After SoCon title loss, Paladins land NIT invite

Furman's PJay Smith (0) drives against Wofford's Kyler Filewich in the Southern
Conference Tournament championship game. Photo courtesy of the SoCon

It appeared that a pretty sweet Furman basketball season ended on a sour note March 10, when the Paladins suffered yet another heartbreaking loss to Wofford a the Southern Conference Tournament. One of the first things Furman coach Bob Richey mentioned following Furman's 92-85 loss in the championship game was the high level of basketball on display for television audiences watching ESPN that night and ESPNU for the semifinals the night before.

"Similar to last night, what an unbelievable college basketball game. Unfortunately, we came out on the wrong side of it," Richey said. "But you know, through the national TV audiences yesterday and tonight, I think you continue to see the quality of our league. Unfortunately at this level, one advances and the other doesn't."

While that continues to be true for the NCAA Tournament, the National Invitational Tournament is another story. The quality of SoCon hoops must've caught the attention of someone involved with this year's NIT.

A few hours after Wofford learned its postseason destination in the NCAA Tournament selection show Sunday, the NIT field was announced. As expected, SoCon regular season champion Chattanooga earned a spot, but so did Furman and Samford. The Paladins (25-9) will play at reigning NIT champion North Texas at 8 p.m. Wednesday on ESPN+. Wednesday's winner will advance to face Arkansas State, which defeated Saint Louis 103-78 Tuesday, on either Saturday or Sunday.

North Texas (24-8) is coming off a loss to third-seeded UAB in the American Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals. The Mean Green finished second in the American with a record of 14-4. They went 15-1 at home this season and 9-3 in non-conference play. Those three non-conference losses all came to teams that made the NCAA Tournament - at McNeese (68-61), to Utah State (61-57) in the NIT Season Tip-Off championship game in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., and at High Point (76-71).

It's the first time since 2019 that four SoCon schools have made a postseason tournament. Wofford went to the NCAA Tournament and Furman made the NIT that season as well. UNC Greensboro also made the NIT six years ago, while East Tennessee State competed in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.

Terriers spoil another Furman final chapter

ASHEVILLE - As fifth-seeded Furman advanced to the SoCon final, it did so by knocking off fourth-seeded Samford for the third time and top-seeded Chattanooga for the first time this season. There was quite a bit of talk in the media room by folks not associated with either team that Sunday's semifinal between the Paladins and Mocs was the "real championship game."

It was kind of an unusual take considering that sixth-seeded Wofford and seventh-seeded VMI, who met in the other semifinal, had each stomped Furman earlier this season before the Paladins split with both by winning the rematch. Still, Furman was the hottest team in the league after ending Chattanooga's 12-game winning streak by extending its own streak to six consecutive wins. 

It was an incorrect dismissal on two other counts. First, once Furman defeated UTC in the first semifinal that Sunday evening, there was no doubt that the Terriers were winning the other semifinal. That's no knock on the Keydets and the amazing job Coach Andrew Wilson did this season. It just seems that kismet intertwines Furman and Wofford in moments like these.

Secondly, folks that haven't seen this rivalry regularly have no idea just how hard Wofford plays Furman. Given the historical success of football and the success of basketball over the past decade, the Paladins get plenty of opponents' best shots. But none of those compare to the fight that Furman's fellow private school from 35 miles away always brings to its SoCon "big brother."

In this year's final, Furman erased Wofford leads of 13 in the first half and eight in the second half, but the Terriers had the final push. The Paladins had an 83-79 lead with less than two minutes to play before Wofford ended the game on a 13-2 run to pull out the victory in an electric atmosphere at the Harrah's Cherokee Center.

"Give Wofford credit. I think (Coach) Dwight's (Perry) done a great job with this team. They've got a lot of talent. They've got the best big man in the league (Kyler Filewich) and (Corey) Tripp is a senior, who's one of the best guards in the league. Then they had other guys step up and make some big shots today," Furman coach Bob Richey said afterwards. "It felt like one of those games where it was just back and fourth and the team that was going to finish with the most momentum was probably going to win the game. Unfortunately tonight, that was them."

A little over a week after racing out to a 28-9 lead less than 12 minutes into the game in Spartanburg, it was a different story for Furman to start the final. The Paladins looked like a team coming off a grueling overtime win against the No. 1 seed the day before, while Wofford looked like one coming off a 20-point win in a game it led from start to finish.

The Terriers led 8-0 just 70 seconds into the game and Furman had just one possession in that time span. Filewich began the contest with a layup. After the Paladins' Garrett Hien missed a three-pointer, the Terriers' Justin Bailey drilled a three and drew the first of Furman's 23 total fouls. Bailey missed the free throw, but Tripp grabbed the offensive rebound and passed to Jackson Sivills. Sivills knocked down a three to complete the six-point possession.

