The SoCon Lowdown: Samford tests their mettle and VMI snaps the streak
Plus: The Citadel's breakout, Wofford's close call, and Furman's dominance
The SoCon’s hierarchy for 2022-23 is starting to set. Furman looks like the most consistent force in the league, with Samford able to challenge them on their best days. Chattanooga, UNC-Greensboro, and a plucky Wofford team are chasing behind, while VMI has landed in a distant last. Somewhere in between, Mercer, ETSU, The Citadel, and Western Carolina are squabbling over the top spot in the midfield. But there are still surprises, and we had quite a few of them this week, starting with…
If I’d told you that Samford had to go on the road twice this week to decent DePaul and UCF teams, playing both games almost entirely without star player Ques Glover, you would expect a pair of blowout losses. But the Bulldogs took both teams to overtime and down to the wire, impressing mightily behind their improved depth. The two-game stretch saw impressive performances from Logan Dye (34 points, 14 rebounds), Bubba Parham (27 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists), and Jaden Campbell (27 points, 5 steals), and Samford established itself as a force to be reckoned with, even if Glover isn’t available.
Furman had a pair of eyebrow-raising performances this week, suffering a 6:04 scoring drought in a narrow escape from Appalachian State and going toe-to-toe with South Carolina State for nearly thirty minutes. Both are teams the Paladins should’ve easily taken care of (especially the Bulldogs, who they dropped to 1-8), and this week was probably the shakiest they’ve looked all season. But Furman did pull through in both games, making full use of Mike Bothwell’s twelfth and thirteenth consecutive double-digit performances. In the long term, they should be fine, but there are standing questions about their offensive effectiveness.
Winning on the road is never all that easy, and the Mocs did it twice this week, though at two teams they probably should have taken care of anyway. Jake Stephens became the first Chattanooga player since at least 2010 to post 25 points and 10 rebounds in back-to-back games, then came a rebound away from extending the streak to three against Gardner-Webb. The rest of the lineup is a work in progress, but the Mocs have a high floor with the best player in the league on their side.
The Spartans’ rosy start to the season has fallen apart over the last two weeks; they’ve dropped over fifty places in Torvik since November 26 thanks to three ugly losses and an escape at a terrible Elon team. Key pieces like Kobe Langley, Bas Leyte, and Mohammed Abdulsalam have faltered, leaving UNCG top-heavy and prone to finding themselves run off the court. They managed to stop the bleeding by surviving the 1-8 Phoenix, and losing at Arkansas this week shouldn’t sting too much, but a solid performance when they return home against Marshall next week is direly needed.
Wofford’s week was more or less a carbon copy of the preceding one: a slightly dodgy win over a clearly-outmatched opponent (North Greenville two weeks ago, Presbyterian this week), followed by a spirited performance in a three-point road loss to an SEC team (LSU two weeks ago, Vanderbilt this week). The emergence of freshman Jackson Paveletzke has really tied the Terriers’ offense together, and there’s a lot of upside if they can get more consistent performances out of Messiah Jones, who put up 32 points this week.
The Bears played just one game this week, and a three-point home loss to Kennesaw State probably doesn’t move the needle much on their season as a whole. Mercer is probably the best of the SoCon’s second division, if only by process of elimination; they’ve put in a lot of decent performances by that standard, but haven’t really dazzled at any point. Beyond the welcome surprise of Luis Hurtado Jr. and some steady play from Jalyn McCreary, there doesn’t seem to be much to remark on as they continue to meet expectations.
Granted, it’s come against a fairly capable schedule, but ETSU is now on a four-game losing streak against D1 opponents, with the most recent defeat coming at home to Jacksonville State. The efforts of Jalen Haynes—averaging 14.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in that skid—have largely gone to waste, and the Buccaneers need to bounce back soon, with a road date at Morehead State and a homestand against Queens and UNC-Asheville offering ample opportunities to pick up wins.
The Citadel tangled with their crosstown rivals, Charleston Southern and Charleston, this week, coming up with an expected win and an expected blowout loss. The 76-73 victory over the Buccaneers, earned on the road with the Bulldogs’ finest offensive performance thus far, was a fun one that saw Stephen Clark and Austin Ash combine for 48 points and 14 rebounds. A 22-point home loss to the Cougars was a bit of a letdown, but The Citadel is still overachieving as they hit a tough stretch that will test them against tougher foes like North Carolina, Chattanooga, Samford, Furman, and Wofford.
The other shoe dropped for WCU this week, which sputtered on offense and defense in home losses to Gardner-Webb and South Carolina Upstate. The Catamounts have solid depth with contributions from Vonterius Woolbright, Tyzhaun Claude, and Tre Jackson, but none of them have been able to take over the offense this season; no WCU player has scored more than 21 points in a game thus far. After falling to the Spartans, they likely won’t be favored in a D1 game until The Citadel comes to town in late January.
The Keydets are probably going to spend the rest of the season down here, but they deserve commendation for shocking the SoCon and knocking off Navy (a top-200 team in Torvik!) at home for their first D1 win. VMI has fallen by 21, 32, 26, and 15 in various games this season, but they mustered a legitimately impressive performance to beat the Midshipmen, going up 43-27 at halftime and pulling out an 80-72 win. There won’t be many opportunities for victories ahead—Torvik doesn’t have them favored in any game after this week’s meeting with non-D1 Carlow—but having that performance on their ledger should be validating for the beleagured Keydets.
Speaking of Charleston, the win over The Citadel brought them to 8-1 on the season, with their only loss coming nearly a month ago at North Carolina. Rank 'em!
Clemson picked up a pair of impressive wins, downing Penn State in double overtime and steamrolling Wake Forest by 20.
Needing a rebound from a blowout loss to Purdue, Duke outduelled Ohio State and delivered a vital 81-72 home victory.
Kentucky did battle with Michigan in London, using double-digit performances from all their starters (and 14 rebounds from Oscar Tshiebwe) to pick up a 73-69 win.
Marshall rolled past Akron and Ohio in dominant fashion, stretching their winning streak to seven games and rising to the top of the crowded Sun Belt.
Nobody can seem to stop Maryland, which cruised past the train wreck at Louisville before defeating Illinois in a fantastic 71-66 home victory.
Mississippi State continues to climb the rankings, reaching 8-0 this week with wins over Marquette and Utah that look better by the day.
Sewanee and Covenant each had a 50-point performance in a thrilling 108-100 overtime win for the University of the South, led by Russ Marr’s half-century scoring mark.
Despite struggling with a bad Florida State, Virginia survived and picked up their second win of the week to go with a strong one over Michigan, moving to 7-0 on the season.
Virginia Tech took advantaged of a spiraling North Carolina to earn a quality win, improving to 8-1 with their only loss to Charleston.
Amid an all-chalk second round in the FCS playoffs, Furman’s comeback against Incarnate Word fell just short, while Samford survived a late charge from Southeastern Louisiana to win in overtime behind Quincy Crittendon’s 314 passing and 94 rushing yards. Meanwhile, ETSU women’s basketball set a school record with a 69-point win over UVA-Lynchburg, and Western Carolina women’s volleyball overcame a first-set defeat to take down Liberty 3-1 in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship.