SoCon Game 1: Furman (6-7) at UNC Greensboro (9-4)
Series: UNCG and Furman will be meeting for the 45th time on the hardwood Wednesday night, with the Spartans holding the narrow 23-21 advantage in the all-time series history. The perennial Southern Conference title contenders split a pair of meetings last season, with Furman claiming a 69-57 win at the Greensboro Coliseum last season, while UNCG was the lone SoCon team to win at Timmons Arena, handing the Paladins an 88-80 home loss in early January last season. The Spartans are unbeaten at home (5-0) this season.
Preview: Furman opens up defense of its 2022-23 Southern Conference title Wednesday night against one of the SoCon's top programs and one of the 2023-24 favorites.
Over the past eight seasons, no two teams in the Southern Conference have more wins than both Furman and UNC Greensboro, with Furman having posted a 187-89 record since the start of the 2015-16 season, while the Spartans have posted a 186-93 mark during that same span.
UNCG and Furman have also been two teams that have seen some outstanding battles over the past eight seasons, and it normally ends with both teams getting a share of the spoils, as they did last season, with each winning on the other's home floor. The Spartans claimed an 88-80 overtime win in Greenville last season, while The Paladins returned the favor by going to UNCG in late January and picking up an impressive 69-57 win.
Both teams come into SoCon play struggling, with the Paladins having dropped their most-recent contest to Division II Anderson, while the Spartans come in having dropped three of their last four since losing leading scorer and one of the leading contenders for the SoCon Player of the Year award in the pre-conference slate. The loss to Anderson marked Furman's first to a non-Division I opponent since December of 2013, when the Paladins suffered a home setback to Division II and South Atlantic Conference member Mars Hill, 97-93, at Timmons Arena.
Furman's loss to the Trojans Sunday shows the true nature of how bipolar the sport of college basketball can be from season-to-season, and though the Paladins graduated Mike Bothwell and Jalen Slawson off that team that beat Virginia last March, as well as its top two leading scorers this season, you would have thought the Paladins would have enough in the tank to beat Anderson, however, being more talented in basketball isn't the same as it is in other sports, and as exhilarating as it must have been for Pegues and his teammates to celebrate their accomplishments last March, it must have been an equally shared embarrassment for he and teammate Marcus Foster to look on helpless, as neither could do anything to prevent the embarrassment from unfolding Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.
Certainly there was the other dynamic to that loss, which was the fact that former Paladin assistant Jimmie Williams obviously knew Furman's personnel, and without Pegues at the point, it made it an easier decision to apply full-court pressure from the start of the game to try and shake things up a bit.
It worked, and although the Paladins took decent care of the basketball, it was enough of a chance taken by Williams to throw the undermanned Paladins a bit of a curve ball. The key to the win, though, was Furman allowed 19 offensive rebounds, went 2-for-20 from three-point range, and also missed 14 shots at the charity stripe, creating the perfect storm of events.
In its final two games of non-conference play, however, the Paladins have connected on just 14.8% from long range, having gone a woeful 7-for-47 from long range in its final two non-conference games against Presbyterian and Anderson.
The 2-for-20 effort against Anderson was the lowest total of made threes in a game under the direction of head coach Bob Richey and lowest since Feb. 12, 2015, when the Paladins connected on just 1-of-10 from long-range in a 93-59 loss at VMI.
The Paladins, which connected on 122 three-pointers in 13 non-conference games last season, are slightly ahead of that pace this season with 124 made triples, but Furman has shot 34 more three pointers than it did a year ago, having launched 393 long-range efforts this season, as opposed to launching 359 long-range efforts a year ago.
Quite simply, Furman shouldn't have won the game if you saw it as I did, and if Furman would have won, it would have seemed the ethics of basketball were somehow flawed. That happens from time-to-time. All that to say, the Paladins have suffered just about every adversity a team could in the ways which the Paladins have lost this season, including setbacks earlier in the non-conference play.
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| Furman junior guard JP Pegues |
With that said, the Paladins and Spartans have both battled injury struggles through the non-conference, with Furman having been without its two top scorers--Marcus Foster (19.8 PPG) and JP Pegues (18.4 PPG) last time out in Furman's 79-74 home loss to Anderson.
