Furman Heads To Chattanooga Wednesday Night

Furman looks for first win at Chattanooga since 2011/photo courtesy of Getty Images

Furman Heads To Chattanooga Looking For its First 4-0 Start to SoCon Play Since 1986-87

Preview:

Furman heads to Chattanooga looking to do two things: 1) Capture its first win at the Roundhouse since a SoCon Tournament 2011 victory over the Mocs, marking just Furman's fifth win at the facility since it opened in 1982; 2) Get off to its first 4-0 start in Southern Conference play since 1986-87. 

The Paladins have found the circular cement mass that seats over 11,000 to be one of its toughest hurdles to overcome among conference venues, which has plenty to do with the Mocs being the league's most successful program since joining as an official member in 1976. 

The Paladins enter Wednesday night's contest with just a 5-28 record all-time in the facility, and the Paladins lost their first 21 games at the Roundhouse before finally breaking through and getting a 76-65 win over the Mocs on Jan. 21, 2002. Led by Karim Souchu's 19 points, Furman won its first game in Chattanooga since 1980. 

The Paladins have only won four games since, and dropped an 80-64 decision at the Roundhouse last season. One of the more memorable wins in the Roundhouse came back in the 2011 Southern Conference Tournament, when Furman came up with a 61-52 win over the No. 2 seeded Mocs in the Southern Conference Tournament, which was hosted at McKenzie Arena.

Furman has not claimed a win on Chattanooga's home floor since that tournament game on March 5, 2011. The Paladins come in having lost five-straight games in the Scenic City to the Mocs. All told, Chattanooga holds a 30-7 series lead against the Paladins in the Scenic City.  

The Paladins were in the same position last season. Coming off a clutch win at Samford, the Paladins improved to 3-0 in the Southern Conference and could have started a SoCon season 4-0 for the first time since 1986-87, but it wasn't to be, as the defending Southern Conference champion handed the Paladins a rare double-digit loss against a league opponent. Chattanooga holds a 54-30 lead in the all-time series, and the Paladins and Mocs will be meeting for the 85th time in league play Wednesday night. 

Chattanooga looks vastly different in terms of its make-up this season under first-year head coach Lamont Paris, who replaced Matt McCall this past April after McCall left to become the head coach at UMass, and Paris was faced with the task of replacing all five starters from a team that went to the NCAA Tournament in 2015 and one that won 19 games the following season.

Paris has one of the youngest teams in the nation, with an average age of 19. The Mocs come into the contest winless in the Southern Conference and will be looking to snap a four-game skid. The Mocs are coming off an 85-66 loss to East Tennessee State last time out.

The Paladins and Mocs share one non-conference opponent, in Tennessee Tech. The Paladins were 64-50 victors over the Golden Eagles, and Tennessee Tech defeated Chattanooga, 82-76, a couple of weeks later in Cookeville. Furman enters Wednesday night's contest having won three-straight, and winners of eight of their last nine games.

Chattanooga is 7-3 against the Paladins in the last 10 meetings between the two. In the last meeting between the two last February, Furman claimed a 60-56 win over the Mocs at Timmons Arena. The Mocs have won 11 Southern Conference Tournament titles and have 30 divisional or regular-season titles in 40 seasons as a SoCon member--the most successful program in SoCon basketball.

The first-ever meeting between Furman and Chattanooga on the college basketball hardwood came during the 1921-22 season, with the Mocs claiming a 55-30 win in Atlanta, GA. The Mocs are an impressive 423-118 all-time at the Roundhouse, including 223-64 against SoCon foes. 

Who To Watch: 

Chattanooga is looking to new, wide-eyed young players to take this program forward under Lamont Paris. Gone are the likes of Justin Tuoyo and Tre' McLean, and the Mocs have had to find some new, young leaders this season. 

Those young leaders have come in the form of guys like Nat Dixon (13.0 PPG, 2.3 APG, 4.6 RPG) and Rodney Chatman (11.0 PPG, 4.0 APG, 3.6 RPG).  Junior forward Makinde London (13.5 PPG, 7.5 RPG) has been a great inside-outside threat for the Mocs so far this season. 

These three players have made the Mocs go through the early part of the 2017-18 season and in the first three conference games. But to say it hasn't been a difficult transition would probably be un-truthful. The trio has been asked to do a lot this season, and have each of the three have been asked to step into roles in which each has some rather large shoes to fill. For London, it's three-time SoCon Defensive Player of the Year Justin Tuoyo, and for Nat Dixon it's been a player like All-SoCon performer Tre' McLean, and for Rodney Chatman it's been a player like always-steady and 2016 Southern Conference Tournament MVP Greg Pryor.

Dixon comes in off a 20-point performance against rival East Tennessee State the last time out, while connecting on 6-of-13 from the field and 3-of-6 from three-point range in the loss. Dixon's performance against the Bucs marked his first 20+point performance of the season. He also went 5-for-9 from the charity stripe in the contest. He joins Chatman and London as the third Moc to produce a 20-point or more performance this season. 

Dixon has started all 16 games for the Mocs this season, and is the team's best perimeter shooter, having knocked down 34 triples and is shooting 42% (34-of-81) from long range so far this season. 

