The SoCon Lowdown: Furman makes a statement and The Citadel springs a surprise
Plus: Samford's non-D1 struggles, ETSU's emerging stars, and VMI's upset bid
The college basketball season is finally underway, and with it comes the return of The SoCon Lowdown! This is a weekly column summarizing the last week of men’s basketball in the Southern Conference, one of the most exciting mid-major conferences in the nation. Whether you’re an avid supporter of a team in the SoCon or just a casual fan curious to learn more about it, you can get caught up on all the action around the league right here.
Every week, we’ll run down the conference power rankings (based on Torvik, the unofficial metric of the SoCon Lowdown). It was a revealing week for many teams around the league, but perhaps for none more than…
The Paladins were already the league favorite entering the season, but they had an opportunity to claim that role with authority by dispatching a solid Belmont team in their first D1 game. While their vaunted defense had some struggles with the Bruins’ attack, giving up 37 points in each half, the offense started strong (matching with 37 first-half points) and finished stronger (racking up 52 points in the second half to pull away late). Fifth-year senior Mike Bothwell put up 25 points for the eighth time in his career, while Jalen Slawson put up 17 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals in a stat-stuffing performance. Having also put away D2 North Greenville in their season opener, Furman now takes its undefeated record to a neutral-site showdown with Penn State in the first round of the Charleston Classic this Thursday.
The Spartans ultimately lost to Miami by 14, but their 34-33 lead at the break marked the program’s first halftime advantage against a Power 6 foe since December 2018, when they went up 40-37 against #10 Kentucky. It was an impressive demonstration of UNC-Greensboro’s depth—four players scored more than ten points, including Mikeal Brown-Jones putting up 13 off the bench, his second-highest scoring output in 56 career games. If the Spartans can work their way to the top of a crowded SoCon, they have a roster that could put a real scare into a high seed in the tournament. They’ll now head into a run of eight straight games as favorites (per Torvik), which could have them 9-1 when they travel to Fayetteville and take on Arkansas.
The Bulldogs scheduled three games against non-D1 competition to start this season, and they evidently needed that advantage. A popular pick to punch up this season thanks to budding star Ques Glover, Samford is as good as anybody in the SoCon on offense, but demonstrated this week how much work their defense needs to do to make this team a true contender. A trio of Anderson players scored 18 or more points in the Bulldogs’ opener, and Beril Kabamba posted 20 points and 10 rebounds as Spring Hill played them within a single score at halftime. It seemed most of the kinks had been worked out in a 90-38 win over Belhaven, though, and they’ll ease into the D1 slate with games against Alabama A&M and Texas Southern this week.
The reigning conference champions put up a good fight against tournament hopeful Charleston, with Jake Stephens, Jamal Johnson, and Demetrius Davis combining for 59 points and 24 rebounds, but Reyne Smith dragged the Cougars to an 85-78 win with a strong second half. The Mocs rebounded by taking care of business against NAIA Oakland City, who they walloped 93-49. Next up is another chance to establish themselves as a force to contend with as they travel to Ole Miss—which dropped a home game to Samford last season and, while likely much-improved this season, could be vulnerable to another upset.
It was all going so well for Mercer, which jumped out to a 37-21 lead over East Carolina in Greenville. Alas, they had to finish out the game, which they did by giving up 56 more points and scoring just 38, ultimately losing by two as they weren’t able to get a three-point shot off or secure a rebound off their missed free throw at the end of the game. The Bears then made short work of NAIA Milligan, scoring a whopping 118 points to set a new school record (surpassing a triple-overtime 117-108 win over Valparaiso from 2013). Another chance at a solid road win presents itself as Mercer travels to Atlanta to face off against Georgia State on Tuesday, followed by what should be a comfortable win over Winthrop at home on Saturday.
To the Terriers’ credit, things could’ve been much worse if their offense had been as silent as it was in the first half of a 91-80 loss to High Point. Wofford scored just 22 points before the break (and 58 after), with BJ Mack accounting for nearly half of that total. While the second-half fireworks weren’t enough to stun the Panthers, they did further the emergence of Jackson Paveletzke, who was unheralded as a recruit but has scored 15 and 18 points in his first two games. Having demolished Bob Jones 120-48 in their first game, Wofford will now look for their first D1 win as they visit Drake on Monday, then host the Terrier Classic against Gardner-Webb and North Carolina A&T over the weekend.
