Coastal Carolina basketball coach Cliff Ellis said he hasn?t studied all of the remaining teams in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament field, but he believes there?s a ?fine line? separating the final eight participants.
And after two wins to advance this far in the 26-team tournament, the Chanticleers believe they are capable of winning the whole thing.
Of course, though, their next opponent surely feels the same way ? with good reason.
Grand Canyon comes to town with 27 wins on its resume and its own momentum heading into a CIT quarterfinals clash with the Chants on Wednesday night inside The HTC Center.
?You don?t win 27 games and not be good,? Ellis said of the Lopes. ?This team has beaten San Diego State on the road. That?s very impressive. They?ve beaten a lot of teams in postseason, just a lot of good wins. This will be as tough of a matchup as we?ve had all year. And it will be exciting. It?s a great time of year. There?s probably 40 or 45 teams still left playing. Any team you?re playing now it?s a good team and it will be a great basketball game. ? We?ll put our system up against theirs, see what happens and hopefully we can advance.?
Grand Canyon (27-6), which is coached by former NBA All-Star Dan Majerle, finished tied second in the regular-season Western Athletic Conference standings with NCAA tournament-bound Cal-Bakersfield and behind NIT-bound New Mexico State. But the Lopes (short for Antelopes, as the school prefers) aren?t eligible to compete in the conference tournament (or NCAA tournament) until the 2017-18 season as part of their four-year transition to full Division I status, so they settled for a third straight CIT appearance.
The team is led by 6-foot-4 guard Joshua Braun, who averages 16.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game while shooting 40.8 percent from 3-point range (73-of-179). Grandy Glaze, a 6-foot-6 forward, averages 13.9 points and 8.7 rebounds.
The Lopes advanced in the CIT this year with wins over South Carolina State (78-74) and Jackson State (64-54).
?They?re a high-powered offensive basketball team that can put numbers up,? Ellis said. ?They play like NBA teams play, they?re going to get after you on defense, they?re going to use the pick-and-roll, they?re going to rebound. They?re going to play you solid and tough.
?They?re inside-out oriented. They?ve got power in the paint and they?ve got tremendous 3-point shooting and they?ve got a point guard and guards that can really penetrate. So they?ve got the entire recipe to score. There?s not really a weakness.?
The Grand Canyon roster also features a name Chanticleers fans will readily recognize as former Coastal Carolina forward Uros Ljeskovic joined the Lopes for his final year of eligibility. He played in 58 games for the Chants during his freshman and sophomore seasons before being limited to eight games as a junior and eventually heading west.
He has started 15 games this season for the Lopes, but he?s only averaged 7.1 minutes per game along with 2.3 points and 1.1 rebounds per contest. He has played less than a minute in the CIT.
?It?s very strange that Uros is coming back,? Ellis said smiling at the irony that the veteran forward could still end his collegiate career at Coastal Carolina. ?It will be good to see him, and my thoughts are they?re going to have one heck of a scouting report because he?s going to tell them everything. He doesn?t play much. He plays very little, but I?m sure he?ll play some and it will be good to see him.?
Said senior forward Badou Diagne: ?I talked to him yesterday. It?s always funny. He tries to tell us, ?We?re going to beat you guys,? and I?m like, ?We?ll see tomorrow.? It?s good he?s coming back. We?ve been in touch the whole time because he?s my old roommate. It?s nice that he comes back and we [get] to play on the same court again.?
As for Diagne, he continues to be limited in practices while playing through a partially-torn fascia in his foot, but he?s off to a strong start in the tournament while averaging 14 points and 9 rebounds in wins over Mercer (65-57) and New Hampshire (71-62).
?Every time I get on the court I guess I don?t feel the pain anymore. I just go as hard as I can and just feel the pain later. It?s been good,? he said.
The Chants have advanced in the tournament with a pair of strong second halves and have enjoyed home-court advantage to this point, meeting the $38,500 guarantee required each round for hosting.
After playing in the NCAA tournament each of the last two years, the Coastal Carolina players have bought into making the most of this consolation tournament while picking up the first two official postseason wins in program history.
?It?s a blessing to still [be] having fun with these guys and play for Coach Ellis and this good group of seniors,? sophomore guard Jaylen Shaw said. ?? From the start we felt like we had a chance to win, but we?ve just got to stay focused and keep doing what coach is telling us to do.?
