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NCAA Tournament Primer: Wofford Terriers

Wofford

Get to know all of the NCAA Tournament’s automatic bids here.

Conference: Southern Conference

Coach: Mike Young

Record: 20-12 (11-5 Southern Conference)

Rankings and Ratings:

- Kenpom: 183
- RPI: 164
- AP/USA Today: Not ranked

Seeding?: In Dave Ommen’s most recent bracket, Wofford, which had earned the third seed in the conference tournament, was afforded the Southern’s auto bid. However, per Ommen, the bid could result in a trip to Dayton as one of the field’s last four teams.

Names you need to know: Karl Cochran (15.4 ppg, 38.9% 3FG%); Lee Skinner (11.2 ppg, 8.6 rpg)

Stats you need to know: Wofford posted the conference’s second stingiest defense, and the Terriers are known to excel at forcing turnovers and hauling in defensive boards. While Young’s squad doesn’t take many threes, they convert their limited attempts, and the offense has been boosted by the emergence of freshman Eric Garcia: over the past seven games, Garcia has used 303 possessions and dished out 24 assists.

Tendencies: Wofford has a very deliberate offense. While the team only uses 62 or so possessions per Southern contest, the squad isn’t a grind-it-out team; rather, they are opportunistic, working their halfcourt set until roughly 15 seconds remain in the shot clock -- an approach makes the Terriers a difficult team to defend.

Big wins, bad losses: Wofford interestingly doesn’t have many bad losses -- non-conference defeats to Iona, William & Mary, Georgia, VCU, and Saint Louis aren’t worth chiding -- and four of their five conference losses were to either Chattanooga or Davidson, the top two seeds in the conference tourney. With that context, though, Wofford doesn’t have many big wins either.

How’d they get here?: By allowing other Southern teams to knock out the favorites. After an easy opening round thrashing of the Citadel, Wofford faced off against No. 7 seed Georgia Southern, which had defeated Chattanooga for the second time in 2014. Western Carolina overcame a second half double-digit deficit and knocked out tourney favorite Davidson, and while Monday’s night final was emotionally exhausting and thrilling to watch -- the second half was filled with a bevy of threes -- Wofford’s path back to the field of 68 was paved.

Outlook: The team certainly doesn’t lack for experience and postseason poise: this is the third time in five seasons the Terriers have earned the conference’s auto bid.

How do I know you?: The longtime coach at the Spartanburg-based school, Young has been a member of Wofford’s coaching staff since the program was at the Division II level. Sadly for those who pick their bracket based on the presence of colorful player names, Indiana Faithfull, a guard with arguably the best name in college hoops, left the team in mid-February.

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