SoCon Regular Season Title To Be Decided Tonight At Wofford

College of Charleston (19-9, 13-3) at Wofford (21-8, 13-3) 7 P.M.

Thursday night's game between the College of Charleston and Wofford will not only decide the South Division title, the winner will also claim a punched ticket to the NIT, which is awarded to the school that finishes league play with the best conference record. For the first time since the 2005-06 season, we'll have a team not named Davidson crowned as the South Division champion.

For Wofford, it's been an unprecedented season, as the Terriers have now won 20 games for the first time as a Division I program. For the Terriers, it's also quite possibly their biggest game as a Division I program to date, and they have already locked up their first top-two seed for the league tournament and subsequent bye in the process.

Wofford comes into the contest having won 13 of their last 14 games, including having won eight-straight, while the College of Charleston enters this evening's contest winners of 13 of its last 16 game, including having won six of its last seven. Thursday's match-up will mark the 124th all-time meeting between the Cougars and the Terriers, with the Terriers holding a 72-51 all-time series advantage.

College of Charleston claimed the earlier contest this season, getting a 70-68 win over the Terriers at the Carolina First Center back on Jan. 22 in a game nationally-televised by ESPN2. Since College of Charleston joined the SoCon in 1998-99, the Cougars and Terriers have 24 times on the hardwood, with CofC holding a commanding 20-4 series advantage. Eighteen of those 24 meetings meetings between the two Palmetto State and South Division rivals have been decided by 10 points or less.

Both teams enter Thursday evening's monumental showdown on the hardwood coming off of victories. The Terriers were able to get an 82-76 overtime win over Georgia Southern on Saturday afternoon at Hanner Fieldhouse, while the Cougars stepped out of conference and got an 83-81 BracketBusters win over George Mason.

The Cougars won an 65-63 decision over the Terriers in their last trip to Benjamin Johnson Arena and have claimed three-straight wins over the Terriers, dating back to a 67-66 loss to Wofford in January of '08. In fact, the past four meetings between the Cougars and the Terriers on the hardwood have been decided by a total of seven points, making it one of the most hotly-contested rivalries in the SoCon in recent years.

In Wofford's win at Georgia Southern in overtime on Saturday, the Terriers were able to weather a couple of furious rallies from the Eagles to hold on for their eighth-straight win in overtime, 83-76. Wofford was led by Noah Dahlman's 21 points in the win over the Eagles, as Dahlman was able to again establish his presence in the paint for the Terriers.

Four other Terriers joined Dahlman in double figures in the win, as Jamar Diggs added 15 points, while Tim Johnson, Junior Salters, and Brad Loesing each added 11 points to round out the double-digit scorers for the Terriers. Johnson added 12 boards and Dahlman pulled in 10 caroms to round double-double performances for both players. With the double-double from both Johnson and Dahlman, it was the first time two Terriers have recorded double-doubles in the same game since a 74-73 overtime loss to Georgia in December of '08. Wofford hit six-straight charity shots in the extra session to clinch the victory.

Of the SoCon's three Bracket Buster wins on Saturday, College of Charleston's, 83-81, win at George Mason was the most impressive. The Cougars got a game-high 25 points from senior point guard Tony White, Jr., including a couple of clutch free throws with five seconds remaining to clinch the win. The Cougars were again strong shooting the basketball, connecting on 50.0-percent of their shots from the field and finished the game with nine triples.

White, Jr. was joined in double figures by Jeremy Simmons, who continued his strong play of late, adding a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Junior guard Andrew Goudelock added 15 points and, with that performance, became the school's all-time scoring leader, surpassing former great Thaddeus Delaney, who finished his career with 1,564 points. Goudelock now has 1,573 career points.

With a win tonight, the Cougars would win their 20th game for the 22nd time in school history, including the ninth time in their 11 seasons as a SoCon member.

With a victory for the Terriers, it would further build upon the benchmark win total already established as a Division I program and would be the most wins for a Wofford men's basketball team since the 1974-75 club, which won 22 games.

In the first meeting between the two teams last year at Benjamin-Johnson Arena, Wofford came up just short on two shots in the final seconds of a 65-63 loss to the Cougars. It was a big night, however, for forward Tim Johnson, who scored 21 points and pulled down 17 rebounds to set career highs in both categories. Wofford also got a strong effort from Noah Dahlman, who finished that particular contest with 19 points.

For Charleston, the Cougars were able to get a team-best 12 points from Dustin Scott, while Andrew Goudelock and Donovan Monroe added 10 apiece in the two-point victory by the Cougars. The Cougars were able to connect on 49.1-percent of their shots from the field in the contest, while holding the Terriers to 40.3-percent shooting from the field in the win.

