NCAA Div. II Men's Basketball Tournament: Nova Southeastern Looks To Repeat

Reigning national champion Nova Southeastern looks to become the third repeat winner in the last 30 years of the NCAA Div. II Men's Basketball Tournament.

Mar 11, 2024 by Kyle Kensing

NCAA Div. II Men's Basketball Tournament: Nova Southeastern Looks To Repeat

Roster turnover and carrying the target as reigning national champion did little to slow down 2023 NCAA Men's Div. II national champion Nova Southeastern in 2023-24.

The Sharks enter the 2024 Div. II Tournament as the top overall seed, looking to join Northwest Missouri State (2019, 2021-2022) and Cal State Bakersfield (1993-1994) as the third repeat winners of the last 30 years.

Nova Southeastern's high-tempo offensive style produces the second-most points per game in the nation at 102.5, just a fraction behind fellow No. 1 seed Gannon's 102.6 points per game.

The Golden Knights, champions of the PSAC at 29-2 points per game, headline the field of contenders hoping to deny Nova Southeastern another Div. II national championship. The road to Evansville and the 2024 Elite Eight begins on March 15, with a national champion crowned on March 30.

SAC Sends Three to The Div. II NCAA Tournament

A trio of South Atlantic Conference teams carry the league's banner into the NCAA Tournament, including SAC Tournament champion Catawba.

The Indians held 100-point per game scoring Coker to 77 in the opening round, cruised past Wingate in the semifinal, 80-62, and outlasted Lincoln Memorial in an overtime classic, 61-60.

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Defensive Player of the Year Javeon Jones set the tone for Catawba's stifling presence throughout the season, as he has all season. Jones heads into the postseason averaging 3.3 steals per game for an Indians defense that generates 12 swipes a contest, third-most in the nation.

The only teams that create more steals than Catawba are No. 1 seeds Nova Southeastern and Gannon.

Catawba is the No. 4 seed in the North Georgia region, where top-seeded UNG opens with another SAC qualifier, Wingate.

Wingate went 22-8 and 16-4 in the SAC, winning Brian Good the league's Coach of the Year. A pair of Bulldogs earned 1st Team All-SAC honors in Josh Massey, who averaged 16.8 points and seven rebounds per game; and 2024 SAC Player of the Year Donell Nixon II.

Nixon, a dynamic combo guard, posted 18.1 points per game and dished more than five assists a contest. Nixon sets the tone for Wingate's potent offense, which produces around 85 points per game. His 34-point, six-assist performance in a January win over Catawba demonstrates the full capacity for Nixon to take a game over.

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Wingate aims to unseat a No. 1 seed in North Georgia that won the Peach Belt Conference Tournament behind its own electric combo guard, Frank Champion. Champion's statistical output heading into the Div. II NCAA Tournament is almost identical to that of Nixon.

Another SAC vs. PBC matchup in the same regional pits recent yearly Elite Eight contender Lincoln Memorial against Lander.

LMU looks to finish the job it started a season ago when it advanced to the Elite Eight, led by guard Chase Rankin. The savvy veteran Rankin averages more than 13 points and five assists per game for the Railsplitters, captaining a multifaceted backcourt that also features SAC Freshman of the Year Wes Enis.

Enis burst onto the scene in his debut campaign, leading LMU with 17.7 points per game. He had games of 31 points against Carson-Newman in the regular season, and keyed LMU's SAC Tournament win over the Eagles with 22 points.

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The freshman is one of four Railsplitters who average more than 13 points per game, giving LMU a variety of weapons to overwhelm opponents.

LMU's sixth-seeded opponent Lander comes into the NCAA Div. II Tournament at 20-9, and with a number of SAC matchups from the regular season on its resume.

The Bearcats beat Carson-Newman and fellow Tournament qualifier Wingate, and dropped their season opener against Tusculum.

West Georgia Looks To Make A Splash In Its Final Div. II Tournament

Gulf South Conference champion West Georgia moves to Div. I next year, but the Wolves have an opportunity to leave with a bang.

West Georgia is the No. 2 in reigning national champion Nova Southeastern's region, opening the 2024 Tournament in a matchup with a familiar foe: GSC counterpart Lee.

The Flames earned the South Region's No. 7 seed with a 21-8 record overall, including a 17-7 mark in the Gulf South. Lee and West Georgia split their regular-season series, with the Wolves winning in Carrollton on Jan. 8, 80-66; and the Flames taking the rematch on Feb. 21, 58-57.

Lee staged a furious comeback in that one, rallying from down 12 points at the halftime. Tariq Daughton's buzzer-beating 3-pointer capped the rally, giving the Flames their strongest resume win of the campaign.

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Lee played another classic in the GSC Tournament against Alabama-Huntsville, but came up on the wrong end of that one.

In one of the wildest games of the postseason anywhere in college hoops this or any season in recent memory, UAH outlasted Lee in five overtimes, 115-109.

