 |
| Furman's PJay Smith earned Southern Conference Player of the Week honors Monday. Photo courtesy of Furman |
There were plenty of questions surrounding this year's Furman basketball team following an offseason in which four players, who accounted for 59.1 percent of last season's scoring, left via the transfer portal. The coaching staff also saw assistants Jeremy Growe and Tim Johnson, as well as strength coach Matt Aldred, leave. Paladins coach Bob Richey put things in perspective after a preseason practice.
While major changes like these were new territory for Furman this year, that hasn't been the case for the majority of college basketball programs these days. Richey pointed out that eight players returned this season. That's more than plenty of programs typically have back anymore.
"Garrett's (Hein) played a lot of games. Tyrese Hughey's played a lot of games. Ben VanderWal's played a lot of games. Cooper Bowser started for us last year," Richey said. "We lost some good coaches and we brought some good coaches in. ... We lost some good players, but we signed some good players. When you have a good program that sustains winning, you're going to attract people and we've done that."
One week into the season, that mix of old and new Paladins is off to a 2-0 start. Furman opened the season on Nov. 4 by blowing out NAIA member Columbia International. Last Friday, another thrilling chapter in the Furman-Belmont series was written as PJay Smith's last second three-pointer lifted the Paladins to a big road victory.
Furman 104, Columbia International 46
Obviously the Paladins were facing an overmatched, non-Division I opponent, but that hasn't always turned out to be an automatic nearly 60-point win. Season openers aren't always smooth either, but Furman looked like a crisp team that had been playing together for years.
On a night in which Smith and key newcomer Charles Johnston - a transfer from Cal State Monterey Bay - sat out with minor injuries, 12 of the 13 Paladins who saw action scored. They were led by Florida State transfer Tom House, who had 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-6 three-pointers, and three steals.
"I think guys like Tyrese, Garrett and PJay have done a good job instilling the culture in the transfers," House said. "Sometimes for transfers, it's hard to gel with the team and the culture, but the older guys have done a good job to make sure that happens."
How balanced was Furman's scoring in the opener? Tommy Humphries was the 10th different Paladin to score and he ended up with 15 points. Tyrese Hughey came off the bench to record a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds in just 15 minutes of action. True freshman Mason Smith had 11 points and five rebounds, while redshirt freshman Eddrin Johnson scored 10.
The Paladins shot 63.5 percent (40-of-63) from the floor and made 13-of-21 (61.9 percent) three-pointers. Furman also held the Rams, who've scored at least 107 points in two of their three non-Div. I games this season, to 28.6 percent (16-of-56) shooting.
"I thought we did a really good job of setting the game with the defense. ... We kept them out of transition, made sure they didn't get clean post touches and limited them to one shot," Richey said. "We had 40 deflections. I don't care who you're playing, when you have 40 deflections, you're dialed in.
"A lot of guys got to play. You got to see some of our youth has a chance to be really good."
Furman 76, Belmont 74
While Smith and Johnston returned to action in Nashville last Friday, one key Paladin didn't make the road trip. Associate Head Coach Chad Warner guided Furman as Richey stayed home in Greenville after his wife gave birth to a baby girl earlier Friday.
This was the latest in a series of back-and-forth great games between these two mid-major powers over the past few years. The Paladins made it a happy birthday for Richey's fourth child when Smith drilled the game-winning three-pointer from the top of the key with 2.3 seconds left. Smith, who was playing about 15 minutes from home, then hustled back down court and stripped the ball free before Belmont could get a three-pointer off at the buzzer.
Smith finished with 21 points, five rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block to earn Southern Conference Player of the Week honors Monday. Nick Anderson, a grad transfer who played for former Furman coach Butch Estes at Division II Barry University, scored 17 points while Hien added 15 points, six rebounds and six assists. All three had a big night shooting from three as Smith made 5-of-8, Anderson hit 5-of-7 and Hien - who had six made threes all last season - went 3-for-6.
While he fouled out without scoring, Bowser was also a force as he had 10 points, four blocked shots and two steals.
This week
Furman hosts Jacksonville as part of the SoCon-Atlantic Sun two-game challenge Monday at 7 p.m. at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. The Dolphins (1-1) opened the season with a 78-65 win over NCCAA Division II member Trinity Baptist before losing at No. 21 Florida, 81-60, last Thursday.
The Paladins host another game at The Well on Friday, when they face Tulane at 7 p.m.
No comments:
Post a Comment