The end of non-conference play is nearing, and we have a new team on top in the latest power rankings, as we get closer to the end of non-conference play.
By virtue of its effort this past Saturday in a loss at Clemson, the Mercer Bears have shot to the top of the league's power rankings, replacing East Tennessee State for the top spot after the Bucs dropped a heartbreaking, 76-75, on the road at Austin Peay this past Friday night.
The Bucs continue to be the league's top defensive team, ranking (105.0) in the latest KenPom rankings. Both the Bears and Bucs have some important matchups coming up to close out non-conference play, with the Bears having road tests against Big 12-member Central Florida and West Coast Conference member Washington State coming up.
Given how Ryan Ridder's club performed on the road in their loss at Clemson, the Bears could realistically win one of those two games, with the game against the Cougars being one that I have circled on the calendar as a potential upset. The Bears will face off against the Golden Knights on Dec. 17, while facing the Cougars in Pullman on Dec. 20. The Bears will close out non-conference play against a non-Division I foe, in Baptist on Dec. 28 before an enticing game at Furman to open league play on Dec. 31.
East Tennessee State (8-4), meanwhile, suffered a tough 77-58 loss at No. 12 North Carolina in its most recent outing Tuesday night, and the Bucs did a nice job of hanging with the Tar Heels for about 27 of the 40 minutes, including the entire opening half. In the end, the size of UNC's frontcourt proved to be too much for the Bucs to contain in the 19-point loss.
In ETSU's 76-75 heartbreaking loss to Austin Peay this past Friday night, the Bucs had an excellent opportunity to win it at the buzzer, however, Blake Barkley's half-hook shot from about 12 feet out as the buzzer sounded rimmed out, and the Governors held on for the win.
As of Wednesday Dec. 17, 2025, the SoCon is currently 55-57 in non-conference games and currently ranks as the No. 21 conference out of 31 conferences in all of NCAA Division I college basketball.
Top Tier
1. MERCER (7-3)--Mercer is showing why head coach Ryan Ridder was so high on his incoming haul from the transfer portal, as both Baraka Okojie and Armani Mighty have helped form maybe the most guard-big man combo in the league so far in the young season.
Okojie has been among the top players in the Southern Conference so far this season, as the 6-3 junior guard currently leads the Bears and ranks third overall in the SoCon in scoring, averaging 18.1 PPG. In the loss to Clemson on Saturday, Okojie was outstanding. He finished the contest connecting on 8-of-17 shots from the field, which included a 1-of-4 effort from three-point range. Okojie also dished out five assists and brought down three boards, but did manage to have a team-high six turnovers in the seven-point loss.
Okojie has arguably been the top point guard in the SoCon through the early portion of the season. Not only is he ranking third in the league in scoring, but he also leads the league with 5.8 APG but needs to see his number of 3.4 turnovers-per-game come down with the start of conference play on the horizon. The former Memphis guard is not exactly lighting up from three-point range either, however, as he has connected on just 24.1% (7-of-29) of his three-point field goal attempts so far this season.
Armani Mighty has been a problem in the paint for the opposition so far this season, and he currently ranks second on the team in scoring average, posting 13.9 PPG to go along with 9.0 RPG and is shooting an impressive 72.5% (58-of-80) from the field. Mighty, a former Boston College Eagle, has started all 10 games for the Bears in his first season in Macon. His 9.0 RPG this season ranks him second in the SoCon in that particular category.
Zaire Williams and Quinton Perkins II round out what has been the top backcourt in the SoCon so far this season, with both averaging in double figures. Williams has also started all 10 games this season for the Bears, averaging an impressive 12.8 PPG and is shooting a solid 35.5% (22-of-62) from three-point range so far this season.
Perkins II rounds out the Bears averaging in double figures through the first 10 games of the season, as he is posting 11.8 PPG and 2.0 RPG through the first 10 games of the season.
2. Furman (7-4)--Furman is a team starting to hit its stride at just the right time, as non-conference play winds to a close. The Paladins currently sit at 7-4 and are in the middle of a nine-day break for exams before returning to the court on Dec. 18 to take on the Manhattan Jaspers on the road in Riverdale, NY.
