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| Furman freshman forward Cole Bowser |
THE VENUE AND PLACE: Timmons Arena (2,750)/GREENVILLE, SC
With an extra day to get healthy from illness and injury following its 89-66 win at UNC Greensboro last Friday, Furman returns to the hardwood Thursday evening for a nationally televised tilt against Samford, as CBS Sports Network is slated to carry the key league tilt slated to tip-off a little past 5 p.m. EST.
Furman was able to put together maybe its most efficient offensive game of the season en route to improving to 14-7 overall and 5-3 in Southern Conference play, as the Paladins posted 23 assists and only five turnovers, while connecting on a season-high 14 three-pointers, and shooting 55.2% from the field (32-of-58) and 51.9% (14-of-27) from three-point range.
While the 55.2% was second to only Furman's 57.1% shooting clip against Harvard earlier this season. The 51.9% three-point shooting percentage easily shattered the previous season high of 40% (10-of-25) in a home win over Charleston Southern earlier this season.
Add to that the fact that the Paladins connected on 12 of their final 14 field goal attempts, out-scoring the Spartans 30-11 over the final 7:57 of the game, and you have a game in which Furman looked like the old Furman on the offensive end for maybe the first time all season. The Paladins also shot a season-best 91.7% (11-of-12) from the charity stripe and did all this damage with only seven scholarship players available.
The game was actually moved up to Friday afternoon as a result of impending winter storm Fern, which meant less rest time after the tough 77-75 overtime road loss at The Citadel and the game against UNCG, but an added bonus was the fact that it gave the Paladins an extra day of rest heading towards to key home tilts before heading to Johnson City to take on league-leading East Tennessee State next week.
At the genesis of the win last time out was once again freshman sensation guard, in Alex Wilkins, who led the Paladins with 27 points, six assists, two rebounds, two steals and no turnovers. It was the first time all season in which Wilkins has completed a game without turning the ball over. Tom House had his breakout performance of the season, as he posted 25 points, which was just one off his career-high for the Paladins, as he scored 26 points in a mid-February win over Mercer last season.
Furman will again be tested when it returns home to face Samford on Thursday evening, as the Bulldogs come to town fresh off an impressive 75-64 home triumph over Chattanooga last Saturday at the Pete Hanna Center.
The Paladins and Bulldogs have already met once this season, and that meeting came back on Jan. 14, as Furman, which played that game with only eight scholarship players, ended up seeing the Paladins come away with a 77-73 win on an evening that wouldn't be the prettiest of performances from the Paladins, yet they found a way to get an important SoCon win on the road. Furman has actually played its better games in league play on the road this season.
Samford will be looking to continue its momentum at this crucial point in the season, and when you talk about continued momentum for the Bulldogs, it all centers around talented guard Jadin Booth. The senior grad transfer from Florida Southern is leading the SoCon in scoring and continues to shoot above 40% from three-point range this season, as he is connecting on a ridiculous 41.7% from three-point range this season (78-of-187).
Booth's 78 triples made this season ranks him second overall in threes made this season, trailing only Iowa State's Milan Momcilovic, who has connected on 80 threes this season. Booth's 41.7% shooting clip from three-point land ranks him 36th nationally in three-point percentage shooting.
Booth was held in check for the most part in the first meeting between the two this season, as the Paladins were able to limit him to just 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the field and 2-of-5 shooting from three-point range, as they never let him get into any kind of rhythm throughout the game. Being cognizant of where Booth is at all times must be a priority once again if the Paladins hope to pull off the regular-season sweep of the Bulldogs.
He continues to lead the Southern Conference in scoring, averaging 20.6 PPG and also is averaging 3.6 RPG. He is coming off a strong performance against Chattanooga last time out, as he finished the contest with 28 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field and 6-of-12 shooting from three-point range. It was his 11th game with 20 or more points this season, which is tied for the lead in the SoCon along with Wofford's Kahmare Holmes.
In selling out to guard Booth with only eight scholarship players available for the game, and foul trouble for Charles Johnston, Cole Bowser and Ben Vander Wal, it meant the Paladins would give up a little inside.
As a result, Samford's other talented scorer--forward Dylan Faulkner--ended up having a strong outing for the Bulldogs, as he posted a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while North Carolina transfer Will Shaver came off the bench to score a career-high 15 points and added four rebounds to Samford's cause.
Faulkner is a player that joined his head coach, Lennie Acuff, in coming over from Lipscomb and he's turned into one of the top big men in the SoCon, much like Acuff thought he would at the start of the season.
Through the first 21 games, Faulkner is averaging 17.2 PPG and 7.2 RPG this season, and the 6-9 big man has four double-doubles this season, with that first meeting against Furman included among the four, as well as his last outing in the win over Chattanooga included in that quartet, as he posted 18 points and 13 rebounds and has a streak of 12-straight games in which he has finished in double figures.
