Furman suffers "embarrassing" loss at Ole Miss

Furman's Carson Jones completed 15-of-25 passes for 119
yards Saturday at Ole Miss. Photo courtesy of Furman

For a young Furman secondary - that got younger in the last couple of weeks, opening the season at Ole Miss had the makings of a nightmare scenario. I don't think anyone could've imagined just how Freddy Krueger-like the Rebels would be. Ole Miss entered parts of the Furman record book that haven't been touched in years in a 76-0 win Saturday night in Oxford, Miss.

It's the most points the Paladins have allowed since a 77-14 Davidson win in the "football for fun" non-scholarship days of 1969. It's the fifth-most lopsided loss in Furman history, the most lopsided since an 81-0 loss to Army in 1955. To put it in more recent perspective, the Paladins' defense allowed more touchdowns (10) Saturday night than it did over the final seven games (9) of last season.

"I'm embarrassed. Embarrassed by the job I did in getting our guys ready to play. ... I'm just disappointed in how we self-destructed in the first half," Furman coach Clay Hendrix said on the Furman Radio Network's postgame show. "I didn't see anybody quit. They hung in there and fought."

After making the eight-hour bus ride from Greenville to Ole Miss, the Paladins faced a quarterback who could scoff as such humble means of transportation. One of Jaxson Dart's NIL deal partners is Nicholas Air, which allows him access to their full fleet of private jets to "travel with family, for training and to support his philanthropic efforts." That's only one of Dart's deals, which have a total NIL valuation of $1.3 million according to digital media company On3.

So Dart is compensated like a pro quarterback and on Saturday night, he played like one. He completed 22-of-27 passes for 418 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions, while rushing six times for 31 yards and a score. By the way, that was all in the first half. The Rebels missed a 53-yard field goal as time expired to settle for a 52-0 lead at halftime, at which point Dart clocked out for the night.

Going into this season, Furman was tasked with replacing its entire starting secondary as well as a few experienced reserves there. That task got tougher as preseason camp went along as Justin Hartwell and A.K. Burrell both suffered season-ending knee injuries. Both had chances of starting this season.

Dart, who played as a freshman at Southern Cal in 2021 before transferring to Ole Miss, spread the wealth to a bevy of talented receivers. They were led by Louisiana Tech transfer Tre Harris ($613,000 NIL valuation), who caught eight passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns. Cayden Lee had four catches for 78 yards and a touchdown. Caden Prieskorn ($334,000 NIL valuation), a 6-foot-6 tight end who transferred from Memphis and will turn 25 this month, had three catches for 77 yards and a score. In his first game with the Rebels, South Carolina transfer Juice Wells ($377,000 NIL valuation) caught two passes for 70 yards, including a 61-yard score.

"I knew that was a brutally tough matchup. Obviously, we won't face anybody close to that talented," Hendrix said. "The two safeties that were out hurt us, but we just didn't play up to our standard. Regardless of what the score is, that's what really matters." 

All those bombs helped open up running lanes for the Rebels, who finished with 243 yards rushing. Their ground game was led by Matt Jones, who carried three times for 68 yards and two touchdowns. Ole Miss also got a touchdown run from 325-pound defensive tackle J.J. Pegues ($293,000 NIL valuation), a transfer from Auburn. Pegues had four tackles, including two tackles-for-loss, on defense.

Ole Miss averaged 9.4 yards per play and finished with 772 yards of total offense, obliterating the previous record set by a Furman opponent. That was set two years ago when the Paladins defeated Western Carolina 47-40, despite 691 yards put up by the Catamounts. The Rebels also had 37 first downs.

Meanwhile, Furman was held to 172 yards of total offense and seven first downs. The Paladins had 30 rushing attempts for just 26 yards and were 3-of-17 on third down. Carson Jones got the starting nod at quarterback and made some nice throws early on. He finished with 119 yards on 15-of-25 passing with an interception. Freshman Trey Hedden came on in the second half and completed 5-of-8 passes for 27 yards. They were both sacked twice.

Joshua Harris had three catches for 59 yards, while Florida State transfer Joshua Burrell had two receptions for 43 yards. Myion Hicks led the Paladins in rushing with six carries for 23 yards, including a long of 19.

