Unbeaten Nova routs Alabama-Huntsville, advances to Elite Eight in NCAA Division II

The NSU Sharks are “Elite” again.

NSU’s men’s basketball team – ranked No. 1 in the nation in NCAA Division II – defeated visiting Alabama-Huntsville, 87-62, on Tuesday night.

The Sharks (33-0) advanced to the Elite Eight, which will be held March 21-25 in Evansville, Indiana. NSU will open with Missouri-St. Louis (24-10) on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

It’s the second straight year NSU has left South Florida undefeated and top-ranked. Last season, NSU lost in the Elite Eight, but the Sharks are now set to return with renewed championship aspirations.

“(NSU) is a special bunch,” said Huntsville coach John Shulman, whose team finished 27-8 with a pair of losses to the Sharks. “They are well coached with really good players.

“We were just in the wrong region. I think we need to move Huntsville out to North Dakota just to get away from Nova.”

NSU’s Will Yoakum was named the MVP of the South Region tournament, scoring 33 points on Tuesday and tying a school record with nine 3-pointers made.

Yoakum shot an impressive 9-of-13 on 3-pointers, including 8-of-10 in the first half.

NSU’s Dallas Graziani and Jonathan Pierre – who both played their high school ball in Broward – earned spots on the all-tournament team.

Graziani, a point guard from Cooper City, had six points, a game-high seven assists and a game-high three steals on Tuesday.

Pierre, from Hallandale High, had 12 points, a game-high nine rebounds and six assists.

NSU is so deep that RJ Sunahara, the Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year, didn’t even get a spot on the all-tournament team. He had 14 points on Tuesday, shooting 7-for-10 from the floor, including a steal near mid-court that he converted into an emphatic fast-break dunk.

The Sharks have won their three NCAA Tournament games so far this season by an average of 33 points. Their closest game was Tuesday’s rout – a margin of 25 points.

NSU plays ferocious defense, and the Sharks’ effort is relentless. On offense, they are constantly moving without the ball, setting screens, attacking the paint and crashing the boards. On defense, they pressure full-court, hound the passing lanes for steals and block out in search of rebounds to start fast breaks.

Even Sharks coach Jim Crutchfield, who inherited a losing program in the spring of 2017 and has quickly transformed it into a national power, was impressed with Tuesday’s performance.

“I think we just played our best game of the year,” Crutchfield said. “It doesn’t hurt when Will is throwing in (3-pointers) like crazy, but you can’t always count on that. I thought it was the best half-court defense we’ve played all year.”

Pierre scored the game’s first five points, showing his versatile skill set by nailing a 3-pointer and then soaring for a tip-in dunk.

Huntsville’s Chaney Johnson – the Gulf South Conference Player of the Year – swished a 3-pointer to cut his team’s deficit to 7-3. After his shot, he looked at the NSU crowd and made the “shhh” sign with his pointer finger at his lips.

But there would be no silencing the Sharks.

After NSU briefly trailed at 16-15, Yoakum started dropping 3-point bombs, leading the Sharks to a 49-28 halftime lead.

The game was never close in the second half. For the game, NSU had advantages everywhere, including 23-2 on second-chance points; 20-4 in points off turnovers and 21-7 on fast breaks. NSU shot 50.7 percent from the floor, including 14-for-34 on 3-pointers (41.2 percent).

Yoakum, at the post-game press conference, was playfully teased about having zero assists on Tuesday. But when you can shoot like he did, who needs assists?

At one point in the first half, after another Yoakum 3-pointer and a Huntsville timeout, NSU’s celebration got wild. Pierre nearly tackled Yoakum in youthful jubilation.

“It was a lot of fun, that moment,” said Yoakum, who had 26 points at halftime. “I was playing great and hitting a lot of shots. But there was still a whole half to play, and I was trying to keep that in mind.”

Looking ahead to nationals, NSU got a break when Northwest Missouri State, which has won three straight national titles and four in the past five seasons, was knocked out in regionals.

In fact, NSU is the only top seed still alive.

However, the field includes West Liberty State, which is the program Crutchfield coached before coming to NSU.

Also in the field is Black Hills State, the squad that upset NSU in the Elite Eight last year.

Crutchfield said his team will rely on full-on effort in their quest to bring NSU its first national title in men’s basketball.

“That’s who they are,” Crutchfield said of his team’s hustle. “I see it in practice every day. That’s why we’re 33-0.”