It only got stranger for Furman for the next seven minutes. While the Paladins were a successful team in every sense of the word this season, Smith and Nick Anderson were scoring machines for the Paladins in Asheville. They were obviously a focus of Wofford's defense, but neither neither managed to get off a shot for the first eight-and-a-half minutes of the championship.

By the time Smith attempted his first field goal at the 11:33 mark, Furman trailed 15-5 and six other Paladins had gone a combined 2-for-9 from the floor with five turnovers. After making that three, Smith hit a pair of free throws the next time down and then converted a four-point play before Anderson tried his first shot at the 10:08 mark.

The Paladins trailed 27-13 before Hien's putback with eight minutes to go sparked a run. Hien and Charles Johnston combined for all of Furman's next 12 points before a Smith three-pointer cut the lead to 32-31 with 2:15 remaining. Johnston's three gave the Paladins their first lead at 37-35 with 1:03 left. On Furman's next trip., Hien found Ben VanderWal for a dunk and then Hien swatted away Sivills' last second three as the Paladins took a 39-37 lead into halftime.

"I'm really proud of our group," Richey said. "For us to get off to the start that we did ... and respond the way we did to take the lead going into half, I thought was a credit to our character, culture and what our guys are about."

While Furman maintained the lead for the first 10-plus minutes of the second half and grew it to six a couple of times, Wofford stayed close at the foul line as the Paladins were continuously whistled for fouls. From the 15:02 mark of the second half to the 9:22 mark, Furman was called for nine fouls, committing at least one of seven of the Terriers' eight possessions.

The foul train steamrolling the Paladins stopped for a few minutes, but that didn't slow down Wofford. The Terriers had four consecutive possessions in which they didn't draw a foul, but they had a layup and three consecutive three-pointers to take a 75-69 lead with 7:36 left. Wofford took its biggest lead of the second half at eight thanks to a pair of free throws by Sivills with 6:53 remaining.

Furman responded with one last rally, as it went on a 14-2 run. After Smith's layup off an Anderson steal gave the Paladins the lead, Anderson hit a three off a Smith steal to push the advantage to 83-79 with 2:34 left. On a night in which it only committed 10 turnovers, Wofford had six of those from the 5:02 mark to the 2:18 mark against Furman's vaunted 1-3-1 zone defense. The last of those six came on a a steal by Hien with 2:18 left. That led to a Smith three-point attempt that bounced off the back rim no good.

A seven-point lead with less than two minutes to play could've been a backbreaker for the Terriers. Instead, they answered with a Filewich layup and a three by Sivills to take the lead back for good at 84-83 with 1:26 left. Wofford went 8-for-8 from the foul line, while Furman went 1-for-5 from the floor, over the final 39 seconds to seal the win.

In the second half, the Terriers (19-15) shot 68.4 percent (13-of-19) from the floor, made 8-of-13 threes, and shot 84 percent (21-of-25) from the foul line. For the game, Wofford shot 54.2 percent and hit 26-of-33 free throws. For comparison's sake, in the Terriers' win in Greenville this season, they made 4-of-7 free throws and made 15-of-21 in the loss in Spartanburg.

"We got down eight but continued to fight and took the lead. We had a couple of tough possessions there and quickly went from up four to down one. In games like that, that can change outcomes," Richey said. "Our guys have been so resilient all year. We lost 70 percent of our scoring and a lot of key pieces, but this group stayed together.

"Obviously, we wanted to win this game. That's no secret. But for what they've been able to accomplish when it was really just us that believed that we had a shot to do it and the way they fought, battled and grew, this will be a team that I remember for the rest of my life."

Sivills had 20 points to lead Wofford, while Bailey had 19 points and seven rebounds. Dillon Bailey added 15 points. Filewich, who was named the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player, had 13 points and six rebounds, while Tripp finished with 11 points, eight assists and six rebounds.

If there ever was a season where the losing team could've easily had the Tournament's MOP, it would've been this one for Smith. After not trying a shot for the first eight minutes, Smith finished off an incredible weekend with a game-high 27 points, seven assists, four rebounds, two steals and one turnover. He extended his consecutive made free throws streak to 43 as he went 11-for-11 from the foul line for Furman, which made 18-of-20 free throws as a team.

"This program has meant a lot to me. I've made brothers and made relationships that will last forever. I love all my teammates, Coach Richey and all my coaches," Smith said. "I appreciate everything they've done, and this program has done a lot for me. I really appreciate it."

Anderson had 15 points, while Johnston finished with 12 points and six rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench before fouling out. Hien had 13 points, five rebounds and four assists before fouling out and Cooper Bowser scored 11 also for Furman.

As the final seconds ticked away, Hien - a fifth-year senior - turned to wave to the huge Furman crowd behind its bench and end zone.

"That was really just a thank you for five amazing years. They've been great since I've been here. Tonight specifically, we're not in this game without them," Hien said. "We get down 10 to start the game, then we make a little run and they really get into it. It was amazing. Even when we were down ... they've always had my back and always had our back."

Now Hien gets at least one more chance to wear his beloved purple and white.