"We've just got to be better at finding ways to get off the field (defensively) and stay on the field (offensively)," Hendrix said. "We didn't do either one very well. We will learn from it, get better as coaches and move forward."

Furman (0-1) hosts Charleston Southern (0-1) in the home opener next Saturday at 6 p.m. The Buccaneers are coming off a 22-21 loss to The Citadel in which they missed a field goal as time expired after seeing a 21-3 third quarter lead disappear.

Paladins believe offense can be explosive

Furman receiver Joshua Harris
Photo courtesy of Furman

While there will be plenty of new faces on both sides of the ball when FCS No. 12 Furman opens the 2024 football season at FBS No. 6 Ole Miss Saturday night, Paladins coach Clay Hendrix believes the offense has a chance to be more potent this season and he expects the defense to be solid as usual.

"I like this group. I think we've got a chance to be pretty good on defense and our offense has been able to stretch the field on them a little more with different things we're doing," Hendrix said. "I think we're more explosive offensively than we've been in awhile."

For the first time that I can recall, there was no depth chart within the Furman notes for this week's game. I don't think this was an accident seeing as how Ole Miss never released one either. It's a new tradition for some big time programs thanks to folks like national championship and oft-suspended for cheating coach Jim Harbaugh.

While you can't find a depth chart on the Rebels' football website, you can be reminded to donate to the players' fund via a pop-up ad that takes up the entire screen after virtually every click. Because how do you expect Ole Miss to compete in NIL contract negotiations with free agents with SEC schools only receiving $21 million apiece in TV revenue this year?

Anyway, the Rebels added 20 players from the transfer portal this season so there will be a lot of new faces on their sideline as well.

Based on conversations and what I've seen in practices this month, here's some of my best guesses at how things have shaken out on Furman's depth chart along with some overall thoughts about both sides of the ball.

Offense

Undoubtedly the most talked about competition this offseason has come at quarterback, where there's been a trio competing to replace Tyler Huff. Hendrix said sophomore Carson Jones, freshman Trey Hedden and redshirt freshman Nehuel Garcia had good preseason camps. As camp ended and more game-week practices ensued a week-and-a-half ago, Jones and Hedden got the majority of snaps.

"All three of those guys got better in August. I don't think there's been a great separation," Hendrix said. "Carson's probably been the most consistent, but he should be based on experience. ... Trey's not a typical true freshman because he's been here all spring."

If you've watched Furman football at all over the years you probably expect Jones to start against the Rebels. On a Saturday night in an SEC stadium, I think the guy who's had a little bit of big-game experience gets the call. I do expect Hedden to play and maybe Garcia as well.

All-Southern Conference second team preseason pick Joshua Harris has confidence in all three.

"I'm not worried about who's throwing me the ball because that competition has made all of them better," Harris said. "We've been working together on our precision and timing and I'm fully confident in all of our quarterbacks."

Speaking of Harris, I think this group of wide receivers has the chance to be Furman's best in quite awhile. Harris is poised for a true breakout year, while Colton Hinton has the speed and Ben Ferguson the hands to make big plays.

Two that could be in that mix as well are redshirt freshman Devin Hester Jr. (no, he's not related to the new NFL Hall of Famer) and 6-foot-4, 200-pound John Holbrook.

"Devin's more of a Colton Hinton type of a true dynamic slot receiver," Hendrix said. "Holbrook's had a really good August. He's a big target who runs well and catches well."

While Hendrix didn't name a starter at quarterback, he did name who would be snapping the ball to whatever quarterback. Redshirt freshman Chris Luna will start at center. While the Paladins will be replacing linemen that combined for 112 starts, they still have some experienced guys lining up with Luna.

Those include guards Ryan Lamb and Luke Petit, who's returning from a season-ending knee injury suffered against Samford in week six of 2023. I think Blake Hundley and Eli Brasher, a sophomore who was in the rotation last year before getting injured, will be the starting tackles. Hundley and guard E.J. Wilson are the veteran leaders of the group.

It's quite rare that a true freshman lineman sees the field for the Paladins, but Steven O'Dell has that chance. Hendrix said O'Dell might play whether he's ready to or not. From watching him at Broome High, I've seen O'Dell move well for a big guy but now he's mobility is even better. After reporting to Furman at 6-foot-7 and 302 pounds, he's down to 294 according to Hendrix.