It's still unclear who will be available for the Paladins, with three unnamed Paladins having come down with the flu this week, as head coach Bob Richey noted in his bi-weekly press conference on Tuesday.
He also went on to note that JP Pegues, who missed the game against Anderson, is back and is expected to be back in the lineup Wednesday night when the Paladins take the floor against the Spartans.
Foster, who injured his knee last month in a game at Princeton, is slated to return at some point later this month, but obviously won't be available for the midweek clash to open league play or for Furman's trip to Chattanooga on Saturday.
UNCG and its excellent head coach Mike Jones, who is now in his third season leading the Spartans, can at least on some level relate to Furman's pain when it comes to missing important pieces to the puzzle due to injury.
Over the past four games, the Spartans have been without their most important and biggest piece to the overall hopeful championship puzzle--Mikeal Brown-Jones.
Brown-Jones leads the Spartans averaging 19.4 PPG and 7.4 RPG. Brown-Jones is again questionable for the mid-week SoCon opener with a leg injury. His importance to this team may be why he should be considered--at least so far and in terms of what he means to the Spartans' title hopes--as much for the league's ultimate Player of the Year honor right now as Vonterius Woolbright at Western Carolina, who is off to an outstanding start with the Catamounts this season, and was the league's preseason SoCon Player of the Year.
Brown-Jones is also one of the best interior defenders in the Southern Conference, as well as being one of the league's most reliable and offensively efficient big men in the low post, shooting 57.7% from the field, which ranks third in the SoCon.
It's not yet clear whether he will be back in the lineup in the big mid-week clash with the Paladins, however, what is clear is his presence or lack thereof could play a major role in the outcome of the matchup between two to league title hopefuls.
With both teams being short-handed, it certainly provides even more incentive for each to open league play, as both figure to be among the teams atop the league battling for a No. 1 seed in Asheville come the second week of March.
Common Opposition:
Both Furman and UNC Greensboro have taken on two of the tougher pre-conference schedules in the Southern Conference, according to KenPom, with the Paladins having taken on a schedule that ranks No. 145 nationally in terms of strength, while the Spartans have played a schedule that ranks 196th nationally in strength according to KenPom.
Those two schedules would rank in the upper portion of the league in terms of toughest non-conference schedules. Only Wofford's schedule, which according to KenPom ranks inside the Top 100 at No. 77, ranks higher than than that of the Furman Paladins.
The one non-conference opponent both the Paladins and Spartans have in common entering Wednesday night's SoCon opener at the Greensboro Coliseum is Arkansas. Of course, with UNCG's 78-72 win over the No. 14 Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena, it is also the source of the SoCon's most significant non-conference win.
It was not only the biggest win for the Southern Conference this season, but the win over the Razorbacks ranks historically as a milestone win for the UNCG program, with it being the first SEC team the Spartans have ever beaten in the program's history.
Coming off what was a heartbreaking 70-69 loss at Princeton, which saw Furman blow a double-digit lead in the final four minutes of the contest, the Paladins went to Bud Walton Arena without the services of leading scorer Marcus Foster, who was injured near the end of the first half of that contest, yet the Paladins battled the Razorbacks hard for 40 minutes, trailing by just five at halftime (40-35), but would go on to drop what was a 97-83 decision.
Not too uncommon
So you might even be wondering if a team has ever lost to a non-Division I program and gone on to win a Southern Conference title, and well, the answer is actually yes. So, while Furman has a long, long way to go to live up to their lofty preseason prognostication to repeat as Southern Conference champions, it's not too uncommon.
During the 1995-96 season and Western Carolina's only ever Southern Conference Tournament title in its 49-year membership, the Catamounts actually dropped a 60-58 decision at the Ramsey Center to Division II Coker College. The loss to the Cobras was part of a 1-7 start to the season--hardly a team that would remotely resemble a team that could go on to win a Division I conference and compete in the NCAA Tournament.
The Catamounts, who would end up being the No. 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament and nearly upset the top-seeded Boilermakers only to lose 73-71 in overtime, finished 17-13 during that particular campaign.
