SoCon Basketball 2019-20: Early Dec. Power Rankings

Here is the first installment of Southern Conference basketball power rankings as we approach exam week.

1. UNC Greensboro (8-2, 1-0 SoCon)—Coming off a solid road win at Radford, 60-58, which is favored to win the Big South this season. Isaiah Miller had a big day against the Highlanders, as he scored 27 points in the win. Wes Miller’s Spartans continue to be outstanding defensively, ranking seventh nationally in scoring defense (54.9 PPG).

2. Furman (8-3)—Furman went 1-2 last week with a 10-point loss at South Florida (L, 65-55), as well as an overtime loss at Auburn (L, 81-78), while the lone win of the week came against USC Upstate (84-72) in a rare Sunday game at Timmons Arena. The Paladins have gotten 50 points from Noah Gurley in the last two outings, including a career-high 29 points in Sunday’s win over Upstate.

T-2 East Tennessee State (8-2, 1-0 SoCon)—The Bucs suffered a somewhat surprising road loss at North Dakota State (L, 78-68) last Saturday night. The offense looked a little out of rhythm and it seemed the fatigue of being on the road had taken its toll on Steve Forbes’ Bucs. The Bucs flew directly to Fargo following an impressive 96-84 win at The Citadel to open SoCon play. In the SoCon road opening win over The Citadel, Jeromy Rodriguez (26 pts) and Tray Boyd III (25 pts) combined for 51 points and both point totals were career highs for each player. The Bucs remain the favorite to win the SoCon title for me.

4. Western Carolina (7-2, 1-0 SoCon)—Western Carolina won its fifth-straight game in dramatic fashion this past weekend, knocking off UNC Asheville, 78-77, in cardiac Catamount fashion, which has seemingly become a theme for Mark Prosser’s Catamounts this season.  All-SoCon big man Carlos Dotson led the Catamounts back from a double-digit deficit late, and he finished the contest with 16 points and 11 boards.

5. Wofford (5-4)—Jay McAuley picked up maybe the most impressive win of his young career with an 81-77 win over a Gardner-Webb team expected to compete for the Big South title. Wing Messiah Jones showed just how special he will be for the Terriers in the future, pouring in a career-high 18 points on a night when star guard Nathan Hoover had a rare off-shooting night. Look for Jones to compete for SoCon Freshman of the Year honors.

6. Samford (6-5)—Samford is coming off one of its most impressive performances of the season, with a 113-90 win over Houston Baptist. Scott Padgett’s team shot a blistering 64.9% from the field in this past weekend’s win. Senior forward Jalen Dupree continues to be impressive, posting a team-high 23 points in the victory. Josh Sharkey was equally impressive, posting 18 points, 15 assists, six rebounds and five assists in the road win.

7. Chattanooga (6-4, 0-1 SoCon)—Chattanooga has won three of its last four following a 58-46 loss at Tennessee, with the only loss in that span being an 88-78 loss at Western Carolina in the first Southern Conference test of the season. The Mocs have wins vs Jacksonville State (63-60), Alabama State (74-56) and Tennessee Wesleyan (99-51) during that span.

8. Mercer (4-4)—The Greg Gary era is off and running in Macon, GA, and he has had to deal with some adversity already, as his star guard Ross Cummings tries to get 100% healthy this season. The Bears were 73-61 losers in their latest outing at Hawkins Arena to Georgia State. Forward Ethan Stair is having a SoCon Player of the Year worthy season, ranking second in the SoCon in scoring (19.0 PPG), while leading in rebounding (9.7 RPG).

9. The Citadel (4-5, 0-1 SoCon)—After losing a 12-point decision at home to league favorite East Tennessee State, the Bulldogs blew out Carver College, 108-40, over the weekend. The key to the season for head coach Duggar Baucom’s Bulldogs will be keeping forward Hayden Brown healthy. He’s averaging 15.4 PPG and 4.0 RPG in the five games he’s seen action in this season. In the win over Carver, Baucom picked up milestone win No. 200 in his career.

T-9. VMI (4-7, 0-1 SoCon)—VMI is coming off a nice 88-61 home win over Stetson last time out against Stetson, as the young Keydets got a career-high18 points from freshman guard Travis Evee, as he connected on 5-of-9 three-pointers in the win over the Atlantic Sun foe. The Keydets have been relying on the three ball a lot as of late, having hit 10 or more threes in five of the last six contests.