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| Samford head coach Bucky McMillan (photo courtesy of Samford athletics) |
Week two of Southern Conference basketball would see Samford (4-2) and Chattanooga (2-3) start to find their respective rhythms as the season gets into its pre-conference grind. For the Mocs, it was the emergence of Bash Wieland, while Samford found its high-octane offense, surviving for a win over North Alabama in its first game of the SoCon-ASUN Alliance, and then connected on 20 triples in a lopsided win over Texas Southern.
Wieland has easily been the Mocs' best player this season, and has been key in back-to-back wins over Morehead State (26 pts) and on the road at Southeast Missouri State (12 pts), as the the wing transfer from Bellarmine has helped offset the struggles of UTC's dynamic backcourt duo of Trey Bonham and Honor Huff, who have struggled to find their shooting touch out of the gates this season.
It's only a matter of time before that duo gets going, and when they do, the trajectory of the season will change drastically for Dan Earl's team. The Mocs are also working to get NCAA Division II All-American and 6-7 forward Frank Champion back from injury. He has yet to play a game yet this season for the Mocs after transferring in from North Georgia College.
While Chattanooga is still finding its rhythm early in the season, it appears that preseason league favorite Samford is start to find a collective groove now six games into the 2024-25 season.
On Tuesday night, the Bulldogs headed to East Lansing for one of the two major tests it would have before beginning defense of its 2024 Southern Conference title in early January. The Bulldogs put up an outstanding fight before dropping what was an 83-75 contest to the Spartans.
It was the best showing so far this season for the defending Southern Conference champions. Jaden Brownell finished off the contest leading the Bulldogs with 19 points, while Michigan State's Jaden Akins led all scorers with 25 points, as the Michigan State had to rebound from a slow start to come away with the eight-point win in the first-ever meeting between the two.
After trailing 21-8 early in the contest, the Spartans would close the half with a 30-7 run to take a 38-28 lead into the halftime locker room. The opening 10 minutes of the contest would see some of Samford's best basketball of the season, as Bucky McMillan did a nice job of mixing both different types presses and changing up defenses to keep Tom Izzo's Spartans off-kilter.
The Spartans were able to slow the pace somewhat midway through the first half, and were able to find a rhythm on offense and get stops on the defensive end, making it into a more physical, Big Ten-like game. One of the issues early on this season for Samford has been turnovers, and on Tuesday night, the Bulldogs would commit 19 of them, as the Spartans charted 27 points off of those 19 Samford miscues.
Brownell had nine rebounds to go along with his 19 points in the contest, while point guard Rylan Jones finished the night by handing out eight assists, and the Bulldogs dominated in the fast-break points category with a 36-8 advantage over the Spartans.
Samford also got plenty of production from its bench, which saw backup point guard Josh Holloway contribute 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and a 3-for-4 effort from the charity stripe, while Lukas Walls did most of his damage in the opening 20 minutes of action, as he finished with 12 on 4-for-6 shooting from the field, which included a 2-for-3 effort from long-range.
Michigan State, which improved to 4-1 overall with its only loss to current No. 1 Kansas, led by as many as 13 points in the second half and never trailed in the latter 20 minutes of basketball.
The Bulldogs, which fell to 4-2 on the season, return to action in a week, hosting North Dakota State at the Pete Hanna Center, as Samford will go in search of a 22nd-straight homecourt triumph.
The Mocs finished the week with a 2-3 mark and came up with a big road win Sunday afternoon at Southeast Missouri State, posting an 87-82 victory in Camp Girardeau on Sunday.
Two teams that were underestimated in the preseason rankings, picked No. 5 and No. 6, respectively, in Furman and UNCG--the two winningest programs since the start of the 2015-16 season--and the Paladins and Spartans are both off to good starts to the 2024-25 season. In fact, some may have slept on Furman, however, which is similar to what we as "so-called" experts did last year with Samford.
I picked them fourth, and I would fall in the group of underrating the Paladins coming into the season. I wasn't sure what to expect to be honest, but I call myself out because it's clear the Paladins have one of the best in business coaching the squad, in Bob Richey, and it appears the Paladins--at least so far--are going to be right in the title mix.
The one thing I knew and was right about on Furman that others might have missed about the Paladins is most were projecting Furman low because of what it lost at point guard, however, I was pretty sure PJay Smith Jr. was going to have a big season, so point guard or production weren't part of my reasoning for picking Furman a bit lower than usual.
