The Lipscomb Bisons did nearly everything right this season, except win the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament.
Liberty edged Lipscomb 74-68 for the second time in three meetings to earn the coveted NCAA Tournament berth. The Bisons have responded by winning 89-81 at Davidson March 19 and 86-69 at UNC Greensboro last Saturday in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).
NC State (24-11) hosts Lipscomb (27-7) at 9 p.m. Wednesday at historic Reynolds Coliseum on ESPNU. The Wolfpack have topped Hofstra and Harvard in NIT action.
Lipscomb and Belmont have always been linked in many ways due in part to just being 2.1 miles apart in Nashville, Tenn. The two teams also got mentioned a lot this month with Belmont receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and Lipscomb making some noise in the NIT. The Bisons lost two meetings to Belmont in non-conference action — 87-83 Nov. 15 and 76-74 Dec. 4.
Lipscomb reached the NCAA Tournament last year and fell 84-66 to North Carolina.
Here is a scouting report on Lipscomb:
Season Overview
Liberty’s balanced scoring helped the Flames squeak by Lipscomb in the A-Sun Tournament title game, and that relegated the Bisons to the NIT.
Lipscomb did play an ambitious non-conference slate with games at SMU (a 79-73 win), at TCU (a 73-64 victory), Louisville (a 72-68 loss) and Clemson (an 84-67 defeat). Add in the two losses against Belmont and a win over Vermont (91-66), another NCAA Tournament team, and it is clear the Bisons challenged themselves.
The only other Atlantic Sun squad to top Lipscomb besides Liberty — which did it twice — was Florida Gulf Coast, which earned a 67-61 home win Feb. 20.
Rankings
In the NET rankings, Lipscomb finished No. 49 in the country. KenPom.com has Lipscomb at No. 43, and ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Bisons at No. 46.
The Bisons is ranked No. 70 in the old RPI formula used by the NCAA — according to RealTimeRPI.com.
For comparison, NC State is 28th in BPI, 33rd in the NET, 38th in KenPom.com and 97th in RPI.
Shooting
Lipscomb far and away led the Atlantic Sun in scoring at 83.7 points per game, due in part to quality shooting. The Bisons were second in the league in field goal percentage (48.6) and led the way in three-point field goal percentage (37.5).
Seven different players have made at least 16 three-point field goals, but senior Garrison Mathews leads the way with 102 made treys and is shooting 40.0 percent from long distance. Bench reserve Matt Rose has made 45 three-point field goals and is shooting 38.8 percent.
Rebounding
The Bisons finished second out of nine teams in the Atlantic Sun with 37.4 rebounds per game, 9.1 of which came on the offensive boards. However, Lipscomb is plus-4.8 in rebounding margin, which does lead the league.
Senior center Eli Pepper is slender at 6-8 and 210 pounds, but he leads the way with 7.3 rebounds per game, and he has averaged at least seven boards a game all four years with the Bisons. He has grabbed at least 10 rebounds in eight contests, including going for 17 rebounds and 19 points in a 86-79 win over Tennessee State in the second game of the season.
Defense
Lipscomb doesn’t have a shot blocker (they average just 2.7 rejections per game), but it still led the Atlantic Sun in limiting opponents to a league-best 41.5-percent shooting from the field and 31.7-percent accuracy from three-point range.
Depth
The Bisons will use a 10-man rotation, and only Mathews played more than 27 minutes against UNCG. The aforementioned Rose is averaging 5.9 points and 2.1 rebounds in 13.6 minutes per game, but he has plenty of experience. The 6-7, 197-pound junior forward has reached double figures in seven games.
Burly freshman center Ahsan Asadullah is averaging 7.4 points and 4.8 rebounds in 14.2 minutes per game. The 6-9, 277-pounder has a combined 17 points and 11 rebounds in two NIT games.
Senior point guard Nathan Moran, sophomore wing Andrew Fleming and freshman wing Jake Wolfe provide depth.
Star Watch
Senior wing Garrison Mathews is aiming to average better than 20 points the last three years of his Lipscomb career. The Franklin, Tenn., product is averaging 19.9 points per game, and shooting 40.0 percent from three-point range and 85.6 percent on free throws.
