2016-17 Men's Basketball Final Report
Rob Washburn
FINAL 2016-17 CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL REPORT (PDF format) - Includes final stats, team-by-team notes
CONFERENCE NOTES:
UNCW EDGED BY VIRGINIA IN NCAA TOURNAMENT: CAA champion UNCW was edged 76-71 by Virginia in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship in Orlando. The 12th-seeded Seahawks jumped out to a 15-point first-half lead and were up 28-14 before the Cavaliers went on a late run to take a 30-29 advantage into intermission. UNCW stayed close throughout the second half and got within 73-71 with 53 seconds to go, but UVA was able to hang on. Chris Flemmings scored a team-high 18 points for the Seahawks, while Denzel Ingram added 17. Devontae Cacock recorded his CAA-best 13th double-double with 12 points and a team-high 15 rebounds. It was the Seahawks’ sixth NCAA Tournament appearance, all of which have come since 2000.
CHARLESTON FALLS TO COLORADO STATE IN NIT: College of Charleston dropped an 81-74 decision at Colorado State in the first round of the NIT. The Cougars trailed 42-33 at the half but rallied to within three (72-69) with 5:21 remaining. Joe Chealey led five players in double figures with 16 points. Grant Riller and Cameron Johnson added 15 points and Jarrell Brantley posted his 12th double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. It was CofC’s fifth appearance in the NIT, but first since 2011.
CAA VS. ACC AGAIN: For the third year in a row, the CAA champion faced an ACC member in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Notre Dame beat Northeastern 69-65 in 2015 and Duke topped UNCW 93-85 in 2016, before Virginia’s victory over UNCW this year. Prior to those three losses, the CAA had won three straight against ACC foes in the NCAA Tournament.
NU’S WILLIAMS NAMED HONORABLE MENTION ALL-AMERICA: Northeastern senior guard T.J. Williams received honorable mention All-America honors from the Associated Press. The CAA Player of the Year led the league in scoring (21.4 ppg) and was second in assists (5.3 apg). Williams was just the second player in NU history to receive the honor.
GRANT, 10 PLAYERS EARN ALL-DISTRICT HONORS: Charleston’s Earl Grant was recognized as the NABC District 10 Coach of the Year after guidng the Cougars to a 25-10 record and an NIT berth. Named to the NABC District 10 first team were CofC’s Jarrell Brantley and Joe Chealey, W&M’s Daniel Dixon, Northeastern’s T.J. Williams and Hofstra’s Justin Wright-Foreman. The second team included UNCW’s C.J. Bryce, Devontae Cacok, Chris Flemmings and Denzel Ingram along with W&M’s Omar Prewitt.
McGRATH NAMED HEAD COACH AT UNCW: C.B. McGrath, who worked as an assistant coach at reigning national champion North Carolina for the past 14 years, was selected as the new head coach at UNCW. He replaces Kevin Keatts, who was named the head coach at NC State after guiding the Seahawks to three regular-season and two tournament titles.
UNCW WINS SIXTH CAA CHAMPIONSHIP: C.J. Bryce scored a game-high 24 points and Devontae Cacok posted his 12th double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds to lead top-seeded UNCW past #2 College of Charleston, 78-69, in the CAA Men’s Basketball Championship game. It was the sixth CAA title for the Seahawks, tying Old Dominion for the most in league history. UNCW also became the first back-to-back CAA champions since ODU in 2010-11. The Seahawks held a narrow 47-45 lead with 13:31 to play before going on a 18-5 run over the next five minutes, with Bryce nailing a 3-pointer that put UNCW ahead 65-50 with 8:25 remaining. The Seahawks shot 66.7% from the floor, including 6-of-10 from 3-point range, in the second half against the league’s top defensive team. Joe Chealey paced CofC with 21 points and Jarrell Brantley added 20 points and 11 rebounds.
BRYCE TOPS ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: UNCW sophomore guard C.J. Bryce was selected as the Most Outstanding Player of the CAA Men’s Basketball Championship. Bryce averaged 19.0 ppg in the Seahawks’ three victories, including a team-high 24 points in the title game. He was joined on the all-tournament team by UNCW’s Devontae Cacok and Denzel Ingram, CofC’s Jarrell Brantley and Joe Chealey, and Delaware’s Ryan Daly.