Tommy Murr and Luke Burnett combined for 57 points and 10 made 3-pointers to lead the Chargers in a duel with the Flames' duo of Daughton and Beyuan Hendricks. They combined for 56 points and 11 made triples, with Hendricks also passing for 11 assists and logging an incredible 64 minutes in the marathon GSC semifinal.

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UAH landed the South Region's No. 4 seed after falling short in the GSC title round against West Georgia. The Chargers face Embry-Riddle of Florida on March 16.

Embry Riddle comes in at 21-9, winner of seven straight before dropping a 73-71 heartbreaker to Barry University in the Sunshine State Conference Tournament. The ERAU offense features a quartet of capable and prolific 3-pointer shooters in Michael McCalister (37-of-95 this season); Dru Nickson (49-of-135); Cameron Shockley-Okeke (52-of-130); Malcolm Whitlow (65-of-183); and Milan Skoric (71-of-136).

Skoric, a spark-plug freshman coming off the ERAU bench, has games of six and seven made 3-pointers in 2023-24.

The winner of UAH-ERAU likely draws Nova Southeastern. The defending champion Sharks open play against Benedict.

If the region follows chalk, Nova Southeastern and West Georgia is the matchup that will determine a spot in Evansville. West Georgia heads into the NCAA Tournament at 26-5, paced by one of the most explosive and multi-dimensional scorers in the nation, Zawdie Jackson.

Jackson, who shoots 51.3 percent from the floor overall and 45.5 percent from 3-point distance, is 10th in Div. II in points per game at 22. He posted 83 points in UWG's final three games, all Wolves wins.

GLIAC Rivals Clash

2018 NCAA Div. II Tournament champion Ferris State looks to get back to the mountaintop in 2024, but doing so means beating an opponent the Bulldogs went 0-2 against in the regular season.

Both GLIAC matchups between Ferris State and Northern Michigan came down to the wire, with the Wildcats escaping at home on Jan. 13, 75-71; and 83-80 at Ferris State on Feb. 1.

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GLIAC Player of the Year Max Weisbrod, who averaged 17 points and more than four assists per game to pace Northern Michigan's 80-point per game offense, went for 18 and 21 points in the two meetings with Ferris State. Ethan Erickson, a 1st Team All-GLIAC selection, went for 16 and 13 points vs. Northern Michigan.

The winner advances to face either No. 8 seed William Jewell or top-seeded UIndy. While conventional wisdom suggests the No. 1 seed Greyhounds can be penciled into the next round, consider Indianapolis' last game before the NCAA Div. II Tournament was a 93-89, overtime loss in the GLVC Tournament to...William Jewell.

Twenty-six and twenty-three points from Kobe McKinley and Isaac Patterson led the Cardinals to the win, countering 33 from UIndy's Jesse Bingham. Bingham's 16.2 points per game led four Greyhounds who produced 12.4 points or more per game.

Elsewhere in the region, historic Div. II powerhouse Kentucky Wesleyan is the No. 2 seed and faces Upper Iowa, while third-seeded Walsh takes on Lake Superior State.

Upper Iowa features the Div. II Tournament's second-highest scorer in 2023-24, Jake Hilmer. Hilmer averages 24 points per game, trailing only Emmanuel's Kelvin Jones.

Jones and Emmanuel face USC Aiken in 1st Round action, with the winner advancing to meet either Lincoln Memorial or Lander.

Aiming For Evansville Out West

Last season, Cal State Bernardino parlayed a No. 2 seed into a spot in the Elite Eight. The Coyotes look to replicate that feat in 2024, once again occupying the two-spot out West.

The CSUSB trio of Chris Mitchell, Robby Robinson and Sedrick Altman give the Coyotes a formidable foundation of capable scorers. Mitchell's 16 points per game lead CSUSB, Robinson averages 14.7 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, and Altman puts up 13.4 points per game.

The top seed in the region this year is Cal State Los Angeles, seeking its first-ever NCAA Div. II basketball championship. A balanced and unselfish team that includes Netflix Last Chance U. alum Corey Cofield, Cal State LA earned the No. 1 seed with a 73-62 win at Cal State San Bernardino in the CCAA Championship.

The two teams split the regular-season season.

West Texas A&M is the other No. 1 seed out in the West, and the Buffaloes will try to erase the bitter memory of bowing out just short of Evansville a season ago.

WTAM dropped a 68-67 heartbreaker to sixth-seeded Black Hills State, decided on a free throw with four seconds remaining.

The Buffaloes head into the NCAA Div. II Tournament on a bit of a skid, with half of their losses coming in a 72-67 loss at home to Lubbock Christian to close out the regular season; and a 93-89 overtime decision to open the Lone Star Conference Tournament.

Behind Larry Wise, who averages nearly 20 points and distributes more than three assists per game, WTAM will try to regroup against No. 8 seed Angelo State. The region also features fourth-seeded Dallas Baptist against No. 5 Colorado School of Mines; second-seed Fort Lewis taking on Lubbock Christian; and No. 3 Colorado Mesa against Eastern New Mexico.