Isaiah Miller leads UNC Greensboro to important win over Furman
UNC Greensboro senior guard Isaiah Miller showed why he is both the reigning and favorite to repeat as Southern Conference men's basketball Player of the Year, as he posted a game-high 22 points to go with, eight rebounds, three steals and three assists, as UNCG rebounded from a 19-point loss to Furman in Greenville just 48 hours earlier to get a hard-fought 64-58 win on Wednesday evening before a national television Audience on ESPNU at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Miller finished the night connecting on 10-of-17 shots from the field, and was 2-for-2 from the line, as he was one of two Spartans in double figures. Miller would be joined in double digits by 2019-20 SoCon Freshman Keyshaun Langley, who added 11 points on 2-of-4 shooting from the field, including going 5-for-5 from the charity stripe.
With the win, the Spartans remain in the Southern Conference regular-season title race, improving 14-6 overall and 9-3 in SoCon play, while Furman dropped to 12-7 overall and 6-4 in SoCon play. As a result of losses by both Wofford and East Tennessee State, UNCG finds themselves atop the Southern Conference standings once again, as we head down the stretch run of the 2020-21 campaign.
The opening half got off to a slow start in the early going, as points were hard to come by, however, a pair of threes by Clay Mounce gave the Paladins an early 14-7 lead, but back-to-back jumpers and a layup by Miller the Spartans to within a point, at 14-13, midway through the opening half.
Miller, who had 14 points in the first meeting with the Paladins on Monday evening, was hot in the first half for the Spartans, scoring 12 of UNC's firrst 17 points of the contest, and his acrobatic layup with just over seven minutes remaining in the opening frame.
Late in the half, Hayden Koval and Keyshaun Langley hit back-to-back threes for the Spartans to give UNCG a 29-25 lead with just under three minutes remaining. Moments later the Spartans would assume their biggest lead of the opening half for either team, at 31-26, following an Angelo Allegri layup. Keyshaun Langley's four-point play with four seconds remaining in the half, allowing the Spartans to increase their lead to nine points, at 37-28. Miller's 14 points in the opening half equaled his total from the entire game. Furman was led in the opening half by Mounce, who poured in double his point total from the first meeting between the two, as he posted 15 points in the opening half, while scoring only seven the other day.
The Paladins shot just 32% in the opening half of play, which included eight turnovers. Early in the second half, the Spartans increased their lead to 12 points early in the frame on a three-pointer by Langley and a layup by Miller to take a 42-30 lead. A Mounce layup helped the Paladins cut it to 10 heading into the first media timeout of the second half.
A Jalen Slawson jumper from the corner cut the UNGC lead to seven, at 45-38, with just under 13 minutres remaining, however, Mohammed Abdulsalam's layup would put the Spartans back up nine just prior to the second media timeout of the second half. A second-straight layup by Abdulsalam just following the media timeout put the Spartans back up double figures, however, Mike Bothwell 's first points of the night on a three-pointer got the Paladins to within eight, at 49-41, with 11:00 left.
But an overturned charge call gave Koval a pair of free throws, and he connected 1-of-2 foul shots and Miller got another steal and bucket to get the lead back to double digits at 52-41. Furman wouldn't go away, however, as a Slawson tip-in and a three-pointer by Gurley, which was sandwiched by a layup from UNCG's Allegri, cut the UNCG lead back to eight, at 54-46, with 7:38 left.
The Spartans would increase their lead to their to 13 points, howecer, the Paladins would continue to chip away, as Alex Hunter canned two triples, and a layup and two foul shots by Bothwell, got the Paladins to within three, at 59-56, with 3:41 remaining. Allegri answered with a three on the other end, Mounce answered with a tip-in to get the Paladins back to within four points, at 62-58, with 2:18 remaining.
The Spartans would end up closing the game out at the free throw line, as Keyshaun Langley connected on a pair of free throws to increase the lead to six, and the Paladins had a couple of chances to close the margin, but couldn't find the range from the perimeter, and that's how the margin would stay as the Spartans closed out their 14th win of the season and their ninth victory in league play.
Furman ended the night being led by Mounce, who was the only Paladin in double figures with 19 points and had a career-high 16 rebounds, posting 15 of those in the opening half, as he finished the night connecting on 6-of-14 shots from the field, including going 3-for-8 from three-point land. For Mounce, it marked his fourth double-double of the season.
Mounce's 16 boards helped highlight what was another strong night on the glass against the best rebounding team in the SoCon, as the Paladins ended the game with a 40-27 edge on the glass.
Meanwhile, UNCG held advantages in shooting percentage (45.8%-31.6%), points in the paint (28-16), bench points (15-13), points off turnovers (14-12), and fast-break points (4-2). Furman held edges in second-chance points (14-7) and total assists (10-9). Furman turned the ball over 18 times for the second-straight game, while forcing 12 UNCG miscues.
Both teams return to action on Saturday, as Furman will host Western Carolina in a 2 p.m. tip at Timmons Arena, while UNCG will be in action at Mercer, with tip-off slated for 2 p.m. at Hawkins Arena.
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