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| Furman's bench celebrates historic start to close out non-conference play (photo courtesy of Furman Athletics) |
CAMBRIDGE, MA--PJay Smith Jr.'s return to the Furman lineup was not subtle, as he posted a game-high 25 points, to go with a team-leading seven rebounds, dished five assists, recorded two steals and one block, leading the Paladins to their school-record 12th non-conference win with a 77-63 win over Ivy League member Harvard Saturday afternoon at Lavietes Pavilion.
With the win, Furman improved to 12-1 overall, which matches the best start in program history in the 2018-19 season and the 12 non-conference wins are a program record.
The 2018-19 season would see the Paladins finish out the non-conference slate with a 12-1 mark and would go on to achieve the school's first-ever Top 25 ranking, including wins over both No. 6 and defending national champion Villanova and defending Final Four qualifier Loyola Chicago during the non-league slate. The Paladins had an overtime SoCon win over Western Carolina, which saw them win 11 non-conference games and one league contest.
That team six years ago was somewhat of a breakthrough team for head coach Bob Richey and Furman basketball, as it would go on to a 25-win season, which included a 13-5 league record and a third-place finish in the league standings. The Paladins would end the season with a No. 48 NET Ranking and were invited to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT), where they garnered the No. 3 seed and hosted a game against Wichita State at Timmons Arena.
Saturday's game against Harvard marked Furman's furthest trip north since taking on UConn in November of 2015, and was only the second all-time clash with the Crimson with the only other coming on Jan. 1, 1960, with the Paladins able to come away with an 87-69 win at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium on that occasion. The 14-point triumph this time around sees Furman improve to 2-0 all-time against Harvard.
Furman won't take the floor again until 2025, which will see the Paladins begin Southern Conference on Jan. 1 at the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, N.C., against the Western Carolina Catamounts. The loss sees Harvard fall to 3-8 on the young season. The Paladins finished the 2024 calendar year with a 23-10 overall record, which includes a 14-2 on one of four homecourt venues, including have going 7-0 in three home venues this season.
The win at Harvard also marked Furman's fifth win away from Greenville this season, including their fourth true road win of the season. Since the start of the 2016-17 season, the Paladins now have 69 true road wins, which is fifth-most in NCAA Division I College Basketball over that span.
After missing the most of the previous two games with a shoulder dislocation, Smith Jr., a senior guard from LaVerne, TN., connected on 8-of-11 shots from the field and was 5-of-7 from three-point land. He also went a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe in the win.
For Smith, it was his fifth game of the 11 he played in during non-conference play that he posted 20 or more points in a game. He has scored in double figures in eight out of 11 games for the Paladins this season. He's shooting 50.6% (41-of-81) from three-point range through the first 13 games of the 2024-25 season.
Another attribute of having Smith back in the lineup is his defensive presence, as he usually guards the other team's top guard. That would be the case once again on Saturday afternoon, guarding the much taller Robert Hinton, as the 6-5 talented freshman guard came in averaging a team-leading 16.0 PPG, however, Smith would lock down the talented Crimson guard holding Hinton to a season and career-low four points on 2-of-9 shooting from the field in 23 minutes of action.
Joining Smith in double figures in the win was Nick Anderson, who added 16 points, three rebounds and two assists, while Garrett Hien added 10 points, including playing one of the best games he has played on the defensive end of the floor in a Furman uniform. Hien added three rebounds, two blocks, a steal and an assist in 22 minutes of work. It was Hien's sixth double-figure effort in 13 non-conference games.
Hien now has 31 double figure scoring games in this his fifth season for the Paladins, with nine each of the previous two seasons. Hien is easily on pace to eclipse that career-best total of nine double-figure scoring performances achieved in each of the two previous two seasons.
Harvard finished the contest with four in double figures, led by Chandler Pigge's 16 points, nine rebounds, three steals, two assists, and one block to fill out a nice stat sheet performance in 36 minutes of action. Thomas Batties II finished the game with 14 points and six boards, while Evan Nelson and Louis Lesmond finished with 11 points apiece.
Furman finished the game connecting on 51.9% (28-of-54) from the field, including 42.8% (10-of-24) from beyond the three-point arc. The Paladins also shot the ball well from the free throw line, connecting on 11-of-14 shots from the charity stripe.
The Crimson finished shooting just 37.9% (22-of-58) from the field and just 32.0% (8-of-25) from three-point range. Harvard was an impressive 91.7% (11-of-12) from the line.
Furman finished with 17 assists on 28 made baskets, holding a 17-13 advantage in total assists. The Paladins also held advantages in total rebounds (32-30), points in the paint (30-20), bench points (13-7) and second-chance points (13-6). Harvard held a slight lead in points off turnovers (16-15) and both teams tied in fast-break points (7-7).
How It Happened:
The opening nine minutes of action was fast and frenetic, as there wasn't a media timeout until the 11:25 mark of the opening frame, and by the time the first timeout, and the Paladins held a 20-18 lead, with PJay Smith Jr., who missed the previous game with a separated shoulder, scored eight of Furman's first 20 points to help the Paladins to that early two-point lead.
Off the first two media timeouts, which were in consecutive fashion due to their not being a break in the first eight-plus minutes of basketball, the Paladins asserted some control of the game with an 8-0 to take a 26-18 following a Tom House jumper in the lane, which saw him fouled in the process, and it bounced around and dropped through with exactly eight minutes remaining in the opening 20 minutes to give the Paladins the eight-point lead following the missed charity shot.
The Paladins maintained that eight-point advantage until the final media timeout of the opening half, as a Cooper Bowser dunk and a PJay Smith's fourth made field goal of the opening half gave the Paladins a 30-22 lead heading into the final timeout of the opening half with 3:29 remaining. A Ben VanderWal foul shot out of the time gave the Paladins their largest lead of the afternoon, at 31-22.
Harvard responded in the remaining portion of the opening half, utilizing a 10-0 run to close the half to take a 32-31 lead into the half, holding the Paladins scoreless for the final 3:29. A Thomas Batties triple with 33 seconds left in the opening 20 minutes saw the Crimson take their first lead since the early going in the contest.
While Harvard finished the half with a 9-0 run, the Paladins would start the second with nine-straight points and by the first media timeout of the second half, had started with a 12-3 spurt following another PJay Smith Jr. three and a Ben VanderWal dunk to take a 43-34 lead into the first media timeout of the second half.
Just as it had done in the opening half, however, the Crimson responded with a big run to take the lead, using an 11-0 to take a 45-43 lead following a Batties jumper and a Chandler Pigge three with 13:21 left. The Paladins then reeled off 10-straight points to take control of the game, as Charles Johnston connected on the go-ahead three-pointer and then Nick Anderson converted a baseline jumper before getting fouled on a three the next time down the floor and converted all three foul shots to give the Paladins a 53-45 lead with under ten-and-a-half minutes remaining.
Harvard would get within a possession on three different occasions down the stretch, with of the third of those three occasions seeing the Crimson cut the Paladin lead to 59-56 with 7:08 remaining when Robert Hinton converted a layup.
However, Smith answered with a three-pointer and the Paladins forced turnovers on Harvard's next three of four possessions. Smith then drove to the basket and was fouled on a layup and went to the line and followed by knocking down both free throws and a baseline jumper by Anderson extended Furman's lead to double digits for the first time all afternoon, at 66-56, with 4:09 remaining.
Furman would take as much as 16-point lead, at 77-61, when Ben VanderWal connected on a pair of free throws with 45 seconds left, as the Paladins locked down Harvard over the final four minutes, holding the home team to just two field goals over that final duration to come away with their 12th win in 13 games to start the 2024-25 season.
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