Bob Richey's Paladins have won six of their past seven, including having won three-straight, with an impressive road win at Elon and a neutral court victory over a Top 100 Richmond team highlighting the team's recent run of good form over the past month.
In addition to its game coming up this coming Friday against the Jaspers, the Paladins will close out non-conference play with a game on Sun, Dec. 21 against Charleston Southern at Timmons Arena before getting another 10-day break prior to the start of Southern Conference play against Mercer on New Year's Eve. Furman's Thanksgiving Day, 73-72, win over KenPom No. 96 Richmond still ranks as the best SoCon non-conference win to this point in the season.
The Paladins, which started the season struggling offensively, have started to shoot the ball better as of late, and in particular, from three-point range. In Furman's most-recent outing against Bob Jones, one of the best signs for the team moving forward was the emergence of Tom House out of what has been a tough shooting slump so far in the young season.
House connected on his final four shots from three-point range to finish the game with 16 points in the win over Bob Jones, as he finished by knocking down 5-of-9 shots from three-point range in the game. If House can get his shooting in order, watch out because this Furman team could be especially dangerous this season. Through 11 games so far in the 2025-26 season, the Paladins are connecting on just 29.7% (97-of-327) from three-point range, however, believe it or not, that's actually an improvement.
There is more to the story and the improvement than just Tom House, however, as the Paladins are slowly seeing overall improvement to their overall offensive numbers. Furman's 105 points in the win over Bob Jones represented a season-high and marked the 19th time in the nine-year tenure that the Paladins have scored 100 or more points under Richey.
The two more impressive wins, however, came on the road at Elon and at home against Harvard. The Paladins had to overcome what was an 18-point deficit on the road to get the win over the Phoenix, and got 21 points from Asa Thomas, who has started to emerge as Furman's most reliable three-point threat this season, and he has been shooting the ball better than anyone on the team as of late.
Over the past three games, Thomas has connected on 12-of-27 shots from long range, which converts to 44.4% from long range. Through 11 games this season, Thomas has connected on more than one-third of Furman's three-point field goals, having made 33 of the team's total of 97 triples this season. He's shooting a solid 37.5% (33-of-88) from long range this season.
Thomas' strong play has also coincided with Furman's strong form as of late, as he has scored in double figures in six of the past seven games, with all six games resulting in Furman wins.
Furman has seen the scoring of star rookie point guard Alex Wilkins quell over the last couple of games, however, the good news is the Paladins haven't needed his production scoring-wise over the past three or four games.
Wilkins is still leading the Paladins in scoring this season and is one of four players averaging in double figures, as he is posting 16.0 PPG and ranks third in the league in assists-per-game, as he is posting 4.6 assists-per-game, which ranks him third in the SoCon. Wilkins' best back-to-back performances came in Furman's two games in Orlando against Richmond and Illinois State, respectively, scoring 25 and 26 points, respectively, in those two outings.
In the paint, Furman has the most formidable trios in the SoCon, and one of the most in efficient in all of mid-major basketball. It starts with Cooper Bowser, who continues to have a breakout season for the Paladins, averaging 13.2 PPG and shooting an astounding 79.2% (61-of-77) from the field this season, which also happens to rank him tops in the nation. That, in turn, has seen Furman rank third in the country in two-point field goal percentage, at 64.3%, and the Paladins currently rank second in the SoCon in offensive rating (109.5), which is tied with Mercer and just ahead of Chattanooga (109.4).
The Paladins also rank second in defensive rating (109.1), as the Paladins have been strong all season on that end of the floor, as well as rebounding the basketball, as Furman ranks second in the SoCon in total rebounds-per-game (39.5 RPG), first in defensive rebounds (27.4 DRPG) and fourth in offensive rebounds (12.1 ORPG). A big reason for that is Charles Johnston, who ranks second in the league in rebounding, averaging 9.5 PPG and ranks fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 10.0 PPG.
One problem that could emerge is depth issues for Furman as a result of injuries. The Paladins already lost forward Davis Molnar for an undisclosed amount of time due to a knee injury, which he suffered in the Paladins' exhibition against Alabama. In a recent outing against Harvard, Furman freshman guard Collin O'Neal, who had been providing strong minutes off the bench, went down with an apparent long-term knee injury against the Crimson, trimming Furman's rotation, which had been a solid eight-man rotation, down to just seven at the moment.
