In the opening game of the 2013 NCAA Men's tournament, the North Carolina A&T Aggies (19-16) of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference are prepared to take on the Liberty Flames (15-20) representing the Big South.
The Flames took home the Big South title to close out the season, giving them a berth in the tournament despite an 0-8 start to their season. Under the direction of coach Dale Layer, Liberty won their last five games of the season and hopes to carry the momentum into the Big Dance.
Led by the play of junior John Caleb Sanders, the Flames are averaging 69.1 points per game this season while shooting nearly 43 percent. Sanders averaged 14.2 ppg and 4 rebounds per game while hitting 43 percent from the field.
Down the stretch, Sanders was hot, averaging almost 17 ppg with 27 points in the final game of the season. The Flames will need another performance like that from their star guard if they hope to stand a chance against the heavily favored Aggies.
Hoping to help even the playing field is JR Coronado, the big 6'8" forward, who is averaging 8.2 rpg, giving the Flames a slight advantage down low against Austin Witter (7.1 rpg).
North Carolina A&T is hoping to use the momentum from their MEAC championship to sneak their way into the field of 64.
Senior Adrian Powell will be looking for a big tournament performance to round out his college career. The 6'6" forward has been averaging 12.5 ppg while adding 5 boards per game as well.
Coach Cy Alexander's physical defense helped the Aggies to put together four wins in a row to close out the season and help North Carolina A&T sneak into the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1995.
Both teams will be vying for the opportunity to play against No. 1 seed overall in the tournament, the Louisville Cardinals.
Prediction:
The hot streaks of the Aggies and the Flames will be a huge deciding factor in this play-in game. It should be a high-scoring game with both teams averaging well over their season averages in scoring (62.2 ppg and 69.1ppg, respectively). While Liberty is averaging almost seven more points per game this season, the defense of the Aggies will be much scrappier than they are used to playing against. The turnover differential will be the final deciding factor in the Flames attempts to upset the Aggies.