SoCon Hoops Week 2 Recap and Power Rankings

         SoCon Weekly Hoops Recap

                  Catamounts and Bulldogs on a collision course

1/10/2024--1/11/2024

Three games highlighted Wednesday evening's SoCon slate, with most of the fans and media around the league having the attention trained on Freedom Hall in Johnson City, where East Tennessee State and Western Carolina met for the 91st time in series history.

What played out in Johnson City was a tough battle, the Catamounts showed exactly why they were the team favored by many to win the 2023-24 Southern Conference title and make just their second NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, as Western Carolina was able to claim an 80-66 win over East Tennessee State Wednesday night at Freedom Hall.

The win was the Catamounts' eighth-straight victory, as the Catamounts improved to 14-2 overall and 3-0 in the league, while the Bucs fell for the second time in quick succession, falling to 9-7 overall and 1-2 in conference play.

Vonterius Woolbright continued to show why he is one of the best players in all of college basketball, as the NBA prospect posted his second-career triple-double and the fifth in Catamount basketball history, finishing the night with 20 points, 13 rebounds and dished out 10 assists. Woolbright is the first player to have ever accomplished the rare feat twice in a career as a Catamount player. Three other Catamount players would end up joining Woolbright in double figures in the contest.

Tre Jackson matched Woolbright's team-hight scoring total with 20 points, as he connected on 8-of-15 shots from the field and was 4-for-9 from long range in the contest. Diminutive point guard Russell Jones Jr. added 17 points, and Bernard Pelote came off the bench to add 12, as the Catamounts ended the night connecting on an impressive 50.8% (31-of-61) shots from the field, including 47.4% (9-of-19) from three-point range. 

The win marked the Catamounts' fifth-straight over the Bucs in the series, which marks the longest winning streak in the series by the Catamounts since it won five-straight in the series from 1994-98. The Catamounts led wire-to-wire in picking up their 14th win of the season.

Western Carolina came out on fire, opening up a 15-4 lead, which WCU would eventually grow into its largest of the half of 16 points, at 30-14, following a Russell Jones Jr. knocked down a triple with 8:33 left in the half. Eventually Western Carolina would take a 44-31 lead into the half.

The Catamounts were able to maintain their cushion over the final 20 minutes of the game, growing the lead to as much as 18 on a Bernard Pelote layup with just over eight minutes remaining.  

East Tennessee State, which got a game-high 24 points from all-conference wing Jaden Seymour, will hope to have its top defender back, in Karon Boyd sometime in the immediate future. 

While the Catamounts made relatively easy work of ETSU, the Wofford Terriers moved to 2-1 inside league play by knocking off Mercer, 74-73, in what was easily the game of the night in the league.

The Terriers got a pair of free throws from Corey Tripp with 7.8 seconds remaining to help the Terriers hold off a pesky challenge from Mercer and hold on for a one-point win. The victory improved Wofford to 9-7 overall and 2-1 in league play, while Mercer dropped to 8-8 overall and 1-2 in league play. 

Tripp, who has been a revelation at the point guard position for the Terriers this season, scored six of the final eight points for the Terriers down the stretch, as Wofford has won its two league games over VMI and Mercer by a combined three points. 

There were eight lead changes and seven ties between the two teams, but the win would mark Wofford's fourth-straight over Mercer, with none of the four having been decided by more than seven points. Former Terrier guard Jackson Paveletzke provided the heroics last season in Macon, as his buzzer-beating jumper allowed Wofford to escape Macon with a 53-52 win last season.

Tripp is the new Paveletzke, as the former has moved on to Iowa State after collecting SoCon Freshman of the Year honors, while Tripp has managed to pick up right where Paveletzke left off in what has been a lineage of great point guard play for Wofford. 

Tripp's final flurry of six points down the stretch in the contest were part of a 19-point performance to lead Wofford in the win. He was one of three Terriers in double figures, as both Jackson Sivills and Chase Cormier added 13 and 12 points, respectively, while David Thomas paced three Bears in double figures with 19 points. Alex Holt added 14 points for the Bears, while Caleb Hunter finished with 10.

Wofford did a lot of its damage offensively from beyond the arc in the win, as Wofford knocked down 13-of-33 shots from beyond the arc in the win. Cormier knocked down four of those triples to equal his point total for the evening. 

Just up the road in Greenville, Furman was able to snap a three-game losing skid by handing bitter rival The Citadel a third-straight loss to open up conference play, as the Paladins posted what was a 82-68 win inside the friendly confines of Timmons Arena.