Coach Richey hopes to bring along both freshman guard Abijah Franklin and freshman forward Owen Ritger as potentially being that eighth guy in the rotation to help fill the void as a result of O'Neal's extended absence. The Paladins return to the floor Thursday evening at Manhattan.
3. East Tennessee State (8-4)--East Tennessee State had its recent string of strong play brought to a halt Friday night, as the Bucs were on the road at Austin Peay, suffering what was an especially tough, 76-75, loss at Austin Peay in a game that the Bucs had an excellent chance to win at the end.
After a timeout, head coach Brooks Savage called timeout to set up a perfect play to get Blake Barkley a chance to win the game at the horn, however, his hook shot in the middle of the lane from about 12 feet out was no good, hitting the back iron and then dropping off the front rim as time expired, saw the Bucs fall for just the third time in their first 11 games this season, and the Bucs rallied from a 72-66 with just under four minutes remaining, embarking on a 9-2 run to take their first lead of the game, at 75-74, on a layup by Maki Johnson with 1:37 remaining. A pair of Zyree Collins free throws with just 1:18 remaining proved to be the decisive points for the Governors, as Austin Peay squeaked out a win over ETSU by the narrowest of margins.
Last week, the Bucs were able to raise more than a few eyebrows by taking down South Alabama, 91-65, at Freedom Hall, which ranks as one of the league's most solid wins of the non-conference so far. It wasn't that the Bucs just beat the Jaguars, it was by such a large margin that had most around the league taking note.
Against the Jaguars, ETSU delivered arguably its best performance of the season, as the Bucs ended the contest by shooting 48% from the field, which included a shooting 36% from three-point range, knocking down 14 treys (14-of-39) from long-range in the win. The Bucs were also at it once again doing what they do so well, which is defending.
ETSU was able to limit the visitors to just 42.6% (23-of-54) shooting for the game and while the game resulted in a lopsided 26-point win, it came on the heels of a shaky start to the contest, as South Alabama raced out to a 9-0 lead. The Jaguars would eventually stretch the lead to as many as 13 when Jayden Cooper connected on a three with 12:15 remaining in the opening half.
That's when the Bucs would get their act together, and with just under a minute remaining in the opening half of play, ETSU finally grabbed a lead it wouldn't relinquish the rest of the game, as Jaylen Smith's right wing three gave the Bucs the lead and they would eventually take a 36-31 lead into the half.
In the second half, the Bucs exploded to score 55 points, as Maki Johnson went off scoring a career-high 29 points, which included making nine threes on his way to getting to that milestone. Also helping key the win was a strong performance from forward and Northwestern transfer Blake Barkley, who finished with 20 on 7-of-9 shooting from the field, and also added 10 boards for a double-double effort for the evening.
The Bucs are currently leading the league in offensive rating (111.1) and defensive rating (106.0), and the Bucs have just one non-conference game remaining after suffering a 77-58 loss in the end after putting up a strong fight for a little over a half of the game. The Bucs did manage to successfully slow the pace of the game for a little while but eventually Caleb Wilson and the Tar Heels' size took over in the end.
The Bucs continue to be led in scoring this season by three in double figures, with Cam Morris III leading the scoring duties by averaging 14.2 PPG and 4.1 RPG, as well as having posted a team-best 13 blocks so far on the young season. Brian Taylor II is continuing to be one of the best newcomers in the SoCon this season, averaging 13.7 PPG and 4.8 RPG, while forward Blake Barkley rounds out ETSU's players averaging in double figures at 12.2 PPG and a team-leading 5.0 RPG.
Overall, ETSU currently ranks second in the SoCon in scoring offense (80.7 PPG) and continue to lead the league in scoring defense (65.5 PPG).
