COLUMBIA, Mo.—After hosting and winning the programs first ever American Midwest Conference postseason game last night, the William Woods University men's basketball team will look to pull an upset against No. 1 seed Columbia College on the road Thursday night. Tip-off will start at 7 p.m.
The No. 8 seed Owls (9-22; 6-14 AMC), could not be stopped on offense last night against Missouri Baptist, as they closed out the evening missing just 18 shots and finishing with a season-high and school record 61.7 shooting percentage from the field.
The starting five of
Blake Burgess,
Matt Helle,
Dontre' Jenkins,
Jonathon Nutt and
Seth Thomas played well all night, combining for 69 of the teams 94 points, shot 67.7 percent and grabbed down 16 of the 27 rebounds for the Owls.
"These five have played some smart basketball together as of late," said head coach
Nick Totta. "They share the ball well and are taking good shots. Three of them have been together for four years, Blake (Burgess) has been here for two and then you throw in Matt (Helle) who has been really been here for four years also, they are just familiar with each other on the court and it helps them execute," he added.
Nutt led all scorers on the night, totaling 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting, while Thomas netted 15 points, nine of which came from beyond the three-point arc. Jenkins was a perfect 3-of-3 from the field and went 6-of-8 from the free-throw line, totaling 12 points, while Helle and Burgess added 10 points each.
This will be the third meeting between the Owls and No. 4-ranked Cougars (28-2; 19-1 AMC), who won the 2013-14 AMC regular season title for the fourth straight season.
These two teams first squared off all the way back on Dec. 5
th inside Anderson Arena, and it was Columbia escaping with a 75-71 victory. On Jan. 30
th, they met for the final time in regular season play at CC, and the Cougars rolled past the short-handed Owls 81-59.
WWU is averaging 65.0 points in the two games against Columbia and shooting 41.0 percent from the field, while CC is putting up 78.0 points and hitting 51.7 percent of their shots against the Owls defense.
Despite missing the second outing at Columbia, Nutt and
Patrick Lewis have played well against the Cougars, as Nutt totaled 21 points and Lewis had 16 the first time the two teams played in Fulton, Mo. Jenkins and
Nate Bitner are both averaging 9.0 points, with Jenkins shooting 53.8 percent from the floor. Â
"You want to be at your best and healthy when playing a good team like Columbia," said Totta. "With Nutt and Lewis ready to play for this third game, I am hoping these two can contribute again for us like they did in the first meeting."
On the season, Columbia is led by senior guard Devin Griffin, averaging 16.5 points off the bench, shooting 46.3 percent from the field and is second on the team in assists with 84. Derrick Dilworth, who has missed a few games due to injury this season, is still putting up 13.1 points, while Jeremy Nolen has upped his season average to 10.2
points, after scoring a season-high 27 points in the regular season finale against Missouri Baptist.
"Devin (Griffin) is a heck of a player, but they have so many pieces to watch out for," said Totta. "One guy that makes them go on offense is Nolen, who gets underappreciated at times, as he is a really good player. It isn't just a one headed monster team, they have many different assets and we will need to be extremely competitive with them tomorrow," he added.
Patric Massey will be another player to keep an eye out for, as he is putting up 9.2 points and shooting an astounding 62.5 percent from the field and has totaled 175 rebounds (5.8 rpg).
"In order to have success there we need to continue playing well on offense," said Totta. "They are an outstanding team and it will be a tough challenge for us, but we will need to be just as good as them on both ends of the floor."
Fans stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow night for a full recap and score from Columbia, Mo.
