Paladins go cold as ETSU completes sweep

Charles Johnston had his 10th double-double this season Wednesday,
but Furman fell to ETSU, 78-69. Photo courtesy of Furman

So that's the difference between first and last.

After shooting the lights out in a blowout win at the Southern Conference's last-place team last Saturday, Furman shot like the lights were out against the league's first-place team Wednesday. The Paladins shot 35 percent from the floor, including 18.2 percent (6-of-33) on three-pointers, in a 78-69 loss to East Tennessee State before a sellout crowd at Timmons Arena. It's the first loss by more than five points in a SoCon game this year for Furman (17-11, 8-7).

In a game in which the Paladins: made more free throws than ETSU attempted, had no players with four fouls for the first time since Jan. 10, committed fewer turnovers and won the rebounding battle, the difference came from beyond the arc. The Buccaneers (20-8, 12-3) made 50 percent (12-of-24) of their threes, including 7-of-11 in the second half. Most of those seven came in a key five-minute flurry that helped ETSU secure its first season sweep of Furman since the 1993-94 season.

"It was a hard-fought game, but they shot the cover off the ball in the second half and unfortunately, we didn't. I hurt for our guys. They're playing hard and competing," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "I know they care, but 6-for-33 from three? It's a hard game when you just can't get the ball to go in.

"It's going to be hard to find a boxscore anywhere in the country where you win the free throw line, you win the paint, you win the glass, you win the turnover battle and you lose. But it also shows you why it's called basketball. The ball has to go in the basket."

Furman was coming off a 90-point performance at VMI in which it made 13 threes and shot 52.5 percent overall for the game, including 60.7 percent in the second half. Much of that second-half shooting success came thanks to going 12-for-12 on two-pointers.

It quickly became evident that ETSU was a different animal despite playing without its leading rebounder and second-leading scorer Blake Barkley, who was on the sidelines in a walking boot. The Paladins made just five of its first 17 shots, including four missed layups. Furman ended up shooting 31.3 percent in the first half and made just 3-of-10 layups and dunks.

The Bucs could not take advantage though as they had offensive issues of their own in the first half, thanks to another impressive showing by Furman's defense. One of the maddening aspects of this rut in which the Paladins have lost four of their last five games is the fact that they've played their best defense of the season during it. When the teams met in Johnson City two weeks earlier, ETSU quickly erased a 15-point second half deficit by basically running a layup drill on a loop in a four-minute span and went on to an overtime victory.

In Wednesday's first half, the Bucs were nearly as pitiful as Furman at the rim and they made 4-of-11 layups. After taking a 25-19 lead with 6:57 left, ETSU went 3-of-12 the rest of the half as the game was tied 34-34 at the break.

Despite missing 22 shots, including 14 threes, in the opening half the Paladins were even at the break because that's what they seem to always do. Furman has trailed at the half only three times since Nov. 14, which could be a positive, but it really just highlights the team's struggles after halftime.

There were no troubles early on in the second half Wednesday. Furman's first points came on dunks by Ben Vander Wal and Cooper Bowser to get the crowd going. Tom House's three-pointer gave Furman a 45-41 lead with 14:27 left. Meanwhile, ETSU started the second half by going 2-for-10 from the floor with four missed layups.

But then it happened - the five-minute span in which everything that can go wrong goes wrong for the Paladins. It always encompasses the midway point of the second half and has happened in nearly every game for the past month.

From the 14:07 mark to the 9:26 mark, the Bucs made seven consecutive shots. Each of the last five of those were three-pointers as ETSU went on a 20-4 run to take a 61-49 lead. Three of those five threes came from Milton Matthews, a reserve who entered Wednesday averaging 4.2 points and 9.1 minutes played per game.

After consecutive jumpers by Bowser and Asa Thomas cut the lead to eight, the Bucs responded with three consecutive baskets. ETSU never led by less than seven the rest of the way and took its biggest lead at 74-61 on Matthews' sixth three-pointer with two minutes to play. After making 14-of-41 field goals over the first 26 minutes of the game, the Bucs hit 12-of-17 the rest of the way.

"We took such better care of the ball. We had nine turnovers tonight after 22 or 23 up there. I thought we got good quality looks (on shots). We're up 45-41 and got two wide open looks. I mean they were HORSE shots. We miss both," Richey said. "Then they go down and make 5-for-5 from three. ... You've got to give them credit. They're playing with a ton of confidence right now.

"I've got to help our guys somehow. Most of the time, our teams play with a lot of confidence. Unfortunately, we don't have the collective confidence right now."

Matthews, who had scored a grand total of 25 points in SoCon play prior to Wednesday and not been in double figures since the season opener against Converse, led ETSU with 18 points on his 6-of-9 three-point shooting effort. Brian Taylor had 17 points and eight rebounds, while leading scorer Cam Morris added 12 points and seven rebounds. Jaylen Smith came off the bench to post eight points and eight of the Bucs' 11 assists.

Ironically, Matthews might not have played much at all if not for Barkley's injury. It was an unexpected twist that ended up tormenting Furman.

"They spaced us out more without Barkley out there. Even though he's one of the better post players in the league, it would've been a little bit easier for us defensively with Chuck (Charles Johnston) and Coop (Cooper Bowser) out there to play their two (bigs). They basically played with four guards a lot tonight," Richey said. "That put us in a position where we couldn't play Chuck and Coop together quite as much. ... We had no prep on that. We just saw him (Barkley) out in the boot before the game. But that's no excuse for us not being able to guard them from the three-point line."

Following a few tough games scoring-wise, Alex Wilkins had a game-high 21 points for the Paladins. He also drew eight fouls, only committed two, had three assists and only had three turnovers after suffering 11 at ETSU. Johnston posted his 10th double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Vander Wal had a game-high 11 boards.

Bowser, who was leading the country in field goal percentage before suffering his injury earlier this season, finished with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting. He also had five rebounds, two blocked shots and was at minus-15 on the plus-minus chart. ETSU did a good job of fronting Bowser and deflecting or dissuading a couple of lobs, but Bowser might've had more shots had he gotten an offensive rebound. On a night in which Furman missed 39 field goals and the Bucs were missing their leading rebounder, he somehow could not grab one of the Paladins' 13 offensive boards.

Furman returns to action Saturday at rival Wofford at 7 p.m. The Paladins will try to exorcise some demons as this second-half slide trend started against the Terriers in Greenville on Jan. 17. Furman led that game 59-46 with less than 10 minutes to play before losing, 74-70.