With the win, Furman improved to 7-9 overall and 1-2 in SoCon play, while The Citadel fell to 8-8 overall and 0-3 in league action.

The Paladins, who continue to play without leading scorer Marcus Foster (19.8 PPG) since going down with a knee injury back on Dec. 4 in a 70-69 loss at Princeton, have two of their three leading scorers back and now at 100%, and it was Alex Williams, who poured in 26 points on a career-high seven triples that helped power the once again powerful Paladin offense. 

Furman, which shot a season-low 27.5% and connected on just 4-of-33 triples in its 15-point loss at Chattanooga, rebounded to shoot a season-best 55.0%, including a 41.9% effort from three, knocking down 13-of-31 from long-range en route to the 14-point win. 

While Williams posted a game-high 26, he was joined in double figures by Garrett Hien (11 pts), Ben VanderWal (10 pts), and JP Pegues (10 pts), while Carter Whitt matched a career high with 10 assists as part of a night which saw the Paladins dish out a whopping 28 helpers as a team. 

The Citadel finished the contest with three in double figures, as Madison Durr paced The Citadel with 17 points, while Elijah Morgan finished with 15 points and Quintin Millora-Brown added a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds. The double-figure scorers for the Bulldogs were rounded out by AJ Smith, who posted 11 points in his first game back after a shoulder injury.

Thursday night offered one blockbuster matchup and one much less appetizing as a head coach faced off against the one he once coached.

The blockbuster clash came between a pair of 2-0 teams in The SoCon, as Samford and UNC Greensboro met at the Pete Hanna Center for a game that could offer a preview of the championship in Asheville come the second weekend of March. 

A pretty good game played out before a loud, rowdy crowd at the Hanna Center as the defending regular-season co-champions picked up a 79-70 win on their home floor, running their winning streak to 14 games, which tied a school-record previously set back in the 1960-61 campaign.  The 14-straight wins is now tied with Utah State for the longest winning streak in Division I college basketball. 

The win saw the Bulldogs improve to 14-2 overall and 3-0 in SoCon action, while UNCG is now 11-5 overall and 2-1 in league action. 

Achor Achor continued his strong play to start league play, showing why he is one of the most improved players in all of college basketball, pacing the Bulldogs with 22 points, while Jaden Campbell chipped in with 21 points, and Rylan Jones flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in the win. 

UNCG's league player of the year candidate Mikeal Brown-Jones finished with 20 points, and the only other Spartan to reach double figures in the contest was Kobe Langley, who finished with 15 points and dished out six assists. 

While the game in Homewood was competitive most of the night, the other game Thursday night between Chattanooga and VMI was not, as the Mocs blasted the Keydets, 109-61. 

It was a game that Dan Earl faced his former employer with the same backcourt that brought the Keydets so much success in Earl's final season at the helm in Lexington in 2021-22. 

It was the dynamic duo of Huff and Bonham that helped the Mocs jump out to an 18-3 lead early, as the Mocs would never really be threatened in the contest. The duo helped combine for 10 of the Mocs' 18 points in the opening six minutes of the game.

The lead would grow to 26-6 with 11:36 left in the opening frame, as the Mocs had knocked down a blistering 58.8% (10-of-17) of its shots to open the game, and that included a blistering 60% (6-of-10) from long range. Randy Brady's knocked down the team's sixth triple of the night, and it was a significant milestone. It marked the 51st-straight game that the Mocs have made six or more threes in a game, which is tied for the 10th-longest streak in NCAA Division I history. 

The Mocs took a 52-30 lead into the halftime break, which was the most points UTC had scored in one half of basketball since Jan. 12, 2020, equaling that total of 52 in a win over The Citadel. 

In the second half, the Mocs would score 10 of the first 15 points of the stanza to all but wrap up the game, as the Mocs took a 62-35 lead following a three-point play the old fashioned way with 15:46 remaining. The game wouldn't be close from that point forward, as the Mocs coasted to their 10th win of the season.

leading the way for Chattanooga was Randy Brady, who had 16 points and was eight Mocs in double figures in the win. Brady's 14 points came on a 5-for-7 shooting performance from the field, including a 5-of-6 effort from three-point land.

Sam Alexis added a double-double with 14 points and 15 boards, while Jan Zedek and Trey Bonham added 14 points apiece. Honor Huff and Rudy Fitzgibbons III added 11 apiece, and Tyler Millin and Demetrius rounded out the Mocs players in double figures, posting 10 apiece.

