Get ready for a fun-and-gun rematch. When coupled with UNC Asheville's win over Gardner-Webb Saturday, Coastal's regular-season-ending victory over VMI ensured the Keydets would play in the Big South tournament.
No. 8 VMI will travel -- well, sort of -- to No. 1 Coastal for a first-round game at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The teams met in the first round last season in Lexington, Va., with the Keydets emerging with the win.
VMI's up-and-down, frenzied offensive attack, which leads the nation in scoring, will again be up against Coastal's No. 8 scoring defense. The Chants seem to understand the challenge of playing two games against the Keydets back to back.
"We would love to play Gardner-Webb instead of them," Coastal's Joseph Harris said before UNCA's win. "That's a team that can beat you if the 3-ball gets going."
But the Chants, who last played VMI in December, got a great scouting report Saturday against VMI's not-so-run-of-the-mill style.
"You hear about it, but until you actually play against them, it's a hard thing to defend," Harris added. "For us we've been playing them a lot lately, so we know what they are capable of. They are known for coming out with junk defenses and shaking up everything they've done in the regular season. We know kind of what to look for, so we'll be OK."
VMI coach Duggar Baucom does like to throw some wrenches into his game plan come tournament time. In fact, he's become well know for doing it. For example, one season his team came out in the first round in a zone defense, something they hadn't done all season. I'm pretty sure they advanced to the tournament final that year.
I asked him after Saturday's game if he had any more tricks up his sleeve.
"I'm running out of wrenches," he said. "We're not going to play the Princeton [offense] I can promise you that. That's about the only wrench I haven't used. We'll see. ... We just hope to make shots. We're an offensive team, so if we make shots, things can happen. If you don't, it's tough."
Coastal point guard Kierre Greenwood said the Chants did withhold some of their game plan on Saturday, ensuring they'll have some new looks for the Keydets in the first round. He said Saturday's game plan was a scaled-down version of what they'll use in the rematch.
"Coach wanted to change things up so maybe on Tuesday they'll be guessing a little bit," he said.
Take a bow
Coastal honored its three seniors -- Harris, Mario Edwards and Logan Johnson -- before the game in what was an emotional moment. All three got standing ovations, with Harris drawing chill-inducing cheers that were fitting of one of the best players in school history. I asked him after the game what it meant to play his final regular-season home game.
"Reality kind of set in," he said. "I had butterflies, because I was pretty nervous. I was kind of nervous about what was coming next. In the tournament everybody knows it's win or go home. We definitely don't want to go home. It was butterflies and excitement more than anything."
Staying put
Although the Keydets have to face the No. 1 seed, they do have one advantage over the other three teams that must play on an opponent's home floor in the first round: they don't have to travel. VMI will remain on the Grand Strand until Tuesday's game instead of heading home to Lexington and coming straight back.
"It's six and a half hours, so it would be crazy to go back," Baucom said. "You've got to have a mandatory practice on Monday for the conference, so there no sense in driving back six and a half hours to be back for 12. We'll just stay here. We won't miss any class tomorrow."
Three figures
Coastal finally crossed the 100-point plateau Saturday. It was the fourth straight time the Chants reached that mark against the Keydets in Kimbel Arena.
The home fans have been seeking a 100-point effort all season. Coastal stalked 100 points a bevy of times, scoring 99 against Voorhees, 97 against Allen, 91 against Bridgewater, 91 against Savannah State, 96 against Gardner-Webb and 98 against UNC Asheville.
They finally got there Saturday on Chris Evans' alley-oop dunk from Dexter Moore with 30 seconds left.
No. 8 VMI will travel -- well, sort of -- to No. 1 Coastal for a first-round game at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The teams met in the first round last season in Lexington, Va., with the Keydets emerging with the win.
VMI's up-and-down, frenzied offensive attack, which leads the nation in scoring, will again be up against Coastal's No. 8 scoring defense. The Chants seem to understand the challenge of playing two games against the Keydets back to back.
"We would love to play Gardner-Webb instead of them," Coastal's Joseph Harris said before UNCA's win. "That's a team that can beat you if the 3-ball gets going."
But the Chants, who last played VMI in December, got a great scouting report Saturday against VMI's not-so-run-of-the-mill style.
"You hear about it, but until you actually play against them, it's a hard thing to defend," Harris added. "For us we've been playing them a lot lately, so we know what they are capable of. They are known for coming out with junk defenses and shaking up everything they've done in the regular season. We know kind of what to look for, so we'll be OK."
VMI coach Duggar Baucom does like to throw some wrenches into his game plan come tournament time. In fact, he's become well know for doing it. For example, one season his team came out in the first round in a zone defense, something they hadn't done all season. I'm pretty sure they advanced to the tournament final that year.
I asked him after Saturday's game if he had any more tricks up his sleeve.
"I'm running out of wrenches," he said. "We're not going to play the Princeton [offense] I can promise you that. That's about the only wrench I haven't used. We'll see. ... We just hope to make shots. We're an offensive team, so if we make shots, things can happen. If you don't, it's tough."
Coastal point guard Kierre Greenwood said the Chants did withhold some of their game plan on Saturday, ensuring they'll have some new looks for the Keydets in the first round. He said Saturday's game plan was a scaled-down version of what they'll use in the rematch.
"Coach wanted to change things up so maybe on Tuesday they'll be guessing a little bit," he said.
Take a bow
Coastal honored its three seniors -- Harris, Mario Edwards and Logan Johnson -- before the game in what was an emotional moment. All three got standing ovations, with Harris drawing chill-inducing cheers that were fitting of one of the best players in school history. I asked him after the game what it meant to play his final regular-season home game.
"Reality kind of set in," he said. "I had butterflies, because I was pretty nervous. I was kind of nervous about what was coming next. In the tournament everybody knows it's win or go home. We definitely don't want to go home. It was butterflies and excitement more than anything."
Staying put
Although the Keydets have to face the No. 1 seed, they do have one advantage over the other three teams that must play on an opponent's home floor in the first round: they don't have to travel. VMI will remain on the Grand Strand until Tuesday's game instead of heading home to Lexington and coming straight back.
"It's six and a half hours, so it would be crazy to go back," Baucom said. "You've got to have a mandatory practice on Monday for the conference, so there no sense in driving back six and a half hours to be back for 12. We'll just stay here. We won't miss any class tomorrow."
Three figures
Coastal finally crossed the 100-point plateau Saturday. It was the fourth straight time the Chants reached that mark against the Keydets in Kimbel Arena.
The home fans have been seeking a 100-point effort all season. Coastal stalked 100 points a bevy of times, scoring 99 against Voorhees, 97 against Allen, 91 against Bridgewater, 91 against Savannah State, 96 against Gardner-Webb and 98 against UNC Asheville.
They finally got there Saturday on Chris Evans' alley-oop dunk from Dexter Moore with 30 seconds left.
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