4. Chattanooga (5-6)--It's been a frustrating season so far for Chattanooga, and much of it has nothing to do with basketball at all. The defending regular-season champions have struggled to stay healthy, and after having already lost big man Sean Cusano for the season with an injury and currently being without center Collin Mulholland due to an injury, the shorthanded Mocs already had a tall order on Saturday when they faced off against No. 21 Auburn in the Holiday Hoopsgiving Tournament in Atlanta at State Farm Arena.In what was a valiant effort in what resulted in a 92-78 loss to the nationally-ranked Tigers, the Mocs faced the Tigers with just 10 total student-athletes available to play in the game. To literally make things worse, the Mocs lost star, sharp-shooting freshman point guard Tate Darner. The Mocs had already lost Cusano and freshman guard Zach Bleshoy to season-ending injuries, as well as having lost wing Sebastian Hartmann to an ankle injury during practice last week, as well as energy guy Parker Robinson, who like Hartmann, has an ankle injury of some sort.
Darner connected on 3-of-4 three-pointers before limping to the sidelines and did not return to the game, and yet despite all the adversity, Chattanooga found itself trailing by just five points (43-38) heading into the halftime locker room.
After trailing by 16 (70-54) with 9:41 remaining, The Mocs wouldn't go away and cut the Tigers' lead to just eight (80-72) following a Josh Bowman baseline jumper with 3:50 remaining. Bowman is a player that head coach Dan Earl had hoped to redshirt this season, however, circumstances have determined otherwise. The Tigers eventually pulled away for the 92-78 win, but the Mocs showed some grit through adversity, despite being severely outmanned.
Chattanooga would be led in the game by Jordan Frison, who posted 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and was 8-of-10 from the line, while also dishing out six assists and adding four rebounds and a steal. The only other Mocs players in double figures in the game were SEMO transfer Teddy Washington Jr., who added 16 points off the bench, while Bellarmine transfer guard Billy Smith added 14.
Frison has been the best player for the Mocs so far this season, as the Pittsburg State transfer point guard is averaging 13.5 PPG and 4.0 APG this season, while Teddy Washington Jr. (11.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG) and Billy Smith (10.3 PPG/team-leading 26 three-point FGs) round out the double-figure scorers. There is no immediate word on the nature of Darner's injury, however, it's more than likely a minor injury and he should return within in the next few games.
Darner has been one of the top freshmen players in the SoCon this season and has been easily Chattanooga's top perimeter threat this season, shooting 49.0% (24-of-49) from long-range this season and is averaging 8.8 PPG. He has a game that is reminiscent of former Mocs standout point guard Chad Copeland from the early-mid 1990s.
According to KenPom, the Mocs, despite all the injuries and lineup changes as a result, still have managed to have the league's third-most efficient offense (109.3), which is right behind both Furman and Mercer, who are tied with a 109.4 rating. The Mocs have a 114.7 rating defensively, which ranks seventh in the 10-team SoCon. Only The Citadel (121.2) and VMI (117.5) have been worse defensively defensively this season.
That has to improve if the Mocs hope to challenge atop the league for a regular-season title once again this season, but the Mocs must get guys healthy first and foremost. Saturday's loss to the No. 21 Tigers guarantees the Mocs will finish with a worse non-conference record than that 29-win team had a year ago, which went on to win 15 of 18 SoCon tilts to win the league. The 5-6 Mocs will be on the road on Wednesday night to face Bellarmine (Dec. 17) before closing out non-conference play with at Alabama A&M (Dec. 21).
Those two games are against Nos. 281 and 276 in KenPom, respectively, however, with only two NCAA Division I wins to this point, the Mocs can't afford to take any game for granted. It would be surprising to see the defending champs finish non-conference play with a below .500 record in the non-conference, however, it's happened before in the recent past, as Furman's 2023-24 team finished the non-conference slate with a 6-7 record fresh off SoCon regular-season and tournament titles the previous season.
Chattanooga will open up defense of its 2024-25 regular-season SoCon title on the road on New Year's Day at UNC Greensboro before facing VMI in Lexington two days later. The Mocs' first home league tilt in SoCon play will be against Furman on Jan. 7 in a 5:30 p.m. EST game televised nationally by CBS Sports Network.
Middle Tier
5. Wofford (7-4)--Wofford returned from a week long break following a surprising 21-point home floor loss to Elon last week to get a much-needed 83-57 road win at Paul Porter Arena over Gardner-Webb Monday night.