The reason I originally rated the Paladins fourth in the preseason is they haven't been particularly consistent on the defensive end of the floor the previous two seasons, and that was the unknown I couldn't anticipate coming into the season. I was wrong on just how good the Paladins are defensively, at least through the first five games. We will see if that element remains consistent, however, so far the Paladins have been pretty good on that end.
Furman routinely rates as a Top 50 offensive team by KenPom, and that has been true six of the past seven seasons coming into 2024-25, with the rare exception being the 2023-24 campaign. So, offensively, by nature of the motion offense the Paladins run and having shooters all over, Furman's problem is almost never going to be on the offensive end of the floor while Richey as at the helm.
The SoCon has tremendous coaching talent, with Richey, Samford's Bucky McMillan, ETSU's Brooks Savage, and Chattanooga's Dan Earl among the best at this level. That doesn't even include others like Tim Craft (Western Carolina), Dwight Perry (Wofford), Ed Conroy (The Citadel) and Andrew Wilson (VMI), who are also outstanding tacticians at this level.
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| Furman sophomore 6-11 center Cooper Bowser vs Ogelthorpe |
Furman is 5-0 for the first time since the 2018-19 season, having posted impressive wins over Jacksonville (W, 78-69) and Tulane (W, 75-67) on the Bon Secours Wellness Arena Center to raise a few eyebrows around the SoCon.
The Paladins got the 2018-19 campaign off to a 12-0 start, which was a school record, and that included wins over defending national champion and eighth-ranked Villanova (W, 76-68) and reigning Final Four participant Loyola-Chicago (W, 60-58) as a part of that unprecedented start to the season six years ago, which eventually led to the program's first-ever AP Top 25 national ranking in early December.
The Paladins' latest win in 2024-25 saw them do it in a historic part of the city, as Furman took on NCAA Division III Ogelthorpe University. In the first meeting between the programs in 25 years, the Paladins were able to secure what was a 76-point, 124-48, win over the Storm Petrels at the historic Parker Gymnasium at Legacy Early College. The venue is one of the most iconic sports venues in the Upstate of South Carolina.
The 124 points were also the most points scored by the Paladins since that win over Virginia Intermont. Wednesday night's win also marked the second time this season, and the 17th time since Bob Richey assumed the head coaching job that the Paladins have scored 100 or points in a game.
Furman matched a school-record with 34 assists, while PJay Smith Jr., who finished with 29 points for the second-straight game, went 9-of-10 from three-point land, which included connecting on his first seven from long range.
The senior from LaVerne, TN finished the night by connecting on a total of 10-of-11 shots from the field and also added four rebounds, two assists and two steals. His 90% effort from three-point range is a school record for a player shooting 10 or more threes in a game.
Joining the Smith Jr. in double figures by a career-best 20 points from true freshman wing Mason Smith, while Cooper Bowser added 16 points, seven boards and dished out three helpers.
Mason Smith connected on 4-of-11 from three-point range, as the Paladins connected on 17-of-42 from long range in the game, which was all part of a 57.6% shooting effort from the field. Tom House and Tommy Humphries rounded out the Paladins in double figures, posting 10 points apiece.
The Paladins outscored the Stormy Petrals 62-14 in the paint, while holding a 64-21 advantage on the glass. Furman also held a 25-0 edge in points off turnovers.
Like Bash Wieland for Chattanooga, Furman has gotten big production from all of its transfer portal additions, with 25 points on an 8-of-9 shooting performance, which included a 4-for-5 effort from three-point land, from 6-11 Charles Johnston (Cal-State Monterrey Bay) in the Paladins' win over Jacksonville.
Nick Anderson (Barry University grad transfer) has shown his big-time shooting ability in Furman wins over both Tulane and Belmont this season, and through four games, Anderson leads the league from long range, leading the league by shooting a blistering 51.6% (14-of-27) from long-range this season.
Furman's major question mark coming into the season for most, and perhaps why the Paladins were slotted so low in the preseason rankings had everything to do with uncertainty at point guard for the Paladins. With JP Pegues moving on to Auburn and Carter Whitt moving transferring out to Belmont, it left major questions.
The Paladins appeared to have answered those questions in late April by acquiring the services of Jalen Sullinger from Kent State, however, a little less than three months later and the Sullinger had decided to return to the MAC to play for Rob Senderoff and the Golden Flashes for one final season.