Look for sophomore Brock Chappell to be Furman's "blocking" tight end, while Florida State transfer Joshua Burrell could be the big pass catcher. That position has proven to be a fruitful one recently with guys like Ryan Miller and Mason Pline getting shots in the NFL.

"I think that success is what attracted (Burrell). He knows he's not a traditional wideout and not a traditional tight end," Hendrix said. "He's got two years (of eligibility) here too."

Myion Hicks and Grant Robinson are fully healthy and ready to carry the load at running back. Former wide receiver Bailor Hughes and true freshman Gavin Hall could also be in the mix there. Unfortunately, Jayquan Smith will miss all of this season after suffering a devastating knee injury that ended his 2023 season one week into October.

"I've been really, really pleased with our running back group," Hendrix said. "I think they're going to make for some lighter boxes. Later in the year last year, defenses were going to make Huff beat them throwing it."

Health of the running backs and offensive line will be the biggest key to Furman's offensive success in my opinion. By the end of last season, every running back was banged up.

Defense

Much like the offensive front, Furman's defensive line looks to overcome losses in personnel with other experienced players thanks to defensive coordinator Duane Vaughn's many rotations. That group will be led by senior Xavier Stephens at noseguard and Jeremiah Jackson at end. I expect sophomore Malachi Harrison to join them at tackle.

After testing the waters of the transfer portal, Luke Clark decided to stay at Furman where he led one of the best defenses in the country in sacks last season. Clark at bandit and Evan DiMaggio at middle linebacker look to be the leaders on defense. The bandit spot did take a hit in the spring when Alex Maier, who's made some big plays off the bench, was lost for the year due to injury.

"Playing a lot of guys definitely helps just being able to stay fresh and rotate a lot," DiMaggio said. "Now that we have a younger team, I don't know if we'll be able to rotate as much, but I think that's helped us have good depth at a lot of positions."

The biggest question mark on defense comes in the secondary, where guys that accounted 140 starts and 29 interceptions have departed. I think redshirt freshman Jaylan Moson and sophomore Charles Ingram will start at cornerback and they will certainly have their work cut out for them at Ole Miss.

"I think the guys we have might even have a little more talent than guys we've had, but just don't have tons of game experience," Hendrix said. "We almost played Jaylan Moson last year, but we just didn't have to."

Hendrix said Maurice "Mo" Perkins, a graduate transfer from Division II Midwestern State, can play or spur and figures to play quite a bit wherever he lines up. I expect Caleb Williams and Tre' McLeod to start at the safety spots. Jalen Tate, a Greenville native and a graduate transfer from Georgia State, should also be in the mix at safety.

DiMaggio said he's not a very vocal guy, but he's tried to be a little bit more of one as new leader this season. He said the key for Furman sustaining its defensive success is to keep playing as a unit.

"Everybody depends on each other to do their job. We trust each other to fly around to the ball," DiMaggio said. "Nobody's going to be left out to dry. We just all crowd the ball, chase after it and do our job."

Special teams

It look likes Ian Williams will have the trifecta of handling foot duties at place kicker, kickoffs and punter. He's boomed punts like he does kickoffs in preseason practice. I think Harris will be the punt returner and Colton Hinton will be the primary kick returner.

Gameday

As of Saturday morning, Furman was a 42.5-point underdog, but the Paladins are a confident group. After playing in places like Clemson, South Carolina and even Montana to an extent, Furman certainly should not be intimidated.

"For us, it's just about assignments, whether you're playing Ole Miss or Samford," Hendrix said. "I say Samford because they (Ole Miss) do a lot of similar things. It's the same kind of stuff just with a little more talented players. If you turn a guy loose, anybody can complete it.

"It's just a matter of can you be sound in how you play. You just have to make them beat you. You can't just give them stuff."

Harris said a key is to treat it as just another game. At the same time, he hopes to take advantage of the opportunity a big stage presents.

"They might be bigger. They might be faster. But at the end of the day, they have to guard me and I have to run routes against them," Harris said. "For me personally, I have aspirations and dreams to go to the next level. In my eyes, this game is an opportunity for everybody on the team to put their name out there."

The 119th season of Furman football begins at 7 p.m. Saturday night. The game will be televised by the SEC Network+ and carried on ESPN+.

