Furman's shooting woes linger at Northern Iowa

Cooper Bowser had 16 points in Furman's 70-54 loss
at Northern Iowa Friday. Photo courtesy of Furman

The middle of November is no time to panic for any basketball team, but Furman's three-point shooting issues are becoming harder to just shrug off. The Paladins had another tough opponent on Friday when they traveled to Northern Iowa.

Furman played fairly solid defense, took pretty good care of the ball and made 18-of-26 field goals ... inside the arc. Three-pointers were, once again, a different story. The Paladins were 4-of-30 on threes on their way to a 70-54 loss. Out of 361 Division I teams, Furman (1-3) currently ranks 348th in three-point percentage at 24.8 percent (31-of-125) this season.

"Four-for-30 is hard to overcome, especially when you're playing a team that good," Furman coach Bob Richey said following practice Sunday. "Our execution isn't where it needs to be right now. We're a work in progress. ... We're also very undisciplined in some of our shot selection right now. I always like giving my players freedom, but they've got to be disciplined within that freedom.

"We took some rushed shots. We took some fast shots without getting our feet set. We took a bunch of dribble threes. That's just not our formula. We took 31 great shots in that game and 25 bad shots, and 25 is just way too high. You've got to get that under 10 when you're playing a team that good."

The game was tied at 12-12 nine minutes in. At that point, five different Paladins had scored - all on layups and dunks. With 10:46 left in the first half, Cooper Bowser departed after picking up his second foul.

That's when everything changed for Furman. With Bowser on the bench, the Paladins next seven shots were all three-pointers. Only one of those was made and it was by Charles Johnston, who made three of Furman's four successful treys in the game.

By the time Bowser checked back in less than five minutes after leaving, that 12-12 tie had become a 25-15 lead for the Panthers. With Bowser back in, the Paladins finally tried some shots closer to the rim again. Bowser made a layup on this first possession back and Alex Wilkins hit a jumper on the next trip to cut the lead to 25-19. UNI responded with an 11-2 run over the next three minutes before Johnston hit another three to cut the lead to 36-24 at the break.

"We're down 12 at the half and we're 2-for-17 from three. If you're just 5-of-17 from three, which isn't even a good percentage, it's a three-point game at half," Richey said. "You also probably kept them out of transition a little bit, so it might be tied at half and you feel way different about the game."

Furman got the lead down to 10 twice in the second half, but could never slice it to single digits. After a layup by Eddrin Bronson cut the lead to 45-35 with 11:16 left, the Panthers reeled off a 10-0 run over the next three minutes. The Paladins had two turnovers, a missed layup and a missed three during that run. Furman never got within 15 the rest of the way.

Bowser finished with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting, had two blocks and logged 31 minutes as he had only one more foul after the two early ones. Johnston finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds for his third double-double this season. Wilkins had 10 points on 4-14 shooting, including 0-for-9 from three. He also had a game-high four assists.

"Coop played a really good game. It looked like we actually knew what we were doing on offense, getting him the ball more. Instead of five shots, he got 10," Richey said. "He was super efficient and was at minus-3 in a 16-point loss. We need him on the court.

"Of those 31 good shots, 17 were twos. This team is big. We've got to the ball at the rim and get it in the paint."

Trey Campbell scored 18 points, three assists and two steals to lead five players in double-figure scoring for Northern Iowa (3-0).

Furman returns to action at home Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. The Paladins host NAIA member Ohio Christian.