The Charleston Cougars (1-0, 1-0 ATS, 1-0 O/U) will meet with the #1 North Carolina Tar Heels (1-0, 0-1 ATS, 0-1 O/U) in early season non-conference action on Friday evening. The Cougars went 16-14 last year and defeated Chattanooga in the season opener. The Tar Heels were able to defeat UNC Wilmington in their first game of the season. North Carolina logged a 94-83 win against Charleston last season.
The Charleston Cougars have a daunting non-conference schedule beginning with this one against the number one ranked team. They play against Richmond and Davidson next week. Charleston has a good squad that will be in the top half of their CAA conference this season. They had a young team in 2021-2022 and are ready to take the next step in development. They were labeled 4.5-point favorites in an 85-78 home win against Chattanooga on Monday.
The Cougars lost a decent portion of last year’s scoring but have a few skilled returning players including Reyne Smith. The sophomore guard averaged 12.1 PPG on a fantastic 37.5% efficiency from beyond the arc in his freshman season and sunk 24 points in Monday’s opener. He was named to the All-CAA Preseason Second Team in the preseason poll. Dalton Bolon is another important player. The senior guar d only played in three games last year but is expected to be a big contributor. Ben Burnham posted solid numbers on limited minutes last year. The sophomore forward logged an average of 6 PPG on 50% shooting and will be relied on. The program brought in a notable transfer from Wofford, Ryan Larson. The senior guard averaged 8.8 PPG last season and scored nine in the opener.
FIRE US UP PSYCHO D!
CofC – 67
UTC – 59#OurCity ???? pic.twitter.com/yZsB3ll0OC— Charleston Basketball (@CofCBasketball) November 8, 2022
The Cougars are ranked 188th in the country in Ken Pomeroy’s college basketball ratings and were voted to finish fourth in the CAA preseason poll. Charleston was productive in the offensive end last season, posting 78.4 points, landing them 30th and Monday’s 85-point output was an encouraging sign. The defensive play was an issue last year, conceding an average of 77 points, pegging them 333rd.