No. 12 Furman has earned national respect

Joshua Harris (2) is one of seven returning starters for Furman, which is
ranked No. 12 entering the 2024 season. Photo courtesy of Furman 

There are plenty of shoes to fill as Furman prepares for the 2024 football season. The Paladins return only seven starters (out of 24 positions) from a Southern Conference championship team that went 10-3 last season, which culminated in a heartbreaking overtime loss at Montana in the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs.

But don't mention the word "rebuilding" around the team. At the very least, don't mention it around Furman coach Clay Hendrix.

"Obviously, we have an abnormally high number of guys (not back this season) but you lose players every year. I don't like that 'rebuild' term because rebuilding gives a sense of falling down," Hendrix said at the SoCon Media Day event. "We're not rebuilding. We've been building since we've been here. I think we're kind of built for this."

Entering Hendrix's eighth season as head coach at his alma mater, it appears the program has built into a national power once again. A program where expectations are to compete for SoCon and FCS national titles every season, no matter the losses in personnel.

Evidence of that feeling carrying beyond Greenville came Monday. As the Paladins began their first full week of practicing in full pads in preseason camp, the FCS Stats Perform (media) preseason poll was announced and Furman is ranked 12th. While the Paladins finished sixth in last season's final poll, a No. 12 ranking is respectable for a team that doesn't return it's starting quarterback, starting running back, four starting offensive linemen and 11 of its 15 leading tacklers from a year ago.

For a comparison to previous teams coming off a SoCon title, Furman was ranked 19th in the 2019 preseason poll and No. 21 entering the 2014 season.

The poll also reflects that the SoCon may finally be regaining some respect that seemingly evaporated the second Appalachian State and Georgia Southern left for the FBS' greener pastures of Wednesday night games and conference road trips to Texas.

Chattanooga enters this season ranked ninth. The Mocs were picked to win the league title this year, while Furman was second in the preseason coaches poll. There's no longer a SoCon preseason media poll because why would the league want media attention, I guess. Western Carolina is ranked 20th, while Mercer and Samford also received votes.

Those ranked teams will have a chance to further strengthen views of the SoCon this September. Furman's non-conference schedule includes a trip to 15th-ranked William and Mary on Sept. 21, while Western Carolina visits No. 3 Montana on Sept. 21. That trip comes a week after the Catamounts play at Elon, which was the leader among others receiving votes - three points shy of ranking 25th.

Chattanooga's non-conference schedule begins with FBS games at Tennessee and Georgia State to start the season before hosting Portland State to end September. Portland State has been a mediocre FBS program the past few years, but it plays in the exalted Big Sky Conference where teams like Eastern Washington - which lost to Portland State last year - receive 14 votes for the preseason Top 25 after going 4-7 last season.

If you don't think preseason polls matter, think again - at least in the world of the FCS. As the Paladins know all too well from building the program back up, it seems to be a whole lot simpler staying in the polls than getting in the polls.

Furman's most notable position battle this preseason obviously comes at quarterback, where SoCon Offensive Player of the Year and Furman Male Athlete of the Year Tyler Huff has departed to spend his final season of eligibility at Jacksonville State.

It appears the two leading candidates to take over as starting quarterback are redshirt sophomore Carson Jones and freshman Trey Hedden. Jones had some ups (at Chattanooga) and downs (at Wofford) late last season when pressed into duty because of an injury to Huff. At 6-foot-3 and 231 pounds, Hedden is a big-armed QB with legs like running back Dominic Roberto - another graduated star gone from last season. That combination makes for an exciting prospect.

"I think the strength of the guys we have right now (at quarterback) is the ability to get the ball down the field," Hendrix said. "And we've got as talented a receiver group as we've had. ... Seeing a few more balls thrown down the field only helps the run game. It helps a lot of things."

Another spot to watch this preseason is the defensive backfield. With all the defensive rotations that Furman makes, there are a number of non-starters that still have quite a bit of playing experience returning. That's not so much the case in the secondary though. If you include spurs like Cally Chizik, there are nine defensive backs gone from last season.

As Hendrix has mentioned in the past, this time of year pretty much everyone is in competition. There are no guarantees based on playing time in the past.

