For the first time in NCAA history, all three men’s basketball titles will be decided in the same city. Here are five reasons why Metro State (32-2) will play Drury (30-4) in the Division II men’s basketball championship game at Philips Arena. (The game is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. Admission is free.)
Effective offense: Both are efficient in the matter of making baskets. Drury ranks No. 4 in the country in field-goal percentage at 51.3 percent and 15th in scoring at 81.5 points per game, while Metro State is 18th in field-goal percentage at 48.7 percent and 31st in scoring at 78.9 points per game. Metro State likes to generate its offense out of its full-court defense, while Drury plays a motion offense and has a sharp point guard in Brandon Lockhart.
“We do have some similarities in that we both like to get out in transition and we’re very selective,” Metro State coach Derrick Clark said. “They don’t turn the ball over playing in a hurry. We’re the same way.”
Hitting the 3-ball: Both teams are among the best at knocking down shots from the perimeter. The Roadrunners of Metro State rank seventh at 41.1 percent, and Drury guard Alex Hall ranks fourth among individual players at 46.2 percent, often benefiting from kick-out passes from Lockhart. Hall makes 3.56 3-pointers per game, third in the country.
Hall, an All-American selection, holds school records for 3-pointers in a game (nine), season (121) and career (351). He has scored 68 points in the past two games.
Said Clark of Hall, “He’s a guy that can make a shot from anywhere on the floor.”
Metro State is far less reliant on 3-pointers than is Drury, accounting for 23.0 percent of its field-goal attempts compared with 35.5 percent for the Panthers.
Senior influence: Metro State has two starting seniors, forward Jonathan Morse and point guard Demetrius Miller. Morse, a two-time academic All-American, was the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference player of the year while Miller was named MVP of the South Central regional tournament.
Drury has three seniors in the starting lineup, Hall, Lockhart and forward Teddy Simniok. Hall and Lockhart are both four-year starters. Lockhart, named the Midwest regional most outstanding player last week, ranks eighth in the country in steals (2.94 per game) and 11th in assists (6.1 per game).
“I haven’t really thought about it (as the last game),” Hall said. “But going into this last game, it’s just a tremendous honor (to play at the Division I Final Four). We’ve had a great run together. And we don’t want to go out any other way.”
Winning over the long haul: Drury coach Steve Hesser has built a perennial winner in Springfield, Mo., having compiled a .721 winning percentage in nine seasons. The Panthers have won 20 or more games in seven of nine seasons and reached the NCAA tournament six of nine seasons. This is the school's first time in the championship game.
The Metro State program was built by Mike Dunlap, the Roadrunners’ coach 1997-2006 and now the coach of the Charlotte Bobcats. Coach Derrick Clark was an assistant on Dunlap’s staff and took the job in 2010. The Roadrunners have reached the NCAA tournament 15 out of the past 16 years, won two national championships and entered this season with the highest winning percentage in Division II history (.714).
Tapping pipelines: Both coaches have profited with established recruiting patterns. The hometowns of all but two of Drury's players are within about a 3 1/2-hour drive of Drury's campus in Springfield, Mo., in the southwest corner of Missouri. Hall, in fact, grew up in Springfield, which has also given the world actor Brad Pitt and legendary game-show host Bob Barker. "The Price is Right" star, in fact, attended Drury on a basketball scholarship and has a street on campus named for him.
Metro State, meanwhile, has benefited from a line of players out of Australia, established by Dunlap after he coached there and continued by Clark, who played professionally there. Guard Mitch McCarron and center Nicholas Kay, both starters, are from Australia and contribute a combined 23.9 points per game.
About the Author
