PREVIEW: Men’s Basketball begins NCAA Tournament run in Columbus

COLUMBUS, Ga. — The Catawba College men's basketball team heads to the Peach State for the NCAA Southeast Regional hosted by Columbus State this weekend. Seventh-seeded Catawba faces No. 2 seed USC Aiken in the quarterfinal round on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

Earned It in Rock Hill

- Entering the South Atlantic Conference Championship Tournament as the No. 6 seed, Catawba toppled third seed Coker in the quarterfinal matchup

- The next day, the blue and white crawled back from a large deficit but got clipped by Lenoir-Rhyne in the semis; the Bears went on to knock off top-seeded Lincoln Memorial in a dramatic overtime finish to claim the title

- Kris Robinson was selected to the All-Tournament Team after averaging 21.5 points with eight total three-pointers in Catawba's two-game stay

- The Catawba Indians, previously ranked ninth in the region, received credit for their efforts and rose into the top eight as revealed in Sunday night's selection show

Hawkins Hitting His Stride

- Jashaun Hawkins put together two of his finest performances in Rock Hill, averaging 13.5 points on just 15.5 minutes per game

- The Durham, N.C. product shined in the semifinal tilt with 15 points, swishing seven shots from the free-throw line and draining a pair of deep-range attempts

- Hawkins hopes to repeat history as his finest game as a Catawba Indian came against USC Aiken back in November as the junior forward collected 17 points and six steals in a narrow 81-79 loss

NCAA History

- Catawba makes its 14th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, earning four wins in 16 games on the platform (the 2020 tournament was not played due to the pandemic); nine of those contests were held in Georgia

- Last season in Dahlonega, Ga., the blue and white took down UNC Pembroke 98-94 in overtime, then dropped the semifinal matchup with host North Georgia 86-79

- The program has gotten to the regional finals once; in 1998, Catawba downed USC Aiken 82-76 in the semis, after receiving a first-round bye, then endured a 70-58 defeat versus Virginia Union in the title game

Scouting the Pacers

- USC Aiken, the No. 2 seed and Peach Belt Conference Tournament champion, possesses a 23-8 record while riding a six-game winning streak

- The Pacers are far from strangers to Catawba as the squads battled on Nov. 10, resulting in an 81-79 ledger favoring USCA

- Jalen McCoy, the Pacers' leading scorer in the November meeting, was tabbed to the D2CCA All-Region Second Team on Friday and was named the PBC Tournament MVP

- McCoy ranks sixth in the country with 245 total field goals and slots 43rd with 19.9 points per contest

- The Catawba Indians' skilled frontcourt looks to contain Simeon German who averages 8.3 rebounds (4.1 offensive) and 1.8 blocks per game

Catawba vs. Everybody

- Despite falling to USC Beaufort in the PBC Tournament semis, Columbus State retained the No. 1 ranking in the region to retain hosting duties at 26-4; Jarrett Adderton was named the D2CCA Southeast Region Player of the Year on Friday

- Behind USC Aiken are SAC Tournament finalists Lenoir-Rhyne and Lincoln Memorial at the third and fourth seeds

- UNC Pembroke, the champion and lone representative of Conference Carolinas, has strung 12 wins in a row as the Braves come into Columbus as the No. 5 seed; UNCP is led by Second Team All-Region pick Bradlee Haskell

- Sixth-seeded Augusta gives the PBC three teams in the regional, entering the weekend 19-10 while being powered by All-Region First Teamer Demitri Gardner (23.2 PPG)

- SAC foe Carson-Newman rounds out the field as the No. 8 seed, but the Eagles have the best scoring offense in the bracket with 89.5 points per game behind top-100 scorers Jack Browder (19.8 PPG) and John Zhao (18.9)

Follow Along

All Southeast Regional games will be broadcast live on the PBC Sports Network. Live stats will be available on csucougars.com.