No. 15 VU Trailblazers set to take on No. 18 Holmes in opening round of NJCAA Tournament

Hutchinson, Kan. – The No. 15-seed Vincennes University Trailblazers received an At-Large bid to the NJCAA National Championship tournament last weekend and are putting together their final preparations for their first round matchup with the Holmes College Bulldogs of Mississippi.

Holmes comes into the NJCAA Tournament as the Gulf Region Champions, after pulling off three-straight upset wins over LSU-Eunice, top-seeded Pearl River and No. 2-seed Northwest Mississippi in the Gulf District tournament.

The Bulldogs are 15-3 on the season after playing a complete Division-I schedule this year.

Holmes is led by their two guards, Kaleb Higgins and Brandon Weatherspoon. Higgins enters the tournament averaging just under 20-points per game. Weatherspoon averages 15.9 points per game this season, including a stellar 22-point performance in the Bulldogs' 81-56 win over Northwest Mississippi in the District Championship game.

The Bulldogs enter the tournament as No. 9 in team defense this season, holding opponents to under 64 points per game on average at 63.8. Vincennes is ranked No. 6 in the country in team defense, holding teams to 63.1 points per game.

"Offensively, Holmes is guard oriented," VU Hall of Fame head coach Todd Franklin said. "Their point guard is going to dictate. He's going to attack, he can score, he can create for others. Their wings are going to shoot the ball. They're athletic, but they're really more catch-and-shoot than break you down players. They rebound the ball, especially on the offensive glass. They really chase the ball and that will be the challenge."

"Defensively, they're going to play mostly man. They will press you a little bit. They will probably double us in the post some. When they think they need to they do, but when they don't they don't. But they are going to be very aggressive."

"They play with a chip on their shoulder. The Mississippi teams think that they get disrespected and they've had success at the National Tournament and often do. They don't get a lot of publicity during the year and they're pretty good at getting those guys fired up when they come to the National Tournament about 'this is our chance. Then you get Vincennes and that's the ultimate chance to put a chip on your shoulder. Where they (VU) gets attention and that's the standard over there. So, we anticipate them playing with a big chip on their shoulder."

"I know Coach Flanigan does a good job of getting his guys keyed in on things like that. I know he uses those types of things to get his teams ready, so we anticipate that it's going to be a rock fight on Monday and if you're not ready for a rock fight, then you're going to get beat. Because I think they're going to bring it. This game I think if we're sharpe and hard-edged, I think we can be competing with a chance to win and that's all you can ask for. I think there is a pathway for us to advance through the game with Holmes and the next round, but we just have to worry about our little pod in the bracket and I think we can be competitive in it."

The Trailblazers enter the NJCAA Tournament for the ninth-straight year, a new NJCAA record, with a 17-6 record and a runner-up finish in the Central District Tournament.

VU lost at John A. Logan 77-68 the last time we saw this team in action, nearly 10 days ago, after the Blazers were aided by a 24-point, nine-rebound game from Nigel Martin off the bench.

Vincennes also got a big game from sophomore guard DJ Brewton, who finished with 17 points, five rebounds and four assists in the District Championship game.

"We didn't necessarily think Nigel was going to go out and get 24 against Logan but we never think about it in those terms really," Franklin added. "We've been preparing Nigel for that extensively for the last month, knowing that we needed to get a stretch-four and in that Logan game in particular. It wasn't completely out of left-field like we didn't think he could play a role, what we thought he could be that game was the guy who got us over the hump. As it turned out, we had a number of factors that we didn't do too well and he ended up being the guy that got us to the hump."

"We had Archer play eight minutes and got very little done. John (Ukomadu) got very little done and our guards shoot 6 for 21. We let Xavier Ball hit shots on the perimeter but we pretty much contained everyone else to the level we wanted to. But we just didn't get anything from guys we needed to offensively. We thought opportunities were there but Nigel stepped up and made plays, so we rode him more that game."

"I don't think we're going to be doing anything outside of what we've been doing. We've been trying to get these guys in the best positions possible and I think the last little thing was adding Nigel as a stretch-four option for us. Now it's just fine-tuning and guys stepping up and playing. We can't have Archer get just two points, we can't have John get three, we can't have the combination of those guys get five points. Those guys have to show up. If we're going to advance, they have to show up."

"There are things that we're going to tweak to get the best out of our players this week but really there isn't one guy waiting to jump up that hasn't been there this season, it's just trying to get them all to do it and do what we've been working towards. We definitely need to get a consistent effort from our big guys out here and our guards can't shoot 6 for 21. Those are just things that you can't do at this level or you'll lose. It's amazing that we had all of that at Logan and we were still within five points with three minutes to go."

"It's encouraging in a way, because we left a lot on the table that game and yet in one of the toughest game you can imagine, we were there at the end with opportunities. It's just getting the guys to play well. The only two losses we've had in the last 13 games have been two losses at Logan, where you have to drive three hours on a bus, get out and play them at their place. I wouldn't mind seeing them on a neutral floor right now, I would welcome that and I think we would have a solid chance of winning that game."

"I think we're in a solid position, we just have to get our guys to play. I think we've moved into a position where we have a chance to compete with all these teams because we're not going to face a lot tougher than we did with playing at Logan. I think we're there; we just need to go out and put our best foot forward and if we do that, looking at our bracket, I think we've got a chance to advance and a chance to advance maybe deep. But we have also had times where we don't get everybody to play and we have big drop offs.  We have to have everyone play well enough this week to where even if they don't play their best, it's still at a good enough level to give us a chance to win."

The Trailblazers return to Hutchinson after the 2020 National Tournament was cancelled last year as defending National Champions and winners of four straight games in the Hutchinson Sports Arena.

This is Vincennes' 36th trip to the NJCAA National Tournament in school history, which is an NJCAA record, as well as holding the NJCAA record for most tournament wins (68).

The opening round of the 2021 NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship tournament tips-off Monday, April 19, with the Trailblazers set to take the floor against Holmes at 3 p.m. eastern Monday.

Dave Hunter will have the radio call on The Blazers 91.1 FM, WVUB and all games will be livestreamed on the NJCAA Network at njcaa.org/network, for $10 per day or $30 for the entire tournament.