East Tennessee State punches 11th ticket to NCAA Tournament by knocking off defending champions
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| ETSU senior guard Tray Boyd III |
East Tennessee State 72, Wofford 58
Top seeded East Tennessee State finished what they started, claiming the 2020 Southern Conference regular season and tournament titles, as the Bucs posted a 72-58 win over No. 7 seed and defending SoCon champion Wofford Monday night before a sellout crowd on hand at the Harrah's Cherokee Center.
The win punched ETSU’s 11th ticket to the NCAA Tournament, marked the14th-straight win, and clinched the program’s eighth Southern Conference crown, as the Bucs became just the fourth team in Southern Conference history to win 30 games, improving to 30-4 overall. ETSU will be making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017.
ETSU joins the 2018-19 Wofford Terriers (30-5), the 1950-51 North Carolina State Wolfpack (30-7) and the 1946-47 North Carolina Tar Heels (30-5).Wofford ended its season with a 19-16 record. The Bucs are the first team in Southern Conference history to enter the tournament with 30 wins. ETSU will see who it will face in the upcoming NCAA Tournament in Sunday’s NCAA Tournament selection show to be broadcast by CBS at 6:30 p.m. EST.
ETSU senior guard Isaiah Tisdale was sensational in the championship win for the Bucs, scoring a game-high 24 points and his play during the tournament was that of a man on a mission, as well as personifying a team on a mission. For his three double-figure scoring games during the tournament, and in particular, his performance in Monday night’s championship game, Tisdale was selected as the SoCon Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
Tisdale finished the contest connecting on 5-of-8 shots from the field, including going 4-for-7 from three-point land. He was also 10-for-11 from the charity stripe. The only other Bucs player in double figures in the contest was Tray Boyd III, who chipped in with 11 points.
Wofford was led in the contest by Chevez Goodwin, who posted 18 points, five rebounds and one block. The junior also finished going a perfect 8-for-8 from the the field, including 2-for-4 from the free throw line to equal his point total. The only other Terrier in double figures was Tray Hollowell off the bench, who posted 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and was 3-for-5 from three-point land.
The Bucs ran out to an 11-2 lead early, however, Wofford responded with a 9-0 run to tie the game almost as quickly, in what what was a frenetic start to the 100th edition of the Southern Conference Tournament championship game.
ETSU would match its nine-point lead with 11:49 remaining in the game on a triple by Patrick Good, however, on Wofford’s next possession, Lucas N’Guessan picked up his fourth foul, as ETSU led 49-40 heading into the second media timeout of the second half. The Bucs then responded with six-straight points following a Joe Hugley three-point play the old-fashioned and one of Tisdale’s four triples, taking a 17-11 lead with 13:44 remaining in the first half.
Wofford responded with another haymaker of its own, going on a 13-2 run to take the lead, 24-19, following a Messiah Jones layup in the lane with just under eight minutes remaining in the opening frame. Over the next five minutes, the game featured three ties, with the last coming when Storm Murphy drained a three, answering three-straight made free throws from Tisdale, knotting the game, 29-29, with three minutes to play in the first half.
The Bucs would close the half on a flurry, however, with Tisdale scoring the final seven points of the half for the Bucs, as they went to the halftime locker room with all of the momentum, leading 36-31 at the break.
In the second half, the stage was set for Hugley to re-enter the lineup following Lucas N’Guessan’s fourth personal foul with 11:23 left and the Bucs having a 49-40 lead following a Patrick Good three-pointer. With the game in a precarious spot for the Terriers, Hugley would help the Bucs start to pull away from the Terriers and helping the Bucs to their first double-digit lead of the night after ripping a rebound away from Wofford’s Chevez Goodwin, and then nailing a right elbow three on the other end, as the Bucs assumed a 52-40 lead with 10:45 left.
The Terriers could never get within double digits of ETSU the remainder of the week, and a pair of Boyd free throws would see the Bucs lead grow to as large as 18 points (72-54) with 1:11 remaining. Wofford scored the final four points of the game, but the celebrations had already begun among the partisan ETSU sellout crowd of 6,400 fans on hand at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center.
ETSU finished the night connecting on 48.9% (23-of-47) from the field, including hitting on 42.9% (9-of-21) from three-point range, while holding the Terriers to 43.4% (23-of-53) from the field and just 24.0% (6-of-25) from three-point range. Coming into Monday night’s championship game, the Terriers had hit on 49.3% (36-of-73) shots from three-point range through their first three games of the tournament coming into the championship game.
Wofford held advantages in points in the paint (26-24), points off turnovers (17-15), bench scoring (21-20), and fast-break points (6-4). ETSU held a slight advantage in points in the paint (7-6), while posting advantages in total assists (12-7) and total rebounds (32-27). Both teams took relatively good care of the basketball, as the Bucs turned it over 13 times, while Wofford finished with 11.
Quotable:
ETSU head coach Steve Forbes on when he knew the team was at a different level
“There was a couple of things I could tell you. The win at LSU. I don’t believe in moral victories but, when we went to Kansas and we were down five with four to go and we were right there, had the ball, I’ve been in there a lot of times and just got whipped. A lot of teams. So I knew then we had a chance. Didn’t get it done. Then we went to LSU and popped them. Had them down 23 in the second half and beat them by double digits, So I knew we had a chance. Then Jeromy [Rodriguez] got hurt against Furman, tough loss and the sky was falling in Johnson City. Came back and beat Greensboro on the road. Kind of exorcised a demon that we haven’t won there in a while. So I knew we’d be okay. And after Mercer, we changed. Changed the starting lineup, got better on offense and we haven't lost since. Those were probably the biggest moments for me. Important to get Jeromy back before the tournament. He made a lot of plays defensively for us.”
ETSU senior forward Joe Hugley on energizing the team
“Every game I try to come in, no matter if I play five or 20 minutes, I have to affect the game in the most efficient way possible. I think today I knew we needed some energy. We took a punch from them and I tried to do whatever I could to help us punch back. I did everything the team needed me to do and that’s been my role all year. Just filling the plug. Going out there and getting it done no matter how many minutes I played. Just affect the game positively any way I can.”
Wofford junior guard Storm Murphy on how this will motivate the team for next year
“We came in thinking ‘we’re the defending champions this year.’ We had some rough patches but I’m proud of our team for how we did in getting here. All three of us [himself, Goodwin and Hollowell] have learned a ton this year and we’ve learned how to lead and how to create a program that is a winning program. We will all have to step up in major ways and lead better.”
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