VMI finished the contest having been paced by three players with 14 points, with Taeshaud Jackson leading the way with a double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds.

1-13-2024

Saturday ended up being a wild day for hoops action in the Southern Conference, and it started with the very first game of the day, as the Terriers again won in thrilling fashion, with all three of their SoCon wins now having come by a combined points, and all four of their league outings having been decided but no more than four points.

The Terriers were again faced with the situation of being at the charity stripe late in the game, and it was Corey Tripp that went to the line for the Terriers, looking to lock up an important road win over The Citadel. The Terriers held a 72-71 and Tripp was the only Terrier in the area to grab the rebound should his one-and-one free throw carom off the rim, while the Bulldogs had four players on the block looking to get a potential rebound should there be a miss. 

What do you know, Tripp missed the foul shot but snagged the rebound and dribbled around, evading would-be Bulldog foul attempts to run off the remaining time on the clock, allowing Wofford to return to the Upstate of South Carolina with a wild, 72-71, road win.

The win, which was the Terriers' eighth in their last 10 outings, saw Wofford improve to 10-7 overall and 3-1 in league play, while The Citadel dropped its fourth straight game to fall to 8-9 overall and 0-4 in league play. 

Along with Tripp, Dillion Bailey ended up being a hero for the Terriers down the stretch, scoring seven of the final eight points of the game for the Terriers, which was part of an 18-point scoring effort in a one-point win. Bailey, who connected on 7-of-11 shots from the field, which included a 4-for-7 effort from beyond the arc, and was one of four Wofford players to finish in double figures.

Bailey would be joined in double figures by Jackson Sivills (16 pts), Anthony Arrington Jr (13 pts) and Corey Tripp (12 pts), as the Terriers finished the afternoon connecting on 50% (28-of-56) from the field, which included a 35.7% (14-of-30) effort from beyond the arc. Wofford also finished the game shooting only five foul shots, as the Terriers went 2-for-5 from the stripe, which converts to a 40.0% clip.

The Citadel was paced in the losing effort by four in double figures as well, and the Bulldogs would be led by Elijah Morgan's 21 points, which included a 4-of-6 shooting effort from beyond the arc, as The Citadel connected on 43.6% (7-of-16) from long-range in the win. 

Morgan would be joined in double figures by AJ Smith (18 pts), Madison Durr (11 pts), and Kenyan Davis (10 pts). For the game, The Citadel would connect on 46.4% (26-of-56) from the field, and connected on 70.6% (12-of-17) from the charity stripe. 

Wofford will be back in action on Wednesday night when it hosts East Tennessee State in a 7 p.m. contest at the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium, while The Citadel will be on the road Wednesday night at UNC Greensboro, with tip-off set for 7 p.m.

Alex Williams goes up for a layup vs. ETSU in Saturday's win

While Wofford won a wild one to get the day started off, Furman claimed its second win in a row for just the second time all season, and for the first time against Division I foes in succession.

The Paladins posted an 82-73 win over East Tennessee State, as Alex Williams (20 pts) and JP Pegues (20 pts) posted 40 of Furman's 82, and that Paladins nearly matched the scoreline of their win over The Citadel earlier in the week. 

The Paladins improved to 8-9 overall and evened their league mark at 2-2, while East Tennessee State fell for the third-straight outing--the Bucs' first three-game losing skid of the season--falling to 9-8 overall and 1-3 in league action.

The Paladins won with the same starting lineup for the first time this season, as the Paladins have used 13 different ones this season, which is due in large part to injuries. 

Carter Whitt, who at one time played for ETSU head coach Brooks Savage when Savage was an assistant on Steve Forbes at Wake Forest, had another strong effort for the Paladins, posting his seventh double-figure scoring performance this season, as he finished with 14 points, five rebounds, five assists, four steals, a block and five turnovers.

All in all, it was another positive performance for the sophomore guard from Raleigh. Whitt was also charted with nine ball deflections, which is a testament to his improvement on that end of the floor, and he played maybe his best defensive game in a Paladin uniform in Saturday's win. 

Williams, who had 26 points in the 82-68 win over The Citadel last week, posted his 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field, which included a 3-for-4 effort from long-range. He was also 3-for-5 from the charity stripe in the win. 