The good news was the one player that Furman brought in from the portal prior to the 2023-24 season stuck around, in PJay Smith Jr., and he has scored in double figures in all four games he's seen action in this season, including 21, 29 and 29-point performances against Jacksonville, Tulane, and Ogelthorope, in his last three outings along with his 23.2 PPG scoring average tops the SoCon, while his 4.0 assists-per-game leads the team and his 2.8 steals-per-game leads the conference.
PJay Smith Jr. was recently named the SoCon Player of the Week for the second week in a row. Smith is shooting an unreal 60% from long range this season, having connected on 21-of-35 downtown efforts through the first five games of the campaign. As a team, Furman is shooting 42.5% (68-of-160) through the first five games this season.
The Paladins capped the week by receiving two votes inside the Associated Press Top 25 poll. Furman now gets its stiffest challenge of the season, taking to the road for the next four games, starting Saturday afternoon with a trip to Charleston Southern, where head coach Bob Richey got his career started as an assistant coach for the Bucs. One of the neater storylines heading into Saturday's contest against CSU is the fact that Buccaneers coach--Saah Nimley--was the first major recruit brought into the CSU program by Richey.
Nimley led the Bucs to a 10-20 record last season, which included a 6-10 mark in Big South play last season and a seventh-place finish in the league standings. The last time the Paladins and Bucs met on the hardwood came during the 2019-20 season, and that contest would see Furman wallop CSU, posting a 91-47 win at the CSU Buc Dome.
CSU is off to a bit of a rocky start this season, having gotten off to a 1-5 beginning to the season, and that includes games at Clemson (L, 64-91), at North Florida (L, 66-90), vs. UT-Rio Grande Valley (L, 76-86), vs. VMI (L, 69-80) and at LSU (L, 68-77). In the most recent outing against the LSU Tigers, Charleston Southern made life tough for the SEC member, leading for much of the evening.
Following this Saturday's trip down memory lane, the Paladins head to Las Vegas for the Terry's Chocolate Vegas Showcase to face Seattle in a 11:30 p.m. EST tip-off on ESPNU next Tuesday night before heading to No. 1 Kansas for the final day of November in what will be the second all-time meeting between the two programs. A tip-off time has not yet been set for the Jayhawks and Paladins at Phog Allen Fieldhouse. Furman will close out the long, challenging road trip on Dec. 4 with a trip to face Florida Gulf-Coast in its second test of the SoCon-Atlantic Sun Alliance.
UNCG is off to a strong start under fourth-year head coach Mike Jones. The Spartans are 2-1 following a lopsided 99-54 win over North Carolina Wesleyan in a game played at Fleming Gym this past Sunday. Their most impressive win in the opening two weeks of the season came in what was the season-opener, which was also their opening test in the SoCon-ASUN Alliance, as the Spartans held off a gritty Florida Gulf Coast squad to get what was a 73-64 win over the Eagles.
The only time the Spartans have tasted their own blood (lost a game) this season came in ACC country, as the Spartans dropped an 81-68 contest at SMU. The Spartans remained in the game for a majority of the night before the Mustangs pulled away late in Dallas.
UNCG's calling card has been defense, which has factored in to many of its 200 wins since the start of the 2015-16 season, however, over the past couple of seasons, the Spartans have molded themselves into a very good offensive team, particularly when it comes to perimeter shooting. It's an area the Spartans led the SoCon in last season, which was three-point field goal percentage, as UNCG finished out the campaign by topping the league in long-range shooting last season.
Through its first three games this season, the Spartans currently rank second in three-point field goal percentage (39.2%), and while its really early, it looks like it's going to be another strong season shooting the ball from long-range for the Spartans.
A big reason for the rejuvenated shooting from three-point range under Jones, which has especially been true of the past couple of seasons, has been due to the fact that the Spartans have one of the top three-point marksmen in all of mid-major basketball, in Donovan Atwell.
Atwell is shooting 38.9% (7-of-18) from three-point range this season, and he started all 33 games as a sophomore last season, connecting on 93 triples at a 42.3% clip. His shooting acumen last season ranked second only to teammate Keyshaun Langley, who connected on a sizzling 42.5% (82-of-193) in 2023-24.
