Arkansas State Red Wolves
Likely the weakest D-I team on our schedule this season, including CAA opponents, Arkansas State was picked to finish 9th in the 12-team Sun Belt, and has lost their first two D-I games by 21 (Abilene Christian) and 24 (Grand Canyon), respectively.
Headlining the Red Wolves' roster is 6-0 senior point guard
Ty Cockfield II. The score-first ballhandler was picked to the preseason All-Sun Belt Third Team, and is off to a great start in 2018-19. Averaging 21.7 ppg, he is shooting .619 from the field and .571 from 3-point range. However, his A/TO ratio (0.85) leaves a lot to be desired.
Foul trouble has plagued the start of the Red Wolves' season. They've committed 75 team fouls in their 3 games, allowing 31 free throw attempts to Abilene Christian and 33 to Grand Canyon.
Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs
Picked to finish 6th in the competitive Big South, Gardner-Webb has faced a very difficult non-conference slate thus far, finally getting their first victory against Savannah State on Friday. They put up very good showings against VCU and Furman, losing the latter game by just 2 points.
Leading the charge for the Runnin' Bulldogs is Preseason Big South First Team selection
David Efianayi. The 6-2 redshirt-senior guard is averaging 15.5 points and 4.8 rebounds while leading the team in blocks (4).
The Runnin' Bulldogs are shooting a highly efficient .480 from the field so far this season. 6-5 Freshman swingman
Jose Perez is leading the team in scoring (17.8 ppg), and is doing so by shooting .545. Meanwhile, 6-6 redshirt junior forward
Eric Jamison Jr. is a ridiculous 14-17 from the field (.824).
Eastern Illinois Panthers
The Seahawks will wrap up their 3-game tournament against Eastern Illinois, picked to finish 7th in the Ohio Valley Conference. EIU had one player selected to the All-OVC Team, redshirt senior guard
Terrell Lewis. However, as expected, its been a slow start (1.0 ppg in 13.0 mpg) for the diminutive St. Louis product, as he missed all but 8 games last season with a foot injury, and received a medical redshirt as a result. In his last full season, 2016-17, Lewis averaged 10.5 points, 4.7 assists, 1.2 steals, and shot .348 from 3.
While Lewis gets re-acclimated, several players have been coming through for the Panthers, who have four players averaging double figures. Junior forward
Rade Kukobat has stood out, leading the team in scoring (12.3 ppg) and rebounding (6.3 rpg), and has twice as many free throw attempts (20) as any other player on the team.
EIU opened their schedule by playing competitive games @ Texas (71-59) and against a solid IUPUI team (71-65) before picking up a win in their home opener over Western Carolina. Perimeter defense and rebounding have been keys to their success so far, as they've allowed opponents to shoot just .297 from 3. And despite less opportunities at rebounds, they average 39.0 as a team (40.0 to opponents), including 10.7 offensive boards per game.