"Everybody's got their chance. We were sitting here (at Media Day) two years ago and nobody knew who Tyler Huff was," Hendrix said. "I really like our group. They've done everything we've asked them to do to go have a good August.

"We've got some really talented young guys who could've played a year ago, but we just didn't have to play them. ... I'm excited to get out and watch them play."

A total of 117 Paladins are in preseason camp. Among those are 23 sophomores and 63 freshmen. Following Fan Day on Saturday, Aug. 17, Furman will transition more into a season mode of practice as it prepares for it's season opener at FBS' sixth-ranked Ole Miss on Aug. 31.

Eight Paladins make preseason All-SoCon

Along with the coaches poll, the All-SoCon preseason team was announced at Media Day and eight Furman players were recognized by the league's coaches.

Offensive lineman Luke Petit and defensive lineman Xavier Stephens made the first team, along with kicker Ian Williams and return specialist Colton Hinton. Paladins on the second team include running back Grant Robinson, wide receiver Joshua Harris and linebackers Luke Clark and Evan DiMaggio.

Paladins oust Catamounts in another classic

Furman's PJay Smith knocks the ball away from Western Carolina's Russell Jones as the final seconds
expire in the Paladins' 79-76 win at the SoCon Tournament Saturday. Photo courtesy of Furman

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Much like The Godfather and The Terminator, somehow the sequel was even better than the amazing original. After a thrilling overtime battle in the Southern Conference Tournament semifinals last season, Furman and Western Carolina put on another overtime classic in the SoCon Tournament quarterfinals Saturday.

Once again, the Paladins found a way to advance. Unlike last year when Furman had to battle back after blowing an 18-point second half lead, the Paladins had to withstand a blistering shooting start by the Catamounts Saturday. Furman trailed by as many as 12 in the first half before rallying for the 79-76 overtime win. The fifth-seeded Paladins (17-15) advance to face top-seeded Samford in Sunday's semifinals at 4 p.m.

"What an unbelievable college basketball game. I've been trying to tell everybody how good this league is. I just don't think people understand it. I don't think they've understood it for years. But the high quality of basketball, you saw it on display from noon to tonight," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "Give (Western Carolina coach) Justin (Gray) a lot of credit. I've got a lot of respect for Justin and we've had some classics with them."

There were tons of storylines Saturday, but none bigger than the job Furman's defense did on SoCon Player of the Year Vonterius Woolbright and the turnaround it pulled off. With four minutes left in the first half, Western held a 40-28 lead and was shooting 72.7 percent from the floor. They were shooting like that with no points from Woolbright. He had seven assists and five missed shots before making his first with 52 seconds left in the half. That was the Catamounts' final points of the half as they took a 42-40 lead into the break.

It was like Western picked up where they left off in last Wednesday's home win over Furman when it shot over 60 percent in the second half and scored 55 points that half. But after that four-minute mark left in the first half in which the Catamounts were 16-of-22 from the floor - including 8-of-13 on three-pointers, they made just 15-of-40 (37.5 percent) shots the rest of the way - including 0-for-6 on threes.

"We knew coming into the game that we were going to have to do a much better job on Woolbright. ... Give our team a lot of credit. To have a player that good score 11 points on 14 shots and turn him over six times, that's why we were able to win the game," Richey said. "We were able to survive an incredible shooting display by (Kamar) Robertson and (Tre) Jackson to start the game. It felt like they were hitting everything, but our players kept fighting.

"I couldn't be more proud of our team. Every single person that played did something to help us win. That's the power of the unit. That's how Furman won and that's how we will always win. ... When this team guards we can beat a lot of people. Once we got transition defense shored up after the first five minutes of the game and once we did a much better job guarding their shooters, you saw an unbelievable defensive effort that allowed us to get a classic victory."

The other major storylines Saturday were redemption and classic Furman "team" basketball. Those two things went hand in hand.

J.P. Pegues was his typical phenomenal self with a game-high 28 points thanks in part to making 6-of-11 three-pointers. Dating back to his game-winning three against Virginia in last year's NCAA Tournament, Pegues' reputation for making clutch shots has only grown as he has added more throughout this season.

Western knows fully well about Pegues exploits in the final seconds and were defending him as such. So Pegues relied on his teammates in those final moments on Saturday. It's a pretty safe bet that nobody had who those teammates would be on their bingo card. The game was tied at 67 with 38 seconds left in regulation when Pegues found Garrett Hien for a go-ahead layup and a foul.

