GREENVILLE, S.C.--As we draw closer to the Southern Conference Tournament in Asheville next month, there is still much to be settled in the present on the Southern Conference hardwood. Here are some news and notes to get you prepped for each matchup, and even an attempt at some predicted outcomes at the bottom. Enjoy the hoops!
20 Wins
--Three teams have already hit the 20-win total for the 2024-25 basketball season, with Chattanooga, Samford, and Furman all having hit the 20-win mark this season, with all three, sporting identical 20-8 overall records.
--Excluding the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, at least three teams (or more) have reached 20 or more wins in a season in every season since 2014-15.
--With its 80-72 win over Samford last time out, Furman has reached 20 wins for the seventh time in the past nine seasons, while achieving the feat for the feat for the 14th time in program history, with six of those 14 coming in Bob Richey's eight seasons as the head coach.
--Chattanooga's 91-86 win over Western Carolina this past Wednesday night was its 20th season with 20 or more wins since joining the NCAA Division I ranks in 1977-78.
--Samford's 76-68 come-from-behind win at Wofford last weekend was its fourth-straight 20-win season under current head coach Bucky McMillan. Samford has now posted nine 20-win campaigns in 52 years as an NCAA Division I program.
Chattanooga's Championship Chase
The Citadel (5-21, 0-15 SoCon) at Chattanooga (20-8, 12-3 SoCon)
Feb. 22, 2025/McKenzie Arena/Chattanooga, Tenn/2 p.m. EST
--Winners of eight-straight, which is the longest winning streak for UTC since starting the 2020-21 season with nine-straight wins, and is also Chattanooga's longest in-league winning streak since the 2015-16 season, which would be one that would see the Mocs go on to cut down the nets in Asheville with a 76-67 win in the championship game over East Tennessee State.
--Chattanooga will be celebrating Senior Day on Saturday, and if it can claim a ninth-straight league win, and UNCG loses at Mercer, the Mocs could clinch at least of a share of the Southern Conference title with two games left. Should that happen, it would mark a 13th regular-season SoCon title for the Mocs, with the latest of those titles coming in 2022.
--Trey Bonham, Frank Champion, Jack Kostel, and Garrison Keeslar are the seniors on UTC's roster slated to be honored on Saturday.
--Chattanooga and The Citadel will be meeting for the 96th time in series history, with the Mocs holding a commanding 74-21 all-time series history. The Bulldogs come to the Scenic City looking to snap an 18-game losing skid, entering the matchup with a 5-21 overall record and an 0-15 league mark.
UNCG Still Holds Championship Fate in its Own Hands
UNCG (18-10, 11-4 SoCon) at Mercer (12-16, 5-10 SoCon)
Feb. 22, 2025/Hawkins Arena/Macon, GA/2 p.m. EST
--With a 78-75 buzzer-beating win at Chattanooga earlier this season as a result of a buzzer-beating three from Ronald Polite III, UNCG holds its championship fate in its own hands should the Spartans be able to find their way past Mercer on the road at Hawkins Arena on Saturday.
--With a win over the Bears, UNCG will host Chattanooga next Thursday at the First North Coliseum in what could be a monumental clash for the top seed heading to Asheville for the 2025 Southern Conference in Asheville March 7-10. Should UNCG beat the Mocs in that contest, the Spartans would pull even in the standings and own the tiebreaker against Chattanooga with one game left in the regular-season.
--UNCG blew a 23-point lead against Mercer earlier this season at the First Horizon Coliseum, dropping a surprising 79-78 decision to the Bears. Mercer snapped a five-game losing streak in its most recent outing, posting a 62-52 win at The Citadel.
--UNCG's sharp-shooting guard Donovan Atwell currently ranks tied for seventh nationally in total three-point field goals made this season, with 89 made treys.
--UNCG has yet to drop consecutive games in league play this season, with the last time the Spartans having lost back-to-back games being at the BallDawgs Classic in December.
What's at Stake For Samford on Senior Day vs. Western Carolina
Western Carolina (8-18, 4-11 SoCon) at Samford (20-8, 10-5 SoCon)
Feb. 22, 2025/Pete Hanna Center/Birmingham, AL/3 p.m. EST
--After losses in three of its last four conference games, the Bulldogs sit in third place in the Southern Conference standings and have a tricky schedule to close out the season, which begins Saturday with a Senior Day clash with suddenly improved Western Carolina.
--Jaden Brownell is coming off a career-high performance last time out against Furman, posting 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the floor and 5-for-9 from three-point range.