The Terriers continued to be led by the strong play of talented sophomore guard Kahmare Holmes, who paced five double-figure scorers in the road win over Bulldogs, as he finished with 15 points and nine rebounds.
Holmes has been electric through his 10 games of action for the Terriers this season, and he currently ranks fourth in the SoCon in scoring average (17.7 PPG), as he has posted nine-straight double-figure scoring performances in the 10 games he has suited up for this season for the Terriers. His 5.9 RPG also makes him one of the best rebounding guards in the SoCon to this point in the season.
His career-best 30-point effort in a road win at Eastern Kentucky remains one of the top individual scoring performances this season by a player in the SoCon. In the win over the Bulldogs, Holmes finished the night by connecting on 6-of-13 from the field but was 0-for-3 from long-range.
Part of being a young basketball team with a new, first-year head coach has its own excitement factor. However, it also has its share of inconsistencies, too. Head coach Kevin Giltner is now 11 games in, and so far the Terriers have looked more good than bad so far.
As a team so far through the first 11 games, the Terriers rank ninth out of 10 teams in the league in scoring offense (74.4 PPG), eighth in team field goal percentage (42.0%), eighth in team three-point field goal percentage (31.4%) and seventh in three-pointers made (92/8.82 3pt FGs pg).
Defensively, the Terriers have been solid for the most part, ranking sixth in the league in scoring defense, surrendering 74.2 PPG and rank seventh in the league in field goal percentage (45.4%). The Terriers have been solid rebounding the basketball through the early portions of the season, ranking fourth so far through 11 games in rebounding margin (+3.18).
6. Samford (6-6)--Samford evened its record at 6-6 earlier this week with a blowout 106-51 win over Bryan. The Bulldogs are under the direction of first-year head coach Lennie Acuff, and at times, the Bulldogs have looked like a SoCon title contender, while at others, they've also shown the ability to look like a disaster, but that's mainly due to losing focus on the defensive end of the floor.The truth is, the Bulldogs as many expected, have been good offensively under their first-year head coach, who is an offensive savant when it comes to running some version of a Princeton-style offense.
What Acuff has in the likes of guard Jadin Booth and big man Dylan Faulkner are two of the most versatile offensive weapons in the SoCon. Booth poured in another 19-point effort in the win over Bryan, while Faulkner added 16 points and eight boards.
Booth continues to be one of the league's most prolific scorers and perimeter threats this season, as the Florida Southern transfer is tied for the league lead in scoring, averaging 18.6 PPG and has made 42 three-point field goals this season to lead the league, shooting a blistering 40.6% (42-of-105) from long-range this season. His 42 made triples ranks him fourth in the nation, and his 42 makes puts the Bulldogs in third in the league with 112 made long-range efforts this season.
Faulkner continues to also do his thing offensively, as he currently ranks sixth in the league in scoring through 12 games so far this season, averaging 15.5 PPG and is shooting an impressive 59.5% field goal percentage (66-of-111) to rank among the league leaders in that category as well.
Samford needs to have a consistent third scorer step up and be more consistent, with that player looking like it will be guard Keaton Norris, who is currently averaging 10.9 PPG and 4.2 RPG, as well as ranking fourth in the league in total assists (45), averaging 5.0 helpers per game to rank second overall in the league in that particular category.
For me, I think Zion Wilburn is a guy I look for that could be an x-factor type of player as we head into conference play at the start of the new year. I really like his athleticism and what he can do off the bounce coming off the bench for the Bulldogs. If he can kind of be that guy off the bench and provide more consistent scoring off the bench like he did in the early going this season, I think it will make Samford even more versatile on the offensive end.
Wilburn has the athleticism and ability to get downhill in order to be able to get pretty much any shot he wants at the cup. When he plays to his potential, the result is usually a good outcome for Samford. He's currently averaging about 16 minutes off the bench for Samford this season, which includes three starts and playing time in all of Samford's 12 contests this season.
The Bulldogs rank fifth overall in the league in offensive rating according to KenPom (106.8), and on the defensive end, are leaving a little to be desired at sixth (113.6). The Bulldogs also rank seventh in the SoCon in scoring offense (76.8 PPG) and seventh in scoring defense (78.1 PPG).