Hien missed the free throw and Woolbright drove all the way to the bucket and hit a layup with his non-shooting hand to tie the game at 69-69 with 29 seconds left. After calling timeout with 17 seconds left, Carter Whitt replaced Hien as the Paladins went with a small lineup. As Furman played for the final shot, Pegues for Whitt for a layup that he couldn't get to fall and overtime commenced.

Essentially the same scenario came about in overtime. After Pegues hit a three, the Paladins led 74-71 with three minutes left. Woolbright answered back getting a circus shot to foul while drawing Hien's fifth foul. Woolbright made the free throw to tie the game with 2:47 left. Once again, Whitt came in after Hien fouled out.

Marcus Foster and Woolbright exchanged layups to leave the game tied 76-76 with less than a minute to play. Foster got the ball down low and drew a double team, so he fired to Pegues on the perimeter. Once again, Pegues quickly drew a double team as well and once again, he fired a pass to Whitt for a layup. Whitt came through this time with what turned out to be the game-winner with 47 seconds left.

"That's just the trust and confidence that we have in each other," Pegues said. "Like coach said, there were some plays like on the pass to Garrett Hien where I could've shot it, but I trust him so much I can live with the results with the ball in his hands at a time like that. I feel like that confidence that instills in him helps our team overall."

After Russell Jones missed a layup on the other end, Whitt came away with the rebound. Alex Williams got caught in a trap before midcourt and despite Richey signaling for a timeout with 21 on the shot clock, it got to 20 and Furman turned it over on the 10-second violation. Undaunted, Williams brilliantly defended Woolbright who couldn't get his layup to fall and Foster grabbed the rebound. After Foster hit 1-of-2 free throws, the Catamounts had one more chance trailing 79-76 with 13 seconds left.

Jones' three-pointer from the top of the key missed to the left and went off Foster, who tapped it towards Whitt. Whitt tapped it forward and PJay Smith hit the deck to tap it further away from Western's bucket. Just after the ball crossed midcourt, Williams finally corralled the rebound and glided towards Furman's basket as the final clock expired.

"I thought we had as good a practice on Wednesday and Thursday as we've had in this calendar year. Probably going back to October actually. I challenged our team coming off that Mercer game, but we didn't watch any of it. We just moved on because we know why we didn't win that game," Richey said. "We didn't play good second half defense in Cullowhee or in Greenville (against Mercer in the last week of the regular season). We gave up 103 points in two second halves. Tonight we give up 27 in the second half. It's a choice and that's life. You've got to make to the decision to do hard things and tonight we did that.

"We got the boxscore (at the under-four timeout in the first half). I told them 'they're shooting over 70 percent and you're only down nine. We can shut this thing down or we can go out there and get this defense better.' And PJay Smith's defense from that timeout forward was incredible. They didn't make a three-pointer from that point on. That was the final 29 minutes without a three and that was part of the game plan."

Furman's last basket in the final seconds of regulation which led to overtime was by Hien, who finished with six points, five rebounds, four assists and no turnovers in more than 25 minutes - his biggest playing time in four games. Hien was involved in a kerfuffle with Furman trailing 40-31 in the first half. It wasn't bad enough to draw any technical fouls, but it certainly seemed to spark something in Furman as it got the lead down to two by the half.

With just over two minutes left in regulation, Hien was in the middle of a huge sequence that began with Furman trailing 67-63. As Foster got a shot to fall, Hien and Western's Charles Lampton were fighting for rebounding position when Hien took a shot to the throat and fell to the court. After video review, the foul was deemed flagrant. While Hien missed both technical free throws, Furman retained possession and Foster hit another floater in the paint to tie the game.

Furman's winning basket was by Whitt, who played less than four minutes in the regular season finale last Saturday. He finished with four points, two assists, two steals and no turnovers in 15 minutes. It was Whitt's first game with more than one steal since he had four in the win over Western Carolina in Greenville on Jan. 20.

Furman's game-sealing rebound and run out was by Williams, who had played anywhere from 11 to 24 minutes off the bench in the final three games after serving a three-game suspension for a violation of team rules. Williams had eight points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals in 36 minutes off the bench. The only game in which Williams played longer this season was Furman's double overtime loss at Tulane.

