Know Your Opponent: Wofford

By Bobby Hundley

Wofford (WoffordTerriers.com)
Location: Spartanburg, S.C.
Rankings: No. 196 KenPom, NR AP
Record: 7-4
Carolina Series History (Last Meeting): Carolina leads 3-0 (Carolina 78, Wofford 58), Nov. 18, 2015, Chapel Hill)

Wofford enters Wednesday's pre-Christmas finale having won four games on the hop, including a 3-point home win over Georgia Tech on Dec. 6. The Terriers are three years removed from the best season in school history and are looking to return to the postseason for the first time since that 28-7 squad earned a 12-seed and nearly knocked off Arkansas in the NCAA tournament.

A sharpshooter who was just beginning his Wofford career the last time the Tar Heels and Terriers met, Fletcher Magee is now a junior who has firmly established himself as one of the best marksmen in college basketball. A career 46 percent outside shooter against D-I competition who scored 36 and drained eight 3s against GT, Magee has made a staggering 52 of 90 3s so far in 2017. He's even better at the foul line, where he has only missed 16 of 222 free throw attempts against D-I foes in three seasons.

Sophomores Nathan Hoover and Trevor Stumpe and freshman Storm Murphy join Magee in the backcourt for one of the nation's youngest teams. Wofford has just one senior in reserve guard Derrick Brooks and 10 of the 15 players on the roster are underclassmen. Hoover is the team's other volume shooter alongside Magee and the duo has already attempted 151 3s through 11 games. The 5-11 Murphy is a classic pass-first point guard who ranks in the top 200 nationally in assist rate according to KenPom.

Cameron Jackson is Wofford's top rebounder, a vital piece for a team that often has four guards on the floor. The 6-8 junior ranks in the top 100 in both offensive and defensive rebounding percentage and is second on the team in scoring with 11.8 points per contest. He has struggled at the line, however, making just 52.6 percent of his free throws.

In his 16th year as the head coach, Mike Young is closing in on the all-time Wofford wins record. With his 250th win earlier this year, Young became the first D-I coach at the school to reach 250 victories. His club was picked sixth in the preseason coaches poll after finishing in a tie for fourth in the wide-open SoCon last season, but will look to ride the elite shooting talent of Magee to greater heights come March.

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