The Garnet will open up at home on Friday night, welcoming Brooklyn College to Tarble Pavilion.
Swarthmore has emerged as a premier program in the nation over the past few years under head coach Landry Kosmalski. Last season, the Garnet made it all the way to the national championship game. This season, Swarthmore has spent the campaign ranked No. 1 in the country, and they won their first 26 games before falling in the Centennial Conference championship game to Johns Hopkins on a buzzer-beater.
"It's been a lot of fun," Kosmalski told KYW Newsradio about the season to this point. "We've definitely prioritized enjoying every day, every moment. Winning is difficult and challenging, but we've tried to keep it loose and light and it's worked for us."
The Garnet average 79.8 points per game and allow just 65.4. Kosmalski says they really have a lot of players contributing to their success.
"We've got six guys that are two and a half, three points apart (in scoring average)," he said. "So very even scoring. When most people talk to us, though, they talk about our two seniors, Zac O'Dell and Nate Shafer. Both big guys, both really good defensively, altering, blocking shots and scoring inside. Just having the experience of being in the tournament three years and being two-time captains. I mean they are our anchors."
O'Dell averages 10.8 points and a team best 8.1 rebounds a game. Shafer checks in with 10.6 points and 7.1 rebounds a night. Sophomore guard George Visconti leads the Garnet in scoring at 12.1 points per game.
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Brooklyn College earned an automatic bid into the tournament by winning the City University of New York Athletic Conference title. The Bulldogs were the No. 5 seed in that conference tournament, but they put together wins over the No. 4, No. 1 and No. 2 seeds to win the title and get into the field despite a record of just 13-15.
"They play a lot of guys," Kosmalski said of the Bulldogs. "They play very fast-paced. They'll pressure you full court; they've got quickness. They force a lot of turnovers. For us, we like to play fast-paced. And a lot of teams we play, if they play like seven guys, it's an advantage. But Brooklyn's going to play 10, 11 guys, so we're going to have to figure it out."
The winner of this game will play the winner of Babson and Ithaca in the second round. Those two teams will play at Tarble Pavilion prior to the Swarthmore/Brooklyn game, which is slated to tip off at 7:30 p.m.
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