TO READ THE FULL PREVIEW, CLICK ON THE "TIGER MEN'S BASKETBALL AT NCAA TOURNAMENT" LINK.
 
No. 15 Tiger Men's Basketball is going dancing in the 2024 NCAA III Tournament. 
 
The Tigers (23-3) earned an at-large bid to the tourney after falling in the semi finals of the SCAC tournament to Colorado College. Freshman duo of Christian Green (San Antonio, Texas / Veterans Memorial) and Dean Balo (Dallas, Texas / JJ Pearce) combined for 34 of the 70 total points. Balo scored 16 while Green put up 18. Tanner Brown (San Antonio, Texas / Brandeis) was the only other Trinity hooper in double figures with 11. 
 
Preview - Calgaard Playoffs
 
The Tigers will play against the University of Texas-Dallas on Friday, March 1st at 7:35 PM. The first pod will consist of Trinity, UT-Dallas, Centenary, and No. 19 Nebraska Wesleyan. All games will be played in Calgaard Gymnasium.
 
On the UT-Dallas Comets: The Comets finished the season 18-9 and claimed an ASC championship. UTD has only played against one other ranked team this season in then ranked No. 5 Tufts. The Comets would lose by 12 but came back with a vengeance and won their conference on a game-winning shot. They are also a high-scoring offense, averaging 81.6 points per game this season with three players with 10 or more points. 6-10 sophomore center Page Austin will be a problem for all the teams in this pod. He is averaging 17.4 points per game while shooting a .640 clip. Trinity is 6-7 against UTD all time. 
 
On the Centenary Gents: The 2024 SCAC champions come into the tournament with a 17-11 record. Centenary had to go through Schreiner, St. Thomas, and Colorado College to earn their second ever SCAC title. The Gents are a high energy team that can put up big numbers if they get hot. Centenary is a little undersized, but they make that up with a pesky 1-3-1 zone that provides lots of pressure. The Tigers did defeat Centenary in both games this season, both coming from a strong second half. Senior Seth Thomas leads the Gents in scoring with 16.2 per game on a good 44 percent from the field. The Tigers are 15-12 against the Gents. 
 
On the No. 19 Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves: The Prairie Wolves will be 23-4 coming into Calgaard. NWU earned an at-large bid after falling to Loras College in the American Rivers Conference Tournament. The Prairie Wolves have played many tough teams this year, including Colorado College which they beat 75-67 early in the season. NWU is led by junior 6-6 guard Peter Lash. Lash is averaging just over 17 points per game this season and can score at all levels and help in the rebounding game. Trinity is 3-0 against Nebraska Wesleyan but have not played them since the 2010-2011 season. 
 
Key To The Game
 
Get Him Going: In their tournament loss to Colorado, Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) scored less than 10 points. Harvey is a key scorer in the Trinity offense and he forces defenses to open up so that scorers like Green and Brown have more room to get to the basket. Look for TU to run plays to get Jacob looks from deep early so that he can find his shot.
 
Looking Ahead
 
If the Tigers win, they will play against the winner of Centenary and Nebraska Wesleyan on Saturday at 7:30 PM.