South Carolina State Preview

OK, so it's leftover day.  Tomorrow, the Falcon MBB team gets back onto the court, this time at the Stroh, to play South Carolina State.

They are the Bulldogs and are in Orangeburg, SC.  It is an HBCU.  Probably their most notable athletic alumni is Deacon Jones, who is a Hall of Famer.  Also, Bobby Lewis, who invented the 2-ball dribbling drill.

They play in the MEAC which is the second-lowest ranked conference in college basketball.  The Bulldogs have played in the Divison 1 Tournament five times, the last in 2003.  They also appeared in the DII tournament five times.

They were picked to finish last in their division in the MEAC.  They had the lowest point total in either division and that counts an unfaithful elector who picked them first.

They were 11-18 last season with a kenpom of 339.  They finished 6-10 in conference.  This year, they are #356, which makes them the second lowest ranked team in D1.

The reason is roster turnover.  They returned only one player who played more than 10 minutes a game last season.  In total, they have 10 new players.

In their only game, they lost by 20 to Appalaichan State, picked to finish #4 in their division in the Sun Belt.

They started 3 FR and a SO in that game and had 3 FR and 2 SO come off the bench.

They had one JUCO player they seemed high on (Brandynn Manning) who was DNP in the first game.  Their leading scorer was FR Floyd Rideau with 12.  FR Latavian Lawrence had 10 rebounds.

So, this is one the Falcons should win and win comfortably.