The 6-5, 204-pounder hasn’t shot well in the two NIT games — making a combined 10 of 29 from the field and 4 of 17 on three-pointers — but has grinded his way to 37 points and 18 boards against UNCG and Davidson.
Mathews has topped 30 points in three contests, with a season-high 32 against New Jersey Institute of Technology Feb. 25. He had a career-high 43 points and 13 rebounds in an 86-71 win at Kennesaw State on Jan. 6, 2018. He has hit at least four three-pointers in 12 contests this season.
Mathews averaged 14.0 points and 6.0 rebounds his senior year at Franklin High, and he picked Lipscomb over South Carolina Upstate, UMass Lowell, Austin Peay and Lees-McRae.
Likely starters:
NC State
PG — 11 Markell Johnson (6-1, 175, Jr., 12.4 ppg., 2.7 rpg., 4.2 apg, 1.0 spg.)
SG — 13 C.J. Bryce (6-5, 195, R-Jr., 11.6 ppg., 4.6 rpg., 1.7 apg., 1.1 spg.)
G — 10 Braxton Beverly (6-0, 180, So., 9.5 ppg., 1.6 rpg., 2.5 apg.)
F — 2 Torin Dorn (6-5, 210, 5th-Sr., 13.4 ppg., 7.2 rpg., 1.3 apg., 1.0 spg.)
C — 33 Wyatt Walker (6-9, 240, R-Jr., 4.8 ppg., 4.3 rpg., 0.8 apg.)
Lipscomb
PG — 21 Kenny Cooper (6-0, 187, Jr., 10.2 ppg., 3.5 rpg., 4.2 apg., 1.9 spg.)
SG — 24 Garrison Mathews (6-5, 204, Sr., 19.9 ppg., 5.3 rpg., 2.0 apg.)
SF — 3 Michael Buckland (6-4, 198, Jr., 6.0 pp.g, 2.7 rpg., 2.1 apg.)
PF — 0 Rob Marberry (6-7, 211, Sr., 15.0 ppg., 4.3 rpg., 2.0 apg.)
C — 22 Eli Pepper (6-8, 210, Sr., 7.6 ppg., 7.3 rpg., 1.8 apg.)
Stats To Watch
Road warriors: Lipscomb is one of 22 Division I teams with double-digit road victories this season, and the triumphs at Davidson and UNCG in the NIT gave the Bisons a school-record 13 away from home. They are currently tied with UC Irvine and Stony Brook for most wins away from home.
Spreading the wealth: The Bisons rank eighth in the country with 17.4 assists per game, with junior point guard Kenny Cooper leading the A-Sun with 4.2 per game. Lipscomb had 17 assists and 11 turnovers in the close loss against Louisville, but just seven assists and 22 turnovers in the 17-point loss at Clemson.
Garrison Mathews stretches the defense: Nine times Lipscomb star senior wing Garrison Mathews has attempted at least 10 three-pointers. He’s going to let it fly when he crosses halfcourt, and with him making 40.0 percent from long range this season, that plan seems to be working. He is just 4 of 17 on the three-pointers in the NIT, which pushed the three-point arc back to 22 feet, 1.75 inches.
Game Within The Game: Lipscomb’s Kenny Cooper Versus NCSU’s Markell Johnson
Junior point guard Kenny Cooper will have his hands full in battling NC State junior point guard Markell Johnson.
The 6-0, 187-pound Cooper has been steady the last two years for his hometown college. He is averaging 10.2 points, 4.2 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game this season. He has 176 career steals, and has 140 assists and 73 turnovers this season.
Cooper never had more than 13 field goals attempts this season, and has eclipsed more than 10 field goal attempts just 11 times this season. He had a season-high 24 points in an 86-79 win over Tennessee State in the second game of the season Nov. 10. He followed with 18 in the first meeting against Belmont the next game.
Johnson has been sharp in the NIT, with only intermittent foul trouble slowing him down. He has a combined 39 points and 10 assists in the two wins. Johnson is averaging a career-high 12.4 points per game and is shooting an impressive 40.8 percent on three-pointers.
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