Last Year: 19-13 overall, 11-5 in conference
Losses: Travis Strong, Andrew Reed, Kenyona Swader
Key Returners: Courtney Pigram, Kevin Tiggs, Mike Smith, and Jocolby Davis all averaged between 19.9 and 33.3 minutes per game.
Show Me Numbers: ETSU loses half of its 3-point attempts from last year. The Bucs were second in the conference in FT shooting last year. Like Belmont, they lose some reliability at the FT line, but their returning players shoot better than 70%, which for this league is still pretty good.
Quick Analysis: ETSU's history of running a short bench. 7 guys played close to 90% of their minutes in conference play. Four of the seven guys are back, but the rest of the roster is unproven. If their untested players are conference-level replacements, this could be a problem, especially if they play the up-tempo style they are accustomed to. This team will be made or broken on the defensive end of the floor. Slow the pace down just a touch, guard the fire out of the ball, and make good decisions offensively, and they should be fine.
Stat Projection: Offensively, the Bucs' projected 1.05 PEP and 77.80 PEG rank near the bottom of the conference, tied with Mercer for sixth among teams eligible for the conference tournament. They can, however, make up for the lack of offensive punch if they can defend. The big warning flag in the numbers is that they don't have much of a margin for error.
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