London has started all 15 games he has played in this season for the Mocs, and is coming off a game in which he posted 10 points, five rebounds and a block in the loss to the Bucs. The 6-10 forward from Nashville, Tenn., has been outstanding this season from inside the paint as well as from beyond the arc. The more surprising numbers for the 6-10 forward come from beyond the arc, however, as he is shooting 36.6% from long range this season, connecting 28-of-77 from long-range so far this season. 

London had an eyebrow-raising performances this season, with five games with 20 or more points and has one double-double. London had a massive performance in Chattanooga's narrow, 70-66, loss on the road at the Cam Henderson Center and former Southern Conference member Marshall back on Dec. 5. The junior forward posted 25 points and a career-high 18 rebounds in the loss to the Herd. 

Chatman, a talented sophomore guard from Lithonia, GA., has also turned in a solid season for the Mocs. The 6-1 guard has 10 double-figure scoring performances for the Mocs this season, including a pair of 20+scoring performances against Jacksonville State and Charlotte, respectively. In the 77-75 overtime loss to Jacksonville State earlier this season, Chatman scored a career-high 24 points. In the win 64-50 win over Charlotte, Chatman scored a game-high 23 points to lead Chattanooga to the 14-point home win. 

Rounding out the probable starting five for the Mocs will be guard Makale Foreman (8.0 PPG, 1.9 RPG) and 6-8 center Joshua Phillips (10.0 PPG, 4.1 RPG). Foreman is coming off a 17-point performance against East Tennessee State last time out, and has been playing well of late. Phillips will be making just his third start for the Mocs Wednesday night.

Matt Rafferty and Geoff Beans battle Tennessee's Kyle Alexander for a rebound in a game vs. the 20th-ranked Volunteers just before Christmas/Photo Courtesy Chattanooga Times Free Press

Furman will be making their third trip to the Volunteer State this season, including trips to Knoxville and Nashville, and now will be heading to the Scenic City of Chattanooga. Furman first went to Nashville to face both Northeastern and New Hampshire as a part of the PK80 Tournament, and then just before Christmas, face then No. 20 Tennessee. The Paladins are 2-1 in the state of Tennessee so far this season, with wins over New Hampshire (W, 78-64) and Northeastern (W, 78-67), while dropping a close decision at Tennessee (L, 61-66).

The Paladins are up to No. 6 in this week's CollegeInsider.com mid-major poll and are one of four Southern Conference teams ranked in the poll. The No. 6 ranking in the mid-major poll is the highest achieved by Furman basketball since the poll's inception. 

Furman enters the game continuing to be led by preseason Southern Conference Player of the Year Devin Sibley (16.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG). Sibley has struggled from the free throw line as of late, going 0-for-6 in the narrow win over Mercer last time out. Sibley has eight 20-point games so far this season, including a 26-point, 10-rebound, five-assist performance in the 107-67 win over The Citadel last week. 

Sibley had 11 points in the win over Mercer last Saturday, and has scored in double figures in 13 out of 16 games this season for the Paladins. Sibley, a Volunteer State native himself, has posted three 20-point performances in his home state this season. The Knoxville native posted 20 and 22 points in wins over New Hampshire and Northeastern, while posting 22 points in the five-point loss to Tennessee. He is shooting an impressive 41.5% (33-of-76) from three-point land this season. He currently ranks 12th in scoring in Furman basketball history, with 1,620 points. 

Teaming with Sibley in the Paladin backcourt will once again be John Davis III (11.8 PPG, 2.6 RPG), Daniel Fowler (12.1 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 2.9 APG) and Andrew Brown (6.9 PPG, 2.9 RPG). Davis continues to be the "glue guy" for this Furman team and is a tremendous facilitator and is a heady point guard. He has looked to assert himself more as a scoring threat this season.

It was Fowler who took things over the last time out for the Paladins in a 74-71 win over Mercer, scoring a season high 21 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, and had maybe his best all-around game of his Furman career against the Bears, willing the Paladins back from a nine-point deficit with nine minutes left. In addition to his 21 points against the Bears, Fowler also added four assists, four rebounds, two steals and a block in the Paladin victory. Fowler is shooting a team-beast 42.7% (32-of-75) from three-point range so far this season.

Rounding out the starting five for Furman is junior forward Matt Rafferty (11.3 PPG, 8.2 RPG), who has arguably been the most consistent Paladin this season. Rafferty has been huge for the Paladins this season, as he enters the game against Chattanooga ranking second in the league in rebounding and his 64.6% field goal percentage clip leads the SoCon.

The native of Hinesdale, Ill., has found his way into double figures in 12 of 16 games this season, including flirting with a triple-double against The Citadel, with 10 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Rafferty also leads the Paladins in assists this season, averaging 3.1 helpers-per-game. Rafferty recorded his career-high of 22 points earlier this season in a win against UNC Asheville.

The top player off the bench for the Paladins this season has been sophomore guard Jordan Lyons (8.3 PPG, 1.3 RPG). The sophomore guard out of Peachtree City, GA., has scored in double figures in each of the past three games, including posting a career-high 20 points in the 107-67 win over The Citadel last week.

Stay tuned tomorrow for a full preview of Mercer's trip to Western Carolina.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION: Furman 78, Chattanooga 70