--Samford will be celebrating Senior Day on Saturday and will be celebrating the careers of Rylan Jones, Trey Fort, and Collin Holloway. With Senior Day taking on less meaning than it once did because of the transfer portal, it's also likely that others could be recognized that are planning on not returning to the program next season.
--The Bulldogs claimed the first meeting between the Bulldogs and Catamounts earlier this season, opening up a favorable cushion in the second half to emerge from Cullowhee with an 88-69 win.
--The Catamounts have shown much improvement over the second half of Southern Conference play under the direction of first-year head coach Tim Craft, and it's been largely due to improved shooting from three-point land and a major reason for that improvement has been the truly amazing season Marcus Kell is putting together, having hit double figures in each of the past eight games. Kell is the reigning Southern Conference Player of the Week, averaging 19.3 PPG to rank second in the SoCon over that stretch. His career-best 31-point effort wasn't enough to land the Catamounts the upset win over Chattanooga, but it was enough to help him garner league player-of-the-week plaudits. In league games this season, Kell ranks second in the Catamount lineup in scoring average, posting a 12.9 PPG scoring average through the first 15 league games.
--Bernard Pelote has been the unquestioned leader for this WCU team over the season's entirety, however, as along with Kell, has been a notable piece and leader to return from the Justin Gray era. Pelote is averaging 16.3 PPG in league games, which is second in the SoCon.
--Saturday's contest between the Bulldogs and Catamounts will mark the 34th all-time clash between the two, with Samford owning the 19-14 series edge, including having won eight-straight games in the series.
SoCon Tourney Bye at Stake: Furman set to Host VMI on Senior Day at Bon Secours Wellness Arena
VMI (13-15, 7-8 SoCon) at Furman (20-8, 8-7 SoCon)
Feb. 22, 2025/Bon Secours Wellness Arena/Greenville, S.C./12 p.m. EST
--Furman will host VMI at high noon Saturday at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in a game that will not only be one that will see the Paladins celebrate its four seniors, but also will be one that will see the Paladins and Keydets duking it out for the final bye spot, or the No. 6 seed, for the upcoming Southern Conference Tournament.
--Following a 32-point performance from senior guard PJay Smith Jr. on Wednesday night, Furman was able to complete the season sweep of the defending league champion Samford Bulldogs, with an 80-72 win at the Pete Hanna Center. Smith Jr., Garrett Hien, Nick Anderson and Tyrese Hughey will be celebrated for their contributions to the Furman basketball program.
--VMI has been the league's surprise package in 2024-25, and it's been the job of head coach Andrew Wilson that the Keydets have put themselves in such a position to avoid the play-in round of the Southern Conference Tournament. For me, Wilson has been the league's Coach of the Year, and it's been due in large part to the pieces he has brought in from the transfer portal, such as forward Augustinas Kiudulas and forward TJ Johnson. Guard Rickey Bradley Jr. has been the straw that stirs it all for VMI this season, who leads the team in scoring average, at 15.6 PPG, which is just ahead of teammate Kiudulas, who is posting 15.5 PPG. Johnson is just behind those two, averaging 13.0 PPG.
--Furman, which took a one-game lead over VMI due its win in Birmingham over Samford coupled with VMI's 82-43 loss to Wofford at Cameron Hall, has only strung together consecutive wins in league play once this season after posting a seven-game winning streak to open the season and a six-game streak to close out non-conference play and included the first game of league play at Western Carolina. The Keydets won the first meeting this season, claiming what was a 91-82 win at Cameron Hall back on Jan. 22.
--Furman and VMI will be meeting on the hardwood for the 110th time, with the Paladins holding a 71-38 all-time series edge. The Paladins will be looking to avoid being swept by the Keydets for the first time since 2014-15 (two regular-season games). The Keydets also claimed two wins over the Paladins during the 2020-21 season, posting a 74-73 win over the Paladins in Lexington and a 91-90 win over the Paladins in the Southern Conference Tournament in Asheville, as the No. 6 Keydets upset the No. 3 seed Paladins. The Keydets also won the only meeting between the two in the 1997-98 campaign, which was in Lexington, as the Keydets were 87-81 victors on that occasion. From 1995-98, the Keydets won five-straight games over the Paladins under the direction of then head coach Bart Bellairs.