Atwell's 93 long-range makes saw him finish the season ranked fourth in the league in total three-pointers made, and while Keyshaun Langley has moved on, it appears that Jones has acquired the services of another long-range specialist, which will keep teams for loading up to stop Atwell from long-range this season. Kenyon Giles is actually shooting the ball the best for UNCG from long-range through the first three games of the season, as the Radford transfer is shooting 50% (10-of-20) from three-point range through the first three games this season. Giles has also been the Spartans' leading scorer, posting 16.3 PPG, while Atwell has chipped in 12.3 PPG.
The Spartans will find out more about themselves on Thursday night, as UNCG will face No. 16 Indiana in Bloomington. The Spartans have been giant killers in the past, including last season when UNCG established itself early on in the 2023-24 season as the team to beat, with a 78-72 win at No. 14 Arkansas. Could a game 369 days later against the nationally-ranked Hoosiers offer yet another platform to make some national noise for the UNCG program and the Southern Conference? We will find out later this week.
While Furman and UNCG seem to be ebbing towards exceeding preseason predictions, Wofford (1-3) and East Tennessee State (2-2) are two teams very much still trying to find themselves, and most importantly, some form of consistency to hang their proverbial hats on during the early stages of the season.
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| Wofford guard Corey Tripp at Duke (photo courtesy of Wofford athletics) |
With high expectations for two programs rich in SoCon hoops tradition, with some of that major tradition at both institutions established over the past decade, the 2024-25 projections for big seasons for both the Terriers and Bucs brought with it water cooler talk for the diehards in the summer months.
The reality is, both teams are good. The reality also is the higher the expectations, the more pressure and you add in modest NIL income, it adds a different pressure from the other side of those expectations. It turns the screw just a bit tighter than just preseason expectations alone. With that said, the situation is helped even less by the fact that both the Bucs and Terriers have played some brutally tough games through the first couple of weeks.
While the Terriers loss at Duke was expected, it was the earlier loss at Presbyterian that probably raised more than a few eyebrows around the SoCon. The 71-68 loss at the Templeton Center would see Wofford get off to a strong start shooting a blistering 55.6% in the opening half of play, as the Terriers were able to take what was a seemingly comfortable 40-32 lead into the halftime locker room. The Terriers defense had held the Blue Hose to just 44% from the field and 33% from three-point land in the opening frame, which helped stake Wofford to the comfortable eight-point halftime edge.
The Terriers pushed their lead to as much as 11 points in the opening minutes of the second half, as Jackson Sivills connected on a three-pointer, however, the Blue Hose would begin to chip away at the deficit from the outset of the second half, scoring eight of the first 12 points to open the latter 20 minutes of basketball to eventually slice the 11-point Wofford lead down to six, at 46-40, following a three-pointer by Carl Parrish with 15:25 remaining.
Kobe Stewart, who finished with a game-high 26 points for the Blue Hose, was a big part of the strong start to the second half for Presbyterian, and he scored five of PC's first 10 points to open the second half. After the Terriers pushed their lead back to eight, on a Jeremy Lorenz jumper in the lane, the game continued to teeter on the brink of getting to a double-digit lead for the Blue Hose.
However, from there, the Blue Hose went on a 20-4 run to assume what was a 60-52 lead and completely flip the script of the contest following a bucket inside by Jaylen Peterson with 7:42 remaining. The Blue Hose led 70-63 late following a free throw by Stewart with just 37 seconds remaining, however, the Terriers had one last charge and scored five-straight on a Corey Tripp layup and a three-pointer from USC Upstate transfer Justin Bailey, cutting PC's lead to just two with eight seconds left. However, Stewart knocked down 1-of-2 from the line, leaving the door cracked for a potential game-tying three at the horn, but Tripp's triple from distance missed its mark and the Blue Hose celebrated the upset.
The Terriers, who came into the season with highest KenPom ranking (103) entering the season, had dropped to 1-2 with losses to a Lipscomb team picked to win the Atlantic Sun, and one at PC. Wofford, like most everyone else in the league except for maybe Chattanooga, had started the season with an easy win over a non-Division I foe, getting a 112-58 season-opening win over NCAA Division II foe Erskine.
The fourth game of the season offered a chance to play at one of the college basketball's most historic arenas, in Cameron Indoor Stadium, which of course is home of perennial national title contender Duke, and it also offered third-year head coach Dwight Perry a chance to return to his roots so to speak, as the Durham, N.C., native was able to see friends and family in a return to his hometown.
