Pilchard
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Former WF assistant Chris Mack leads the L'ville Cards into the caldron that is the Joel Coliseum tomorrow night. Here is the skinny on WF's opponent:
Record: L'ville is 15-5 (6-1) and has risen up the KP ratings (started at #63) to a season best #14. L'ville has a bevy of top 100 wins: #73 Vermont, #3 Michigan State, #66 Seton Hall, #47 Lipscomb, #8 UNC, #74 GT, #32 NC State and #64 Pitt. They have lost to #6 Tennessee, #34 Marquette (in OT), #44 Indiana, #10 Kentucky and #64 Pitt (Pitt and L'ville have already played twice). L'ville is 3-2 on the road. They have a big game at home against UNC on Saturday; so, this is a look-ahead spot for the Cards.
Offense: Strong. #14 in the nation (#3 in the conference in ACC games). They do everything fairly well: the Cards get to the line a lot #11 in FTA/FGA, they make FTs (76% #21), and in ACC games, they have been particularly strong inside (shooting 55% from 2). They are a balanced scoring team as they score from 3 (36% in ACC games) as well as scoring from the line and from inside the paint. Interestingly, the Cards have increased tempo in conference games as they are #244 in tempo overall (67 possessions a game), but are #4 in the ACC in tempo in conference games (71 possessions a game).
Defense: Mack has ramped up L'ville's D in conference games. The Cards play mostly man and are the #2 team in the ACC in defense in conference games trailing only UVA. Their defense forces TOs (TO forces on 21.3% of opponents possessions in conference games), and they also keep opponents off the offensive glass (#3 in the ACC). L'ville also plays solid defense inside (47% on opponents 2 point shots #44).
Lineup: Recently, L'ville has played with an 8/9 man rotation. Bench players Darius Perry and Akoy Agau (G'town transfer that actually started at L'ville in 2014) missed Saturday's win over Pitt. The starters are: PG 6-2 Sr. Christen Cunningham (Samford transfer), SG 6-0 Khwan Fore (Richmond transfer - scored 8 points at WF last year for the Spiders), SF 6-5 Jr. Dwayne Sutton (UNC Ashville transfer), PF 6-7 Jordan Nwora (a non-transfer starter - shocker), C 6-10 Jr. Steven Enoch (UCONN)/6-11 So Malik Williams. Williams and Enoch split time in the post. Senior guard Ryan McMahon also plays significant minutes off the bench. Everyone can hit the 3. Nwora is their best player, and will be an all-ACC selection. He scored 32 in the win over BC, and has scored 20 or more 9 times this year. He had 5 threes in the blowout win at Chapel Hill.
Bottom line: L'ville has all of the elements needed for a solid team: size, depth, tough on d and are well-coached. KP projects a 77-66 Cardinals win and gives WF only a 15% chance to pull the upset. The Nwora/Hoard matchup should be a good one to watch, both may be in the NBA next year. I expect WF to hang in for awhile, mostly because L'ville has little reason to be focused on this game with a big game against UNC on deck, but have every reason to expect that WF will find a way to lose.
Record: L'ville is 15-5 (6-1) and has risen up the KP ratings (started at #63) to a season best #14. L'ville has a bevy of top 100 wins: #73 Vermont, #3 Michigan State, #66 Seton Hall, #47 Lipscomb, #8 UNC, #74 GT, #32 NC State and #64 Pitt. They have lost to #6 Tennessee, #34 Marquette (in OT), #44 Indiana, #10 Kentucky and #64 Pitt (Pitt and L'ville have already played twice). L'ville is 3-2 on the road. They have a big game at home against UNC on Saturday; so, this is a look-ahead spot for the Cards.
Offense: Strong. #14 in the nation (#3 in the conference in ACC games). They do everything fairly well: the Cards get to the line a lot #11 in FTA/FGA, they make FTs (76% #21), and in ACC games, they have been particularly strong inside (shooting 55% from 2). They are a balanced scoring team as they score from 3 (36% in ACC games) as well as scoring from the line and from inside the paint. Interestingly, the Cards have increased tempo in conference games as they are #244 in tempo overall (67 possessions a game), but are #4 in the ACC in tempo in conference games (71 possessions a game).
Defense: Mack has ramped up L'ville's D in conference games. The Cards play mostly man and are the #2 team in the ACC in defense in conference games trailing only UVA. Their defense forces TOs (TO forces on 21.3% of opponents possessions in conference games), and they also keep opponents off the offensive glass (#3 in the ACC). L'ville also plays solid defense inside (47% on opponents 2 point shots #44).
Lineup: Recently, L'ville has played with an 8/9 man rotation. Bench players Darius Perry and Akoy Agau (G'town transfer that actually started at L'ville in 2014) missed Saturday's win over Pitt. The starters are: PG 6-2 Sr. Christen Cunningham (Samford transfer), SG 6-0 Khwan Fore (Richmond transfer - scored 8 points at WF last year for the Spiders), SF 6-5 Jr. Dwayne Sutton (UNC Ashville transfer), PF 6-7 Jordan Nwora (a non-transfer starter - shocker), C 6-10 Jr. Steven Enoch (UCONN)/6-11 So Malik Williams. Williams and Enoch split time in the post. Senior guard Ryan McMahon also plays significant minutes off the bench. Everyone can hit the 3. Nwora is their best player, and will be an all-ACC selection. He scored 32 in the win over BC, and has scored 20 or more 9 times this year. He had 5 threes in the blowout win at Chapel Hill.
Bottom line: L'ville has all of the elements needed for a solid team: size, depth, tough on d and are well-coached. KP projects a 77-66 Cardinals win and gives WF only a 15% chance to pull the upset. The Nwora/Hoard matchup should be a good one to watch, both may be in the NBA next year. I expect WF to hang in for awhile, mostly because L'ville has little reason to be focused on this game with a big game against UNC on deck, but have every reason to expect that WF will find a way to lose.
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