By PAUL GOTHAM
His game has been compared to Steph Curry, and Wofford’s Fletcher Magee might have just what it takes for the No. 7 seed Terriers to get their first NCAA Tournament win in program history when they meet No. 10 seed Seton Hall in first round Midwest Region action, Thursday.
Magee paces a Wofford offense, second in the nation, hitting 41.6 percent from 3-point land.
“I’m sure teams that haven’t seen us are looking at what they can do and strategy-wise and stuff,” the senior guard said during Wednesday’s press conference from Vystar Veterans Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. “So I’m just going to continue to do what I do, and we’ll make adjustments from there.
“You know, if they’re maybe double-teaming off of screens, I think we can definitely open up some stuff for our teammates, but we’ll just kind of see how the game starts and make reads and adjustments from there.”
Magee leads the country with 151 triples on the season, and he is three treys short of breaking the all-time NCAA record of 504 3-pointers set by Oakland University’s Travis Bader.
As a team, Wofford connects an average of 11 times per game from long range (sixth in the country). Magee averages 4.58 of those.
“The system that we have, guards coming off screens a lot, my teammates looking for me a lot,” Magee said when asked about his success. “I think those are two of the main things.”
The appearance in the NCAA Tournament will be Wofford’s fifth since 2010 with their most recent result being a 56-53 loss to Arkansas in 2015. The Terriers fell 53-49 to Wisconsin in 2010.
“You know, there’s a lot of things that make it the greatest tournament of them all, one of which is you know you’re going to play somebody really, really good,” 17th-year Wofford head coach Mike Young said. “And we’re the 7-seed. That’s a heck of a seed for anyone. I think the highest seed a Southern Conference team has ever achieved, and lo and behold you’ve got to play a Big East team Seton Hall that just went nose to nose with the defending national champion (Villanova).
“We know what’s in front of us. I’ve got a really good team. You know that. And we’re excited to be here. We’re excited to take to the floor tomorrow and get after it.”
Seton Hall is tied for 134th in the nation allowing opponents to connect on 33.6 (257-for-765) from long range. The Pirates have been stung by Villanova (11th in the nation with with 331 3-pointers made on the season) on three occasions. The reigning national champs connected on 11 of 31 long-range attempts in Saturday’s Big East final, but the Wildcats also connected on 13-of-27 and 17-of-42 in a pair of regular season games.
The Pirates have surrendered double-digit 3-pointers seven times this year including 11 apiece to Grand Canyon and New Hampshire.
“We haven’t played poorly in… we haven’t played poorly all year,” Young added. “Now, we got our tail kicked a couple of times, the wheels came off at Phog Allen Fieldhouse (against Kansas), but that’s a tie game where we are right there with ten to play. It’s been a special team, and we know how well we have to play and the toughness we’re going to have to display and the ball handling that we’re going to have to carry into that thing tomorrow if we expect to win.”
Steph Curry made 414 3-pointers during his three-year college career at Davidson.
“Yeah, I know that Steph has done way more great things than I have and was a better player, but it’s definitely high praise,” Magee said of the comparisons. “But I don’t want to get too caught up into the comparisons and all that kind of stuff.”
What: No. 10 Seton Hall (20-13/9-9 Big East) vs. No. 7 Wofford (29-4/18-0 S0 Con)
When: Thursday, March 21st – 9:40 PM.
Where: Vystar Veterans Arena – Jacksonville, Florida
How to Watch: CBS
Graphic courtesy of Wofford Athletic Communications.
Transcription courtesy of ASAP Sports.
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