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| Wofford vs. ETSU could be a game that amounts to a regular-season elimination game Saturday evening |
Southern Conference makes determination on Conference Tournament
By the time we get to March in SoCon hoops, tiebreakers may require someone to crank up the enigma code-breaking device from World War II to figure out seeding in Asheville.
There’s good news on the surface at least, as the league office has made a determination concerning the Southern Conference Tournament and the remainder of the regular-season.
Teams are required to reach a threshold of 10 games, which every team on the men’s side of the bracket has reached. Unfortunately, no fans will be allowed at the conference tournament and as a result, there will be no general ticket sales.
But we have basketball and that is a good thing, especially in one of the wildest season’s in recent memory in the league.
The regular-season champion and the No. 1 overall seed for the 10-team tournament will be decided based on winning percentage. If two teams should be tied based on winning percentage, the Southern Conference will then award the team that was able to play the most regular-season games as the regular-season champion.
The only team yet to meet the 10-game conference threshold to this point is Samford, which has played a total of nine games and should meet that requirement Saturday, as the Bulldogs travel to Lexington, VA., to face off against the VMI Keydets in what is a key league clash.
Plans are to go ahead with the Southern Conference Tournament in Asheville March 5-8 as scheduled, and seeding for the conference tournament and will done first among the teams who have played the least amount of conference games. Teams that do not play at least 10 conference games on the men’s side will be seeded after the top six.
Wild Race:
One thing the pandemic has done is provide us with one of the more exciting conference races from top-to-bottom in league history, due to long layoffs, while other league team’s have been able to continue playing games. With a couple of weeks to go in the league race, UNC Greensboro currently sits atop the league standings with a 9-3 overall mark in league play and 14-6 overall mark.
The next three teams—Wofford, East Tennessee State and Furman—are all tied in the loss column, with four setbacks, however, each has a different amount of wins. Saturday’s clashes between East Tennessee State (11-8, 7-4 SoCon) and Wofford (12-7, 9-4 SoCon), as well as UNC Greensboro and Mercer could tell us a lot. The game between ETSU and Wofford in Johnson City could very well end up being a regular-season title elimination game.
The pressure is seemingly more on the Bucs, who can’t afford a second loss to the Terriers on Saturday. The first meeting of the season saw Wofford snap what had been a three-game losing streak to the Bucs, which included a loss in last season’s SoCon title clash in Asheville, as Wofford came from behind to get a 67-62 win over the Bucs. It’s a matchup between a pair of programs that have combined to win five of the past seven Southern Conference titles.
It’s a pretty good guess that both ETSU’s Damari Monsanto and Wofford’s senior point guard Storm Murphy won’t experience the same type struggles shooting the basketball as they did in their respective previous outings. Against The Citadel, Monsanto went 0-of-7 from the field, including having gone 0-for-3 from long range, as the talented redshirt freshman forward was held scoreless for the first time all season, and that played a major part in why the Bucs dropped their first game to The Citadel since February of 2018. Prior to the game with the Bulldogs, Monsanto had scored 20 or more points in five-straight games and shooting 55.8% (38-of-68) from the field, as well as shooting a blistering 52.5% (21-of-40) from three-point land.
Meanwhile, Murphy, who is another strong candidate for SoCon Player of the Year honors, had an awkward night himself in a 78-66 home loss to Chattanooga in Spartanburg. Prior to a scoreless effort against the Mocs, as Murphy had posted double-figure scoring efforts in 10 of the previous 11 games, which included scoring 20 or more points in seven of those contests. Prior to going 0-of-5 from the field and 0-of-2 from three-point range, Murphy had scorched the nets for 24 points, which included 10-straight points in the second half, as the Terriers downed I-85 rival Furman, 75-67, in come-from-behind fashion in Greenville. It’s safe to say that the combined 0-of-12 efforts from Murphy and Monsanto on the same night won’t be seen again this season, but it goes to show it can happen to any player no matter how good that player is.
Mocs Mayhem:
Chattanooga picked a good time to start playing good basketball again. Remember this was the team that started the season a perfect 9-0, and then reality hit like a ton of bricks. A 77-73 home loss to co SoCon preseason favorite Furman was tough to swallow. I mean after all, the Mocs hadn’t lost with or without David Jean-Baptiste after his week in the transfer portal. However, after the Paladins dealt the Mocs a first loss of the season, an injury sidelined sharp-shooting wing K.C. Hankton after he had only just become eligible in Chattanooga’s thrilling non-conference win over UNC Asheville a couple of weeks earlier.
Following the loss to the Paladins, the Mocs would drop two of their next three, with both coming to the league’s military contingent. The Mocs were 84-79 losers at VMI, which was followed by a brief respite, as Chattanooga was able to manufacture a 73-68 home win over Samford. A trip to The Citadel is never easy, and the Mocs found out the hard way against the unbeaten Bulldogs, who handed UTC a 92-87 setback.
