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| Furman's Jonathan Jean/Photo Courtesy of Furman Athletics |
Preview:
Furman and Western Carolina meet in a crucial Southern Conference basketball game Saturday at Timmons Arena--a place where the Paladins have won 19 of their past 21 league games--and the two rivals that don purple as their main color will be meeting for the 71st time on Saturday, with the Paladins holding a 41-29 series edge.
The Paladins have claimed three of the past four meetings between the two, including one of the the most lopsided wins against a conference opponent in school history, as the Paladins picked up an 85-37 win over the Catamounts last season.
But this is a different Western Carolina team than the one Furman thrashed in Timmons Arena and beat 74-62 at the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee last season. In fact, Western's 4-3 conference record is surprising to some and a testament to just how good of a coach Larry Hunter is.
The Catamounts had one of the youngest teams in the country last season, and the team took its share of lumps last season and early on this season, however, a tough schedule, along with those lumps, have made the Catamounts a dangerous out for anyone in the Southern Conference.
The Catamounts enter Saturday's "Battle For Purple Supremacy" coming off a resounding 108-48 win over Southern Wesleyan Thursday night in what was the Catamounts' final non-conference game of the season. Furman will be looking to rebound from what was a disappointing performance in a 71-61 road loss at UNC Greensboro this past Wednesday night.
Who To Watch:
The Catamounts have some youth, but they also have plenty of experienced and veteran talent, and the mesh of those two throughout the lineup makes this an exciting team to watch. The one-two punch of true freshman guard Matt Halvorsen (8.6 PPG, 1.2 RPG) and JUCO transfer and junior forward Mike Amius (12.3 PPG, 5.5 RPG) have been huge additions for head coach Larry Hunter this season.
Halvorsen, like VMI's Bubba Parham, is a prime contender for SoCon Freshman of the Year. He reminds me of former Catamount guard Kyle Greathouse with his smooth rotation on his perimeter shots.
So far this season, Halvorsen ranks second to only Deriece Parks (10.3 PPG, 3.5 RPG) in overall three-point field goals made for the team this season, having knocked down 40 trifectas on the campaign. Halvorsen has been coming off the bench as of late, but he has been one of the more efficient freshman scorers in the SoCon this season.
Devin Peterson (7.2 PPG, 1.8 RPG) has been the veteran leader for the Catamount backcourt this season, and he will team with Desmond Johnson (4.9 PPG, 2.4 RPG) and the aforementioned Parks in the backcourt. Johnson poured in a career-high 22 points last season in a 12-point home loss to the Paladins last season. Parks is one of two Catamounts averaging in double figures this season, and leads the team with 45 triples.
The Catamounts have some excellent players in the front court, with the best of those being Amius. Amius is athletic, and his emphatic dunk in the waning seconds earlier this season helped the Catamounts to a win over arch-rival Appalachian State. Ironically, he reminds of a former Mountaineer named Marshall Phillips (1996-99), who like Amius, was a bit undersized, but made up for it with his explosive leaping ability. Amius will offer a similar challenge for Furman forward Matt Rafferty that he encountered the last time out against UNCG's James Dickey on the defensive end of the floor, even though Amius does not possess the heighth that Dickey has.
Rounding out the starting five for the Catamounts will be 6-5 forward Ashley Williams (4.7 PPG, 1.2 RPG), who is a versatile performer, as well as being a good defender. He is comparable in size and all-around versatiliy to Furman's Daniel Fowler. Williams can stretch a defense with his ability to step out and shoot the perimeter shot, having connected on an impressive 10-of-21 from three-point range this season. He earned his first start of the season last time out, and he didn't disappoint, leading the Catamounts with 17 points in the win over Southern Wesleyan Thursday night.
Off the bench, keep an eye on sharp-shooting forward Marc Gosselin (8.2 PPG, 5.8 RPG), as well as Onno Steger (2.9 PPG, 0.9 RPG), who adds depth underneath. Veteran Haboubacar Mutombo (3.2 PPG, 2.9 RPG) adds depth and a scoring presence off the bench for Western.
Furnan counters with a four-guard offense, led by preseason Southern Conference Player of the Year Devin Sibley (15.0 PPG, 4.6 RPG), who has struggled a bit of late, posting just six points the last time out against UNC Greensboro. In Sibley's defense, the senior from Knoxville, TN has been suffering from a dislocated pinky finger, which he suffered in the loss to ETSU. It forced him to miss last Saturday's 78-67 win over Samford.
Sibley has eight 20-point scoring performances this season, but hasn't reached that mark since a 26-point effort in a win over The Citadel back on Jan. 4. He is just 4-for-29 from three-point range in his past five games. He shot better than 45% from downtown last season, but is shooting just 36% from downtown through the first 21 games for the Paladins so far this season. If he gets going, it should get the Paladins going from long range, as shooting struggles can sometimes be contagious.