UNCW CAPTURES THIRD STRAIGHT REGULAR-SEASON TITLE: UNCW captured its third straight CAA regular-season title with a 15-3 mark. The Seahawks were the first team to capture three consecutive regular-season crowns since VCU did it from 2007-09.
PILING UP THE WINS: UNCW was one of 15 teams in Division I with at least 29 wins this season. The others were Arizona, Cincinnati, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, North Carolina, Oregon, Saint Mary’s, SMU, UCLA, Vermont, Villanova and Wichita State. The 29 victories were tied for the second-most ever by a CAA team in a season, trailing only Navy, which went 30-5 in 1985-86. Drexel and VCU went 29-7 in 2011-12.
THREE CAA TEAMS IN TOP 94 IN FINAL RPI REPORT: Three CAA teams were ranked in the top 94 in the final NCAA RPI rankings. UNCW led the way at #33, College of Charleston was ranked #65 and Towson was ranked #94. Only 10 other conferences (American, ACC, Atlantic 10, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Mountain West, Pac 12, SEC and West Coast) had three teams in the top 95 of the RPI. The CAA was ranked #11 among the nation’s 32 Division I leagues.
NU’S WILLIAMS HEADLINES ALL-CAA TEAM: Northeastern senior guard T.J. Williams, who averaged a league-best 21.6 points and 5.3 assists per game, was chosen as the 2016-17 CAA men’s basketball Player of the Year. He was the first Huskies’ player since Jose Juan Barea in 2006 to receive the award. Also receiving top honors were College of Charleston’s Earl Grant as CAA Coach of the Year, Delaware guard Ryan Daly as CAA Rookie of the Year and UNCW forward Devontae Cacok as Defensive Player of the Year. College of Charleston junior Evan Bailey was the recipient of the Dean Ehlers Leadership Award.
WILLIAMS NAMED TO USBWA ALL-DISTRICT TEAM: Northeastern guard T. J. Williams was named to the USBWA All-District 1 team. He averaged a CAA-best 21.4 ppg this season and scored double figures in all 30 games, including a league-best 18 games with at least 20 points. Williams was also second in the conference in assists (5.3 apg).
HOME SWEET HOME: Home teams won 64.4% (58-32) of their games in CAA play this season, reversing a trend from the past two years. William & Mary, UNCW and Towson all finished 8-1 at home, while CofC and Elon were 7-2. All 10 teams won at least three conference games at home. Only UNCW and CofC had winning records (7-2) on the road in league action. Home teams were 45-45 in CAA play last season and 47-43 in 2014-15.
UNCW’s CACOK SETS NCAA MARK FOR FG PERCENTAGE: UNCW’s Devontae Cacok set an NCAA record for field goal percentage in a season by shooting 80% from the floor. He broke the mark of 74.6% set by Oregon State’s Steve Johnson in 1980-81. Cacok also ranked 22nd in rebounding (9.8 rpg) according in the final NCAA stats. Northeastern’s T.J. Williams, who tallied 20+ points 18 times this season, ranked 14th nationally in scoring (21.4 ppg). UNCW guard Denzel Ingram was 23th in 3-pointers per game (3.1), 32nd in assists (5.4 apg) and 10th in assist/TO ratio.
HOFSTRA’S GUSTYS RANKS 4TH IN DIVISION I IN REBOUNDS: Hofstra junior Rokas Gustys ranked fourth nationally with 12.1 rebounds per game this season. He grabbed 25 rebounds in the Pride’s 65-57 win over South Dakota on Nov. 23, which was the 2nd-most by any NCAA Div. I player this season, and had 23 rebounds in a season-opening victory over Coppin State. Last season, Gustys had six games with at least 20 boards and ranked second nationally with 13.0 rpg. He’s had 10 or more rebounds 19 times this season and has 11 double-doubles. The 25 rebounds tied Navy All-American David Robinson (1986) for the second-most rebounds in a game in CAA history and was just one off the conference mark of 26 set by William & Mary’s David Cully in 1996. With 933 career rebounds, Gustys ranks 12th on the CAA’s all-time list.