The Mocs would respond from a 19-point opening half deficit to defeat Mercer, 83-80, at home, while blowing a 13-point (35-22) halftime lead against Wofford only to see the Terriers blow the doors off McKenzie Arena in the second half, as the Mocs were out-scored 55-24 in the second half in one of the weirder games of the conference season. A six-point, 70-64, win over Samford gave the Mocs a season sweep over their closest SoCon neighbor, which was followed by a 74-66 setback to UNC Greensboro.
Following a pause to positive COVID tests within the Chattanooga program, Lamont Paris’ team has suddenly gotten hot again, and right on the heels of the top four teams in the league as we enter the stretch run,. Three-straight road wins at Western Carolina (74-67), at ETSU (67-65) and at Wofford (78-66) suddenly has the Mocs at a league best 15 wins to go with a 6-5 record in SoCon play, sitting just a half-game back of Furman and a full-game back of ETSU. The win in Johnson City by the Mocs snapped what had been a 10—game skid to ETSU.
What’s been the difference for Paris’ Mocs since a bit of a rocky start to league play? Well, for one having more than seven or eight players dressing to play games helps, but also injecting a major dose of confidence has been James Madison grad transfer Darius Banks, who has finally 100% and ready to give it a go for the Mocs. He has started all seven games he has played in for the Mocs, and the 6-6 forward hasn’t disappointed, as he is averaging 12.9 PPG to rank third on the team in scoring, while his 5.1 RPG rank him second on the team in a category that was sorely needed prior to him becoming completely healthy.
Banks has combined with all-conference performers David Jean-Baptiste (17.9 PPG, 3.7 RPG) and Malachi Smith (16.7 PPG, 9.0 RPG), which has suddenly given the Mocs one of the most dangerous scoring duos in the Southern Conference, and has helped off-set their struggles that were evident early on with a lack of depth in the front court.
Chattanooga has been one of several surprise packages we have gotten in the Southern Conference this season. UTC is once again performing at a very high level shooting the basketball, and have shot the ball well from long-range, as the Mocs currently rank fourth in three-point field goal percentage (37%/163-of-440), while also defending the three relatively well, ranking fifth in three-point field goal percentage defense (33.6%/137-of-408). The Mocs are capitalizing on the pandemic in road performances, having posted a 9-2 mark on the road, while posting just a 6-3 record inside the friendly confines.
UNCG and Furman
The two teams picked by the coaches and media to win the Southern Conference title in the preseason met twice in a little over 48 hours last week, and as you might expect, the two teams split those games.
Furman was able to capture the first meeting between the two by posting one of its best defensive performances of the season, holding the Spartans to a season-low field goal percentage (29%), while also limiting the Spartans to their second-lowest point total of the season (49 pts), as Furman claimed a 68-49 win over the Spartans last Monday night at Timmons Arena.
In the return matchup a couple days later at a cavernous Greensboro Coliseum, preseason SoCon Player of the Year Isaiah Miller and the Spartans turned up the screws on Furman defensively, particularly against the Paladins’ backcourt, holding Furman’s Alex Hunter and Mike Bothwell in check for the most part, holding the combined backcourt the Paladins to a grand total of 15 points in the contest, while Miller posted 22 on his own, including nearly equaling Furman’s sum total for their backcourt for the entire game in the opening half, as Miller scored 14 of those 22 points prior to the break.
The silver lining in the win for the Paladins was their effort, and despite shooting just 31.6% from the field, ended up only dropping a six-point decision, 64-58, to the Spartans. When you add in the fact that the Paladins out-rebounded their fourth-straight foe, and out-rebounded the Spartans, who came into the two-game mini-series as the league leaders in rebounding margin, by double digits in both games, finishing with an edge of 86-58 combined in the two games. Furman was getting handled on the boards pretty easily in the early portion of the season.
Miller is continuing to ascend up the charts in all-time steals in league history, and his 289-career steals ranks him third in SoCon history, and with five more steals this season, Miller would surpass former App State great D.J. Thompson (2003-06) for second in league history in career thefts.
Miller and the Spartans head to Macon, GA, Saturday having won eight of their last 10, as they will take on the Mercer Bears at 2 p.m. Furman, which has lost four of its last six in a rare swoon, will look to bounce back at Timmons Arena Saturday hosting Western Carolina at 2 p.m.
Three-Dets!
In the past, it's not uncommon to see VMI to produce some great shooting teams during some of their glory days in the Southern Conference, and just like Daryl Faulkner or Bobby Prince during the Bart Bellairs era, Dan Earl's Keydets have carried on that tradition some 25 or so years later, with the likes of Kamdyn Curfman (12.4 PPG, 2.0 RPG) and Greg Parham (18.9 PPG, 3.9 RPG) leading the way. Curfman and Parham have combined to connect on 111 of the team's 220 made triples so far in 2020-21.