And after two wins to advance this far in the 26-team tournament, the Chanticleers believe they are capable of winning the whole thing.
Of course, though, their next opponent surely feels the same way ? with good reason.
Grand Canyon comes to town with 27 wins on its resume and its own momentum heading into a CIT quarterfinals clash with the Chants on Wednesday night inside The HTC Center.
?You don?t win 27 games and not be good,? Ellis said of the Lopes. ?This team has beaten San Diego State on the road. That?s very impressive. They?ve beaten a lot of teams in postseason, just a lot of good wins. This will be as tough of a matchup as we?ve had all year. And it will be exciting. It?s a great time of year. There?s probably 40 or 45 teams still left playing. Any team you?re playing now it?s a good team and it will be a great basketball game. ? We?ll put our system up against theirs, see what happens and hopefully we can advance.?
Grand Canyon (27-6), which is coached by former NBA All-Star Dan Majerle, finished tied second in the regular-season Western Athletic Conference standings with NCAA tournament-bound Cal-Bakersfield and behind NIT-bound New Mexico State. But the Lopes (short for Antelopes, as the school prefers) aren?t eligible to compete in the conference tournament (or NCAA tournament) until the 2017-18 season as part of their four-year transition to full Division I status, so they settled for a third straight CIT appearance.
The team is led by 6-foot-4 guard Joshua Braun, who averages 16.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game while shooting 40.8 percent from 3-point range (73-of-179). Grandy Glaze, a 6-foot-6 forward, averages 13.9 points and 8.7 rebounds.
The Lopes advanced in the CIT this year with wins over South Carolina State (78-74) and Jackson State (64-54).
?They?re a high-powered offensive basketball team that can put numbers up,? Ellis said. ?They play like NBA teams play, they?re going to get after you on defense, they?re going to use the pick-and-roll, they?re going to rebound. They?re going to play you solid and tough.
?They?re inside-out oriented. They?ve got power in the paint and they?ve got tremendous 3-point shooting and they?ve got a point guard and guards that can really penetrate. So they?ve got the entire recipe to score. There?s not really a weakness.?
The Grand Canyon roster also features a name Chanticleers fans will readily recognize as former Coastal Carolina forward Uros Ljeskovic joined the Lopes for his final year of eligibility. He played in 58 games for the Chants during his freshman and sophomore seasons before being limited to eight games as a junior and eventually heading west.
He has started 15 games this season for the Lopes, but he?s only averaged 7.1 minutes per game along with 2.3 points and 1.1 rebounds per contest. He has played less than a minute in the CIT.
?It?s very strange that Uros is coming back,? Ellis said smiling at the irony that the veteran forward could still end his collegiate career at Coastal Carolina. ?It will be good to see him, and my thoughts are they?re going to have one heck of a scouting report because he?s going to tell them everything. He doesn?t play much. He plays very little, but I?m sure he?ll play some and it will be good to see him.?
Said senior forward Badou Diagne: ?I talked to him yesterday. It?s always funny. He tries to tell us, ?We?re going to beat you guys,? and I?m like, ?We?ll see tomorrow.? It?s good he?s coming back. We?ve been in touch the whole time because he?s my old roommate. It?s nice that he comes back and we [get] to play on the same court again.?
As for Diagne, he continues to be limited in practices while playing through a partially-torn fascia in his foot, but he?s off to a strong start in the tournament while averaging 14 points and 9 rebounds in wins over Mercer (65-57) and New Hampshire (71-62).
?Every time I get on the court I guess I don?t feel the pain anymore. I just go as hard as I can and just feel the pain later. It?s been good,? he said.
The Chants have advanced in the tournament with a pair of strong second halves and have enjoyed home-court advantage to this point, meeting the $38,500 guarantee required each round for hosting.
After playing in the NCAA tournament each of the last two years, the Coastal Carolina players have bought into making the most of this consolation tournament while picking up the first two official postseason wins in program history.
?It?s a blessing to still [be] having fun with these guys and play for Coach Ellis and this good group of seniors,? sophomore guard Jaylen Shaw said. ?? From the start we felt like we had a chance to win, but we?ve just got to stay focused and keep doing what coach is telling us to do.?