In the earlier 70-68 win by the Cougars at the Carolina First Center in Charleston, the Cougars were playing without their huge post presence Jeremy Simmons, who missed the game with a hyper-extended knee, but Willis Hall was able to step into the starting lineup for the Cougars and pick up some of the slack, scoring 16 points.

The win by the Cougars snapped a six-game winning streak for the Terriers and remains the only loss for Wofford in its last 14 outings. The Terriers were led by yet another big performance by Noah Dahlman, who scored a game-high 23 points, and much like his performance mentioned above in last season's game at the Benjamin-Johnson Arena, Tim Johnson had a big night both scoring (17 pts.) and on the glass (13 rebs.), as the Terriers were able to out-muscle the Cougars on the boards, 40-29, and claimed a significant 10-0 advantage in second-chance points.

The previous game came down to the final 1.9 seconds, as Charleston senior point guard Tony White, Jr. delivered the win for the Cougars, driving down the lane, spinning, and maneuvering a lay-up of the glass in heavy traffic to give the Cougars a dramatic two-point victory. CofC was led by Hall's 16 points, while Donovan Monroe added 15 points. Tony White, Jr. and Andrew Goudelock rounded out four players in double figures for the Cougars, with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Coming into tonight's game, Wofford continues to be led by Noah Dahlman, who's fourth in the league in scoring average, at 17.3 PPG and ranks seventh in the league in rebounding, at 6.3 RPG. His 58.3-percent field goal percentage ranks Dahlman fourth in the conference and eighth nationally in that particular category. Dahlman has performed exceptionally well against the Cougars in his career, averaging 21.5 PPG in five previous games against CofC as a Terrier.

Junior Salters has been one of the team's senior leaders and has provided some big shots in clutch situations this season for the Terriers. He enters this evening's contest averaging 7.8 PPG and is one of the team's leading perimeter shooters, having knocked down a a team-best 59 triples this season and is shooting 33.3-percent (59-of-164) from long range this season. Jamar Diggs, who transferred in from Division II Wayne State, is averaging 8.9 PPG and is the team's second-leading scorer.

Tim Johnson's 7.5 RPG rank him fifth among the league's leaders in rebounds-per-game. Cameron Rundles, another transfer who joined the team along with Diggs last season, is averaging 6.1 PPG after making the cross-country trip from the University of Montana to Wofford.

As a team, the Terriers rank third in the league in scoring defense (61.8 PPG) and are sixth in the league in scoring offense (69.6 PPG). The Terriers enter tonight's showdown leading the league in scoring margin (+7.1) and have performed particularly well on the defensive end of the floor, ranking third in the league in steals per game (7.1) and leading the league in perimeter defense, holding opponents to just 31.6-percent shooting from long range. That could come in handy tonight against a team like the Cougars, who shoot a little better than 37 percent from long range as a team coming into the contest and rank in the top five nationally in three-pointers made per game.

For College of Charleston, the Cougars continue to be led by Andrew Goudelock (19.2 PPG), who currently ranks second in the league in scoring average. In the first meeting between the two, the Cougars were able to hold Goudelock nine points beneath his scoring average. Reigning Southern Conference Player of the Week Jeremy Simmons was not in the lineup the last time these two met on the hardwood back in late January.

Simmons enters this evening's contest averaging 12.3 PPG, and is a big presence on the defensive end of the floor, leading the league in blocked shots (2.3 BPG). He is also second in the league in both rebounding (8.1 RPG) and field goal percentage (60.4%). Rounding out the Cougars averaging in double figures for the Terriers are both Donovan Monroe (12.4 PPG) and Tony White, Jr. (11.1 PPG).

As a team, the Cougars shoot the ball extremely well from the perimeter, and their 9.4 three-pointers per game rank them first in the SoCon and fourth in the nation. The Cougars also rank first in the league and rank 29th nationally in blocked shots (5.2) per game and the Cougars are among the best offensive teams in the SoCon, averaging 74.8 PPG to rank third in the league in scoring offense.

This game sets up to be a classic and the SoCon regular-season crown will be decided in South Carolina between two teams that hail from Palmetto State. The College of Charleston is considered "The Establishment" when it comes to college basketball in the state and Wofford is now entering uncharted territory. It will be interesting to see if the sellout crowd expected at Benjamin Johnson Arena affects the Terriers, who have won 13-of-14 and haven't had a game as big as this in their college basketball history.

In what could very well be a preview of the SoCon Tournament title game, the Cougars have a little more experience in big games and that will prove to be the difference in another thrilling finish between the two best teams in the SoCon