"Just unbelievable grit by Alex Williams on defense. I couldn't be more proud of him," Richey said. "He had the guts to take the three in transition in a tie game. He missed it, but he continued to just get stops. ... To see him play that hard with everything he's been through, it was incredible."

In addition to Pegues (28), Foster (18) and Smith (12) also reached double figures for the Paladins. Foster also grabbed seven rebounds, while Smith had essentially a perfect game. Smith was 5-for-5 from the floor with a pair of threes, and also had three steals, two assists and no turnovers. Cooper Bowser had all three of Furman's blocked shots including two huge ones back-to-back on one Western possession.

Furman had only six turnovers and outside of Hien, no other Paladin had more than one foul. Furman outscored Western 15-7 on points off turnovers. The Paladins also somehow had an 11-4 advantage in second-chance points despite having only six offensive rebounds while Western grabbed nine.

Woolbright finished 5-of-14 from the floor, but still barely missed his fifth triple-double as he had 11 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Robertson had 17 points, while Jackson scored 15 to lead Western (22-10).

After wrapping up Saturday's night win around 10:45 p.m., Furman's attention had to quickly turn to preparing for regular season champions who they split with this season. Samford wrapped up its quarterfinal win Saturday about nine hours earlier than the Paladins thanks to the new structure of the tournament schedule this season.

"We've just got to go home, get to bed and get to our plan. We've already got a play. We know how we want to play tomorrow," Richey said. "We get past this win the same way we got past last year. That was a semifinal game last year and we had to regroup and get ready for the championship game and we will do the same thing. Everybody's going to make a big deal about the game time ... but at the end of the day, (Sunday's) going to be two really good teams squaring off in a really high-level semifinal game."

Paladins hope to regain championship form

Furman will try to win back-to-back Southern Conference Tournament
championships this weekend in Asheville. Photo courtesy of Furman

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The Furman men's basketball team is experienced enough to know everything it takes to be successful at the Southern Conference Tournament. The Paladins arrived in Asheville this weekend with hopes of making the championship for a third consecutive season and becoming the first SoCon team to cut down the nets in back-to-back seasons since Wofford in 2015.

The fifth-seeded Paladins (16-15) are also smart enough to know one thing that absolutely won't work this weekend. That is any defensive effort like they gave in the final week of the regular season. Western Carolina and Mercer each shot better than 60 percent in their respective second halves to send Furman into the tourney on a two-game losing streak. The loss to the Bears last Saturday completed a season sweep for Mercer, which had lost each of the previous 18 games in the series. It also gave the Paladins two SoCon losses at Timmons Arena this season. Furman had lost only three SoCon games at home over the previous four seasons combined.

Losing two straight and three of your last four isn't an ideal way to enter your conference tournament, but it also doesn't automatically seal your fate. Furman is more battle-tested than any team in the SoCon. That hard schedule in November and December was designed to pay off in March. It's not like the Paladins are alone in how they closed out the regular season.

With the top seed secured, regular season champion Samford rested its three leading scorers in a loss at Wofford last Wednesday. The loss wasn't surprising given the circumstances, but the margin was. With three-and-a-half minutes left in the first half, the Bulldogs led the Terriers by one. With three-and-a-half minutes left in the second half, Wofford led by 39 and went on to a 91-69 win. Meanwhile, second-seeded UNC Greensboro and third-seeded Chattanooga each lost two of their last three. The only SoCon team that didn't lose over the final 10 days of the regular season was fourth-seeded Western Carolina, who will face Furman in Saturday's last quarterfinal at approximately 8:30 p.m. The Catamounts enter on a three-game winning streak.

"We talked about momentum going into Asheville all week and how important it is. We lost at Samford two years ago, then beat Citadel to get some momentum and the next thing you know we're in the championship. Last year we go win down at Samford to win the league (and then win the tournament)," Furman coach Bob Richey said following the Mercer loss. "Two years ago in the COVID year, we go to Wofford and lose at the buzzer on that offensive rebound and then we lose in the quarterfinal game.

"I'm not saying that if you lose today, you can't win in the tournament. It just gives you more that you've got to crawl through. You've got to work through it when you're not playing your best. You want to be feeling good about things this time of year. We've let two get away here back-to-back and you know, it's the same story."