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES: Northeastern freshman Bolden Brace tied a CAA record with 10 three-pointers and scored 40 points in the Huskies’ 105-104 double OT win at Elon on Feb. 23. It was the first 40-point effort by a CAA player since Delaware’s Davon Usher scored 42 vs. CofC in 2014 and the 10 treys tied the league mark set by George Mason’s Dre Smith (2008) and Georgia State’s R.J. Hunter (2013). In the same game, NU’s T.J. Williams recorded the first triple-double by a Huskies’ player since 2006 with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists, and Elon’s Tyler Seibring scored a career-high 30 points with 12 rebounds.
ELON’S SEIBRING NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA: Elon sophomore Tyler Seibring was chosen to the CoSIDA Academic All-America third team on Thursday. A double major in economics and English, Seibring is Elon’s first men’s basketball Academic All-American since 2011. The team recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom. Seibring and Elon teammate Steven Santa Ana were honored on the Academic All-District 3 first team and College of Charleston junior Evan Bailey made the District 4 first team.
WILLIAMS, WRIGHT-FOREMAN MAKE BIG SCORING JUMPS: Hofstra’s Justin Wright-Foreman and Northeastern’s T.J. Williams were the nation’s two most improved scorers this season according to STATS LLC. Wright-Foreman had an improvement of 16.5 ppg, going from 1.6 ppg last season to 18.1 ppg in 2016-17. Williams had a jump of 14.6 ppg, going from 6.8 ppg last season to a league-best 21.4 ppg this year.
W&M’s PREWITT AMONG SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATES: William & Mary senior guard/forward Omar Prewitt was one of 30 candiates nationally for the men’s basketball Senior CLASS Award, which recognizes student-athletes in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
CAA LEADS THE NATION IN ROAD VICTORIES: CAA teams won 27 true road games and were 9-9 on neutral courts against non-conference foes this season. The 27 road wins were the most of any Division I conference. Eight CAA teams recorded multiple road victories in non-conference play, led by UNCW, Northeastern and Drexel with four each.
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: CAA teams concluded regular-season non-conference play with a combined 72-55 record. Eight of the league’s 10 teams posted .500 or better overall records against non-league foes.
FRESHMEN MAKE BIG IMPACT: The future appears to be bright based on performances from freshmen around the conference. Delaware guard Ryan Daly ranked among the top 10 in the CAA in scoring (16.0 ppg) and rebounding (7.4 rpg) and scored double figures in 21 of his last 23 games. Drexel guard Kurk Lee scored double figures in 26 games this season and ranked 10th in the league in scoring (14.9 ppg) and 4th in assists (5.0 apg). CofC guard Grant Riller averaged 13.1 ppg and scored double figures in 15 of his last 18 games. Hofstra guard Eli Pemberton reached the 20-point mark six times and ranked 21st in the CAA with 12.8 ppg. W&M’s Nathan Knight averaged 8.2 ppg and 4.4 rpg and led the CAA in blocked shots (1.3 bpg). Drexel’s Kari Jonsson (10.1 ppg) led the CAA in 3-point FG percentage (43.6%). Northeastern’s trio of freshmen Shawn Occeus, Max Boursiquot and Bolden Brace combined to average 18.2 ppg and 9.4 rpg.
TWO CAA TEAMS RANKED IN FINAL MID-MAJOR POLL: UNCW was ranked #3 and College of Charleston was ranked #16 in the final CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll for the 2016-17 season. Towson was among others receiving votes.
UNCW, NORTHEASTERN SET CAA MARK FOR 3-POINTERS: UNCW and Northeastern both set the CAA record for 3-pointers in a game this season. The Seahawks went 21-of-32 from 3-point range against Delaware on Feb. 6, and the Huskies were 21-of-33 from beyond the arc vs. Delaware on Jan. 5. The previous CAA treys record was 20, set by VCU in 2010 and Navy in 1990.