Atlantic Sun - Men's BB Tourney Preview

[spuwho]

Per NBCSports.com:

Atlantic Sun Tournament Preview and Postseason Awards



The 37th edition of the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament will look a little different. Defending tournament champion Mercer has moved on to the Southern Conference and regular-season champion North Florida hasn't had any sort of recent success. Of course, Florida Gulf Coast remains in the picture and the conference's campus sites tournament makes for an intriguing element as well.



When: March 3, 5, 8

Where: Campus sites (better seed, all rounds)

Final: March 8, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN2)

Favorite: North Florida

The Ospreys only lost to USC Upstate in Atlantic Sun play this season and swept No. 2 seed Florida Gulf Coast with double-digit wins in both games. The conference's most uptempo team, North Florida is riding a five-game winning streak entering the A-Sun Tournament and has homecourt advantage in every game thanks to the league's campus sites tournament policy for top seeds.

And if they lose?: Florida Gulf Coast

Dunk City won't play the same uptempo style that they used to, but they're still the No. 2 seed and a talented, experienced team. Brett Comer and Bernard Thompson are seniors who were both on the Sweet 16 team and both will want to return to the NCAA Tournament for one final time.

Sleepers:

USC Upstate: Home of the conference's leading scorer, guard Ty Greene, the Spartans beat top seed North Florida twice and wouldn't be scared to face them on the road in a title game.
Northern Kentucky: The Norsemen are the No. 4 seed and they've been tough at home but struggle on the road.
Player of the Year: Ty Greene, USC Upstate

The senior had always been a prolific scorer, but this season Greene upped his shooting percentages and led the conference in scoring at 20.1 per game. He also led the conference in steals per game at 2.2 a game and Greene helped lead the Spartans to third place in the conference in the regular season.

Coach of the Year: North Florida's Matthew Driscoll

In his sixth year, Driscoll has a regular season Atlantic Sun champion and the Ospreys will finish above .500 for the first time in his tenure this season.

All-Atlantic Sun Team:

Greene
Brett Comer, Florida Gulf Coast – Led the league in assists at 7 per game — second place was 4.2 per game — and also scored 12.4 points per game for the second-place Eagles.
Dallas Moore, North Florida – The leading scorer for the Ospreys was fourth in the league at 15.4 points per game while averaging 3.9 assists and 3 rebounds per game.
Josh Williams, Lipscomb – The sophomore came on strong this season, averaging 17.2 points and 5 rebounds per game while shooting 49 percent from the floor and 40 percent from 3-point range.
Jalen Billups, Northern Kentucky – Shooting a ridiculous 69 percent from the field was the 6-foot-6 junior, who averaged 11.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game in only 21 minutes per contest.
CBT PREDICTION: North Florida over Florida Gulf Coast


Side Note: The hosting team for the Atlantic Sun Tourney has lost the last 3 years in a row, time for UNF to break the spell.

[Dapperdan]

Anyone going to the game tonight? I will catch it on ESPN.

[Ajax]

I'll be there.  Kudos to Matt Driscoll and all of the players for a great regular season.  Hopefully they can continue the roll...

[urbanlibertarian]

JU's young team has been getting better lately, winning 3 of their last 5 games including vs Fl Gulf Coast who they play tonight.

http://judolphins.com/sports/mbkb/2014-15/releases/20150302vb5dv9

I like what I see from first year coach Tony Jasick.

[Tacachale]

I'll be there.

JU's young team has been getting better lately, winning 3 of their last 5 games including vs Fl Gulf Coast who they play tonight.

http://judolphins.com/sports/mbkb/2014-15/releases/20150302vb5dv9

I like what I see from first year coach Tony Jasick.

It wouldn't hurt my feelings if JU pulls an upset and knocks FGCU out.

[Dapperdan]

I would like to see Upstate get knocked out. Upstate is like the Titans were for the 14-2 Jaguars. Can't explain it, just don't want them to play UNF.

[Ajax]

JU's young team has been getting better lately, winning 3 of their last 5 games including vs Fl Gulf Coast who they play tonight.

http://judolphins.com/sports/mbkb/2014-15/releases/20150302vb5dv9

I like what I see from first year coach Tony Jasick.

Agreed.  Gene Frenette had a good article about JU in the T-U today - it's behind their paywall.  Yeah, JU beat FGCU and USC-Upstate, that's a couple of pretty nice wins for them to build on. 

[Ajax]

I would like to see Upstate get knocked out. Upstate is like the Titans were for the 14-2 Jaguars. Can't explain it, just don't want them to play UNF.

Haha - that's exactly how I feel!  I was thinking the same thing about the Titans. 

For me - the nervous fan, I would like to see someone knock out Upstate.  For the players - there's a reason they're successful at what they do - they're confident and not afraid to play the good teams.  So I'm sure they would like the opportunity to avenge those losses.  But from the nervous fan perspective, I don't want to see Upstate again this year! 

[Downtown Osprey]

I think I would rather play Upsate  then having to try and beat FGCU for a third time.

[Tacachale]

I think I would rather play Upsate  then having to try and beat FGCU for a third time.

Yeah, beating a good team three times is a tall order. That goes for both UNF over FGCU and USC Upstate over UNF.

[copperfiend]

UNF had Upstate on the ropes early that first game. Was surprised they blew the lead to be honest. From what I remember, they had one really good player who could shoot from anywhere.

[copperfiend]

In the end, I just want the Ospreys to make it to Sunday. There will be a good student turnout and I have a feeling that place will be rocking. Nationally televised home game with a shot at making the tourney. Would be fun to see.

[CityLife]

UNF is ranked 172 in the RPI, which I would guess will be high enough to keep them from a play in game. Heck, if some upsets happen in conference tournaments they could even have a shot at a 15 seed.

ASun is also the 30th ranked conference out of 33, so I would guess the winners of those lower leagues would get the play in game

[CityLife]

^Correction, I just looked at the lower leagues and they all have a team that is ranked higher than UNF. UNF is actually the lowest ranked regular season conference champ in the country. May actually need a few upsets in conference tourney's to avoid being in one of the 2 play in games. Basically, the lowest 4 automatic qualifiers and lowest 4 at large teams have play in games.

[spuwho]

UNF had Upstate on the ropes early that first game. Was surprised they blew the lead to be honest. From what I remember, they had one really good player who could shoot from anywhere.

USC Upstate has all conference guard Ty Greene. The first time they played they limited Greene to 6 points in the first half. UNF had a 13 point lead. In the second half Ty got hot and started knocking off the threes and UNF didnt have an answer. They could t stop him and UNF got cold. UNF finally got hot with 2:30 left and got it down to 1. They had 3 chances to take the lead and could t come through.

I dont know what happened up in Spartanburg. Ty Greene had 28 points.  I ran into Ty at Pei Wei when they were down here.

As far as NCAA playoffs its pretty clear cut.

UNF has to win the tourney to get the automatic conference bid. Period. Their RPI is way to high to get an at large berth.

If UNF loses in the tourney, as the regular season champ they would get the automatic NIT bid.

So UNF HAS TO WIN the next 3 games to make the NCAA playoffs.