, a career-best for the rookie, followed by a double-double performance from junior Antwaine Wiggins (Greeneville, Tenn.) with 14 points and a career-high tying 11 rebounds in the team's fifth-straight victory in the all-time series with the Spartans (5-19, 5-9).
UNCG started off on a 5-0 run in an evenly matched first half in which both the Spartans and Cougars were shooting better than 50 percent from the floor and seemed to make any shot that went up.
Trailing by three with 10 seconds left to go before the break, senior All-America candidate Andrew Goudelock (Stone Mountain, Ga.) hit an off-balanced three-pointer with one second left on the clock, and, in typical fashion, nailed the buzzer-beater to give CofC a 43-40 advantage into halftime.
Goudelock, the nation's No. 2 leading scorer, contributed only 12 points on the night, but had eight of the team's 13 assists with zero turnovers. As a team, the Cougars shot only 44.1 percent from the field and 29.6 percent from beyond the arc, but countered it with a season-low four turnovers and defensively scoring 20 of their points on 17 UNCG turnovers.
CofC will have the next five days to prepare for its second cross-town rivalry meeting with The Citadel on Thursday, Feb. 17 at McAlister Fieldhouse. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. (ET).
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the third time this season and third consecutive game, CofC used the starting lineup of senior Donavan Monroe, senior Andrew Goudelock, junior Antwaine Wiggins, sophomore Willis Hall and freshman Trent Wiedeman (3-0), who made his fifth career start for the Cougars.
• With the win, CofC claimed its 20th victory in the 27-game series with UNCG and extends its win streak to five-straight games dating back to a 77-62 win on Dec. 6, 2008 in Greensboro, N.C.
• The Cougars had five players score in double figures for the second time this season next to the Holy Cross game on Nov. 13. However, it was the first time with all five starters contributing to the balanced scoring attack.
• CofC remains an unbeaten 8-0 at home in conference play at Carolina First Arena and 9-1 overall with its only loss to Clemson on Dec. 22.
• Andrew Goudelock had a balanced stat line with 12 points, five rebounds and eight assists with zero turnovers against the Spartans. He extended his double-digit scoring streak to 12 consecutive games and is now tied for seventh all-time in the SoCon record books with 2,310 career points to date. He surpassed ninth-place Jonathan Moore of Furman (2,299 from 1976-80) and eighth-place NBA legend Jerry West of West Virginia (2,309 from 1957-60) and is tied with Dom Flora of Washington & Lee (2,310 from 1954-58) on the short list.
• Donavan Monroe contributed all of his 13 points on the night in the first half of play. He has now scored 1,217 career points to date which ranks 18th all-time in school history and 13th all-time in CofC Division I history.
• Willis Hall reached double figures for the ninth time this season and 17th of his career with 18 points against the Spartans.
• Trent Wiedeman recorded a career-high 18 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the floor and a career-best 10-of-11 shooting from the charity stripe. He was shy of a double-double with nine of the team's 37 rebounds.
• Antwaine Wiggins registered his second career double-double with 14 points and a career-high tying 11 rebounds versus UNCG. He previously notched 10 points and 10 rebounds versus Wofford on Jan. 17, 2008, during his freshman campaign.
• CofC made a season-low four turnovers in the ballgame and has protected the ball well in three of its last four SoCon contests with fewer than eight miscues against Wofford (8) on Feb. 3, at Elon (6) on Feb. 9 and UNCG (4). In addition, the Cougars dished out 13 assists behind eight from Goudelock for an impressive 3.25 assist-to-turnover ratio.
• The Cougars welcomed back nearly 50 basketball alumni prior to the UNCG game with their annual alumni match including such greats as Anthony Johnson (1994-97), Sam Meade (1971-74), Marion Busby (1992-95) and Thaddeous Delaney (1994-97). CofC also held its second-ever honored jersey ceremony at Carolina First Arena celebrating the storied careers of Rodney Conner (1994-97), Stacy Harris (1994-97) and Jermel President (1996-99).
POSTGAME QUOTES
College of Charleston Head Coach Bobby Cremins
On the game …
“It was a great second half. They (UNCG) had the momentum in the first half. I thought we were flat. They came in here ready to play. Donavan (Monroe) made a couple of great plays to tie the game. We got a break right before the half. I knew we had plenty of time. I thought Drew (Goudelock) was going to pass it, but he wound up taking a crazy shot, and, typical Goudelock, he made it. It was a big shot and it made us feel better going into the locker room. In the second half, we played some great defense. Antwaine Wiggins and Andrew Lawrence got in the action. Drew was making some great passes to Willis Hall. It was great interior passing. It was fun to watch and another great conference victory at home. I'm very proud of our team. We played really well in the second half. Now, we have to get ready for our crosstown rival on Thursday at The Citadel.”
On the team's balanced scoring …
“Balanced scoring is a very, very important. We definitely had a lot of balance scoring today. It was fun to watch. We are going to keep working hard in practice. We know we are very fortunate to have a great player in Drew Goudelock. We know what he is capable of doing. Our guys have a sense of urgency after losing Jeremy (Simmons). We don't want to ruin a good season. They know if they can fill their role, with Goudelock anything is possible. We are not a one-man team and we can't be. We are playing well as a whole and it's great to see.”
College of Charleston Senior Guard Andrew Goudelock
On his low-scoring game and distributing the ball …
“It wasn't anything particular that UNCG was doing on defense. I was missing shots and it happens. Every game, sometimes you can't score, and it's going to happen. I saw a lot of gaps where I could pass the ball. Whenever they were doubling on me, I knew I could get some open shots for other guys.”
On second-half turnaround …
“We just tried to stay with it. In the second half, we usually lock up on defense a lot better. We just try to stick to the game. Today, it was a total team effort and all five starters scoring. If you can do that, you have a great chance of winning.”
College of Charleston Freshman Forward Trent Wiedeman
On his career game …
“My teammates did a really good job of giving me the ball. Most of my points were from good passes and making free throws.”
College of Charleston Junior Forward Antwaine Wiggins
On the game …
“I thought we played a good game. The thing we wanted to work on in practice was improve our rebounding. We were trying to crash the boards every chance we had, so we could get second chance points, and tried to knock down open shots.”
