SoCon Hoops February Update

Jaden Campbell shoots vs VMI (photo courtesy of Samford athletics)

                                    

Samford continues to top the SoCon Standings

We have officially reached the second half of SoCon Hoops play and the more things change, the more they have,  in fact, stayed the same. 

Samford continues to win games and set records along the way, as the Bulldogs continue to get closer to clinching the No. 1 overall seed for the upcoming Southern Conference Tournament in Asheville.

Samford's latest victim was Western Carolina, as the Bulldogs completed the season sweep of the Catamounts, who tumbled to sixth place in the league standings with the 88-62 loss at the Pete Hanna Center Wednesday night at the Pete Hanna Center, showing no love to the Catamounts on Valentine's night inside its nearly unbeatable confines this season. The win over the Catamounts saw Samford improve to 15-0 in games played at the Pete Hanna Center this season. 

Bucky McMillan's Bulldogs have now posted a 27-4 mark against SoCon foes in the regular season over the past couple of campaigns, with three of those four losses coming to Furman and the other one coming at Wofford last season. 

The Bulldogs continue to lead the league in scoring offense (88.0 PPG), field goal percentage (49.8%), turnover margin (+4.35), assist-turnover ratio (1.42), assists (18.6 APG) and steals per game (10.92), three-point field goal percentage (40.7%) and rank second in three-pointers made (264).

In terms of national statistics, the Bulldogs lead the nation in three-point field goal percentage (40.7%), rank fourth in scoring offense (88.0 PPG), fifth in turnovers forced (17.4), ninth in team field goal percentage (49.8%) and 12th in three-pointers made per game (10.3). 

Samford has been the ultimate sum of its parts team, without a out and out star. With Jermaine Marshall now back, that's about as close as you can get to having a star, as he is an outstanding player on both ends, but he probably won't garner the attention that the likes of Vonterius Woolbright of Western Carolina or Mikeal Brown-Jones of UNC Greensboro, but he's right in the neighborhood. But what makes Samford different this season, as say previous seasons under head coach Bucky McMillan is that one guy isn't dominating the stats sheet.

Since returning four games ago, he has found his way into double figures twice, which includes a 16-point effort in Samford's latest outing against Western Carolina this past Wednesday night.

Can anyone stop Samford?

It certainly would appear not. The Bulldogs have been dominant lately, but if you're going to beat this incredibly deep team, the way to do it is pretty self explanatory. 

In the three losses the Bulldogs they have this season, they have failed to reach 70 points and teams have taken relatively good care of the basketball, and haven't turned the ball over much against the Bulldogs, or when they have, those turnovers haven't been of the live-ball variety, which can turn directly into Samford points on the other end.

Furman, which handed the Bulldogs their only Southern Conference loss, 78-68, last month at Timmons Arena, did turn the ball over 18 times, which led to 20 points for the Bulldogs. However, the Paladins played some of their best defense of the season in the first half of that particular game to build a 34-25 halftime lead. The 25 points were a season-low for the Bulldogs in a half, and the Paladins were able to hold Samford to just 43.8% for the game from the field, and just 33.3% from three-point range, as the Bulldogs connected on 9-of-27 from long-range for the game.

Furman's performance was the exception rather than the rule this season in SoCon play...At least so far. The Paladins and Bulldogs will square off again on Feb. 21 at the Pete Hanna Center.

This weekend, the Bulldogs will return to the SoCon hardwood in Macon, GA., taking on the Mercer Bears in a 2 p.m. EST contest at Hawkins Arena.

Mocs are Dangerous...again

Other than Samford, Chattanooga is again one of the hottest teams in the Southern Conference, as Dan Earl's club heads into Sunday's showdown at Timmons Arena against Southern Conference defending champion Furman having won eight of their last nine games, including each of their last three. 

Chattanooga's diminutive backcourt duo of Honor Huff and Trey Bonham have been dominant of late. It was Bonham's 53 points in two games against UNC Greensboro and VMI that helped the Mocs to a pair of impressive wins for the week.

It was Bonham, who poured in 23 points in UTC's 88-84 road win at VMI last week before returning to the floor at UNC Greensboro and putting one of the top performances for a Mocs guard on the road since the 2021-22 season, when David Jean-Baptiste posted a 31-point effort in a loss at Samford in the 2021-22 season.

Bonham went for a career-high 31 points in a resounding 89-61 win over UNC Greensboro in one of Chattanooga's best performances of the season.

The senior guard, who didn't even expect to be eligible this season, recently went over 1,000 points for his career in Chattanooga's lone loss in its past nine games, as he reached that goal in the Mocs' 78-56 home loss to Samford.

In the Mocs' latest game, it was Honor Huff who would be the Mocs guard and former VMI Keydet to draw the spotlight after his performance against East Tennessee State in what was an 84-71 home win over the Bucs.  Huff scored a career-high 31 points to match his current Mocs  and former Keydet teammate, and did so by helping tie a school record with nine three-pointers made, with six of those coming in the opening half of play. 

