Paladins roll over UNI in Mid-Major showdown

Abijah Franklin had career-highs in points (21) and rebounds (7) in Furman's
98-83 win over Northern Iowa Saturday. Photo courtesy of Furman

Of all the opening weeks of the college basketball season, it'd be hard to find one better than Furman's. The Paladins' offensive barrage continued Saturday with a 98-83 win over Northern Iowa in a Mid-Major showdown at Timmons Arena. In a battle of teams that each earned automatic bids to last season's NCAA Tournament, career-high scoring efforts by Tom House (30) and Abijah Franklin (21) powered Furman (3-0) to the win.

It's the most points allowed in a game by the Panthers since a 109-104 win over Nebraska 31 years ago. The victory avenged Furman's 16-point loss in Cedar Falls, Iowa last season. The Paladins made 4-of-30 three-pointers in that loss, but hit 15-of-33 on Saturday. Another big difference Saturday came at the foul line, where Furman made 31-of-44 free throws after making 6-of-11 against UNI last year. For the season, the Paladins are 70-of-95 (73.7 percent) at the foul line. Last season, it took seven games for Furman to make its 70th free throw.

"It was a great Saturday at Timmons Arena - great crowd, great energy. It was great to have the band there and the students. You could really feel the energy and it was great to see our guys come out with the right mindset," said Furman coach Bob Richey, who returned Saturday after missing the first two games due to illness, during his postgame press conference. "We knew both teams were going to have really good offensive schemes, but we felt like this was going to come down to a defensive battle.

"Their defense is unique. Kyle came from Iowa State and they play that unique defense that Iowa State plays. We haven't really ran up against that a whole lot. ... We really wanted to rely on our spacing and our fundamentals offensively and play through a lot more concept and flow as opposed to sets. I thought that paid off for us."

Despite House's career-high night, he didn't start Furman's scoring with a three-pointer for the first time this season. Instead, a Luka Toews' three began the Paladins' point-fest. After an even opening four minutes, Toews layup at the 15:46 mark gave Furman a lead it never relinquished. That layup was part of a 13-1 run that helped the Paladins build a 19-10 lead.

That lead stretched to as much as 14 in the first half. Franklin's layup with 19 seconds left gave Furman a 44-31 lead at the half. Northern Iowa (2-1) was held to 36.4 percent shooting in the first half, while the Paladins shot 44.4 percent.

Furman shot 51.9 percent from the floor in the second half, including 9-of-18 three-pointers, as its biggest lead grew to 21. Despite scoring 52 points in the second half, the Panthers never got the lead below 11.

"Our first half defense was tremendous, outside of a few late arrivals. Our rebounding was solid, not great, on the defensive glass, but our first shot defense was great," Richey said. "We didn't quite sustain it in the second half, which is a credit to (UNI). They kept fighting, which we knew they would. ... We've got to get to a point where we can take that defense that's really, really good and stretch it over 40 minutes."

House, who drilled 7-of-11 threes, had three assists, a block and a steal to go with his 30-point effort. In addition to his 21-point showing, Franklin also grabbed a career-high seven rebounds, had two steals and no turnovers. Toews finished with 14 points, three assists and no turnovers. Charles Johnston was the other Paladin in double figures as he tallied 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists in 26 minutes before fouling out.

Isaiah Johnson-Arigu scored 20 points in 23 minutes before fouling out to lead UNI. Greyson Uelmen had 15 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals also for the reigning Missouri Valley Conference champion Panthers.

"Tom House had an unbelievable night. He's just playing with a ton of confidence and swagger, and playing the right way," Richey said. "We had 18 assists and only nine turnovers against a defense that really prides itself on turning the ball over a lot. ... Luka was great. Our point guard play, to have zero turnovers in this game, was huge and he scored 14.

"Baba (Franklin) was tremendous. We want to make sure he's efficient. He's a guy that can go get 20 (points) ... and he had 21 on 12 shots tonight. That's a step in the right direction for him."

Furman begins a three-game trip on Wednesday night when it visits Worcester, Mass., to take on Holy Cross (0-2). It will be just the second meeting between the teams. In the consolation game of the Poinsettia Classic at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium on Dec. 30, 1971, the Crusaders topped the Paladins, 104-88. Holy Cross opened the season with road losses at Rhode Island and Villanova.

House earns SoCon honor

Saturday capped a big opening week for House. On Monday, the fifth-year senior was named Southern Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week. House averaged 23 points a game while shooting 63.3 percent from the field, 60 percent from three-point range (12-for-20), and 79.2 percent at the foul line last week.