Wooster Game Notes - NCAA Div. III Basketball Championships (First & Second Rounds)

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Outlook: For the NCAA Div. III record 18th consecutive season, The College of Wooster men's basketball team (21-7) is dancing in March. The Fighting Scots earned the North Coast Athletic Conference's Pool A (automatic) bid to the 2020 NCAA Div. III Championships field by virtue of winning last week's NCAC Tournament for the conference-leading 17th time. Wooster was selected to host of the 16 four-team pods this week. Wooster will play Grove City College (20-8), champion of the Presidents' Athletic Conference Tournament at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, March 6. Elmhurst College (23-5), which won its first College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament in program history, and Lycoming College (20-8), winners of the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth Tournament meet in Friday's 4 p.m. game. Friday's winners are set to play at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday at Timken Gymnasium. Saturday's winner plays the winner of the pod hosted by Emory University on Friday, March 13. That game time and host site will be announced by the NCAA after this week's second-round matchups conclude.

Media Coverage: MCTV will produce all three games taking place at Timken Gymnasium this week. The link to the stream is https://portal.stretchinternet.com/wooster/. Wooster's games will air on delay on MCTV Ch. 22 and Ch. 621 at various times over the weekend. Mike Breckenridge's call of the games is available all season long on WQKT 104.5 FM and online at wqkt.com. Live stats will be available for all three games through the links available on Wooster's tournament page. Periodic score updates will be available for all three games on the basketball team's Twitter account, @ScotsBasketball.

Ticket Information: Ticket sales will begin at 2:30 p.m. on Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturday. Prices are as follows: Adults - $12; Seniors, students & children - $7; children under 2-years-old – free. Admission is free for College of Wooster students, thanks to the President's Office, but students must show their C.O.W. card at the ticket booth located on the second level of the Scot Center for entry.

Join Your Fellow Wooster Fans for a Post-Game Gathering: Wooster's Office of Alumni & Family Engagement will host a post-game gathering for Wooster fans on Friday in the Wilson Governance Room, located in the lower level of the Scot Center. There is no need to RSVP. Appetizers, soft drinks, beer and wine (for guests at least 21-years-old) will be provided. A state-issued ID will be required to receive a drink ticket.

Scots Extend Div. III Record, Among Nation's Elite Programs in Terms of NCAA Tourney Appearances: With its selection, Wooster's now made the NCAA Div. III Tournament for a record 18th consecutive year. Among all NCAA men's divisions, Wooster boasts the fifth-longest active streak of NCAA Tournament appearances as the University of Kansas (30), Duke University (24), Michigan State University (22), and Gonzaga University (21) - all Div. I programs - are the lone NCAA men's programs with longer such streaks. Overall, Wooster's 18 straight appearances is tied for the seventh-longest consecutive streak in NCAA men's basketball history (all divisions) trailing Kansas (30, 1990-present), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (27, 1975-01), Duke (24, 1996-present), Michigan State (22, 1998-present), Gonzaga (1999-present), the University of Wisconsin-Madison (19, 1999-17), and tied with Indiana University Bloomington (18, 1986-03). Overall, the Scots are making their 29th appearance in the national tournament since the formation of Div. III, which is tied for second all-time among Div. III programs. Longtime nemesis Wittenberg University is making its Div. III-best 30th tournament appearance, while the University of Scranton has 28 all-time trips to the Div. III Championships.

NCAA Tournament History: Wooster enters play this week with a 36-29 all-time record in the Div. III national tournament. The Scots have advanced as far as the national championship game (2011) and were national semifinalists in 2003 and 2007. Last year, Wooster hosted first- and second-round action for the first time since 2014. Wooster opened play with an 81-57 win against Baruch College before bowing out in the second round with a 78-70 loss against Wheaton College (Ill.). The Scots last made the sectional round in 2016, advancing all the way to the national quarterfinals. Wooster's 32-20 in the national tournament in the 2000s.

