The Wisconsin men’s basketball team earned its first ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament Sunday after a comeback win over Michigan State in the Big Ten championship game.
The Badgers will now start their return trip back to the Final Four with an NCAA Second Round game Friday in Omaha against 16-seed Coastal Carolina.
Here’s what you need to know about the Chanticleers:
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
Location: Conway, South Carolina
Enrollment: 10,455
Nickname: Chanticleers (SHAWN-tuh-clears)
Mascot: Chauncey the Chanticleer
Conference: Big South
Head Coach: Cliff Ellis (158-97, 87-50 Big South; 8th season at Coastal Carolina)
Season Recap
Coastal Carolina went 21-9 and 12-6 in the Big South conference during the 2014-15 regular season, earning the third-seed in the Big South tournament. CCU won six of its last eight regular season games with four of those wins coming by double digits. Coastal Carolina set a program record with a 40-point win over Liberty on Feb. 14. The 96-56 win was the largest margin of defeat against a Big South opponent in program history. The Chanticleers played three power conference opponents in UCLA, Auburn and Ole Miss, falling to UCLA by 13 and Ole Miss by only three points. Coastal Carolina rallied from a 12-point second half deficit to defeat Auburn 58-54.
Notable
In last year’s NCAA tournament, Coastal Carolina nearly pulled off the unimaginable when it almost knocked off No. 1 seed Virginia. The Chanticleers were a 16-seed last season as well, earning a 35-30 lead over the Cavaliers at halftime. Virginia outscored CCU 40-24 in the second half and came away with a win. This season, the Chanticleers return four of their five starters from that game, so they know what it takes to pull off, perhaps, the greatest upset in sports.
How they got here
As a three-seed, Coastal Carolina won three straight games to capture the Big South tournament title. In the quarterfinals, CCU knocked off the six-seed UNC-Asheville before a three-point win over seven-seed Gardner-Webb in the semifinals to advance to the championship. In the title game, the Chanticleers started the second half with a 7-0 to break open a 38-38 tie at halftime with fifth-seeded Winthrop. CCU went on to win 81-70. Four players scored in double figures for Coastal Carolina with senior guard Warren Gillis leading the way with a game-high 22 points.
Notable Players
Warren Gillis
The senior guard from Philadelphia leads the Chanticleers in scoring and assists, averaging 13.1 points and dishing out 3.2 assists per game. Gillis was a Second-Team All-Big South selection this season and was named to the 2015 Big South all-tournament team. He’s scored more than 20 points in three games this season, including 22 points in the Big South championship game and averaged 14.7 points per game in the tournament.
Gillis ranks second in Coastal Carolina history in games played (124) and is the school’s 10th all-time leading scorer (1,330).
Elijah Wilson
A 6-foot-4 sophomore guard, Wilson started 27 of the Chanticleers 33 games this season, averaging 11.1 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. Wilson was the 2015 Big South tournament MVP after averaging 20.3 points per game in Coastal Carolina’s three games. In his six games off the bench this season, Wilson averaged 15.4 points.
Badou Diagne
A junior forward from Senegal, Diagne averages nearly double figures in points (9.6). His 7.4 rebounds per game lead the team and rank fourth in the Big South. Despite being 6-foot-7, Diagne also leads the team in 3-point shooting, making 43.9 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. In Coastal Carolina’s near upset of Virginia in last season’s NCAA tournament, Diagne had team-highs in both points (14) and rebounds (6).
