GREENVILLE, S.C.--Tom House scored a career-high 30 points and Abijah Frankllin added a career-high 21 points, as Furman downed defending Missouri Valley Conference champion and fellow 2026 NCAA Tournament participant Northern Iowa, 98-83, Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.
The 98 points scored by Furman are the most scored against a Panthers team since the 1995-96 season, as UNI surrendered 109 points to Nebraska in a 109-104 loss (Dec. 16, 1995).
With the win, Southern Conference favorite Furman remains unbeaten at 3-0, while Northern Iowa falls to 1-1 on the young season.
House finished the contest with his 30 points coming via a 9-of-14 shooting performance, which included a 7-of-11 performance from three-point range, while connecting on 5-of-6 free throw attempts. House also added three assists, two rebounds and a steal in the win. His shooting performance was part of an impressive shooting performance by the Paladins as a team, which connected on 48.1% (26-of-54) from the field and finished 45.5% (15-of-33) from three-point range.
Franklin, a sophomore from Greenville, S.C., posted his 21 points in 28 minutes of work, finishing the evening connecting on 7-of-12 shots from the field, including going 1-for-3 from three-point range. Franklin was also 6-of-12 from the charity stripe. The former Wren High School standout added seven rebounds, two steals and one assist to his overall totals.
Point guard Luka Toews finished his night with 14 points and dished out three assists without a turnover in 31 minutes of work. Charles Johnston rounded out the Paladins in double figures with 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Northern Iowa was led in the contest by Isaiah Johnson-Arigu, who posted 20 points to lead four Panthers players in double figures, as he connected on 6-of-10 shots from the field and was 1-for-3 from three-point range. He was also 7-for-7 from the free throw line. Arigu-Johnson also posted two blocks and two rebounds.
Sharp-shooting Carson Vis added 17 points off the bench for UNI. The Western Michigan transfer did most of his damage from long-range, finishing the afternoon 6-of-12 from the field, which included a 3-for-7 from three-point range.
North Dakota transfer Greyson Uelmen added 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while Tate McCubbin rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Panthers with 11. The Panthers finished the game connecting on 42% (29-of-69) from the field, which included a 31% (9-for-29) effort from three-point range.
Furman finished the contest posting advantages in the following categories: second-chance points (11-3), total rebounds (41-36), total assists (18-11), points off turnovers (12-11) and fast-break points (17-10). UNI owned advantages in points in the paint (38-20) and bench scoring (28-18).
Furman outscored UNI 31-16 at the free throw line, attempting a whopping 25 more free throws (44-19). The Paladins finished the afternoon connecting on 70.8% (31-of-44) from the charity stripe, while the Panthers connected on 87.5% (16-of-19) of their charity shots.
How It Happened:
Tate McCubbin's three-pointer midway through the opening half of play kept the Panthers within strike distance of the hot-shooting Paladins, bringing UNI to within four. However, by this point in the game, the Paladins had gotten the Panthers into playing their style of basketball rather than slowing the pace and relying on their outstanding play on the defensive end of the floor, which it did nearly the entire game last season.
The McCubbin three made the Panthers deficit just four, at 22-18. However, Furman countered with a 10-0 run to take a 32-18 lead following a jumper by Tom House with 7:06 remaining in the opening half. Furman would never lead by less than double digits for remainder of the season.
After the Paladins took a 44-31 lead into the half, the Panthers would manage to catch fire in the second half, but despite shooting 47% from the field and going 14-of-16 at the line for 52 points, the Paladins scored 54 and went 9-for-18 from three-point range to off-set that strong offensive outburst by the visitors.
Furman would lead by as many as 21 points in the second half, and though the Panthers did manage to trim 10 points off that when a Uemen jumper got the Panthers to within 90-79 with 2:37, however, Furman would not let the score get closer than 11, as the Paladins scored four-straight points on a free throw by Franklin and a three-point play the old-fashioned way by House quickly pushed the advantage back to 15 just a minute later.
Furman (3-0) returns to the hardwood next Wednesday night, as the Paladins will head north to the great state of Massachussetts to face off against Holy Cross (0-2) in a tip-off slated for 7 p.m. EST at the Hart Center Arena.
No comments:
Post a Comment