Here’s our updated Big South Basketball Power Rankings with games played through January 19th.

Note: National rankings are courtesy of KenPom.com. Arrows denote movement in power rankings since last week.

1. High Point 14-4, 5-1 #148

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Trying to sort through these power rankings this week, especially 1-7, is nearly impossible. You could flip a coin on who should be #1 between High Point and Coastal. Yes, the Chanticleers hold the head-to-head win, but the Panthers are 5-0 since then with some impressive wins including a double digit road win this week against Gardner-Webb.

2. Coastal Carolina 14-4, 5-1 #129

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Meanwhile, Coastal lost a home game by double digits to that same Gardner-Webb team in their only game this week. The Chants top 3 scorers, Warren Gillis, Elijah Wilson, and Shivaughn Wiggins, all struggled against GWU going a combined 10/28 from the field and 3/10 from 3-point range. Another tough test for CCU as they travel to Asheville on Thursday.

3. Charleston Southern 11-7, 5-2 #216

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Don’t look now, but the Buccaneers are rolling. Winners of 4 straight, including 3 this week, CSU’s only conference losses are on the road to the top 2 teams in the conference. Saah Nimley has scored at least 30 points in each of his last 3 games. The senior guard is leading the Big South in scoring at 25 points per game in league play.

4. Gardner-Webb 12-7, 4-2 #175

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Gardner-Webb faced the top two teams in the league this week, getting a split, as they gave Coastal Carolina their first Big South loss of the year. Jerome Hill scored 31 points and grabbed 10 boards to lead the Runnin’ Bulldogs over the Chants. Gardner-Webb knocked down 11 of their 24 3-point attempts in the win.

5. Winthrop 8-9, 3-3 #221

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Winthrop is one of those teams that is tough to get a read on. One game you think they are a contender for the championship, the next game they look average. That trend continued this week as they went on the road to beat UNC-Asheville by 15, before falling at home to Radford. If the Eagles want to be taken seriously in the regular season race, they need to take care of business this week against Liberty and Campbell.

6. Radford 12-7, 3-3 #169

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The Highlanders are another team that is tough to read. They started conference play with 3 straight losses, and have since followed that with 3 straight wins. Their 2 wins this week came on the road against Campbell and Winthrop. R.J. Price connected on 5 of his 6 3-point attempts on his way to 20 points to lead Radford over the Eagles.

7. UNC-Asheville 8-9, 4-2 #219

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This is getting repetitive. Who is the real Asheville team? The one who beat Gardner-Webb by 25, or the one who lost at home to Winthrop by 15? The Bulldogs were 1-2 this week with their only win coming against Campbell, 69-65. Andrew Rowsey’s 34 points was not enough to overcome Saah Nimley and Charleston Southern on Monday night.

8. Presbyterian 6-13, 2-4 #341

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The Blue Hose and freshman DeSean Murray have been the surprise of the league so far this season. After beating Longwood in Farmville this week, PC now has 2 road wins in Big South play for the first time since 2012 when they finished 8-10 in the conference. As for Murray, he has 3 double-doubles since returning to injury against Liberty 5 games ago. The freshman forward is averaging 18.8 points and 10.2 rebounds during that time.

9. Longwood 6-14, 2-5 #312

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It’s been a tough couple of weeks since the Lancers knocked off Radford in double overtime back on January 3rd. Since then, Longwood has gone 1-4 and lost one of their best players in Lotanna Nwogbo. At least they kept their home-winning streak over Liberty in tact.

10. Campbell 7-12, 1-5 #284

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Well, the Camels are one of the worst teams in the league, just as we expected at the beginning of the year. Their stretch of 6 wins in 7 games  in December nearly confused all of us, but they have responded with 5 straight conference losses, including 2 at home. Campbell travels to South Carolina to face Presbyterian on Thursday.

11. Liberty 6-13, 0-6 #337

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Two road losses drops the Flames to 0-10 away from home this season. David Andoh’s career night of 24 points and 8 rebounds wasn’t enough against Longwood, as Liberty is still seeking its first ever win in Willett Hall. The 71 points the Flames scored against the Lancers, was a season high against Division I opponents.