Daniel Fowler (11.5 PPG, 4.0 RPG), Andrew Brown (7.7 PPG, 3.1 RPG), and John Davis III (11.6 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 35 steals) are set to start for the Paladins alongside Sibley in the backcourt. Fowler is a do-it-all performer for the Paladins, and stepped up big in a recent SoCon home win over Mercer, posting a season-high 22 points. He is also the SoCon's active career-leader in steals (141) and is third in career-active assists (325). Davis is coming off a team-high 19-point effort in the 71-61 midweek loss to UNCG, while Brown posted one of his best games of the season in a recent SoCon road win at Chattanooga, posting a 16 points, while finishing with 15 points in last Saturday's home win over Samford.
Rounding out the starting five for the Paladins will be 6-7 forward Matt Rafferty (11.7 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 35 steals), who has arguably been Furman's MVP through the first 21 games this season. Rafferty has posted double-figure scoring efforts in each of the past three games, and has found his way into double figures in 16 of Furman's 21 games this season. He enters ranking tied for third in the SoCon in steals (35) along with teammate John Davis III, WCU's Desmond Johnson and ETSU's Desonta Bradford. Rafferty also is fourth in the SoCon in rebounding, averaging 7.7 RPG.
Off the bench, keep an eye on sophomore guard Jordan Lyons (7.9 PPG, 1.3 RPG), who is a pure scorer and perimeter threat off the Paladin bench. Alex Hunter (3.0 PPG, 1.5 RPG) has been an asset off the bench, scoring nine points and dishing out of a pair of assists in the win over Samford last week.
Who Wins: Furman 82, Western Carolina 70
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| Tevin Glass goes up for a shot as Wofford's Matt Pegram tries to take a charge in last season's meeting between Wofford and ETSU at the Benjo/Photo Courtesy of the Johnson City Press East Tennessee State (17-4, 8-0 SoCon) at Wofford (15-5, 6-1 SoCon)
Preview:
ETSU Buc nation is set to invade the brand new Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium Saturday night for a monster Southern Conference matchup with the Wofford Terriers. It should be a rocking atmosphere inside the cozy, but immaculate 3,400 seat arena,.
The Bucs own a commanding 35-9 lead in the all-time series between the two, but as of late, Wofford has been pretty good at home against the Bucs, winning four-in-a-row against the Bucs in Spartanburg, and the Terriers have claimed five of the last seven contests between the two school.
Both have championship pedigree, as the defending SoCon champs face a program in Wofford that has won the SoCon Tournament title in four of the past eight seasons. The interesting thing about this particular matchup is in the clash of styles. The Terriers favor a half-court game, with a tremendous ability to shoot the outside shot, while ETSU prefers a more up-tempo game, but can play either at pace or in the halfcourt. That's because through the first seven Southern Conference games this season, the Bucs have offered up the SoCon's top defensive unit.
ETSU comes into Saturday night's clash of SoCon titans leading the SoCon in field goal percentage defense (40.1%), and blocked shots (4.2 BPG).
The matchup between the Bucs and Terriers also offers a chance to see two of the league's most successful head coaches, with Wofford's Mike Young--the longest tenured SoCon head coach and second all-time in SoCon wins (264), trailing only Davidson's Bob McKillop (447). Perhaps no coach in Southern Conference history has experienced the type of success that Steve Forbes (68-24) has in his first three seasons at the helm in the Tri-Cities, having already lead the Bucs to a SoCon Tournament title appearance (2016) and a SoCon Tournament title (2017) and a pair of postseason appearances, including an NCAA Tournament appearance last season following a 27-8 season and a 79-74 SoCon title game win over UNC Greensboro.
Who To Watch:
The matchup is a sumptuous treat of Southern Conference basketball. It offers us players like star Wofford guard Fletcher Magee (22.7 PPG, 3.0 RPG) and standout, do-everything ETSU guard Desonta Bradford (14.0 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 3.8 APG, 35 steals). If you are a fan of mid-major hoops, there aren't too many greater matchups to watch.
Magee, of course, has been the talk of mid-major hoops this season, with his pursuit of former Davidson guard Stephen Curry's NCAA record of 162 three-pointers in a season, and enters the matchup with the Bucs ranking second nationally in three-pointers made, having connected on 89 triples this season. Magee has made former Terrier sharp-shooters like Ian and Seth Chadwick, and Shane Nichols look very human. Magee leads the SoCon with 13 games with 20 or more points this season. The junior from Orlando, FL., also has a league-leading four games with 30 or more points this season.
Bradford has done it all for the Bucs this season, and leads the team in scoring, steals and rebounds. He has proven to be a clutch player all season for the Bucs, highlighted by his game-winning floater in the lane with 4.5 seconds remaining in a key, 62-61, SoCon road win over Furman. Bradford is a veteran leader for the Bucs, but he isn't the only one.
