Southern Conference play is officially off and running, with some of the opening night results mostly going according to plan. One game that likely raised more than a few eyebrows was the VMI vs. Wofford score, as the Keydets went into Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium and not only competed, but had a chance to win the game before falling, 87-85, in overtime.
Western Carolina (12-2, 1-0 SoCon)--a team picked third in the preseason poll--went on the road and took down a tough, gritty The Citadel (8-6, 0-1 SoCon) playing without its top scorer, AJ Smith, who is sidelined with a shoulder injury. Preseason SoCon Player of the Year Vonterius Woolbright nearly posted a triple-double, as he finished with 22 points, had 15 rebounds and dished out seven helpers in leading the Catamounts to a key 80-71 road win to start league play.
UNCG (10-4, 1-0 SoCon) took care of a short-handed Furman (6-8, 0-1 SoCon), 79-68, at the Greensboro Coliseum, as the Spartans welcomed back Mikeal Brown-Jones after a three-game absence due to injury and he added a double-double (16 pts, 11 rebs) to help lead the Spartans to win over the defending league champions.
The Spartans, who were picked second in the preseason behind Furman, were powered by an 11-of-22 effort from three-point range for the game, which included a 5-for-9 effort from Donovan Atwell. The Paladins were missing 52.8 PPG of scoring production, with Marcus Foster, JP Pegues, and Alex Williams all missing the league road opener with injuries.
Brooks Savage officially opened his Southern Conference account as the East Tennessee State (9-5, 1-0 SoCon) head coach with an 80-69 victory over Mercer (7-7, 0-1 SoCon), bringing an end to a five-game winning streak for the Bears. The Bucs were powered by Quimari Peterson's 22 points, while Ebby Asamoah added 17 and the Bucs owned a 12-rebound advantage (48-36) on the backboards, as ETSU used 16 offensive rebounds to generate 24 points as one of the keys to the league-opening win. Just as important to the Bucs' cause were their efforts from the free throw line, connecting on 28-for-32 from the stripe.
Samford (12-2, 1-0 SoCon) continued its streak of strong play, as the Bulldogs notched a 12th-straight win with an 89-74 home win over Chattanooga (8-6, 0-1 SoCon), as the Bulldogs got a career-high 29 points from AJ Staton-McCray, making up for the absence of star forward Jermaine Marshall, who could be out a significant amount of time with an injury. The Mocs committed a season-high 21 turnovers, which the Bulldogs converted into a 24-12 advantage in points from turnovers.
It's hard to make much out of the opening night results, other than injuries have touched almost every program in the league this season. Furman, Samford, Mercer, The Citadel, UNCG, and Western Carolina have all been bitten by the injury bug at some point in the 2023-24 campaign. An interesting slate is on tap for Saturday, as we take a look around the SoCon with a preview of Saturday's action.
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