The two have combined to score 95 points and connect on 20 of the team's 31 three-pointers over the past couple of games. It's been an amazing run of form for the two guards.

Those nine triples were part of a performance which saw the Mocs connect on 16 for the game. In fact, Chattanooga who has connected on 31 triples over the past couple of games, shooting those at a sizzling 59.6% from three-point land over the past couple of games.

Quite simply, at this point in time, no one other than maybe Samford is shooting the ball better than the Mocs, and that's due in large part to quick passing, which creates space and less recovery time for opposing defenses. Quick ball movement is an indication of playing in rhythm and synchronicity as a team. This could make UTC a real threat in Asheville. 

Log Jam in the middle

Furman (14-12, 8-5 SoCon) and Wofford (15-11, 8-5 SoCon) remain tied for fourth in the Southern Conference standings, while Western Carolina (18-8, 7-6 SoCon) remains a game back in sixth place. East Tennessee State (13-13, 5-8 SoCon) remains alive for the sixth seed, however, there is no more crucial game for the Bucs than the one this Saturday at Western Carolina. 

It amounts to a must-win for both teams, but especially ETSU. A loss Saturday in Cullowhee would all but put the Bucs in the play-in game, likely as the No. 7 seed, as ETSU holds the tiebreaker over Mercer by virtue of the season sweep of the Bears.

As for Furman, it has the most favorable schedule down the stretch, in that it has three home games remaining against two on the road. Furman will host Chattanooga (Feb. 18) on Sunday before heading to Samford (Feb. 21) next Wednesday and facing Wofford (Feb. 24). at home next Saturday. The Paladins will then be in Cullowhee to face Western Carolina (Feb. 28) before closing out the home slate in two weeks against Mercer (Mar. 2) in what will be the final regular-season date of the season.

The Paladins have strung together back-to-back wins over East Tennessee State (W, 65-63) on the road and VMI (W, 75-62) at home after going through a rough patch prior, having dropped three of four. The important games start Sunday with Chattanooga, who handed the Paladins a 73-58 setback back on Jan. 6 in McKenzie Arena. It was Furman's worst Southern Conference loss since Dec. 29, 2018, when the Paladins were 79-56 losers in a game at East Tennessee State. 

Wofford will be at home Saturday afternoon, as the Terriers will host UNC Greensboro (18-8, 9-4 SoCon), who sits third in the league standings. The Spartans handed the Terriers one of their worst setbacks of the season earlier in the campaign, handing Wofford an 82-59 setback back on Jan. 20. 

The Terriers will then be at Chattanooga on Feb. 21 before heading to Timmons Arena to face Furman next Saturday on Feb. 24. Wofford will play its final home game of the season against league-leading Samford on Feb. 28 before finishing the season at VMI on March 2. 

Finally, Western Carolina will begin its final five-game stretch of the season by hosting East Tennessee State on Saturday at the Ramsey Center in a 4 p.m. contest. The Catamounts will then be on the road at the Greensboro Coliseum on Feb. 21 and at VMI next Saturday (Feb. 24). The Catamounts will close out the home slate on Feb. 28 against Furman before heading to Chattanooga (Mar. 2) on the final day of the regular-season. 

Woolbright's Award

Vonterius Woolbright has been nothing short of unstoppable this season, and with his eighth player of the week weekly award, tying former Davidson guard Stephen Curry for the most player of the week awards won in one season, which he established during the 2008-09 season.

Woolbright finished the week averaging 21.5 PPG, 10.5 RPG and dished out 6.5 APG.  Overall, Woolbright is averaging a league-leading 22.3 PPG and 12.3 RPG, which leads the SoCon and ranks second and fourth, respectively, in the NCAA. His impressive 22 double-doubles leads the nation and three triple-doubles leads all of college basketball.

Power Rankings

1. Samford--Bulldogs look unstoppable at the moment

2. Chattanooga-Mocs are shooting the cover off the basketball 

3. UNC Greensboro--The Spartans appear to have found their mojo again in Charleston

4. Wofford--The Terriers are the team no one is really talking about but could be a real dark horse in Asheville

5. Furman--The defending champs are looking for a strong finish heading to Asheville

6. Western Carolina--A win over the Bucs Saturday would right some wrongs 

7. East Tennessee State--Face a must-win game Saturday at WCU to stay alive for a top-six seed

8. Mercer--The Bears have played well in recent seasons against Samford and host the league-leading Bulldogs Sat.

9. The Citadel--Bulldogs know they are headed for play-in game, but they can still play spoiler

10. VMI--Head to Charleston looking for a season sweep of The Citadel and will hope to have leading scorer Brennan Watkins back in the lineup.