Just last season, Samford lost to Tennessee Southern with three players out due to injury, and ended up dropping an 84-82 contest to the NAIA program before going on to tie for the Southern Conference regular-season title after starting league play with an 8-0 record before suffering back-to-back league setbacks to Furman and Wofford, respectively.
And just earlier this season, Mercer opened the campaign with a head-scratching result against Clark Atlanta, dropping what was a 71-64 contest. However, no matter what perspective can be provided, it was certainly an embarrassing loss for the SoCon, as well as being most embarrassing to the SoCon reigning champions.
Previewing UNCG:
Like Furman, UNCG enters conference play looking to find their stride again, which is something the Spartans comfortably had following an 8-1 start to the campaign, including that aforementioned win over No. 14 Arkansas. The lone blemish in the first nine games of the season for UNCG came on the road at SEC member Vanderbilt, as the Spartans dropped what was a 74-70 decision in Nashville.
Seven-straight wins for the Spartans would follow, starting with that stunner in Fayetteville, however, following a leg injury to top player Mikeal Brown-Jones in the Elon win, things have been notably different, as UNCG has lost three of its last four and have gone 0-3 against Division I competition, including a forgettable 72-37 loss at No. 21 Texas last Friday night.
UNCG is drastically a different team than Furman has seen go against in recent seasons, and that evolution of who they are continues to evolve, especially on the offensive end of the court, where the Spartans have progressively gotten better as a shooting basketball team.
While the defensive numbers still strong, it's been the evolution of how the Spartans have become a more potent basketball team, with the ability to score points and shoot the ball with great accuracy that is seemingly the most noticeable difference of these Spartans, as opposed to how they were offensively under the direction of Wes Miller.
That's no knock on Wes Miller, as he was an excellent offensive coach, as the Spartans scoring talent was distributed much differently with arguably one of the greatest players in school history--Isaiah Miller--with Miller at the helm. With Jones at the controls, the team seems to play at a faster, more fluid pace with more collective confidence shooting the basketball.
Miller's strength was how he used a guy like James Dickey--an awesome rim protector on the defensive end--as a facilitator on the offensive end, as Dickey set great high ball screens, as well as being an outstanding passer of the ball into the low post, or being himself a target in the low-post as a scoring threat with his in incredibly athleticism, but also his vision and skill as a passer in the paint. It's probably something that went overlooked outside of coaching circles during Dickey's time at UNCG (2015-21).
Under Jones, that element of playing off the big is a little different, and there's not really any high-ball screen element with how big man Mikeal Brown-Jones is used. The Spartans are also a little more free flowing now, with teams having to be aware that this team shoots as well off the dribble from the perimeter as any team in mid-major basketball, and that was an element that it showcased last season in the Spartans' 88-80 overtime win in Greenville.
Entering Wednesday night's SoCon opener, the Spartans rank just behind Furman in team field goal percentage this season, as the Spartans rank fourth in the league in team field goal percentage, connecting on 46.8% of their shots from the field this season. In terms of scoring offense, UNCG can do that effectively as well, ranking fifth overall in the conference in scoring offense (78.5 PPG).
UNCG's staple has always been its dedication on the defensive end, and that hasn't changed this season. The Spartans lead the SoCon in field goal percentage defense (39.5), and come into the contest leading the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.47)
In terms of shooting the three this season, UNCG has been pretty solid when it comes to knocking down shots from long distance. The Spartans currently rank second in the SoCon in three-point field goal percentage (38.2%), while ranking ahead of Furman in three-pointers made-per-game, as well as total three-pointers on the season (9.9 PG/129 3pt FGs made).
Over the past couple of seasons, no team in the SoCon has seen more of a drastic trend upwards offensively than maybe the Spartans
Should Mikeal Brown-Jones not be able to go again on Wednesday night, it changes the dynamics and the obvious glaring dynamic is that someone else has to step up and provide some scoring. Keyshaun Langley (14.3 PPG, 3.3 RPG) and Kobe Langley (6.3 PPG, 2.8 RPG) are a pair of veteran guards that possess know-how and savvy, and should the Spartans once again be without Brown-Jones, they will be expected to step up and provide the kind of leadership and timely shooting they were able to provide when the Spartans sprung an upset in Greenville last January.