Duke didn't exactly role out the red carpet, however, and the sixth-ranked Blue Devils were a bit angry having come off a 77-72 loss No. 18 Kentucky earlier in the week. In what was just the third meeting between the two teams since 1936, it would end up being a long afternoon for the Terriers, who would fall to 1-3 after an 86-35 beatdown delivered at the Blue Devils. It isn't hard to believe the Blue Devils could do this to even the best of teams in the SoCon, however, perhaps what is more concerning is the struggles shooting from three this season after shooting it well from deep just a year ago. The Terriers have shot it just 28.7% (41-of-143) from deep through the first four games, and in each of its past two games against PC and Duke, the Terriers shot just 23% (14-of-61) deep.
I expect the Terriers will get the ship righted when it comes to shooting the ball as Wofford gets into the meat of its non-conference slate, beginning this weekend with the Cream City Classic in Milwaukee, which will get underway on Friday when Wofford faces off against the University of St. Thomas Tommies in a 5 p.m. EST contest. That will be followed on Saturday with a matchup against Milwaukee in a 4 p.m. EST contest before Wofford closes out the tournament against Portland State in a noon EST tip-off against the Vikings on Sunday.
Wofford's getting notable production from its two preseason all-league picks, in guard Corey Tripp and forward Kyler Filewich, as the duo is averaging in double figures entering the latter half of the opening month of college basketball, with Tripp averaging 12.3 PPG and 3.0 RPG, while Filewich, who posted an impressive 12 points, nine rebounds and four assists in the lopsided loss to Duke, is averaging a double-double per game, posting 10.1 PPG and 10.3 RPG.
Coming into the season, most would have agreed that East Tennessee State came into the 2024-25 season as a legitimate title contender, and maybe even the favorite. That's the prediction I made and I still hold to that prediction even though the start to the season has been a bit rocky. The Bucs, on paper at least, had done as well as anyone procuring talent from the transfer portal to supplement the talent the Bucs already had returning to the fold.
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ETSU guard Quimari Peterson vs. Davidson (photo courtesy of Davidson athletics)
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The most-recent outing for the Bucs would be an old Southern Conference battle, as the Bucs traveled to North Charlotte and the banks of Lake Norman on the glitzier side of the Queen City to face perennial mid-major power and now Atlantic 10 conference member Davidson.The Wildcats, which are tied with Chattanooga for most SoCon Tournament titles (12), were able to avenge last season's 70-68 to the Bucs in Johnson City by coming up with a hard-fought, 76-70, win over East Tennessee State at Belk Arena. The loss to the former league rival sent the Bucs to 2-2 on young season, while the six-point triumph would see the Wildcats remain unbeaten at 3-0.
It was a different vibe for two halves of basketball that would represent one outcome, as a defensive slugfest, which saw the Wildcats take a 28-25 lead to the half, would erupt into an offensive showcase in the second half, as Davidson would again outscore the Bucs by a triple (48-45) to delight the 2,490 fans in attendance at Belk Arena, as the Wildcats finished the day with the 76-70 win.
There was some good news for ETSU in the loss, and that was finally it seemed the offensive production was starting to come around, as the Bucs finished the contest shooting 48.5% (27-of-56) from the field, which included a stellar 43.5% (10-of-23) shooting clip from long-range in the loss.
The concerning issue or the negatives to come out of the game against the Wildcats were once again the early-season concern of post-production, as the Bucs were outscored 42-26 in the paint, and were outrebounded by 12 (36-24). It was led to one of the rare stats the Bucs have ever lost under head coach Brooks Savage, and that's the second-chance points category, which ETSU surrendered 14-3 to the hometown Wildcats.
The Bucs would finish the contest getting 54 of their 70 points from a dynamic scoring trio of guards, with Jaden Seymour (21 pts), Quimari Peterson (19 pts) and John Buggs III (14 pts) all combining for that point production on the offensive end of the floor. That scoring trio ended the night going a combined 21-of-40 (52.5%) from the field, including finishing the contest going 8-for-18 from three-point land (44.4%). The rest of the team went a combined 6-of-16 (37.5%) from the field, which included connecting on 2-of-5 (40%) from three-point range to equal the remaining 16 points of production, with Karon Boyd accounting for nine of those 16 points. Boyd also did his usual work on the backboards, hauling down 10 boards in the loss.
The lopsided production led to the Bucs getting outscored 32-5 in points, and the reliance on six primary players eating up almost all the minutes has been a trend in the first four games. If you take out the non-Division I foes Tusculum and Newberry, the Bucs are getting outscored 68-22 in bench points against both NCAA Division I foes Davidson and Eastern Kentucky.
