Revenge and a Win Streak Up for Grabs vs Coastal Carolina

College of Charleston (1–0, 0–0)
Coastal Carolina (0–1, 0–0)
HTC Center, Conway, SC
7:00 p.m. on Chanticleer Sports Network

Last year the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers marched into TD Arena and gave an upstart Cougars team their first home loss of the year. Much to the chagrin of CofC fans, that contest was one where Earl Grant’s squad was beaten with their own blueprint. The Chants played great defense, shut down Canyon Barry and made timely free throws to secure a win. This time around, CCU will host Charleston in their own home opener and the Cougs will have a chance to return the favor.

A lot has changed since the matchup last year. For one, Coastal Carolina switched conferences from the Big South to the Sun Belt. Projections for the Chants’ conference finish are all over the map since they haven’t played a Sun Belt team in years. Second, Coastal is in the midst of replacing two starting forwards that led the team to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances.

Despite these changes, CCU still has a talented backcourt that will put pressure on the Charleston defense. That includes senior guards Elijah Wilson and Colton Ray-St Cyr (real name), who were both in double figures at TD Arena last year.

In order to pick up a road win, CofC will have to do a much better job defensively than they did last year. I have confidence that will happen. They will also have to be more efficient on offense — something we saw from Riller and Chealey on Friday, but no one else.

Coastal is a seasoned team that went toe to toe with a very solid Alabama squad on the road Friday before Tide coach Avery Johnson turned up the defensive pressure. Expect Earl Grant to do the same. The Chants will have their back against the wall back in their home gym, so getting out to a hot start will be essential. Containing Wilson and co. off the perimeter, and taking advantage of the inexperienced big men — that’s how CofC picks up a second straight win.