JP Pegues finished the contest by 13th double-figure scoring performance in his 14 appearances for the Paladins this season, including his seventh 20 or more point effort of the season. He finished the night by connecting on 5-of-15 shots from the field, which included a 2-for-7 performance from long range and a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe.

Rounding out the Paladins in double figures in the contest was Garrett Hien, who scored his 10 points off the bench in succession in the opening half, and also added three assists and two rebounds. 

ETSU also had four players in double figures, which was led by Jaden Seymour's 23 points and four rebounds, while Quimari Peterson added 16 points, with 14 of those coming in the opening nine minutes of the game. Peterson also added seven rebounds and three assists, but also turned it over six times.

Seymour scored his game-high 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field, including a 3-of-6 effort from three-point range. He also finished with four rebounds. 

Ebby Asamoah and Jadyn Parker rounded out the double-figure scorers with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Parker narrowly missed a double-double, ripping down nine boards. 

The Paladins finished the night connecting on 44.1% (26-of-59) for the game, while finishing the contest by connecting on 35.0% (7-of-20). The Paladins also had one of their best efforts from the charity stripe this season, knocking down 23-of-26 shots from the charity stripe. 

ETSU completed the contest connecting on 43.9% (29-of-66), while finishing the contest by connecting on 32.0% (8-of-25) from beyond the arc. It marked only the second time this season that the Paladins have won a game in which the opposition has connected on more threes, with the other being the season-opening win over North Greenville. 

Furman finished the night owning advantages in points from turnovers (16-12), fast-break points (6-5), bench scoring (14-6), total rebounds (40-36), while the Bucs posted a 38-36 advantage in points from turnovers. The Paladins and Bucs tied, 16-16, in second-chance points. 

With statistics almost identical in every other area, the one major advantage for Furman came at the charity stripe, as the Paladins attempted 15 more free throws (26-11) and outscored the Bucs by 16 (23-7) at the charity stripe. 

Furman will be on the road on Wednesday night to face VMI in a 7 p.m. EST contest at Cameron Hall against VMI, while the Bucs will be in Spartanburg looking to snap their three-game skid against Wofford, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. EST at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.

Western Carolina continued its strong start to league play, as the Catamounts went on the road to secure a 64-52 win over Mercer, improving to 15-2 overall and 4-0 in league action with their ninth-straight win. The loss sees Mercer drop to 8-9 overall and 1-3 in league action. 

Three Catamounts finished in double figures in the win, led yet another double-double from league player of the year favorite Vonterius Woolbright, who finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds, while Russell Jones Jr. also added 14 points, and Tre Jackson rounded out the Catamounts in double figures with 10. 

Mercer was able to establish the pace it wanted in the opening half of play, as both teams failed to reach the 30-point mark in the opening 20 minutes of basketball at Hawkins Arena in Macon, and the Catamounts went to the locker room holding a 29-25 lead at the break. The Catamount lead of four points at the break was the largest either team enjoyed in the opening 20 minutes of basketball. 

The Catamounts came out and imposed their will, however, from the outset of the second half, using a 6-1 run to grow their lead to nine. A Russell Jones Jr. steal and layup would give the Catamounts their first double-digit lead of the game, as WCU assumed a 40-29 lead on the Jones Jr. layup with 15:39 remaining. It was part of an 11-4 run by the Catamounts to open the second half. 

The Bears weren't going to go away quietly, however, cutting it to 40-34 with five-straight of their own, as Jake Davis made a free throw, Alex Holt had a dunk and David Thomas converted a jumper in the paint to get Mercer within six with 14:22 left. 

However, Western Carolina would throw its most significant counter-punch from there, using a 14-2 run, which started with a Colin Granger layup and ended with a Corneilous Williams jumper in the paint, extending Western's lead to its largest of the afternoon at 18 points (54-36) with 10:45 remaining. WCU would score just 10 more points in regulation, but the Catamounts defense did enough on the defensive end by holding the Bears to just 31.7% () shooting for the game.

Mercer finished with two players in double figures, with David Thomas posting a team-best 12 points, while Jayln McCreary added 11. 

The Catamounts finished connecting on just 37.1% (23-of-62) from the field, while finishing 35.7% (5-of-14) from three-point range, while shooting just 61.9% (13-of-21) from the free throw line.

Western Carolina will be back in action on Tuesday night in a nationally-televised game from the Ramsey Center, as the Catamounts will host red-hot Samford in a 6 p.m. EST contest. The game will televised to a national television audience by CBS Sports Network.