The big men have seen a major lack of scoring production this season, and it's looking more like the Bucs are going to rely mostly on the four already mentioned above to do most of the scoring and grunt work on the glass, or at least that's how it seems after just four games.
It's still early and things could change, but it is concerning that both major additions from the transfer portal, which were the Bucs of the twin towers, in Davion Bradford and Roosevelt Wheeler, have struggled out of the gates. In the loss to the Wildcats, the seven-footer and 6-11 additions from New Mexico State and VCU, respectively, finished the contest against Davidson playing a combined 10 minutes and scoring and posting just two total points between the two of them.
ETSU will look to rebound and find more balance when it returns to the floor Friday evening, welcoming USC Upstate (2-4) to Freedom Hall for a 7 p.m. contest. Just because the Bucs are lower in the rankings this week doesn't mean I don't stand firm on my preseason pick. I think ETSU finds its rhythm by the time conference play gets here and they are still my favorite to cut down the nets in Asheville.
Western Carolina was in Winston-Salem for its fourth game under new head coach Tim Craft, facing its biggest test so far this season, taking on a Wake Forest team picked to finish third in the newly expanded Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Demon Deacons are coached by Steve Forbes, who is now in his fifth season at the helm of Demon Deacons basketball after winning 130 games in five seasons at ETSU, and seemingly has a team mixed with returning veterans and transfer portal additions primed for a run at an ACC Title this season.
That didn't phase the Catamounts, as Craft's team was able to weather a few potential knockout blows from the Demon Deacons early to hang around throughout the opening 20 minutes of basketball. As far as the offense in the game, that would be provided by Cord Stansberry and Chevalier "Ice" Emery, as the duo scored 20 points apiece to account for 40 of WCU's 69 total points in the contest.
WCU is another of those teams in the Southern Conference that is going to shoot threes like they are going out of style, and in Tuesday night's 13-point loss to the Demon Deacons, the Catamounts knocked down 12-of-31 shots from long range, which converts to a solid 38.7% from long-range, and that kind of shooting effort will keep you in a lot of games against Southern Conference competition in January and February. As a team in the contest, the Catamounts connected on 27-of-63 shots from the field, completing the contest with a 42.9% shooting effort from the field.
As for Stansberry and Emery, they did a great deal of their scoring damage from the land of good and plenty, connecting on a combined 7-of-19 from downtown.
Wake Forest would end up being led by preseason All-ACC pick Hunter Sallis, who matched Emery and Stansberry's 20-point scoring total, while also adding five assists and three rebounds. Big man Cameron Hildreth contributed 18 points for the Demon Deacons on a 6-for-12 shooting performance.
After Chevalier "Ice" Emery gave the visiting Catamounts a 17-14 lead on one of his three made triples in the contest with 14:39 remaining in the first half, the Demon Deacons would respond with a 22-3 run over the next nine minutes, taking a commanding 36-20 lead following a Hunter Sallis jumper with 5:24 remaining in the half.
It allowed the Demon Deacons to create just enough separation from Craft's Catamounts to be able to finish out the contest with a little more ease than Wake Forest did last week against USC Upstate, as the Spartans pushed the hometown team to the limit before the Demon Deacons finally pulled out the 85-80 win.
WCU would trim six points off that deficit heading into the half, as the Catamounts would out-score the Demon Deacons 14-8 over the final five minutes, cutting Wake Forest's lead to 10, at 44-34, at the break.
In the second half, the Catamounts continued to have success shooting the ball from distance, as both Emery and Marcus Kell were able to connect on early threes to cut the deficit to six, at 48-42, however, the Demon Deacons would respond with a 13-5 run of their own to stretch the lead back to 14, at 61-47, following a jumper from one of Wake's top additions from the transfer portal, in Tra'Von Spillers from App State, at the 12:19 mark of the second half.
The Catamounts continued with their offensive lull, and the Demon Deacons would increase the margin to a game-high 24 points, at 74-50, when Churchill Abass connected on a jumper in the paint to make it a 74-50 game with 5:21 remaining. Much like it did in the opening half, the Catamounts were able to own the final five minutes of the frame, outscoring the Demon Deacons down the stretch, 19-8, allowing the Catamounts to cut the margin in half and produce a more respectable margin at the end of the night.
