TOURNAMENT HEADQUARTERS
Naperville, Ill. – For the first time in seven years, the Transylvania men's basketball will appear in the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament on Friday, March 6 at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time versus the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Titans at Gregory Arena on the campus of North Central College.
The Pioneers advanced into the NCAA Tournament by winning the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Championship last Sunday in a 49-48 victory over Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, clinching the tournament's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
Transylvania carries an overall record of 19-8 into the 2020 NCAA Tournament against UW-Oshkosh, which also holds a record of 19-8. Oshkosh enters the 2020 tournament as the reigning NCAA national champions.
The winner of Friday's game will take on the winner of Friday's other first-round game hosted by North Central, the North Central College Cardinals and the Adrian College (Mich.) Bulldogs. The second-round game between the winning teams tips off on Saturday, March 7 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The winner of the North Central regional will advance to the Third Round of the NCAA Tournament on March 14 at a location to be determined following the whittling of the bracket down to 16 teams on Sunday morning.
The NCAA quarterfinal and National semifinal rounds will be held on Friday, March 20, and Saturday March 21 in Fort Wayne, Indiana at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
This year's NCAA Division III Championship will be held on the same weekend as the NCAA Division II and Division I National Championships in Atlanta, Georgia on Sunday, April 5 at State Farm Arena, the home arena of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks. This will mark the second time in eight years the NCAA has hosted combined men's basketball championships across all three divisions with the last occasion also coming in Atlanta during the 2012-13 season.
Tickets for each day's sessions at North Central are $12 for adults, $7 for seniors, youth, and students with a valid ID. Children aged 2 and under are admitted for free and both cash and credit cards are accepted. Ticket sales open at 4:45 PM Eastern Time / 3:45 PM local time on Friday.
Both Transylvania and UW-Oshkosh enter the NCAA Tournament having won their conference tournament crowns. The Pioneers finished as regular-season champions of the HCAC for the first time in eight seasons with an in-conference record of 13-5 and powered past Anderson and Rose-Hulman in their 2020 HCAC Tournament.
After finishing one game behind Wisconsin-Platteville at 11-3 in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season play, the Titans won their WIAC semifinal game over Wisconsin-La Crosse, 76-68 in overtime and captured the tournament championship against Wisconsin- Eau Claire, 78-72 last Saturday.
The Pioneers and Titans carry not only identical records into the NCAA Tournament, but are both playing arguably their best basketball of the season approaching the first weekend of March. After Transylvania started the year 7-7, the Pioneers won a season-best seven consecutive games and enter the NCAA Tournament having won 12 of their last 13 games.
UW-Oshkosh also enters the NCAA Tournament on a hot stretch, carrying a season-high seven-game win streak into Friday night's first-round game. The Titans have won 12 of their last 14 contests entering the month of March.
The Pioneers are led by junior guard Michael Jefferson (Berea, Ky. / Madison Southern HS) and senior guard Gabe Schmitt (Louisville, Ky. / Trinity HS). Both were recently selected to the All-HCAC First Team after finishing off banner seasons for the Pioneers.
Schmitt leads the Pioneers in scoring at 16.6 points per game and paced the HCAC in free-throw percentage (91 percent), the latter mark ranking sixth in the country entering the NCAA Tournament. Schmitt's three-point prowess was on display this season, as he shot 46.4 percent from outside (58-125 3-pt FG). Schmitt has led the Pioneers in scoring in 13 of 27 games this season.
Jefferson trails right behind Schmitt in scoring, averaging better than 15 points per game. The junior leads the Pioneers in assists at 5.9 assists per game, which ranks 18th in the country. Jefferson makes his NCAA Tournament debut shooting 55 percent from the field, fourth-best in the HCAC and highest among all conference guards.
The 6-foot-2 Jefferson leads the Pioneers in rebounding at 6.7 rebounds per game and posted a career-high 37 points earlier in January of this season. Jefferson is coming off a 16-point, 12 rebound, eight-steal, and seven-assist performance in the HCAC Tournament Championship game against Rose-Hulman.
Oshkosh boasts a talented and large lineup, led by senior forward Adam Fravert and senior center Jack Flynn. Fravert ranked third in the WIAC in scoring at 18.8 points per game while Flynn ranked fifth in conference at 16 points per game.
Fravert was also the conference's rebounding and blocks leader at 8.9 boards and 1.4 rejections per game while Flynn ranked fifth in rebounds at 6.5 rebounds a game. Flynn paces the WIAC in field-goal percentage at 52.6 percent shooting while Fravert has proven his ability to stretch the floor, knocking down 2.3 three-pointers a game, which ranks top-three in the WIAC.
Fravert has led or tied for the team lead in scoring in 14 games this season while Flynn has been the high or co-high scorer in 12 contests this year.
Pioneers vs. Titans BY THE NUMBERS
Points per game: UW-Oshkosh: 82 ppg (1st in WIAC out of 8 teams), Transy: 79.6 ppg (1st in HCAC out of 10 teams)
Scoring Defense: UW-Oshkosh: 72.9 ppg allowed (5th in WIAC), Transy: 75.5 ppg allowed (last in HCAC)
Field Goal Percentage: UW-Oshkosh: 46.6% FG (3rd in WIAC), Transy: 47.7% FG (2nd in HCAC)
3-point Field Goal Percentage: UW-Oshkosh: 34.8% 3-pt FG (5th in WIAC), Transy: 39.8% 3-pt FG (5th in nation, 2nd in HCAC)
Rebounding: UW-Oshkosh: 42.3 rpg (1st in WIAC), Transy: 34.3 rpg (6th in HCAC)
Assists: UW-Oshkosh: 13.7 apg (1st in WIAC), Transy: 15.6 apg (2nd in HCAC)
Blocked Shots: UW-Oshkosh: 3.4 bpg (1st in WIAC), Transy: 2.3 bpg (8th in HCAC)
Steals: UW-Oshkosh: 5.1 apg (last in WIAC), 6 spg (5th in HCAC)
Turnovers: UW-Oshkosh: 12 TOpg (5th in WIAC), 11.6 TOpg (2nd in HCAC)
Transylvania is led into the NCAA Tournament by 19th-year head coach Brian Lane, who carries a career head-coaching record of 313-195 (.616 winning percentage), all at Transylvania. The four-time HCAC Coach of the Year and 2012 Midwest Region Coach of the Year has led the Pioneers to the NCAA Tournament six times during his coaching tenure at Transylvania.
Lane faces off against second-year head coach Matt Lewis, who led the Titans to the 2019 national championship with a record of 29-3, the most successful record for Oshkosh in its 121-year program history. Lewis previously served as the assistant coach at UW-Oshkosh for six seasons under former head coach Pat Juckem. Lewis has a head coaching record of 48-11 (.814) at Oshkosh.
Transylvania is making its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance since 2006. The Pioneers have appeared in a national postseason 22 times since 1963. The Titans are making their ninth NCAA Tournament appearance since 1996.
For more information on Transylvania men's basketball, follow @TransyHoops on Twitter
Arena Location:
Merner Field House / Gregory Arena
450 S. Brainard St., Naperville, IL 60540