Enter defensive stopper Jermaine Long (3.7 PPG, 2.5 APG), Texas Southern transfer Jalan McCloud (12.4 PPG, 3.8 APG) in the backcourt and you have three guards that all bring something different to the table. McCloud is coming off what was a career-high performance against Mercer the last time out, with 25 points, with an outstanding performance from three-point range, hitting 6-of-7 shots from long-range in the win. He was part of a performance that saw the Bucs connect on a season-high 13 triples in the win over Mercer Wednesday night.
In the paint, the Bucs will look to both Peter Jurkin (8.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG) and David Burrell (7.0 PPG, 5.1 RPG) for scoring in the paint. Jurkin, a seven-foot transfer from Indiana, continues to be a force in the paint for the Bucs and Forbes this season, especially on the defensive end of the floor. Jurkin comes in ranking fourth in the SoCon in blocks (27/1.4 BPG) so far this season.
Burrell is a tremendous athlete, and certainly is a fun player to watch on both ends of the floor. He has enjoyed some outstanding performances on the floor this season for the Bucs, including an 11-point effort in the recent, 62-61, win at Furman. He also posted 17 points in the lopsided home win over VMI. Burrell might be ETSU's best athlete and has a cupboard full of highlight-reel dunks already this season.
Off the bench, keep an eye on senior guard Devontavius Payne (9.5 PPG, 3.0 RPG) and exciting freshman guard Bo Hodges (8.9 PPG, 3.2 RPG), who have both had excellent seasons thus far for the Bucs. Hodges remains a game-time decision for the Bucs Saturday night.
Payne has proven to be one of the Bucs' best outside shooters so far this season, having connected on a team-high 42 triples this season, and has hit 36.2% of his shots from downtown. Hodges has been outstanding in his first season for the Bucs, ranking just behind Payne in scoring and enjoyed his best night of the season with a 20-point effort in a win over Atlantic 10 member Fordham.
Joining Magee in the Wofford backcourt will be a trio of guards in Mike Young's four-guard offense. Trevor Stumpe (12.2 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 2.1 APG), Storm Murphy (6.0 PPG, 3.7 APG, 2.0 RPG) and defensive stopper Derrick Brooks (3.9 PPG, 4.3 RPG). Stumpe has been the biggest surprise for the Terrier backcourt this season, displaying a nice compliment in scoring to what Magee can do. Stumpe ranks second to only Magee in scoring on the team, and is a player that can score in a variety of different ways, and is shooting 45.9% from three-point range (28-of-61) from three-point range this season.
The biggest feeling of unease for Terrier fans concerning this game must surround the availability of Cameron Jackson (12.2 PPG, 6.3 RPG), who did not play in the road win at VMI Wednesday night. No word has been released on whether Jackson is suffering from injury or illness, but his availability for Saturday night's game vs. ETSU remains unknown. Jackson is having a season worthy of All-SoCon praise, leading the league in steals (39 steals/2.2 SPG) and field goal percentage (60.3%), while ranking second in blocks (26 blocks/1.4 BPG) and fifth in rebounding (6.3 RPG).
If Jackson can't go, look for Matthew Pegram (6.4 PPG, 3.4 RPG) to step in the starting five for the Terriers Saturday night. Pegram is not a stranger to having big games at times for the Terriers this season, having posted six double-figure performances this season, with maybe his most impressive performance coming in the season-opener against South Carolina, with 12 points and a couple of assists.
Off the bench for the Terriers, keep an eye on Nathan Hoover (9.6 PPG, 1.9 RPG), who has been excellent once again in his sophomore season for the Terriers shooting from the perimeter. If Jackson can't go, look for 6-9 freshman forward Keve Aluma to take on a much bigger role under the basket for the Terriers. Aluma is athletic, but young.
This game should be a dandy, but I think ETSU's ability to defend a little better will once again be a difference for the Bucs, as the Bucs hand Wofford its first SoCon loss at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.