It was my first opportunity to really watch the Catamounts play this season, and I came away more impressed than disappointed. This team is a stark contrast of the one that won 22 games ago, which was so Vonterius Woolbright-centric that you wondered if that ended up being to the Catamounts' detriment when it came to their quarterfinal SoCon Tournament loss last March to Furman.
Craft's rebranded Catamounts appear to be much more versatile in terms of scoring distribution and it's a team that runs good offensive concepts, and while this Catamount team isn't as talented 1-6 as the one that won 22 last season, it's a team that is a much better overall shooting team. Defensively it will be a challenge to match the 2023-24 team, and that's where Craft's focus will likely be. In Emery and Stansberry, the Catamounts have two certified shooters and scorers, but the main problem this team has is turning the basketball over, as the Catamounts committed 22 miscues, which led to 21 Demon Deacons points in Tuesday night's contest.
The 2-2 Catamounts get ready to head into a gauntlet portion of the schedule, as Western Carolina will face Florida State in Tallahassee next Tuesday in a TV game set for the ACC Network+ at 7 p.m. EST on Nov. 26. Four days later, the Catamounts will head for Milwaukee to face No. 15 Marquette, who is sure to skyrocket in the polls as a result of the Golden Eagles 76-58 win over sixth-ranked Purdue Tuesday night. The Catamounts and Golden Eagles will play to a national TV audience on Nov. 30, as FS2 is slated to broadcast the 2 p.m. EST contest.
It will be interesting to see how this Catamounts team continues to evolve under its first-year tactician, but the Catamounts are showing early signs that they could be a team that could finish higher than its preseason prognostication.
It's hard to know exactly what to make of The Citadel and VMI so far, but one thing is for sure and that is that both teams appear to be more talented than previous editions under their respective head coaches. Ed Conroy's Bulldogs have another of the league's certified stars out of the transfer portal, in 6-6 wing Brody Fox, who has been an electrifying star for the Bulldogs in the early going this season.
Fox, who transferred into The Citadel from NCAA Division III UW-Stout, has been worth the price of admission so far this season. The 6-6 wing guard is athletic and can get points in a variety of different ways. So far this season, Fox is averaging 18.7 PPG through his first six games of the campaign, and in the Bulldogs' latest outing, he finished with 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field and also had two assists, two steals and a rebound in what was a 76-61 home loss to cross-town rival College of Charleston Wednesday night at McAlister Field House.
As good as Fox and the Bulldogs have been this season, they couldn't overcome the sharp-shooting former SoCon foe, which used a blistering 55.6% shooting effort for the game (30-of-54) and a game-high 22 points from Croatian Sensation Ante Brzovic, while 6-11 center and Serbian-born Lazar Djokovic added 20 to the cause in route to the impressive 15-point road win before a rowdy crowd on-hand at McAlister Field House.
The win saw the Cougars improve to 4-1 overall, while the loss dropped Ed Conroy's Bulldogs to 3-3 overall. It was the second loss in quick succession on the home floor for the Bulldogs, who also fell, 82-73, on Sunday to North Carolina A&T.
I have now been able to see nine of the 11 teams play either in person, streaming or on live television this season. The lone two teams I have yet to watch are Mercer and VMI, and by the time I release next week's recaps, notes and rankings, I will make my best effort to see both of them this week.
I won't make any promises, as I will be traveling to Las Vegas to see Furman take on both Seattle (Nov. 26) and then Kansas (Nov. 30), but will make my best effort to see both the Bears and Keydets play so I can give an accurate analysis of specifically those two teams in my next update.
Week 2 Power Rankings:
1. Samford
T-1. Furman
3. Chattanooga
4. UNCG
5. East Tennessee State
6. Wofford
7. Western Carolina
8. VMI
9. The Citadel
10. Mercer
Upcoming Schedule
Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024
UNC Greensboro at No, 16 Indiana, 6:30 p.m. EST
Johnson at Chattanooga, 7 p.m. EST
Mercer at South Carolina, 7 p.m. EST
Friday, Nov. 22, 2024
USC Upstate at ETSU, 7 p.m. EST
VMI at Davidson, 7 p.m. EST
Wofford vs. St. Thomas (Cream City Classic/Milwaukee, WI), 5 p.m. EST
Saturday, Nov. 23
Furman at Charleston Southern, 2 p.m. EST
Wofford vs. Milwaukee, 4 p.m. EST
Sunday, Nov. 24
Wofford vs. Portland State, 11 a.m. EST
Queens at ETSU, 4 p.m. EST
