After running through the Big South regular season, High Point punctuates its campaign by securing the auto-bid.
On March 9, High Point accomplished something 26 years in the making: earning its first bid to the NCAA Tournament. Since moving up to Division I in 1998-99, the Panthers have captured six regular-season Big South crowns (including this year’s) but had yet to win the conference tourney. Now, though, head coach Alan Huss has completed the quick turnaround, sweeping the league titles in his second year at the helm.
Ahead of Sunday’s championship game, the Panthers routed Gardner-Webb in the first round before squeaking by Radford in the semis. Against conference heavyweight Winthrop, HPU seemed to have found its match. The Eagles ripped off a 24-4 run midway through the first half, leading by as many as 15 before High Point narrowed the margin to 10 at the break.
In the second half, point guard Bobby Pettiford scored 13 of his 17 points and erased any doubt as to whether High Point was the class of the league. Behind his heroics, the Panthers secured an 81-69 win. Now, they enter the dance with the nation’s longest winning streak at 14 games. Can they become the first Big South team to win an NCAA Tournament game since Winthrop in 2007?
More Heat Check CBB:
- Bracketology: Projected field | Bubble Watch
- Tournament Index: Complete March Madness projections
- Full conference tournament TV schedule
Creating easy looks
High Point’s offense led the Big South in almost every key metric: offensive efficiency, effective field goal percentage, 2-point percentage, offensive rebounding rate and points per game. Moreover, HPU scored almost 10 points per 100 possessions higher than the league’s second-best offense (Radford).
Huss’ concepts center on zoom action, get action and ball screen action, all of which heavily emphasize reading and reacting. (In 2023, he shared one of his mantras with Heat Check CBB: think, dribble, pass, shoot.) The head coach has assembled a team full of perimeter players that fit his philosophy to a tee.
Kezza Giffa and D’Maurian Williams are two guards who put pressure on the rim and get to their spots in the mid-range. Trae Benham and Chase Johnston operate as floor spacers, both converting on better than 39 percent of their long-range attempts. Pettiford is the ideal change of pace guard, capable of setting up teammates and attacking driving lanes. He averaged 12.6 points and three assists per game off the pine in the Big South Tournament.
Star wing Kimani Hamilton makes their jobs easier with his versatile game. He functions as both a screener and a pick-and-roll ball handler, contributes on the offensive glass, and adds a level of athleticism that few Big South opponents can match. Plus, he — and most of his teammates — can get to the charity stripe with ease. High Point was one of just two Big South teams to see three players make 100 or more free throws (Hamilton, Giffa and Williams).
Metric of note: Bench minutes
Per KenPom, the Panthers rank 22nd in bench minutes — a number that makes sense, considering the amount of high-level talent that Huss stacked. Four players (Hamilton, Williams, Pettiford and Abdoulaye Thiam) played at power-conference schools prior to High Point. This depth allowed the Panthers to wear down foes throughout conference play, as they averaged a 22.4-point margin of victory, the highest of any team in the country.
High Point might need every one of its rotation players to pull off an upset in the Round of 64, though. The Panthers didn’t play a power-conference opponent in the regular season, so they’ll rely on the experience of the aforementioned quartet, as well as Huss, who spent six seasons as a Creighton assistant.
Similar NCAA Tournament efficiency profiles
Tournament Index evaluation
As it stands, High Point is a projected No. 13 seed by both our bracketology at Heat Check CBB and the Bracket Matrix. The Panthers would rate as the 12th-strongest No. 13 seed of the last 10 seasons (40 total No. 13 seeds) by the Tournament Index. The eleven No. 13 seeds with higher TI ratings over the last 10 years have combined for six NCAA Tournament wins, while the 29 with lower TI ratings have combined for just three. Should the Panthers move up or down, they would be either the 31st-strongest 12-seed of the last 10 years or the seventh-strongest 14-seed.
The TI projects an average of 0.29 wins for High Point given its projected seed and strength.
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