The Langley brothers were absolutely a major part of UNCG's win in Greenville in early January of 2023. Keyshaun Langley led the Spartans with a game-high 24 points, while brother Kobe Langley dished out a team-high six assists, as the Spartans were able to overcome a deficit late in regulation and eventually force overtime and come up with the thrilling win.
The next time around, the Paladins did a much better job of keeping Keyshaun Langley in check, limiting the Spartans' star guard to just four points, while brother Kobe Langley, who would go on to lead the league in steals and garner SoCon Defensive Player of the Year honors for UNCG last season, to just five points and one assist.
It was one of Furman's top defensive efforts of the season, while also being one of UNCG's worst shooting performances of the campaign.
Kobe Langley has continued to distribute the basketball as well as any guard in the league this season, having already dished out a league-leading 73 assists through the first 13 games in 2023-24, averaging 5.6 assists-per-game, which ranks second in the league.
Kobe Langley's individual total of 27 thefts in 13 games (2.1 SPG) leading the conference, showing why he is such an effective cog in the wheel for that staunch and tenacious Spartans defense.
With that said, Mike Jones' team appears to have a little more scoring firepower this season, despite having graduated Keondre Kennedy and big man Mohammed Abdulsalam, who seemingly always had big outings against the Paladins.
The 2023-24 season has seen Donovan Atwell (11.5 PPG, 3.2 RPG) emerge as that third scorer for the Spartans this season, and he's been one of top long-range marksman in the Southern Conference through the early portions of the 2023-24 slate.
A player that has kind of been an x-factor type player off the bench for the Spartans this season has been Joryiam Saizanou (6.3 PPG, 2.8 RPG), as the Dutch-born Saizanou is a solid perimeter threat off the bench for the Spartans.
Rounding out the backcourt support for the Spartans off the bench is Akrum Ahemed (4.8 PPG, 3.1 RPG), who is a 6-3 redshirt senior guard that averages a little over 19 minutes-per-game off the bench this season, having posted a pair of double-figure scoring performances this season, as he posted 10 points in a win over Eastern Kentucky and a season-high 11 points in a recent win over Virginia-Lynchburg.
Atwell gives the Spartans a three-point assassin like they had not all that long ago, with pure shooters like Francis Alonso (2015-19) and Angelo Allegri, which opponents had to be keenly aware of all times due to their perimeter shooting acumen.
Atwell's ability and quick release as a shooter makes him one of the most dangerous shooters in the open floor in the SoCon this season. He enters the contest ranking fourth overall in the SoCon in three-pointers made, having knocked down 36 triples so far in 2023-24.
If Mikeal Brown-Jones is unable to go this evening, look for both Jalen Breath (6.0 PPG, 4.9 RPG) and freshman Tim Ceasar (4.5 PPG, 4.4 RPG) will likely draw the starting assignments underneath the basket. Both have been solid in the paint, with Breath having started all 13 games for UNCG so far this season.
Helping supplement Breath and Ceasar in the paint this season have been Miles Jones (3.7 PPG, 3.0 RPG), who has had a good start to the season after having to miss the entire 2022-23 campaign with a knee injury, while 6-10 freshman Domas Kazounas (4.0 PPG, 3.1 RPG) from Vilnius, Lithuania has been a solid option off the bench when the Spartans want to go big.
Previewing Furman:
Furman's 6-7 start to the season is one that might shock some, while others who have seen the Paladins play and seen the overall team health aspect factor in heavily for the first time in the Bob Richey era will gain a deeper understanding and perspective of those struggles.
The fact is, the Paladins really don't know who will seemingly be available from game-to-game, however, the good news for the Paladins is that star guard and league player-of-the-year candidate JP Pegues (18.4 PPG, 4.3 RPG) figures to be back in the starting lineup for the Paladins after having missed his second game of the season last time out against Anderson with a sprained ankle.
Pegues currently ranks third in the Southern Conference in scoring, averaging 18.4 PPG, while his 37.3% shooting clip from three-point range (31-of-83) ranks second on the team, and his 31 made threes also leads the team and ranks him fourth overall in the league, and his 5.8 assists-per-game ranks Pegues second in the league in that statistical category.