VMI has produced two of the bigger upsets in the Southern Conference this season, ending long losing streaks to both Furman and Wofford, getting narrow wins over both. VMI captured a 74-73 win over Furman back on Jan. 20 and then two weeks later, the Keydets went on the road and snapped a two-decade losing streak to the Terriers, snatching their first road win of the season, with an 84-82 overtime win at the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.
This season, the Keydets are shooting the ball better than anyone from the perimeter once again in the Southern Conference. The Keydets head into Saturday's Nexstar SoCon game of the week connecting on 39.1% (22O-of-562) from three-point range and rank second in the SoCon in triples made per game (11.0).
The Keydets did have their solid play interrupted on Monday night, however, with a trip to Cullowhee that resulted in a 74-72 setback to the Western Carolina Catamounts. VMI, like Chattanooga, isn't going to threaten you much with their size and strength in the paint outside of 6-11 Jake Stephens (14.6 PPG, 7.6 RPG). What Earl's Keydets will do is out-smart you and out-shoot you. This is a dangerous team and could play spoiler down the stretch and on into March when the 10 teams arrive in Asheville in early March for the Southern Conference Tournament.
Saturday's home contest against Samford will be a must, especially given the struggles Earl's Keydets have had playing on the road. VMI still has a road trip left at Furman and Chattanooga, and remained tied in the league standings with Mercer, as both have identical 5-6 league marks. The only meeting between the Keydets and Bears this season saw Mercer hold on for an 83-80 win at Hawkins Arena back on Jan. 23. Remember, the Keydets and Bears were supposed to open Southern Conference play against one another way back on Dec. 10, but the game was paused due to COVID positive tests within the Mercer program, and no makeup game has yet been slated for the Keydets and Bears.
Should VMI manage to do well enough down the stretch to garner one of the top six places in the SoCon pecking order, it would mark the first time they have been the beneficiaries of an opening round bye in Asheville since the 2015 SoCon Tournament, when the Keydets were under the direction of current Citadel head coach Duggar Baucom, as VMI finished as the No. 6 in the SoCon at the end of the regular-season and faced No. 3 Mercer in the quarterfinals of the tournament. The Keydets, which are currently 1-9 away from Cameron Hall, are likely going to need to get another one or two road wins to close out the season, while holding serve at home to find themselves with a rare bye on the opening day of the tournament.
Battle For Purple Supremacy:
One thing about the Battle for Purple Supremacy on the college basketball hardwood we can certainly say is there is no love lost between Mark Prosser's Catamounts and Bob Richey's Paladins. That's because the two teams have staged some down right classics over the past three seasons, and each of the past two season's, the "chippy-ness" at the end of the game has carried over in the handshake line last year, and as the two teams exited the court this season to their respective locker rooms in Cullowhee just two weeks ago.
The Paladins survived to get a 75-69 win at the Ramsey Activities Center, marking the Paladins' 10th-straight win in the series, however, it's not as if any of those, especially over the past three seasons, has come particularly easy. Four of the past five meetings between the two have been decided by 10 points or less.
The Catamounts have one of the top backcourts in the SoCon, while Furman has arguably the league's top front court. It was Furman's front court of Jalen Slawson, Noah Gurley and Clay Mounce, who combined to score 43 of Furman's 75 points in the win, while the Paladins did nice work defensively against the Western Carolina backcourt of Mason Faulkner, Matt Halvorsen and Tyler Harris, who posted just a combined 28 points. Furman held Faulkner scoreless in the opening half of that game before putting together a solid second half in that contest by scoring 14 points. Halvorsen is Western's new three-point king, surpassing former Catamount great Jake Robinson's 278-career three-pointers, which he established from 2006-10 as one of memorable players during those golden years for the late legendary head coach Larry Hunter. Included in that stint while Robinson was on campus was a win over Louisville in 2009.
SoCon’s Saturday Slate:
The Citadel (11-7, 4-7 SoCon) at Chattanooga (15-5, 6-5 SoCon)
*Samford (6-10, 2-7 SoCon) at VMI (10-10, 5-6 SoCon), 1 p.m.
Western Carolina (9-11, 3-9 SoCon) at Furman (12-7, 6-4 SoCon), 2 p.m. EST
UNC Greensboro (14-6, 9-3 SoCon) at Mercer (12-7, 5-6 SoCon), 2 p.m. EST
Wofford (12-7, 9-4 SoCon) at East Tennessee State (11-8, 7-4 SoCon), 4 p.m. EST
*-Nexstar Southern Conference Game of the Week
--For more on SoCon tie-breaking procedures for the remainder of the season, please click the link below.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/soconsports.com/documents/2021/2/11/2021_Tie_Breaking_Criteria.pdf
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