Mercer, meanwhile, will host Chattanooga in a 7 p.m. EST contest at Hawkins Arena Wednesday evening. 

It's already been a crazy start to the 2023-24 Southern Conference hoops season, but nothing has been quite as crazy as the game that took place between Samford and VMI at the Pete Hanna Center Saturday evening. 

The Bulldogs claimed a 134-96 win over VMI to notch a school-record 15th-straight win and improved to 15-2 overall and remained unbeaten in the Southern Conference, improving to 4-0.  The 15th-straight win is also tied for the longest winning streak in all of college basketball, as No. 20 Utah State also notched a 15th-straight win Saturday, with an 87-86 come-from-behind win at UNLV earlier in the day. 

The loss dropped VMI to 3-14 overall and 0-4 in SoCon play, as the Keydets also fell to 0-14 against Division I competition in the 2023-24 season. 

The wild game in Homewood saw the Bulldogs and Keydets combined for maybe the highest scoring games in league history, bringing to mind some memories of some other great high-scoring games, such as the Feb. 5, 1996 clash between Marshall and Western Carolina in Cullowhee, which saw the Catamounts claim a thrilling 125-104 win over Thundering Herd. 

It would also bring back to the memory bank the 2018-19 clash between Wofford-Samford clash at the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium, as Wofford claimed a wild, 107-106, home win over Samford as a part of its unbeaten season and run to the Southern Conference title. That meeting, which took place on Jan. 24, 2019, would need overtime to produce a winner and the overall combined point total.  

This game, though, was an outlier. The 134 points are a school record for a Division I game for the Bulldogs, and it goes without saying that it was one of the highest scoring games in Southern Conference history. 

You kind of have to feel for VMI, as the Keydets ended the game scoring 96 points and shot 52.4% from the field and 56.5%. from three-point range, however, VMI surrendered 46 points on a total of 27 turnovers in the contest. The score at the half saw Samford holding a shocking 72-54 lead! The Keydets also allowed 72 points in the paint. 

As you might imagine, the Bulldogs had plenty of players finish the night scoring in double figures, with eight players finding their way into double figures in the contest, with Achor Achor and Riley Allenspach leading the way for Samford with 18 points apiece. 

AJ Staton-McCray added 15 points, as he continues his all-conference season, while Dallas Graziani, Chandler Leopard and Garrett Hicks each added 12. Rounding out the double-figure scorers in the game for the Bulldogs was Jaden Campbell, who finished with 11 points, while Nathan Johnson equaled Campbell's 11 off the bench. Rylan Jones dished out a team-high six assists and had four steals, while Graziani led the team with six thefts. The Bulldogs had an astounding 19 steals in the contest. 

VMI had five players finish in the double figures scoring column, paced by a game-high 22 points from Taeshaud Jackson, while Tyran Cook and Stephen Olowoniyi added 16. Brennan Watkins finished with 15 points and Devin Butler rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Keydets with 12 points. The Keydets matched the Bulldogs with 13 three-pointers in the contest.

As far as shooting the ball went, the Bulldogs finished the evening connecting on a blistering 59.8% (52-of-87) and were 48.1% (13-of-27) from three-point range. The Bulldogs also connected on 77.3% (17-of-22) from the charity stripe. 

Samford jumped out to an early 11-3 lead with 17:46 left in the opening half on a three-pointer from Achor Achor, however the VMI would cut the Samford lead to 13-11 with 15:16 remaining when Brennan Watkins knocked down a jumper. 

Samford then answered with an 11-2 run, as Nathan Johnson's three-point play the old-fashioned way allowed the Bulldogs to go up 24-13 with 13:48 remaining. 

VMI charged back with seven-straight points of its own, cutting the Bulldogs lead to four, at 24-20 after Devin Butler knocked down a pair of free throws with 12:25 left in the first half.

However, Samford continued to answer with haymakers, countering VMI's mini run with a 15-1 spurt to push the lead to 18 (39-21) with just under 10 minutes to play in the opening half. The Bulldogs would extend that lead to 22 when Chandler Leopard knocked down three-straight from the line after he was fouled on a three-pointer to make it a 53-31 with 5:39 left in the half.

The Bulldogs would push the lead to as many as 28 points in the first half, and would end up settling for an 18-point, 72-54, lead at the break. 

