Queens basketball is making its first NCAA tournament after beating Central Arkansas in a thriller on Sunday.
In the first year that Queens basketball was eligible for the NCAA tournament, they made it. Talk about perfect timing. The Royals made the jump from D-II to D-I in 2023, and just three years later, they find themselves in every other team’s shoes, just six games away from winning college basketball’s biggest prize.
How they got there:
Queens basketball finished the ASUN conference slate with a 13-5 record, after being picked first in the conference’s coaches poll prior to the season. The Royals won four of five in the ASUN regular season, though they lost on the road to Central Arkansas in the regular season finale. They got revenge in an instant classic against the Bears in the championship, winning 98-93 in overtime after beating West Georgia and Austin Peay in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively.
Three players from Queens basketball were named to the ASUN all-tournament team. Nasir Mann was named tournament MVP, while Chris Ashby and Jordan Watford earned all-tournament honors.
General Information:
Team: Queens
Location: Charlotte, N.C.
Record: 21-13 (13-5)
Head Coach: Grant Leonard (4th season, all with Queens)
What to know about Queens basketball:
The Royals are making their first trip to the dance after defeating Central Arkansas 98-93 in overtime in the ASUN Tournament championship game. It’s the first year the program was eligible for the tournament, as they were going through the D-II-to-D-I transition period imposed by the NCAA.
Queens is led by a diverse scoring machine: six players currently average double figures for the Royals over the course of the season. All six of those players have played in at least 30 games, as well. Nasir Mann, who came off the bench for Queens last season, leads the team with 13.4 PPG. The team’s offense is pretty good, leading the ASUN with an average of 84.8 PPG. That puts them into the top 20 amongst D-I programs nationally.
Part of that stems from a pace of play that ranks second in the conference, but the Royals are also second-to-last in the conference in turnovers committed per game, pointing to some level of discipline on offense as well. They’re second in the conference in 2PT% and third in 3PT%, but the team’s defense needs some work: it’s rated 324th of 365 D-I schools in defensive efficiency, per KenPom. That’s middle-of-the-pack (7th of 12 teams) in a conference that isn’t rated super high to begin with.
NCAA Tournament prediction for Queens basketball: Round of 64 exit
Seed: 15
Queens got a 15 seed on Selection Sunday and will take on Purdue on Friday at 7:35 p.m. EST. Queens didn’t beat any Power Five teams or mid-majors, solely low-major opposition. Additionally, every non-conference win for Queens came against a team that was .500 or worse in their conference games this season. A complete lack of Q1 or Q2 wins means Queens, with 13 losses on its resume, is relegated to close to the bottom of the seed list.
In Queens’ five games against high major opponents, they lost to Villanova by 20, Virginia by 25, Wake Forest by 38, Arkansas by 28, and Auburn by 41 in the non-conference finale. Those results don’t bode well for the Royals facing off against a Purdue team that played like they were on a mission in the Big Ten Tournament.
If there is a way for Queens to break through and bust some brackets, it’ll be by way of scoring efficiently and avoiding fouls. The Royals have a very good shooting offense, making 59.0% from inside (14th nationally) and 35.9% from deep (65th in D-I). But they commit plenty of fouls on defense, and they might be a problem against a larger team like Purdue, physically. In the five losses to Power Five teams, Queens committed over 20 personal fouls per game and gave up 44.6% of offensive rebounding opportunities to opponents. That’s simply not great.