Faulkner's 61.9% field goal percentage continues to rank among the league's best. Through 21 games this season, Faulkner is averaging 17.2 PPG and 7.2 RPG coming into Thursday evening's contest. The junior forward also continues to be a force on the defensive end of the floor, as his 32 blocks and 1.9 BPG rank second in the SoCon this season.
The one thing that Samford has lacked this season is a third scorer to help supplement both Booth and Faulkner and handle some of the scoring load. Lately, both Keaton Norris and Isaiah Campbell-Finch have both stepped up and showed the willingness to get into the act scoring-wise.
Keaton Norris has started all 17 games he has played in this season, and is averaging 10.2 PPG and leads the team with 82 assists in those 17 games this season. Norris has found his way into double figures in eight games so far this season, including a season-high 22-point effort in an early non-conference road win at Texas Southern. In addition to averaging in double figures this season, Norris is averaging 4.0 RPG and his 4.8 assists-per-game ranks him third in the league.
Finch-Campbell gives the Bulldogs quickness and athleticism at the guard, which is reminiscent of previous Samford teams, with guys like Josh Sharkey and Ques Glover coming to mind as like comparisons.
The former three-star recruit came to Samford out of Tampa Catholic--the same program that produced Furman sophomore guard Eddrin Bronson--and Campbell-Finch has been a big part of coach Lennie Acuff's plans of late, as he has started 13 of the past 14 games for the Bulldogs, including each of the past six games and played 32 minutes in the first meeting with the Paladins, posting 10 points.
Campbell-Finch is averaging 7.6 PPG and 1.3 RPG through the first 21 games this season. He's found his way into double figures seven times, including a career-best 21 points in the road overtime win over Texas Southern early in non-conference play.
Sophomore guard Cade Norris, who transferred in from Illinois State to Samford prior to the season, will be the fourth guard in the starting five, and the younger brother of Keaton Norris posted a solid performance the last time out against Chattanooga, finishing with eight points, six rebounds and four assists in 33 minutes of court time in the win over the Mocs this past Saturday. The younger Norris has started 20 out of 21 games so far in his Samford career, averaging 8.1 PPG and 4.7 RPG, and is a solid perimeter threat, as he is connecting on 36.2% (25-of-69) from three-point range this season.
Along with Shaver, the Bulldogs only play two other guys significantly off the bench, with one of those players, Zion Wilburn, having not played the last time these two met, as he missed the game due to a death in his family. Wilburn continues to be one of my favorite energy guys in the league, and he has proven to be a valuable asset off the bench at times this season, with his athleticism and his energy on both ends having provided a lift to Samford in games when they needed one on more than one occasion this season.
One of those standout performances that comes to mind was the effort he gave in maybe Samford's most-impressive all-around performance of the season in what was a 79-75 loss at No.12 Arkansas, as he scored 15 points in 17 minutes off the bench.
In that game, Wilburn was 6-of-9 from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point land. In the last time out against Chattanooga, Wilburn tied his season high established in two other games for minutes played, as he logged 25 minutes, scoring six points, grabbing five rebounds and posted a couple of steals in the 11-point home win. All six of Wilburn's points last time out came from the free throw line. In 19 games he has seen action in this season, Wilburn has posted five starts and is averaging 3.8 PPG and 2.7 RPG.
Rounding out the potential players to log action off the bench on Thursday night include sophomore guard Kam Martin (5.0 PPG, 2.1 RPG), sophomore forward Judson Bjornstad (2.5 PPG, 1.5 RPG), redshirt sophomore big man Will Shaver (2.8 PPG, 2.2 RPG) and Queens grad transfer Jaxson Pollard (4.1 PPG, 4.4 RPG).
As a team, Samford enters its second matchup with the Paladins averaging 77.4 PPG while surrendering 76.3 PPG, as well as shooting 43.6% as a team, while foes are shooting 44.7% this season. As far as shooting the three ball, the Bulldogs continue to hover right around 34%, which is decent but not great. However, teams are shooting 37.3% from three against Samford this season.
Furman comes in still injured, but not quite as injured as it was in the first meeting with the Bulldogs a couple of weeks ago. The Paladins enter the tonight's contest likely without Cooper Bowser once again, but his return is imminent with the target date now looking like early February, which could mean he's in the lineup for Furman's huge league tilt at East Tennessee State coming up on Feb. 4.
Already playing without Cooper Bowser (13.4 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 81.2% FG%), Asa Thomas (13.2 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 53 3PT FGs), Davis Molnar (hasn't played yet this season), and Mason Smith (3.0 PPG, 4.6 RPG) due to injury, the Paladins would also be without Eddrin Bronson (5.8 PPG, 1.9 RPG) and Abijah Franklin (5.5 PPG, 2.5 RPG) for the game against the Spartans due to illness and both are expected back for Thursday evening's contest.
Both Bronson and Franklin are expected back for the Paladins, and Colin O'Neal (4.2 PPG, 1.8 RPG) is expected to have less of a minute's restriction as he moves forward and gets more comfortable playing with his knee brace, and as his knee continues to strengthen.