Samford closes out the non-conference with a Friday game against Reinhardt, which is likely a win and a 7-6 mark to end the non-league portion of the slate.
The Bulldogs open league play with a tricky game on the road in Lexington at VMI on New Year's Day to start league play and then 48 hours later take on UNC Greensboro at Fleming Gym in a tip-off slated for 3 p.m. EST. If the Bulldogs could win both on that road trip to open league play, it could propel them back into league title contending conversations, but until that happen, more consistency is required on both ends of the floor for us to have such conversations about the new-look Bulldogs.
7. Western Carolina (4-6)--Western Carolina has played a pretty brutal non-conference slate, and it has included games against the likes of Cincinnati, Duke, Virginia Tech and will include at least one more power conference foe, when the Catamounts face off against Georgia in their final non-conference game on Thursday night against No. 25 Georgia (10-1) at Stegman Coliseum, with tip-off slated for 7 p.m. EST.A loss in the game would mean the Catamounts dropped their final five games against NCAA Division I foes to close out the non-league portion of the slate, dropping contests at Lipscomb (L, 62-83) at High Point (L, 73-93), at USC Upstate (L, 67-78), at Virginia Tech (L, 74-96) and assuming a loss by likely a double-digit margin at Georgia.
Head coach Tim Craft still has a very young basketball team, and he has to be cognizant of the fact that it's a critical time for the team to be building confidence and not lose it before entering league play. The Catamounts' last win over a NCAA Division I foe came way back on Nov. 19, with an 80-73 home win over UNC Asheville, which is the best win of the season for WCU and one of two NCAA Division I wins this season.
The good news is the Catamounts aren't at a loss for offensive talent, and one of the players that has started to once again emerge for WCU over the past month or so has been preseason all-league selection Marcus Kell, who currently leads the team averaging 13.4 PPG and 4.9 RPG. In WCU's most-recent game against the Hokies in a 22-point road loss, Kell posted his second 20-point scoring effort of the season, posting 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 shooting from long-range to lead the team. His best performance of the season came in WCU's loss at High Point, as he posted a season-high 27 points. He's found his way into double figures 19 times in the past 22 games for WCU dating back to last season.
Joining Kell as a double-figure scorer for WCU this season has been newcomer Julien Soumaoro (13.0 PPG, 3.6 RPG) as well as Cord Stansberry (), who round out the double-figure scorers for the Catamounts through the first 10 games this season.
One thing surprising to me is that the Catamounts continue to struggle shooting the basketball, but the 261 attempts through 10 games this season is down from the whopping 313 three-point attempts through 10 games a year ago. In fact, the 261 attempts from three this season ranks as the least amount of three-point attempts for any team in the league, although WCU has played one or two less games than most teams so far. The Catamounts shot the ball at a 29.3% (92-of-313) from three-point range through 10 games in Tim Craft's first season as the head coach, and through 10 games in his second season at the helm, the Catamounts have shot almost an identical percentage, connecting at a 29.9% (78-of-261) clip.
If you'll recall at the end of last season, Western Carolina, which is the same program that Ronnie Carr became the first player in college basketball history to connect on a three-point field goal in 1981, have continued to hover around the 29-31% range when it comes to shooting the three under Craft, as WCU finished the 2024-25 season ranking 330th out of 355 ranked teams when it came to shooting the three last season, making just 272 for the season and shooting them at just a 30.5% clip.
Craft's teams at Gardner-Webb were always high-level when it came to shooting the three ball, and that's something that, despite the overall struggles over the past 1.5 seasons, expect will change in conference play simply because it must if the Catamounts hope to make any noise in the league this season.
A deeper dive will tell you that the Catamounts are shooting the ball overall as a team this season, connecting at a 43.8% clip through 10 games, but must find a way to improve overall shooting-wise. The Catamounts finished the 2024-25 season ranking second to last in the nation (353 of 355) in team field goal percentage. The Catamounts do lead the SoCon in possessions-per-game, with 71.2, which ranks 58th in all of college basketball.
However, according to KenPom, the Catamounts are the second-worst offensive team (9th of 10) in the SoCon, sporting a 101.9 rating. The Catamounts have been decent defensively, however, sporting a rating of 111.1 in KenPom's defensive rating metric to rank fifth overall in the SoCon.