Wooster vs. its NCAA Pod: Wooster's 23-12 all-time against Grove City, 1-0 all-time against Elmhurst, and is 1-0 all-time against Lycoming. Wooster last played Grove City in the first round of the 2010 championships, a game won by Wooster 63-52. Wooster's only game against Elmhurst came on December 21, 2002, and the Scots won on the road 70-59. Lycoming came to Timken Gymnasium for the 1987 E.M. "Mose" Hole/Wooster Kiwanis Classic. Wooster won that game 75-50 in a contest that took place during Moore's first year leading the Scots. Lycoming played in the "Mose" Hole/Wooster Kiwanis Classic in 2005, but did not face Wooster.

A Quick Look at Grove City: This is Grove City's first appearance in the Div. III Championships since playing Wooster in 2010. The Wolverines earned an 86-70 win over visiting Geneva College in the finals of the PAC Championships Tournament. Grove City has won 16 of its last 17 games after starting the season 4-7. Overall, this is Grove City's sixth trip to the NCAA Div. III Tournament. The Wolverines qualified in 1976, 1979, 1983, 1989, and 2010. Senior James Wells (Waterville, Vt./Worcester Academy) leads the team in points (14.7) and rebounds (6.2) while senior Nate Peters (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy) is second on the team in scoring at 14.0 points per game.

A Quick Look at Elmhurst: Elmhurst's 78-72 win over Illinois Wesleyan University on Saturday marked the program's 23rd, setting a new single-season school record for victories. This is the Bluejays' sixth NCAA Tournament appearance, with the program most recently qualified for the championships in 2016. Junior Jake Rhode (Chicago Hts., Ill./Mt. Carmel) leads three Bluejays in double figures with 20.5 points per night, while Lavon Thomas (Bellwood, Ill./Wheaton North) is the team's top rebounder with an 8.1 per-game average.

A Quick Look at Lycoming: Just a year ago, Lycoming finished last in the MAC Commonwealth with a 5-11 mark in league play. On Saturday, the fourth-seeded Warriors came from behind to beat third-seeded Arcadia University 68-64. Four Warriors average double figures in the scoring column with junior Darius Dangerfield's (Abingdon, Md./Harford Tech) 14.3 per-game average leading the way. This is Lycoming's eighth appearance in the national tournament, and first since 2017.

Wooster, Kansas, and Duke Are Together Again: Wooster's 74-62 win over Denison University in the semifinals of the NCAC Tournament on February 28 marked the program's 20th win of the season. Wooster's now logged an absolutely remarkable stretch of 24 consecutive 20-win seasons. That's tied with Duke for the second-longest active streak in all of NCAA men's basketball. Only Kansas has a longer such streak at 31 consecutive 20-win seasons.

Wooster is the Second-Winningest NCAA Men's Basketball Program of the 2000s: Entering the year, Wooster's .827 winning percentage (501-105) was the highest of any NCAA men's basketball program in the 2000s. Gonzaga has since taken over that crown. Through games played March 1, Gonzaga's won 82.8 percent (597-124) of its games in the 2000s. Wooster's still holding strong in second-place, winning at a 82.3 percent (522-112) clip in the 2000s. Duke (81.8 percent, 613-136), Kansas (81.6 percent, 612-138), Amherst College (80.9 percent, 492-116), and the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) (80.0 percent, 476-119) are the only other NCAA men's basketball programs that have won at least 80 percent of their games in the 2000s.

Swan Song: The 2019-20 season is Steve Moore's 33rd, and final, season leading the Scots' storied program. Moore announced last March that he'll retire at the conclusion of the 2019-20 academic year. Moore, who was the head coach at Muhlenberg College for six seasons prior to arriving in Wooster in advance of the 1987-88 season, is No. 12 all-time in NCAA men's basketball coaching victories with 867 (867-252). He's 780-187 at Wooster, and is No. 2 all-time in NCAA Div. III coaching wins. Moore-coached Wooster teams have made 28 appearances in the NCAA Tournament, including a Div. III record 18 straight (2003-present). Wooster's won a NCAC-leading 18 titles with Moore at the helm of the program. Moore was a 2020 nominee for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and was a 2019 inductee to the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame.