Fresh off a career-high 29-point effort in the 117-110 loss at Tulane, the junior guard from the Music City posted his seventh 20-plus performance in 11 games this season in Furman's win over Presbyterian back on Dec. 19, and it was his fourth-straight 20-point scoring performance. In the month of December alone, Pegues averaged 23.0 PPG and dished out 6.5 APG to lead the Paladins offensively.
Pegues will team in the backcourt with PJay Smith Jr (11.1 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 2.9 APG), who has had some great games over the latter half of Virginia, including Furman's recent loss at Tulane, as he finished the contest. He's translated as an impact player this season for the Paladin. Against the Green Wave, Smith posted his season-high of 23 points as a Paladin, and he's shown the ability to score points in a hurry from the perimeter.
Like Pegues, Smith has a quick release and is a good ball-handler in the open floor. He comes from Lee University in Tennessee, where he was a two-time all-conference performer and was a Gulf South Conference. He came to Furman as a 44.8% shooter from three-point range as a sophomore. Smith is shooting 37.1% from three-point range this season, and has hit one less three-pointer (30-for-81) from long range this season.
Supplementing Pegues and Smith Jr. in the backcourt is Carter Whitt (8.8 PPG, 3.9 RPG), who has transformed into a reliable shooter and scorer for the Paladins at certain points this season, including scoring all 20 off his points in the second half on a career-high scoring night en route to helping lead Furman to an 89-80 win at Coastal Carolina in the Myrtle Beach Invitational. He also a career-high eight rebounds, with six of those coming in the opening half against the Chanticleers.
Whitt has played in a much more controlled manner this season, and his confidence as both a shooter and a player at-large has been visibly apparent this season.
Furman's front court is solid, and the best player underneath the basket is forward Alex Williams (14.6 PPG, 5.1 RPG), who the Paladins absolutely have to have step up and be present as a scorer. If Williams can become a reliable third scorer for the Paladins, it will make this team a title contender once again.
If his performances are inconsistent, then the Paladins will not ultimately meet that standard that they enjoyed in Asheville last March. Williams might be the most talented scorer on Furman's roster, however, it seems at times he has trouble overcoming his negative moments within a game. Ultimately, that's an learned evolution of a player as he matures in the game, as no one is immune to those negative moments within the game of basketball. Williams had a career-high 30 points in Furman's win over Bob Jones, which followed up a 23-point effort at Arkansas.
Joining Williams as a big piece to the puzzle are senior center Garrett Hien (9.3 PPG, 5.5 RPG), who led the Paladins in scoring last time out against Anderson. Hien has become a more consistent scoring presence of late for the Paladins, which includes matching a career-high with 20 points in Saturday's loss to Anderson.
Hien has posted double figure scoring performances in three of the past four outings for the Paladins, including consecutive performances, which saw him post 19 points and 11 rebounds against Presbyterian prior to his career-high matching 20-point effort against the Trojans this past Saturday.
Tyrese Hughey (6.2 PPG, 5.0 RPG), Ben VanderWal (6.0 PPG, 4.2 RPG) and Davis Molnar (3.8 PPG, 3.8 RPG) are a solid trio that has to also provide scoring support off the bench. Depth has never been an issue for the Paladins, but it's been more of players finding a fit within the rotation.
Most would agree that Furman's most-talented frontcourt player might be 6-11 Cooper Bowser (4.1 PPG, 2.2 RPG), who is still learning the game and learning how to effectively defend without fouling.
Tonight’s game is one that should provide plenty of interest for both fanbases, and it has taken on even added interest given the health of the two teams entering SoCon play.
The Paladins didn’t get any favors from the league office for sure, having to go on the road to start league play for the first two games against two perennial league hardwood blue-bloods, however, no one is feeling sorry for the defending champs.
Furman’s 2023-24 Non-Conference Recap
Game 1: Furman 84, North Greenville 68
--The Paladins were able to open the 2023-24 season in solid fashion, posting a solid offensive showing with Marcus Foster scoring a game-high 18 points to lead the Paladins to the win. The win came despite struggles from long-range in the contest, connecting on just 3-of-21 shooting from beyond the arc.
