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| Furman senior Ben Vander Wal takes his last shot at another Southern Conference title this weekend in Asheville. Photo courtesy of Furman |
Around 9:30 p.m. Monday night in Asheville, the only Southern Conference men's basketball team on a three-game winning streak will be cutting down the nets at the Harrah's Cherokee Center and be bound for the NCAA Tournament.
Three wins in three days.
That's all it would take for top-seeded East Tennessee State, who wrapped up the outright SoCon regular season two weeks ago and haven't won since. The Buccaneers cut down the nets in celebration of that title after a home loss to Wofford last Wednesday and followed that up with a loss at Mercer last Saturday.
That's all it would take for second-seeded Wofford, whose last three SoCon wins have come since Feb. 7. The Terriers went 2-4 over the last three weeks of the regular season with close wins over last-place VMI and first-place ETSU, before closing it out with a home loss to ninth-seeded Citadel.
That's all it would take for third-seeded Samford, who rocketed up the league standings thanks to a record of 8-1 in February after going 3-6 in January.
That's all it would take for fourth-seeded Mercer, who had a five-game winning streak in January to help go 7-2 that month, but went 4-4 in February.
That's all it would take for fifth-seeded Western Carolina, whose the only team hotter than Samford as it has reeled off six consecutive wins. The Catamounts are the only SoCon team to have swept league champion ETSU, both of which came outside of this streak.
And that's all it would take for sixth-seeded Furman, who wrapped up the regular season last Saturday with its biggest loss since the season opener. After losing their first six SoCon games by a combined total of 15 points, the Paladins have lost their last two by a total of 28.
So who has the edge this weekend in Asheville? Is it one of the top seeds or one of the hottest teams entering the tournament? The answer is clear.
It's nobody.
Who knows what the heck is going to happen this weekend? This time last year, I don't believe anyone was picking sixth-seeded Wofford, who limped into Asheville having lost five of its last six regular season games. But the Terriers were the last team standing.
One of the big things that used to make this tournament fun was the stunning upset when you thought you knew about every team inside and out. In this age of NIL, it's more of a crap shoot which can also be fun. Who knows how well these new teammates perform on the biggest stage and who knows where individual players' focus is. Is it on the team task at hand this weekend or how many dollars you can add to your impending contract with your next school?
The only truly surprising result that could've happened this year already didn't as No. 7-seed UNC Greensboro knocked off last-place VMI, 84-70, Friday night. If anything, I think we might be in store for games like the thriller that opened the tournament Friday evening. In a game that featured 21 lead changes and 26 made three-pointers, The Citadel defeated No. 8-seed Chattanooga, 93-90.
The case against Furman
Furman will try to go 3-0 against Samford for the second consecutive season when the teams meet in the quarterfinals at 6 p.m. Saturday. After sweeping the regular season series last year, the fifth-seeded Paladins eliminated the fourth-seeded Bulldogs in the opening round. Furman went on to defeat top-seeded Chattanooga before falling to Wofford in the title game.
Furman coach Bob Richey has maintained all season that this is the weekend that truly matters in this one NCAA bid league. While everyone wants to win in the regular season and position themselves well seeding-wise, Richey also tries to use it to figure out the best lineups and ways to win this weekend.
If the tournament is like a final exam, the Paladins enter it coming off an "F" on its last test. Furman (19-12) had every result needed last Saturday to elevate to the No. 2 seed this weekend, except its own. On a night when Furman shot 55 percent from the floor, including 67 percent in the second half, the Paladins somehow got trucked by Western Carolina, 86-67. It was Furman's first double-digit loss in SoCon play and its most lopsided since a 97-71 loss to High Point in the season opener.
Furman jumped out to a 10-2 lead last Saturday and led 14-5 six-and-a-half minutes in. After Western tied the game at 16, the Paladins went on a 10-4 run. However, the Catamounts answered by ending the half on a 17-4 run to take a 37-30 lead into halftime.
The Paladins got the lead down to three in the second half but could never got closer. Western seemed to always have an answer, many of which came following offensive rebounds. The Catamounts had a 40-26 advantage in rebounding. Of those 40, 14 were offensive boards which led to a 24-4 edge in second-chance points for Western. Despite having 46 points in the paint, Furman also had no fast break points and two points off of the Catamounts' four turnovers.
"You've got to be able to box them out. They take a lot of pride in that. They did an unbelievable job rebounding," Richey said following the game. "We gave them 17 offensive rebounds in Greenville and unfortunately, it wasn't any better today."
It was a 10-point game with six minutes to play before Western went on another 17-4 run to put the game away.
Perhaps the biggest case against Furman this weekend is inconsistency, whether shooting-wise on offense or overall defense. The Western game followed a blowout win over The Citadel in which the Paladins allowed just 51 points and had a 50-20 rebounding advantage.
Oddly enough, the Paladins seemed to be playing their most consistent basketball when they were at their thinnest injury-wise. Now that Furman is as healthy as its been all year, some players haven't been able to recapture the level they were playing at, especially defensively.
"You've got to control the things that you are able to do. For us, we've got to guard the ball, block people out, play clean offense without turning the ball over and take good shots," Richey said. "If we do those four things, we're a pretty dang good ball club.
"If we don't want to guard the ball, don't want to block out, don't want to take care of the ball and don't want to take great shots, we're average. We've got to decide. ... This week, we've got to eliminate losing play. ... This week is kind of like a bye week and man, we need it. We need a combination of rest and some real good, contact practices."
The case for Furman
Maybe the best case for Furman this weekend is that it's played its best when folks have least expected it. After a tough overtime loss to Western on Jan. 3, the Paladins reeled off three consecutive wins starting at preseason league favorite Chattanooga.
Following back-to-back, gut-punch losses in which Furman blew huge leads against Wofford and Citadel, the Paladins traveled from Charleston to Greensboro with one less day to prepare thanks to a winter storm. With only seven healthy scholarship players available, Furman routed UNCG, 89-66, to start another three-game win streak.
Following a three-game losing skid, the Paladins won three out of four. That included vengeful wins in a hostile environment at Wofford and the home blowout of Citadel.
There's also the feel-good case of loyalty. It's believed that Furman's Ben Vander Wal and ETSU's Allen Strothers are the only two seniors in this tournament who've been with their teams since day one of college. The Paladins would certainly love for Vander Wal's loyalty to pay off like Mike Bothwell and Jalen Slawson's did three years ago.
"It all comes down to matchups. ... All these teams are split by a couple of hairs. ... The portal has led to a lot more parity in these levels and to the fan, that's what makes it fun," Richey said. "It's going to be a heck of a tournament. We've just got to have a great week of prep, flip this page pretty quick and go out there and give it our best shot."
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