The Catamounts will open SoCon play on Dec. 31 at home vs. Wofford before traveling to Timmons Arena on Jan. 31 to face Furman.
Bottom Tier
8. VMI (5-7)--Things just have to get better for VMI don't they? There is still plenty of mystery surrounding the nature of the injury to Rickey Bradley Jr., who of course is the league's preseason Player of the Year and has not played a game yet this season. No word has been provided on the nature or severity of the injury, nor has any timetable been provided for an expected return, leaving many to speculate it may be for the season.
With that said, the Keydets have moved on without Bradley at least for now, and it has been a rocky road to say the least. The Keydets snapped a six-game losing streak with consecutive wins over both Christendom (W, 89-36) and Loyola (MD) (W, 86-70), with the win over the Greyhounds marking the second over an NCAA Division I foe this season.
The Keydets have lived by the three and certainly died by it so far through 12 games in non-conference play this season. VMI has made 139 threes this season, which is tied for second in made threes with Cornell (139) and behind only Charleston Southern (161), while the Keydets rank ninth in threes made per game (11.6) and rank fifth nationally in threes attempted per game (35.1). However, when it comes to efficiency, that's where the bottom falls out for the Keydets, as they are making just 33% of their shots from long-range this season, ranking 211th in all of college basketball.
The Keydets managed to make 13 in their latest outing against the Greyhounds, connecting at a strong 40.6% (13-of-32) clip and shot over 50% from the field for just the second time all season, connecting at a 52.5% (31-of-59) clip from the field.
Far more often, though, the Keydets have struggled to find more than one or two scorers per night without Bradley, and that has been a problem. There simply aren't enough scoring options available right now beyond Johnson, who is tied for first in the SoCon in scoring average, posting 18.6 PPG.
The other two Keydet players averaging in double figures are both Mario Tatum Jr. (11.2 PPG) and reigning SoCon Player of the Week Linus Holmstrom (10.6 PPG). Holmstrom connected on seven of the team's 13 threes against the Greyhounds, finishing with a game-high 23 points. All seven of Holmstrom's triples came in the opening half of play.
Johnson has taken 158 shots for VMI this season, which equates to taking 20.5% (158-of-768) total shots so far through 12 games this season. VMI returns to action Sunday for the final time in the non-conference, facing Radford in a 2:30 p.m. game. The Keydets then have a 10-day break before opening league play by hosting Samford in a 1 p.m. EST game at Cameron Hall on New Year's Day.
9. The Citadel (3-8)--The Citadel continues to wind down its non-conference slate Wednesday night, as the Bulldogs travel to city rival College of Charleston to battle the Cougars at TD Arena, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. EST.The Bulldogs are still looking to break a long streak of 32-straight losses to NCAA Division I foes. The good news is the Bulldogs didn't play horribly in their most recent outing on the road at South Carolina, as the Bulldogs were able to cover the spread, losing by 16 points on the road, 71-55.
The Bulldogs' three wins this season have come against Erskine (W, 105-61), North Greenville (W, 70-57), and Southern Wesleyan (W, 98-73).
Like VMI, the Bulldogs rely heavily on the three-point shot to generate offense and having trailed in most every NCAA Division I game this season, it's also become a sign of desperation to simply stay in games for head coach Ed Conroy's group.
The Bulldogs are behind the others in the league by a wide margin in offensive rating and efficiency, according to KenPom's metric, sporting a 99.5 offensive rating. When you couple that with a defense that has been one of the worst in college basketball, as the Bulldogs ranking 326th nationally in field goal percentage defense, with teams shooting 47.2% from the field against The Citadel this season, it's never a good sign.
Though The Citadel has been bad, strangely enough this team is actually better than the one that went just 5-25 a year ago, which included an 0-18 mark in SoCon play. The Bulldogs have gotten some solid performances from Carter Kingsbury this season, as the Iowa grad transfer poured in 18 points on Saturday against the Gamecocks. Kingsbury went scored 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field, but was just 1-of-5 from three-point range.