Game 2: Furman 99, Belmont 76
--In his first game of the 2023-24 season, point guard JP Pegues posted 23 points and the Paladins picked up their 17th win in the past 19 games. It marks the second-straight season picked up a win over Belmont out of the Missouri Valley Conference. Senior Garrett Hien sparked Furman the Paladin offense in the opening half, scoring all 13 of his points in the opening half of play, as Furman shot 52.1% from the field for the game to move to 2-0.
Myrtle Beach Invitational: (Games 3-5)
Game 3: Liberty 88, Furman 74
--Conference USA preseason favorite Liberty handed Furman its first loss of the 2023-24 season, as the Flames used a 20-2 run, which spanned the final two minutes of the opening half and the first three minutes of the second half to pick up an 88-74 win in Furman's first game at the Myrtle Beach Invitational. Despite a career-high 30-point effort from Marcus Foster, the Paladins couldn't overcome a 64% shooting effort from the Flames in the second half.
Game 4: Furman 89, Coastal Carolina 80
--The Paladins got a second-straight 30 point effort from Marcus Foster, while Carter Whitt added all 20 of his points in the second half, as the Paladins were able to upend its Palmetto State rival Coastal Carolina by a score of 89-80 in the first meeting between the two programs on the hardwood in two decades,. Along with his career-high 20-point scoring effort, Whitt also managed to corral a career-best eight rebounds, which included six in the first half.
Game 5: Wyoming 78, Furman 71
--Furman posted one of its more disappointing performances of the 2023-24 season, as the Paladins fell 78-71 to Wyoming in the final game of the Myrtle Beach Invitational. The Paladins, who trailed 37-28 at the half, would get as close as three (70-67) with a little over a minute left, however, could get no closer, as Cowboys guard hit a clutch three late as part of his game-high 26-point effort to lead Wyoming to the seven-point win in the first-ever meeting between the two programs. Marcus Foster's 18-point effort saw him set a new Myrtle Beach Invitational scoring record with 78 points over the course of three games.
Game 6:UAB 92, Furman 86
--Furman saw UAB go on a 17-4 run late to erase what had been a four-point Furman lead, posting a 92-86 win over the Paladins at Bartow Arena. The loss saw the Paladins fall to 3-3 on the season, and the loss came despite another superlative performance from Marcus Foster, who led the Paladins with 27 points. The Blazers burned the nets at a 58.6% shooting clip in the contest, as the 2023 NIT runner-up was paced by 19 points from Yaxel Lendeborg, as he led five UAB players in double figures.
Game 7: Furman 86, South Carolina State 78
--Furman returned home to the friendly confines of Timmons Arena, picking up its 100th win since the start of the 2015-16 campaign by downing in-state rival South Carolina State, 86-78, in a hard-fought contest. The win saw the Paladins improve to 4-3, and it featured a balanced offensive effort once again, as head coach Bob Richey's club finished the game shooting an impressive 51.6% from the field, placing six in double figures, as PJ Smith Jr. led the way for the 'Dins with his best game in a Furman uniform, finishing with 20 points. Davion Everett led the Bulldogs with 23 points, as the Bulldogs were able to hang around in Greenville to much of the night, making things less than ideal for the Paladins.
Game 8: Princeton 70, Furman 69
--Furman led nearly the entire game and put together its best defensive performance of the game, however, surrendered an 11-point lead with a little over four minutes remaining, as Princeton used a 16-4 run down the stretch to post a 70-69, come-from-behind win over the Paladins. Jadwin Gym erupted for the reigning Sweet Sixteen participant after Matt Allocco's triple with 4.2 seconds remaining, and JP Pegues' long triple attempt on the other end missed its mark, as the Paladins dropped a one-point heartbreaker to the previously unbeaten Tigers on there road. Furman would lose more than just the game, as leading scorer Marcus Foster went down with a torn MCL and won't make his return until sometime in mid-late January. Garrett Hien paced the Paladins in scoring for the first time all season with 16 points.
