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| Furman and ETSU haven't met at Timmons Arena since Jan. 13, 2024 |
The time is winding down between now and the Southern Conference Tournament in Asheville, and if the second meeting between East Tennessee State and Furman is anything like the first clash we saw this season, we're in for a real treat.
Brooks Savage's (57-37/3rd yr) East Tennessee State Bucs come into Wednesday night's coming off a narrow, 82-72, overtime loss to Samford this past Saturday in a nationally-televised loss to red-hot Samford in a nationally-telesvied game this past Saturday. The red-hot Bulldogs were fittingly playing on Valentine's Day and silenced the Bucs crowd of better than 5,000 fans on-hand at Freedom Hall with a 14-4 run in overtime to claim the win.
It was the exact opposite of the game that occurred between Furman and ETSU at Freedom Hall a couple of weeks back, with the Bucs storming all the way back and then ran out to a 10-3 run to start OT and never looked back en route to garnering a four-point (75-71) win over the Paladins in a game that Furman had led for 37 out of the total 45 minutes of game time. The loss sent the Paladins to 0-3 in overtime games this season and it would also be the start of a rare three-game losing streak for Bob Richey's (198-90/9th yr) Paladins in Southern Conference play.
It marked just the third time since the start of the 2015-16 season that the Paladins have suffered a three-game skid in league play, including just the second under Richey and first since the 2021-22 campaign.
When it comes to these two teams facing off against one another, a split has often been in the cards, as it is rare to see one of these two teams win both games within a singular season, so when Furman did it in back-to-back campaigns during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, it was a bit of a surprise.
After Furman claimed its fifth-straight win in the series last January at Bon Secours Wellness Arena (W, 73-70), ETSU returned the favor against the Paladins on Groundhog Day of 2025, claiming a thrilling 72-69 win over Furman at Freedom Hall to snap the five-game skid in the series.
With the 75-71 overtime win over the Paladins in Johnson City a couple of weeks back, the Bucs come to Greenville looking to extend a winning streak to three and take one giant step towards the regular-season Southern Conference title and the No. 1 overall seed in Asheville in a couple of weeks at the 2026 Southern Conference Tournament at the Harrah's Cherokee Center. The last four meetings between the Bucs and Paladins have been decided by four points or less.
A win would mark ETSU's first in Timmons Arena since the 2017-18 season, when Desonta Bradford knocked down a tear-drop layup in the lane with four seconds remaining to lift the Bucs to a 62-61 win over the Paladins in what remains the Bucs' lone win in Timmons Arena since the Bucs returned to the SoCon as an official member prior to the 2014-15 season. The Bucs will be playing their first game in the facility for the first time in over two years, as it was closed for renovations last season. Furman holds a 9-1 record against ETSU at Timmons Arena since the 2014-15 campaign.
From 1994-2004, the two teams met only once during the regular-season, and following the 2004-05 season, ETSU exited to join the Atlantic Sun. The last time the Bucs were able to garner a two-game sweep of Furman in this series was the 1993-94 season, as then ETSU head coach Alan LeForce, along with the help of guys like former Wake Forest transfer Robert Doggett and senior forward Trazel Silvers, the Bucs took both meetings against the Paladins, winning 106-75 in Johnson City and 82-79 at Greenville Memorial Auditorium.
A win by ETSU would also help the Bucs to their first 20-win season since Steve Forbes left to take the Wake Forest post following that magical 30-win season back in 2019-20. That was a bittersweet season for ETSU fans, as the NCAA Tournament would be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and would have most assuredly seen ETSU win one or maybe two NCAA Tournament games depending on seeding and bracket. A win in Greenville might be a good omen for ETSU when it comes to getting back to the NCAA Tournament, which would mark its first trip to the Big Dance since 2017. A win would also be the most in a single-season for third-year head coach Brooks Savage, who won 19 games in each of his first two seasons as the head coach.
The Paladins are 10-4 at home this season, which is the first four-loss season at Timmons Arena since Furman went 7-7 at Timmons Arena back in the 2014-15 season. The Paladins sport a record of 267-112 all-time mark inside Timmons Arena, including a 147-84 ledger against SoCon foes in what is the facility's 28th season of operation. Over the past decade, the Paladins are 119-22 against all foes, including a 67-12 mark against SoCon foes.
Furman enters off a 90-72 win over VMI last time out, as the Paladins got a big-time performance out of Asa Thomas (13.7 PPG, 4.4 RPG), who was one of the Paladins that had not yet returned from injury in time for the first matchup between these two. Thomas, a redshirt sophomore and transfer from Clemson, connected on his first four three pointers, and connected on five of his total triples in the contest en route to finish with a season-high matching 25 points in the 18-point win over the Keydets.
Cooper Bowser (13.7 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.2 BPG) did play against the Bucs in the first meeting between the two back on Feb. 4, and he was Furman's best player in the game, as he posted 18 points in what was a highly-efficient evening, which saw him finish the contest 8-of-10 from the field.
The 6-11 junior forward missed the first nine Southern Conference games, however, since he has returned, he has scored in double figures in four of five games, including four-straight. After shooting over 80% from the field in his first 12 games this season, he is 30-of-41 in the past five games, which converts to 73.1% from the field. Bowser is coming off a big performance against VMI last time out, as he posted 14 points, four rebounds, three blocks and three assists in Furman's 18-point win over the Keydets.
One thing that allowed the Bucs to overcome as much as a 15-point second half deficit in the first meeting between the two was live-ball turnovers, as the Bucs are elite defensively and continue to rank 20th nationally as a team in steals per game (9.1 SPG). Furman coughed it up 21 times in the first meeting between the two this season, which led directly to a 23-8 advantage in points from turnovers.