It was an impressive first week for East Tennessee State, which hosted the Asheville Championship and handled Elon before nearly shocking ULL. In the process, the Buccaneers extended their streak of games with a three-point shot to 1,094, surpassing the Arkansas streak that ended in January for the fourth-longest run in college basketball history. They also saw impressive debuts from two new players: Tennessee transfer Brock Jancek, who hit four of five shots for ten points against the Phoenix, and Virginia Tech transfer Jalen Haynes, who put up 23 points and 7 rebounds against the Ragin’ Cajuns and delivered a huge block that gave ETSU a chance to win with the final shot. If the Buccaneers’ fine form continues, they should make quick work of Little Rock and Tennessee Tech this week.
Western Carolina, as one would expect, lost decisively to Georgia and Maryland before crushing NAIA Brescia. The Catamounts’ hopes of contending in the SoCon this season rest heavily on the shoulders of Vonterius Woolbright, and his struggles early this season have compounded WCU’s offensive woes—they scored just 55 and 51 in their losses, with Woolbright accounting for seven and four points respectively, hitting only four of his 21 shots. On the bright side, newcomer Tyzhaun Claude has emerged and helped spark the Catamounts’ offense in a 36-point second-half showing against the Terrapins, leading the team in scoring for both of their D1 games thus far. Western Carolina will face off with McNeese State, Lamar, and Lindenwood in an MTE later this week, which should offer them a chance to get their footing and establish themselves in the middle of the SoCon pack.
For a team not thought of as a likely candidate even to avoid the SoCon Tournament play-in round, The Citadel has acquitted itself quite well in the season’s opening days. The Bulldogs opened by tangling with a strong Clemson team in impressive fashion, leading late in the first half and clawing within single digits in the second en route to an 80-69 road loss. In their home opener, they trailed Presbyterian by as many as eight points early, but reeled them in to a 35-35 halftime tie and turned a back-and-forth shootout into a decisive 70-58 win down the stretch. Stephen Clark was the star in that victory, scoring a career-high 23 points in his 79th game for The Citadel. After facing NAIA Morris, the Bulldogs will have another chance to spook a power opponent when they travel to Butler this Saturday.
There’s an understandable expectation that this might be a long season for VMI, which lost its coach to conference rival Chattanooga and saw four starters graduate or transfer. Their first game, a rough 69-48 loss to neighboring Richmond, was a demonstration of what their struggles might look like this season. But the Keydets came back after a get-right non-D1 win and showed out very well against former SoCon member Davidson, which was favored by nearly twenty points but needed a last-minute steal to escape 75-71 at home. On paper, the Keydets are heavily outmatched in a multi-team event featuring Longwood, SIU-Edwardsville, and Fairleigh Dickinson, but they may well put up more of a fight than expected.
Welcome to McKillop’s Corner! Here we’ll take a quick look at some standout performances by former members of the SoCon, of which there are quite a few—35, to be exact! It’s named for Bob McKillop, former head coach of the Davidson Wildcats, the longest-tenured and most prominent former member of the league.
Alabama opened some eyes with a strong opening week, running roughshod over Longwood (75-54) and Liberty (95-59) to tip off their home slate.
App State couldn’t put away NC Central in regulation thanks to a buzzer-beating three, but Tyree Boykin and CJ Huntley combined for 14 of their 15 overtime points in a 79-74 thriller.
After dropping former conference foe Chattanooga to open the season, Charleston shocked the nation by leading #1 North Carolina 50-43 at halftime before eventually falling 102-86.
Clemson and South Carolina dueled brilliantly in a rivalry showdown, with Chico Carter Jr. scoring a literal last-second bucket to carry the Gamecocks to a 60-58 victory at home.
Before their battle with VMI, Davidson survived Wright State in a dramatic double-overtime affair, with Foster Loyer’s 38 for the Wildcats just outdoing Trey Calvin’s 37 for the Raiders in a 102-97 win.
Georgia trailed Wake Forest 41-22 at halftime, but came back at the Demon Deacons with 49 second-half points to narrow the deficit to an 81-71 final in head coach Mike White’s road debut.
Maryland has jumped out to a 2-0 start in dominant fashion, dropping Niagara and WCU by a combined 142-100 score on the strength of dominant defense.
Richmond followed up their demolition of VMI by making short work of Northern Iowa, which trailed by just three at the half but was outclassed defensively in a 68-55 defeat.
D3 Sewanee picked up its first win of the season in a high-scoring 131-101 affair with Warren Wilson, shattering a 32-year old school record for points in a game (123).
West Virginia trounced rival Pitt 81-56 on the road behind Joe Toussaint’s 18 points off the bench.
Thanks for reading! The SoCon Lowdown will be back next Monday with the latest from another week of action around the Southern Conference.
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