Final Score Prediction: ETSU 79, Wofford 75
The Citadel (6-13, 1-6 SoCon) at Mercer (10-11, 3-5 SoCon)
 The Citadel and Mercer will square off in Southern Conference basketball action Saturday afternoon at Hawkins Arena in Macon, GA. The Bears come in off a hard-fought 84-75 road loss to East Tennessee State Wednesday night, while the Bulldogs have not been in action since last Saturday, when the Bulldogs dropped an 88-81 decision on the road at VMI. The two programs will be meeting for the 20th meeting between the two programs, with Mercer holding a commanding 15-4 series advantage. The Bears are 7-0 against the Bulldogs since joining the Southern Conference prior to the 2014-15 season. Mercer head coach Bob Hoffman recently celebrated his 500th win as a head coach when the Bears downed VMI, 62-56, at VMI nine days ago. Mercer comes into the matchup looking to put an end to a two-game road skid. The Citadel will also be looking to put an end to a two-game skid coming into Saturday's showdown with the Bears. Who To Watch: Traditionally, the matchup between Mercer and The Citadel has been one of a contrast of styles, with The Citadel fun-and-gun offense against the half-court, hard-nosed defense of Bob Hoffman's Mercer. The Bulldogs come into the matchup with a plethora of scoring options to look to. Though the Bulldogs might have missed last year's SoCon Freshman of the Year Preston Parks a little bit, Duggar Baucom has seen a few young players step up in Parks' stead this season. One of those has been newcomer and former Manning HS standout Tariq Simmons (10.2 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 2.6 APG). Though Simmons struggled for a stretch, hitting a bit of a freshman wall by scoring just a combined nine points in five games from Jan. 4-18, he is coming off an 11-point effort the last time out against VMI. It marked the 12th time Simmons has scored in double figures this season. Simmons has been a nice scoring compliment off the bench as of late for the Bulldogs. Junior starters Matt Frierson (13.1 PPG, 2.4 RPG) and Zane Najdawi (13.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG) have given the Bulldogs a nice inside-outside punch this season, especially since the departure of Parks in December. Najdawi, the Bulldogs' center, posted the top scoring performance by a SoCon player this season, with a 37-point effort in The Citadel's lone Southern Conference win, which came against Chattanooga a couple of weeks ago. For his performance against Chattanooga, Najdawi was the SoCon Player of the Week. Najdawi's 114 career blocked shots ranks him tied for third in Citadel basketball history in that category. Frierson, who plays shooting guard for The Citadel, has proven to be one of the top perimeter shooters in the SoCon this season, connecting on a SoCon-high nine triples in a game in the win over Chattanooga a couple of weeks ago. Frierson ranks second in the league to only Wofford's Fletcher Magee in three-pointers made so far this season, having knocked down 68 triples through 19 games so far this season. Kaelon Harris (9.3 PPG, 4.5 RPG) and Frankie Johnson (5.9 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 3.0 APG) round out the starting backcourt for the Bulldogs. Harris, a 6-4 sophomore, has been instrumental as a scorer and facilitator over the past couple of seasons for Baucom's club. Harris has 10 double-digit scoring games this season. Johnson, a 5-5 guard from Darlington, S.C., enjoyed his best performance of the season in a win over James Madison, posting 15 points. Freshman forward Alex Reed (5.9 PPG, 2.3 RPG) rounds out the starting five for Baucom's Bulldogs. The 6-5 athletic forward enjoyed his best game of the season against Samford, posting a season and career-high 19 points in a loss to Samford. Off the bench, keep an eye on Quayson Williams (6.5 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 1.8 APG) and 6-8 freshman guard Rob Johnson, who can cause matchup problems with his size. Mercer counters with a talented three-guard offense of its own, although the Bears are without top scorer Ria'n Holland, who is out for a couple of weeks with a wrist injury suffered in the loss at UNCG. Holland ranked second to only Wofford's Fletcher Magee in scoring in the SoCon, at 19.0 PPG. The Bears seemed to do okay without Holland Wednesday night in Johnson City before finally succumbing to the Bucs in an 84-75 loss. The Bears have compensated in Holland's absence with the likes of Jordan Strawberry (8.3 PPG, 3.4 RPG), Demetre Rivers (10.4 PPG, 2.7 RPG) and Ethan Stair (6.6 PPG, 2.5 RPG) in the backcourt. Rivers is one of the top athletes in the SoCon, and has a solid inside-outside game. Rivers, a native of Ladson, S.C., will be visiting his former stomping grounds this afternoon with the trip to The Citadel. The athletic guard enjoyed his best game of the season in a one-point loss to Alabama, posting a career-high 24 points. Another player that has stepped up and provided some good play of late in the paint has been Desmond Ringer (8.6 PPG, 5.0 RPG). Ringer had 22 points in a narrow loss to Furman three weeks ago, and is coming off a 21-point effort in the loss at ETSU. The 22 points against Furman tied a career-high. Rounding out the starting five for the Bears will Stephon Jelks (10.8 PPG, 7.9 RPG), who continues to be one of the top rebounders in the SoCon. Jelks currently ranks third in the SoCon in rebounding so far this season, bringing down 7.9 boards-per-game. Off the bench, keep an eye on point guard Marcus Cohen (5.3 PPG, 1.1 RPG), who has been one of the most exciting young guards in the SoCon to watch this season. He is coming off a 16-point performance against ETSU last time out. Final Score Prediction: Mercer 88, The Citadel 75 |
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