Game 9: Arkansas 97, Furman 83
--Furman was able to hold its own against the Razorbacks, despite being without leading scorer Marcus Foster as the Paladins fell 97-83 at Bud Walton Arena in the first-ever meeting between the two programs. JP Pegues led the way for the Paladins posting 21 points, while Alex Williams finished with a career-high 20-point effort. Arkansas got a game-high 25 points from Khalif Battle, while Chandler Lawson added 19, as the Razorbacks blistered the nets at a 60.7% clip for the game and notched the most points against the Paladins in regulation this season, while Furman also played in front of its largest crowd this season, with better than 19,000 on-hand at Bud Walton Arena.
Game 10: Furman 100, Bob Jones 58
--Furman played its second of three non-Division I foes when it hosted Bob Jones in its most recent home game a week-and-a-half ago, and it was Alex Williams, who poured in a career-high 31 points, as he notched Furman's third 30-point performance of the season. The Paladins hit the century mark for the 14th time in seven seasons under head coach Bob Richey, while finishing the game connecting on 17 three-pointers, while also dishing out 33 assists as a team. The Paladins finished shooting the ball at a 49.4% clip in what was another impressive offensive display.
Game 11: Tulane 117, Furman 110 (2 OTs)
--In what was likely the most heartbreaking game of the season, Furman looked to have won the game on buzzer-beating three-pointer from JP Pegues as time expired, as the Paladin bench erupted with the scoreboard at Devlin Fieldhouse reading: Furman 92, Tulane 89. However, eight-tenths of a second were put back on the clock, and on the ensuing inbounds pass, Tulane guard Kevin Cross, who finished the night with a triple-double, caught it, turned, and double-clutched a three from about 33 feet and was fouled in the process by Furman's Davis Molnar with only five-tenths of a second bleeding off the clock. Cross connected on all three free throws to send the game to overtime. At the end of the first overtime, the two teams were still tied, 99-99, however, Jaylen Forbes got hot in the second game extended period, connecting on three-straight triples after Furman had taken a brief lead, enabling the Green Wave to outscore the Paladins 18-11 in the second OT and ultimately come away with the win. Kevin Cross posted 25 points, 12 assists and had 12 boards, while Forbes led the Green Wave with 26 points. It outshined JP Pegues' career-best 29 points, while PJay Smith Jr and Alex Williams each chipped in with 23. The Paladins overcame a 16-point second half deficit to eventually take the lead late on a Carter Whitt layup and then on Pegues' three before the two teams headed for a pair of overtimes. It was Furman's first double-overtime game since December of 2018 against Western Carolina at Timmons Arena.
Game 12: Furman 76, Presbyterian 61
--Furman looked like it might have turned a corner with its performance against Presbyterian, playing one of its best defensive games of the season en route to a 15-point, home court win over the Presbyterian Blue Hose. Led by JP Pegues and Garrett Hien, who scored 21 and 19 points, respectively, the Paladins gave one of their most complete efforts of the non-conference slate, highlighted by a strong performance on the defensive end of the floor, as the Paladins held the Blue Hose to just 61 points and 39.7% shooting from the field.
Game 13: Anderson 79, Furman 74
--For the first time since December of 2013, Furman tasted defeat at the hands of a non-Division I opponent, dropping a 79-74 decision to South Atlantic Conference member Anderson in the Paladins final game of 2023 and of the non-conference slate. The Paladins were without their top two scorers, as JP Pegues (18.4 PPG) and Marcus Foster (19.8 PPG) missed the game with injuries. The Trojans came in and grabbed 19 offensive rebounds, which led to 17 second-chance points, while Garrett Denbow poured in a game-high 27 points to lead former Paladin assistant coach Jimmie Williams and his Trojans to a stunning upset win in Greenville. The Paladins, who went just 2-for-20 from three-point land in the loss, were led by Garrett Hien's career-high matching 20 points in the loss.
In Conclusion:
--Now the season gets real for Bob Richey's team, and with at least four real contenders for the regular-season league title, the Paladins have their work cut out for them. At full strength, the Paladins are dangerous and capable, however, this isn't the 2022-23 Paladins and that's an unfair barometer of comparison for this edition of Furman's basketball team. That being said, what this team can do is score points and is even do at a bit of a higher rate this season is scoring production. That said, we will learn a lot more about this Furman team when they take on UNC Greensboro in its Southern Conference opener on Wednesday night.
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