Samford would essentially put the game away in the opening minutes of the second half, using a 19-5 run out of the locker room to push the lead to 32 points, at 91-59, when Staton-McCray went in for a layup. The lead would grow to as much as 41 points (128-87) before the Bulldogs settled for the 38-point, 134-96 win in what was a truly crazy game in Southern Conference basketball. 

The win by the Bulldogs sets up a huge clash Tuesday night, as Samford (15-2, 4-0 SoCon) heads to Cullowhee to face off against Western Carolina (15-2, 4-0) in a game that will put one team or the other atop the standings of the Southern Conference. Tip-off for that standalone game is set for 6 p.m. EST and will be nationally televised by CBS Sports Network.

VMI will be back in the friendly confines of Cameron Hall Wednesday night, taking on defending league champion Furman, with tip-off for that contest slated for 7 p.m. EST.

Chattanooga guard Trey Bonham (photo courtesy of Chattanooga athletics)

The final game of the night saw a classic guards matchup with UNCG's Langley twins facing off against a pair of Mocs guards who might as well be twins, in Trey Bonham and Honor Huff, as the duo have a skillset that mirror each other almost identically. 

What would ultimately play out was a 70-54 win for UNCG, as the game once again left us scratching our heads as to whether Dan Earl's Chattanooga team was a contender or pretender once again. One thing is for sure, and that is UNCG, who dropped a 79-70 decision at Samford earlier in the week, is indeed a contender. 

With the win, UNCG improved to 12-5 overall and 3-1 in SoCon play, while the loss dropped the Mocs to 10-7 overall and 2-2 in league action. 

The Spartans finished the night with three players in double figures, as Keyshaun Langley finished with a team-best 17 points, while his brother Kobe Langley added a double-double with 15 points and dished out a career-best 11 assists. Donovan Atwell rounded out the Spartans in double figures, as he posted 12 points on a 4-for-7 shooting performance from long range. 

The Spartans shot the ball well once again, connecting on 49.1% (26-of-53) from the field for the game, while the Spartans connected on 14 threes and a blistering 53.8% () from downtown in the win. UNCG showcased its stout defense in the win, as the Spartans held the Mocs to just 30.9% (17-of-55) shooting for the game, while just a 30.6% (7-of-34) shooting effort from three-point land. 

The Mocs held only three leads in the contest, but a 12-0 saw the Spartans build a 31-23 lead and were never really threatened seriously again in the contest, maintaining a 37-30 lead into the halftime locker room. 

UNCG came out strong in the second half as well, using an 11-5 run to take a 13-point, 48-35, lead following a Mikeal Brown-Jones triple with 15:18 remaining. The Mocs would get no closer than 11 points the rest of the way, as UNCG picked up an important league road win. 

The Spartans will be back in the Greensboro Coliseum Wednesday night, hosting The Citadel in a 7 p.m. EST contest. Chattanooga will be on the road at Hawkins Arena to take on the Mercer Bears in a 7 p.m. EST contest Wednesday evening. 

 Week 2 Power Rankings:

1. Samford--The Bulldogs continue to light up the scoreboard and have a crucial week ahead, beginning Tuesday night in Cullowhee.

T-1 Western Carolina--Catamount guard Vonterius Woolbright continues his strong play and currently ranks second nationally in double-doubles. 

3. UNCG--UNCG's defense, which was on display for all to see Saturday night in Chattanooga, is something that figures to keep the Mocs in the title race for the long haul this season. 

4. Wofford--The Terriers continue to win close games, and have a big one Wednesday night as the Terriers host East Tennessee State.

5. Furman--The Paladins have won two-straight and with leading scorer Marcus Foster slated to return Wednesday night at VMI, it could mark the first time since the first half at Princeton that the Paladins have had a full roster of players this season. 

T-5 Chattanooga--Like Furman, it's hard to know exactly to make of the Mocs as of yet, but it is clear they have a talented inside-outside dynamic, with Sam Alexis in the paint and Trey Bonham and Honor Huff on the perimeter.

7. East Tennessee State--The Bucs desperately need Karon Boyd to get healthy. 

8. Mercer--The Bears have Jayln McCreary back from injury, and have a big home test against Chattanooga Wednesday night.

9. The Citadel--The Bulldogs played well enough to win last time out, however, it doesn't get any easier with a trip to UNCG Wednesday night on the immediate horizon.

10. VMI--As baffling as it is to believe, if the Keydets could have surrendered a few less points from turnovers last time out, they might could have stayed in the game in Homewood.