 |
| Furman's Cole Bowser (6), Ben Vander Wal and Alex Wilkins (10) celebrate. Wilkins had 33 points in the Paladins' win over Chattanooga. Photo courtesy of Furman |
It was deja vu all over again for the Furman basketball team Sunday against Chattanooga. For the second consecutive game, the Paladins saw a big lead nearly get completely erased, allowed far too many offensive rebounds and took a double-digit amount of fewer shots than the opposition. And for the second consecutive game, Eddrin Bronson closed out the scoring with a pair of free throws in the final seconds to seal a five-point Furman win.
On a day in which the Paladins' Cooper Bowser returned to action for the first time since suffering a turf toe injury on Dec. 18, Sunday was also the first chance to show off the new and improved Timmons Arena to an ESPN2 national audience. Unfortunately, said television coverage dictated that the "show must go on" despite the university being closed to the public because of snow and ice left behind in the wake of Saturday's winter storm. That meant only students, faculty and families of players and coaches who could arrive safely were in attendance.
Those fans likely already knew what a national audience found out Sunday - Alex Wilkins is special. The freshman sensation had a career-high 33 points, five assists and two steals to power the Paladins to a 75-70 win. Wilkins made 10-of-16 field goals, including 6-of-8 three-pointers, and 7-of-8 free throws. It was the most points by a Furman freshman since Jonathan Moore's freshman record 34-point effort against Georgia on Dec. 15, 1976.
"In a nationally televised game, we needed some energy. The decision to not let the public come to the game was out of my hands, so you've got to do the best you can with it. We tried to generate as much student awareness on social media as we could and create some kind of atmosphere," Bob Richey said on the Furman Radio Network's postgame show. "I thought the students did a great job. You could really feel them especially when we were making that run in the first half.
"Alex is a little under the weather today and he decided to tell me as the game started. He asked for three subs in the first 14 minutes of the game and I was like, 'what's going on? You can't miss (a shot) out there and you keep asking for subs.' He was like, 'Coach, I'm super congested,' but he's a warrior and a competitor. ... We're putting the ball in his hands and the game on his shoulders in those late, critical moments. To see him deliver, it's just amazing what he's been able to accomplish as a freshman."
While a pair of Furman turnovers in the first 23 seconds of the game helped Chattanooga take a 2-0 lead at the 19:12 mark, the Paladins (16-7, 7-3 Southern Conference) dominated the rest of the half. The Mocs (9-14, 3-7) didn't score again until the 12:32 mark. By that time, Furman had raced out to a 16-2 lead. Bowser's first dunk in his return came off a terrific wrap-around pass by Ben Vander Wal and gave the Paladins their biggest lead at 38-14 with 4:07 left in the first half.
Chattanooga got the lead down to 42-23 at the half and keep whittling away after halftime. A Wilkins' three pushed Furman's lead to 49-30 with 17:33 left. The Mocs responded with a 13-0 run over the next four-and-a-half minutes before Wilkins drilled another three with 13 minutes remaining.
The lead was cut the four with 50 seconds left before Wilkins hit 5-of-6 free throws over Furman's next three possessions. After Chattanooga's Tate Darner made a three to slice the lead to 73-70 with 13 seconds left, Bronson drained a pair of free throws to close out the scoring.
"We needed every bit of that lead that we got. It's pretty obvious that we're struggling with leads right now ... but you've got to play well to get those leads," Richey said. "At the end of the day, this team is 16 wins in right now and right at the top of the league. It doesn't matter how you win the game. We're 7-3 in the league with four freshmen out there. Nobody else is doing that. When you have youth and inexperience, you're going to deal with ups and downs."
Brennan Watkins had 19 points and three steals to lead Chattanooga, while Teddy Washington had 16 points and three steals off the bench. Despite the Mocs having 13 offensive rebounds and Furman seven, Chattanooga had just a 15-11 advantage in second-chance points. Jordan Frison, who scored 25 points when the teams first met this season in Chattanooga, was held to nine points and three turnovers Sunday. That was thanks to the efforts of Furman freshman Cole Bowser.
"It's amazing what Cole is doing. A guy that wasn't even out there a month ago and now we're putting him on their best player," Richey said. "The storyline is Alex Wilkins going for 33 and Cole Bowser guarding their best player. He (Bowser) goes for plus-17, while Frison is at minus-22. ... We've got some of the best freshmen at our level in the whole country and they're growing up right in front of our eyes."
Bronson finished with nine points off the bench, as did Cooper Bowser. After fouling out of the Samford game last Thursday, Vander Wal had seven points, seven rebounds, four assists, two blocks, two steals, one foul and no turnovers.
Bowser was unsurprisingly a little rusty as he went 3-of-5 from the floor to slightly dent his previous national-best 81.2 shooting percentage. Furman's lob game was a little off and the Paladins missed three dunks as a team, but fans were certainly excited to see that style of play back in the mix. Furman shot 50 percent from the floor, including 45 percent (9-of-20) on three-pointers, and 76.2 percent (16-of-21) from the foul line.
Sunday's performance by Wilkins came on the heels of a 20-point showing - in which he made 7-of-9 field goals - in Furman's 78-73 win over Samford last Thursday. Those two outings helped Wilkins earn Furman's first Southern Conference Player of the Week honor this season. Wilkins is averaging 18.7 points and 5.1 assists per game this season. He and Arkansas' Darius Acuff Jr. are the only Division I players to rank among the top 10 freshmen in the nation in points and assists per game.
Furman returns to action Wednesday night when it plays at East Tennessee State at 7 p.m. The Paladins enter Wednesday in a three-way tie for second place in the SoCon. Furman would move into a tie for first place with a victory.
"We're struggling on the glass. We're not able to practice as long. It's literally impossible because we're having to make sure that we're fresh for games. ... We've got to stay healthy and not have any more injuries," Richey said. "We're going to have to figure that out because going up to Johnson City, that's something they're historically good at.
No comments:
Post a Comment