One of the players that visibly wore the pain of the tough defeat after the game was Furman's extremely talented true freshman point guard Alex Wilkins (17.7 PPG, 5.0 APG, 2.0 RPG), who scored a team-high 19 points and made some breath-taking shots in traffic, however, that was juxtaposed with a season-high 11 turnovers, with most of those coming a tough stretch in the second half in which ETSU was able to turn the game by stepping up the pressure on the league's top freshman player.
Though he's still Furman's leading scorer, the 6-5-point guard has seen his production go down a little, as he has scored in single digits in each of the past two games against both Mercer (7 pts) and VMI (8 pts, 6 assists). Wilkins currently ranks second in the league in assists-per-game (5.0) and his distribution is a big reason why the Paladins sport a league-leading 16.5 assists-per-game this season.
Wilkins, who is the second-highest highest scoring freshman in program history, needs just 22 more points in the final four games to reach 500 points in his freshman season. He is 84 points away from setting a new freshman scoring record, surpassing former Paladin great Jonathan Moore's 561 points in 1976-77.
Furman senior forward Charles Johnston (10.0 PPG, 9.3 RPG) has moved back to his more natural position of playing the four rather than the five, and he had a productive performance last time out against the Keydets, posting his ninth double-double of the season with 11 points in 10 rebounds in the 18-point road win. The native of Syndey, Australia is a big reason why the Paladins find themselves leading the league in rebounding margin (+5.9) and defensive rebounds (27.5).
Offensively, Johnston and Bowser's presence and efficiency around the basket have helped the Paladins rank second in the SoCon in field goal percentage (47.6%) and lead the league in effective field goal percentage (55.4%).
Furman rounds out its projected starting five with glue guy Ben Vander Wal (8.2 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 2.5 APG), who continues to be the engine and heartbeat of this Furman basketball team. It's rare to see him not fill nearly every stat category at the end of the game, and more often than not, he's the player for the Paladins that ends up as the leader in the +/- category.
In the first clash with the Bucs this season, the senior from Elmhurst, Ill., put on a strong performance, as he posted nine points, eight rebounds, and one steal in 29 minutes of floor time before fouling out late. He ended that contest +8, which was the highest on the team, in the +/- category. One of the things to watch for might be Vander Wal playing more point-forward in this game, as he is a little better suited to handle ETSU's physicality and pressure at the point should the Bucs turn up the heat like they did a couple of weeks ago in Johnson City.
Guards Tom House (8.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG), Eddrin Bronson (5.4 PPG, 1.7 RPG), and Collin O'Neal (3.1 PPG, 1.3 RPG) represents the depth in the backcourt, while freshman Cole Bowser (6.1 PPG, 6.0 RPG) adds depth in the frontcourt. The Paladins will have a rotation that will have a full eight or nine-man rotation.
ETSU has been the model of consistency this season, and one glance at any stats sheet lends credibility to that. The Bucs got a huge performance by Brian Taylor II (14.1 PPG, 4.0 RPG) last time out against Samford, posting a career-high 28 points. Taylor was solid in the meeting against the Paladins a couple of weeks ago, finishing with 14 points on a 5-for-13 shooting performance, making some big shots down the stretch, including a big-time three-pointer in overtime that helped ignite a 9-2 run in the extra session and ultimately propel the Bucs to the thrilling four-point win.
The steadying force of this ETSU team is certainly senior point guard Al Strothers (4.1 PPG, 3.4 APG, 2.2 RPG, 1.4 SPG). His defensive pressure and physicality, particularly in the second half, against Furman's talented freshman point guard Alex Wilkins, proved as key as the scoring that the Bucs got out of its backcourt in the latter part of the second half and overtime session, respectively.
Another huge part of that big-shot equation down the stretch, particularly during ETSU's second-half comeback was North Florida graduate transfer Jaylen King (9.0 PPG, 2.7 RPG). His maturity and shot-making ability in big moments were absolutely vital for the Bucs to defend their homecourt in the first clash between the two this season.
King not only proved how efficient how deadly he can be as a three-point sniper in the first meeting between these two back on Feb. 4, going 3-for-3 from downtown in a season that has seen him struggle more than usual as a three-point specialist, connecting on just 33.3% (29-of-87) from long-range this season. King was 4-for-6 from the field, as he finished the evening with a key 13 points off the bench for ETSU in the four-point win over the Paladins in the previous meeting.
ETSU's frontcourt trio of Cam Morris III (14.4 PPG, 5.2 RPG), Jordan McCullum (8.4 PPG, 3.9 RPG) and Blake Barkley (14.2 PPG, 5.7 RPG) helped give the backcourt's scoring down the stretch and in overtime a steady efficiency over the entire 45 minutes of game action in the 75-71 win two weeks ago. The trio also did enough in key moments to help neutralize Furman's talented trio underneath, which ended up helping the Paladins hold a slight, 36-32, advantage in points in the paint.
After being held scoreless in the opening half, Morris, along with Barkley, helped will the Bucs back into the game and force overtime late. Morris scored all nine of his points in the second half of the game, while Barkley also came, alive in the second half as well after struggling in the opening half, as he posted 13 of his 15 points in the second half.
Off the bench, ETSU has depth, with players like defensive specialist Gabe Sisk (3.5 PPG, 2.4 RPG) and sharp-shooting guard Maki Johnson (5.8 PPG, 3.1 RPG) providing key minutes. Others that could see action include forward Isaiah Sutherland (1.1 PPG, 1.6 RPG) and 6-3 senior guard and Florida A&M transfer Milton Matthews III (4.2 PPG, 1.2 RPG).
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