For the year so far, however, Kingsbury is averaging just 7.0 PPG and is shooting a woeful 18% (5-of-28) from three-point range. Kingsbury was supposed to come in and be one of the team's more reliable three-point threats, however, that simply has not yet materialized. Kingsbury's 18 against the Gamecocks were a career-high and he was the only Bulldogs player to finish the contest in double figures scoring-wise.
The only player averaging in double figures to date this season is Valdosta State transfer Braxton Williams, as the 6-6, 215-lb forward is currently averaging 10.5 PPG and 2.8 RPG. Wings Christian Moore (9.5 PPG, 2.7 RPG) and Sola Adebisi (9.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG) rank just behind Williams and are on the verge of averaging in double figures.
The Bulldogs rank fifth in the league with 101 made threes, but are making just 31.6% (101-of-320) from long range this season, ranking seventh in the SoCon.
When The Citadel meets CofC Wednesday night, it will mark the 101st all-time meeting between the two programs, with the Cougars holding the 60-40 all-time series edge. This is a Cougars team that is talented, but still haven't put all the pieces together this season.
Maybe the Bulldogs can catch them on an off night, but it's more likely the streak reaches 33 games before facing another tough test in their final non-conference game of the season, which is a Dec. 20 contest at Richmond. Tip-off for that contest is set for 6 p.m. EST on Saturday evening.
The Bulldogs open league play on Dec. 30 at home against ETSU, with tip-off set for 1 p.m. EST. That encounter with the Bucs will be the very first SoCon game of the 2025-26 season.
10. UNC Greensboro (3-9)—UNCG's Justin Neely said after the Spartans' 82-78 win over East Carolina that the Spartans were getting ready to "dominate the SoCon". Well, that might have been a bit presumptuous, as directly after that in the next game, the Spartans struggled to put away William Peace and then suffered an embarrassing home loss at the First Horizon Coliseum against cross-town rival North Carolina A&T Tuesday night, as the Aggies claimed a 71-65 win over the Spartans.
Normally, it's easy to know when you're playing a Mike Jones coached team because they really get into you physically and get after you defensively. That has not been the case at all this season, and I relate coach Jones' comments about his defense in the preseason to being much the same as The Citadel's football coach Maurice Drayton at football media day in 2023 when he told the media that they weren't very good at quarterback. After finishing that season 0-11 and fielding one of the worst offenses in FCS football, Drayton was serious.
While Jones didn't put it quite like that back on Oct. 1 at media day Marriott in Greenville, he did warn us that this UNCG team had a long way to go to be like some of his past teams had been on the defensive end of the floor.
KenPom has the Spartans ranked 344 out of 365 teams in NCAA Division I basketball in defensive rating, as the Spartans have posted a 121.3 rating through 12 games.
The Spartans have been very inconsistent offensively as well, and got 17 points from KJ Younger last night in the loss, while Noah Norgaard and Justin Neely rounded out the double figure scorers for UNCG with 16 and 11 points, respectively.
Neely is one of four UNCG players currently averaging in double figures, at 14.6 PPG, while leading the SoCon in rebounds-per-game, at 11.0 RPG. Neely also leads the team in assists (33) and steals (13), but also has a team-high 26 turnovers. Freshman forward KJ Younger isn't far behind Neely in scoring average, posting 12.3 PPG, while Donald Whitehead Jr. is averaging 11.6 PPG. French point guard Lillian Marville rounds out the Spartans averaging in double figures, averaging 10.4 PPG.
The Spartans will close out non-conference play with a game against Virginia University of Lynchburg before hosting Chattanooga on New Year's Day at Fleming Gym/Bodford Arena hosting defending regular-season champion Chattanooga in a 4 p.m. EST contest.
Team Rankings Strength of Schedule Rankings (non-conference)
1. Mercer (145)
2. Furman (179)
3. UNC Greensboro (203)
4. Samford (213)
5. East Tennessee State (243)
6. Western Carolina (258)
7. Chattanooga (262)
8. Wofford (266)
9. VMI (352)
10. The Citadel (363)
KenPom Rankings:
ETSU (119)
Furman (154)
Mercer (155)
Chattanooga (221)
Wofford (229)
Samford (248)
Western Carolina (276)
UNCG (289)
VMI (329)
The Citadel (359)