Prior to his brief illness which kept him out at UNCG, Franklin has been playing some of his best basketball as a Paladin, stringing together back-to-back double-figure scoring efforts off 14 and 11 points, respectively, while four of his last seven three-point field goals, including a half-courter vs Wofford.
The Paladins haven't lost at home to Samford since a 75-73 setback to the Bulldogs back in 2019, and it was a game that one of the most costly of Bob Richey's career, as Furman had been among the "Last Four In" of Joe Lunardi's latest bracketology going into that game, and it was a stellar 21-point, 12-assist performance from Josh Sharkey that handed Furman its worst loss of the season. It was a loss from which they never recovered from in terms of getting an at-large invitation to the Big Dance in that particular season.
That was the season the Paladins knocked off both reigning national champion and No. 8 Villanova (W, 76-68 OT) as well as reigning Final Four participant Loyola Chicago (W,60-58) to garner both national attention for the league and the program, as the Paladins were ranked early in the season for the first time in program history.
With that said, the Paladins will have Tom House (7.3 PPG, 2.9 RPG)--a player that Furman did not have the last time these two played due to House being in concussion protocol. The senior guard is coming off a 25-point effort last time out against UNCG, and the last time he saw action against the Bulldogs was in the 2025 Southern Conference Tournament in Asheville, which saw him finish with 21 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and 6-of-7 shooting from three-point range.
Ben Vander Wal (8.6 PPG, 5.6 RPG) the type of leadership that you would expect from a senior "glue guy" that will be making his 121st appearance in a Furman uniform on Thursday evening against the Bulldogs and is slated to make his 68th start for the Paladins against the Bulldogs. Vander Wal is the lone remaining piece that played from the 2022-23 Furman team that cut down the nets in Asheville. Davis Molnar was also a part of that team but redshirted his freshman season.
In Furman's 77-73 win over the Bulldogs in Homewood, Vander Wal finished with eight points, four rebounds, two blocks, one assist and had just one turnover in the hard-fought road win. Vander Wal is a unique player, and is arguably Furman's most important player, as one of the many things he can do and give head coach Bob Richey is an extra point guard, which is definitely a luxury for the Paladin coaching staff.
Teaming with Vander Wal in the paint will be both Cole Bowser (7.0 PPG, 8.2 RPG) and 6-11 Charles Johnston (10.3 PPG, 9.5 RPG), who has been an absolute rebounding machine for the Paladins this season. Johnston was as key to the first win over Samford in Homewood as any one player on the Furman roster, as he posted nine points and 14 rebounds before fouling out of the game late.
Johnston has gotten great help from Cole Bowser on the boards as of late, and taking the redshirt off of Bowser has proven to be a stroke of genius by the Paladin staff given the injury situation, which continued to mount even after the decision was made by the Furman staff to play Bowser. True freshman Owen Ritger (1.7 PPG, 1.2 RPG) has continued to give the Paladins quality minutes in the paint this season.
Finally, Alex Wilkins has been as good as advertised the season for the Paladins, and it was his career-high 28-point effort that helped driving Furman's winning cause in the earlier meeting with Samford this season. Wilkins was recently named a candidate for the prestigious Kyle Macy National Freshman of the Year honor. He ranks eighth in country in scoring (17.9 PPG) among freshmen and is fifth in overall assists (5.2 APG) among first-year players.
He has scored 376 points in his freshman season, which currently ranks fourth in program history for single-season points by a freshman. Only Jonathan Moore (1976-77/561 pts), Karim Souchu (1999-2000/459 pts), and George Singleton (1980-81/435 pts) have scored more in their rookie seasons, and in all likelihood, by the end of the the 2025-26 season, Wilkins will likely rank second on the list.
Wilkins' 136 field goals leads the Southern Conference, and his 17.9 PPG scoring average would rank second to only Jonathan Moore--a four-time All-SoCon honoree and twice SoCon Player of the Year--if the season were to end today. Moore ended his career as one of the greatest players in SoCon history, averaging 20.0 PPG at the end of his freshman season in 1976-77.
Finally, Wilkins ranks second in the league in 20+-point games this season, with nine, including four coming in SoCon games, while he has found his way into double figures in 17 out of his first 21 games as a Paladins player.
The Paladins are 8-3 at home this season, which is a bit uncharacteristic. Furman hasn't lost four home games at Timmons Arena in a single season since the 2014-15 campaign, which saw the Paladins finish 7-7 in the facility.
The Paladins are 117-22 in the facility over the past 10 years, including a 65-12 record against SoCon foes and are 52-10 against non-conference opposition. The Paladins have already dropped home contests to both Western Carolina (L, 77-80 OT) and Wofford (L, 70-74) on their home floor this season. All-time, the Paladins have an overall record of 265-111 at Timmons Arena, which includes a 145-83 mark against SoCon foes, dating back to its first season of competition in 1997-98. Thursday's game against Samford will mark the 377th game played over 28 seasons of operation.
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