Wofford Hosts East Tennessee State in a Key League Tilt
ETSU (16-12, 9-6 SoCon) at Wofford (15-13, 9-6 SoCon)
Feb. 22, 2025/Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium/Spartanburg, S.C./2 p.m. EST
--Both Wofford and East Tennessee State remain in the thick of the league race, and both have a remote shot of finishing as high as the No. 2 seed. But more likely, the game between the Bucs and Terriers offers a potential preview of a blockbuster quarterfinal clash in Asheville, which would be the final of the four quarterfinal clashes on Saturday, March 8, 2025, at the Harrah's Cherokee Center.
--The Terriers and Bucs enter the clash both off of confidence-building wins the last time out, with the Terriers going on the road to knock off VMI by 39 (82-43) to avenge an earlier loss to the Keydets in Spartanburg, while East Tennessee State avenged an earlier loss to UNC Greensboro, as the Bucs knocked the Spartans out of first-place in the standings with a 65-49 win at Freedom Hall over the Spartans. It was maybe the most-impressive defensive half of basketball of the season, holding UNCG to just 17 points in the second half, outscoring the Spartans 33-17 in the second half, as the score was tied, 32-32, at the half.
--In that win over the Spartans, the Bucs were buoyed by the return of Jaden Seymour, who missed a couple of games with a minor knee injury, which saw ETSU drop both on the road at Western Carolina (L, 67-76) and at Chattanooga (L, 71-78), and despite only scoring six points, which was well under his 17.2 PPG average, his effect on the defensive end was notable and his presence gave the Bucs a confidence they lacked in road losses at Chattanooga and at Western Carolina. Quimari Peterson continued his leading performance for SoCon Player of the Year against UNCG, as he posted 29 points, 13 rebounds and an assist, as he went all 40 minutes for the second-straight game and the third time this season. Peterson's minutes are a must right now without much scoring depth, or at least until Seymour gets back to full health. It might be something to monitor as we get closer to the tournament, and if Peterson will have the legs to lead this team to a title in Asheville.
--Peterson is leading the SoCon in scoring, averaging 19.1 PPG, and if his importance to the team isn't noticed by the fact that he has gone the entire 40 minutes three times this season and ranks second in the SoCon in minutes-per-game (33.8 MPG), his overall stat-stuffing performances this season have made him the leader in the clubhouse for SoCon Player of the Year just ahead of guys like UTC's Honor Huff, Furman's PJay Smith Jr. and UTC's Frank Champion. According to KenPom, Peterson has been the best player in the SoCon this season, ranking ahead of Furman's Smith, Wofford's Filewich, ETSU's Seymour and Mercer's Ahmad Robinson in that order. His 13 boards against UNCG were a career-best and posted his 1,000th career point early in the second half of that win over UNCG. Peterson leads the SoCon in scoring average (19.1 PPG), points scored (536) and field goals made (199). He also ranks 31st in the nation in steals (54) and 57th nationally in steals-per-game (1.93).
--Wofford was able to also put together one of its most impressive road performances in recent memory, getting a 39-point win at VMI, which tied Wofford's largest margin of victory in the series history vs. the Keydets (W, 82-43). VMI's 43 points was a part of an outstanding collective defensive effort from the Terriers, who have looked like a completely different team on the road this season than at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium, and the 43 points in a game marked VMI's lowest scoring output since re-joining the SoCon in 2014, and lowest since the 2007-08 season. The Terriers are looking for the season-sweep of ETSU for the first time since the 2020-21 season.
--While Corey Tripp leads the Terriers in scoring average, at 13.6, it was Kyler Filewich that was likely the most important piece to Wofford's win in Johnson City earlier this season, as he posted 16 points and eight rebounds in the 81-78 win. Filewich had three offensive rebounds and led a Terriers team that won the battle of the boards, 26-23, in the initial meeting, as well as helping the Terriers own what was a 12-4 edge in second-chance scoring. Wofford struggled against the ETSU press late in the game, and much like its last home game, which it eventually lost against Samford (L, 68-76) after blowing a 16-point second-half lead, the Terriers struggled against the press.
--ETSU and Wofford will be meeting on the hardwood for the 65th all-time on Saturday, with the Bucs holding a commanding 45-19 series edge. However, the two teams have split the past 10 meetings, and the Bucs are 8-8 all-time in Spartanburg.
Predicted Outcomes:
--It wasn't a great first trial last weekend, but I did finish 3-2 so it's not completely awful.
Furman 70, VMI 64
Chattanooga 83, The Citadel 58
Samford 76, Western Carolina 68
UNCG 58, Mercer 55
ETSU 66, Wofford 61
No comments:
Post a Comment