Furman Looks To Rebound on Legends Day Against Samford

Senior Geoff Beans scored a career-high 21 points as a freshman in a win over Samford in 2014

Furman Looks To Bounce Back Against Samford

Samford (7-12, 3-3 SoCon) at Furman (13-6, 4-2 SoCon), 4:30 p.m.

Preview:

Furman will look to bounce back from two-straight losses to East Tennessee State (L, 61-62) and Wofford (L, 70-79) when they square off with Samford in a key Southern Conference matchup at Timmons Arena Saturday afternoon.

The Bulldogs were of course the team that ended Furman's hopes of making it to the NCAA Tournament last year, knocking the Paladins out of the Southern Conference Tournament in Asheville, taking a 67-63 in the quarterfinal round of the tournamen. Furman, however, claimed both of the regular-season meetings between the two last season, with an 83-73 win in Greenville and a 90-73 in Birmingham.

The Bulldogs and Paladins will be meeting for the 24th time on the college basketball hardwood, with Furman holding a 15-8 all-time series edge. Samford enters having also lost two-straight, with an 81-50 loss at Mercer and an 93-89 setback on the home hardwood to Wofford last week,

Furman will be celebrating Legends Day at Timmons Arena Saturday, as the Paladin basketball program welcomes back alumni from yester-year--a tradition started by former head coach Niko Medved and continued by current first-year head coach Bob Richey.  Scott Padgett is in his fourth season at the helm of the Samford basketball program, posting a 54-66 record. Samford was picked to finish second in the preseason Southern Conference coaches' and media polls. 

Who To Watch:

Both Samford and Furman could be without players that were placed on the preseason First-Team All-SoCon Team, with Samford's Wyatt Walker having missed all but two games this season with an undisclosed injury, while preseason first-team All-SoCon and preseason SoCon Player of the Year Devin Sibley (15.4 PPG, 4.6 RPG) questionable for Saturday after dislocating a finger in Thursday night's loss to East Tennessee State.

Sibley had a 30-point effort against Samford in last season's Southern Conference Tournament loss, but has yet to cross the 30-point plateau in his senior season. He has eight 20-point performances this season. 

Sibley, should he play this afternoon, will be joined in the backcourt by seniors John Davis III (11.2 PPG, 2.5 RPG) and Daniel Fowler (11.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG), while junior Andrew Brown (7.4 PPG, 3.2 RPG) will round out Furman's four-guard backcourt. Brown had a recent 16-point effort in a win at Chattanooga, while John Davis III is coming off a solid 12-point, three-assist performance against East Tennessee State on a night when Furman struggled mightily shooting the basketball. It was Fowler that helped Furman to a narrow win over Mercer a couple of weeks ago, scoring 22 points, dishing out four helpers and grabbing four rebounds in the 74-71 home win. 

Junior forward Matt Rafferty is coming off a solid performance, and has led the Paladins in scoring in two of the past three games. He had 17 points in a win at Chattanooga, and is coming off a 13-point, eight-rebound performance in the loss to East Tennessee State Thursday night. 

Rafferty comes into Saturday afternoon's clash with the Bulldogs ranking second in the SoCon in rebounding (7.9 RPG), second in steals (33 steals/1.7 SPG) and ranks 12th in assists (2.9 APG). 

Off the bench, Jordan Lyons (8.2 PPG, 1.5 RPG) and Geoff Beans (3.2 PPG, 1.5 RPG) have been the most trusted options of late. Lyons is a fearless shooter, and has scored in double figures in five out of the past nine games for the Paladins. Lyons scored a season and career-high 22 points in the win over UNC Asheville earlier this season. Beans had a career-high 21 points as a freshman against Samford, and has been playing well on both ends of the floor as of late.

Samford counters with a guard-oriented offense without the presence of Walker. One of those guards that has caused big problems for foes this season is Alabama transfer Justin Coleman (12.6 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 5.9 APG). Coleman currently leads the SoCon in assists-per-game (5.9 APG), and posted a career-high 28 points in his Southern Conference debut against Chattanooga. 

Coleman will team with Demetrius Denzel-Dyson (14.6 PPG, 4.8 RPG), and Triston Chambers (7.8 PPG, 1.8 RPG) in the backcourt, while Alex Thompson (10.9 PPG, 3.1 RPG) and Eric Adams (6.8 PPG, 6.0 RPG) round out Samford's starting five in the paint. Denzel-Dyson is one of the most cerebral and athletic guards in the SoCon. His 2.3 three-pointers per game this season ranks him fourth in the league, and his 42 treys leads the Bulldogs. 

Off the bench for the Bulldogs, keep an eye on newcomer and forward Stefan Lakic (5.7 PPG, 2.2 RPG) as well as Alex Peters (4.4 PPG, 3.2 RPG), who have both had to step up in the absence of Walker. Remember it was Walker who had 15 points and 12 boards in the win over Furman in the Southern Conference Tournament last season. 

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION: Furman 77, Samford 68