Hempy One of Wooster's Best: Senior Danyon Hempy (Waldo, Ohio/River Valley) will be remembered as one of Wooster's best players. He's third all-time in program history with 2,014 points, and trails W Association Hall of Famers Tom Dinger (2,370 points) and James Cooper (2,037 points). Hempy's three-pointer with 5:06 remaining in the NCAC quarterfinals moved the four-year star past Bryan Nelson '03, the 2003 National Association of Basketball Coaches Div. III Player of the Year, for third on Wooster's all-time scoring list. His 2,000th career point came on a jumper near the free throw line early in the second half of the NCAC Tournament championship game. Hempy's one of two players in program history (Tom Dinger '71 is the other) to have two 600-point seasons. Hempy joined that exclusive club with a three-ball with 15:20 remaining in the NCAC quarterfinal. This year, Hempy's leading the NCAC with 24.0 points per game. He's entering the NCAA Div. III Championships with 673 points, the second-most in program history. Dinger (767, 1969-70) is the lone player ahead of Hempy on the single-season scoring chart. Last year, he became just the second Moore-coached player to average 20 points per game for the season. Nelson averaged 20.8 points per game during the 2002-03 season. Hempy's scored 130 points over his last four games. He scored a career-high 40 points against DePauw on February 22, with that marking just the sixth 40-point game in program history. Against Allegheny, Hempy dropped 35 points, a Wooster NCAC Tournament record. He went on to break the 34-year-old NCAC Tournament record with 90 points last week. For more on Hempy, check out his single-season and career rankings on page three of this week's game notes.

Williams Settled In at Wooster: Junior Dontae Williams (Girard, Pa./Girard) made an immediate impact last year after transferring in from NCAA Div. II Mercyhurst University. The forward's blossomed even more this season and spent time ranked No. 1 nationally in field-goal percentage earlier this year. Williams is in the top 10 in the NCAC in scoring and rebounding, and he recently matched his career-high in scoring (25) and set a new one in rebounding (15) against Denison on February 12.

Threes in Bunches: Junior Keonn Scott (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons) has hit at least six triples in five games this year. Scott was the Most Outstanding Player at the 57th annual E.M. "Mose" Hole/Wooster Kiwanis Classic, where he scored a career-high 29 points in an 87-82 win over Whitworth University. He's second in the NCAC this season with 76 triples.

Down to the Wire: The margin of victory in 13 of Wooster's 28 games this season has been five or fewer. Wooster's 8-5 in games where that's the case this year. Wooster last had 10 or more games with a maximum margin of victory of five during the 2013-14 season. The Scots were 7-4 in tight games that year.

Notable Wooster Alumni in Basketball: Wooster has several notable alumni currently in, or have held, prominent coaching and administrative roles in collegiate and professional basketball. L.W. St. John '06 served as head men's basketball coach at Ohio State University from 1911-19, and was the Buckeyes' athletic director for over 30 years. Reggie Minton '63, an alternate for the 1964 United States Olympic Team, went on to have a decorated career as a coach and administrator, and he's currently the deputy executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), and prior to that, was the head coach at the United States Air Force Academy from 1984-00. Larry Shyatt '73 was an assistant coach at numerous programs, including the University of Florida when the Gators won the NCAA Div. I national championship in 2006 and 2007. Shyatt had two stints as head coach at the University of Wyoming and was the man in charge at Clemson University for a five-year run. Presently, Shyatt's an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks. Recent alumni in prominent coaching roles include Lamont Paris '96 and Ryan Pedon '00. Paris was on the staff at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for seven seasons, during which the Badgers made back-to-back appearances in the Final Four (2014-15), including the 2015 title game. Paris is currently in his third year as the head coach at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Pedon is in his third year as the lead assistant at Ohio State, which was ranked as high as second this season in the AP Top 25.