The key is consistency. It's not like the Paladins have played bad defensively all season. There have been times this season where their defense has been excellent. Examples of that were displayed against one of the best offenses in the country in Samford.

The Bulldogs, who rank fourth nationally in scoring at 86.9 points per game, had their lowest scoring output in league play at Greenville Jan. 24. Furman snapped Samford's NCAA-best 17-game winning streak with a 78-68 victory that night. Only Purdue and Virginia Commonwealth, who were Samford's first two opponents, held the Bulldogs to fewer points this season. The Bulldogs were averaging more than 97 points per game at home when Furman visited Birmingham on Feb. 21. The Paladins led that game 72-67 with 40 seconds to play before Samford made a furious rally for a 74-72 win.

"We've won five in a row in this league at one point and four out of five in this league at another," Richey said. "We've had some very good defensive performances and a lot of the year we've been in the top three defensively. But we have to be consistent with it. It can't be selective. ... We're going to fight like heck to figure it out.

"My biggest hope for this team is now they know that it's the next game and if you lose it, you're done. That's where we are now. There's no like, 'hey, come back to practice.' You go out there with your back on the wall and you have to make a choice: How determined are we going to be?"  

The key to Furman's success during that five-game winning streak after starting 0-2 in SoCon play was finally having a fully healthy squad and every member of it contributing. The four out of five streak in February came about after Richey changed the starting lineup following Furman's loss at Mercer on Feb. 7.

Carter Whitt and Alex Williams have not been able to have the same kind of impact coming off the bench down the stretch. After making 5-of-8 three-pointers in a 21-point night at VMI on Jan. 17, Whitt is 0-for-14 from three since and played less than four minutes last Saturday. Whitt had 10 steals over three games of that five-game streak in January, but only six since. Williams has been working his way back into the mix following a three-game suspension for a violation of team rules. He's still third on the team in scoring averaging 13.8 points per game and still leads the team in three-point shooting at 40.7 percent, but hasn't scored more than six points since his return. If he can hit that scoring average and be that lethal outside threat this weekend, it would obviously be a huge boost for Furman.

In addition to defense, three-point shooting is also a key for the Paladins. Richey is still fully confident in his team's shooting ability, but it's been a struggle the last two games. One of Furman's sharpshooters, Marcus Foster, hit 1-of-10 threes at Western and made 1-of-8 against Mercer. It hasn't affected his overall game though as Foster recorded his fifth double-double of the season. Foster, who was named to the All-SoCon second team this week, is averaging 17.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.

While J.P. Pegues has hit clutch shots all season, he's been particularly dominant down the stretch. Following a perplexing four-point performance in the loss at Mercer, Pegues has averaged 23 points per game over the final seven games. After somehow being left off the All-SoCon team last season, Pegues was named to the first team this year after leading the Paladins in scoring (18 points per game) and assists (4.9 per game).

While Pegues has been pouring in points of late, he's also led the team in assists each of the last three games. That's not necessarily a good thing. This offense isn't built for someone to score 30-plus points and have half of the team's assists in the same game. It's designed to be more spread out through ball movement and playing connected.

Furman's offensive connection seems to coincide with its defensive connection and vice versa. The Paladins are 12-2 when having more assists than their opponents and 2-12 when having fewer. Furman is 11-0 when holding opponents to fewer than 70 points and 5-15 when allowing 70 or more.

The Paladins may push all the right buttons to get themselves right and that would certainly boost their chances, but it might still not be enough Saturday night. Even if its a modest three-game winning streak, Western Carolina is the hottest team going into the tournament.

The Catamounts are also led by the SoCon Player of the Year Vonterius Woolbright, who recorded his fourth triple-double this season in last Wednesday's win over Furman. That led to his record ninth SoCon Player of the Week honor. The last SoCon Player of the Year to lose in his team's opening game of the tournament was UNCG's Isaiah Miller in 2020. The league's top player has led his team to a tournament championship win four of the last five years, including Jalen Slawson last season.

Having a team full of guys who have been here and done this before, the Paladins still have hope. In the words of Andy Dufresne, 'Hope is a good thing.'

"It all resets in Asheville. In life, you're always looking for hope. Well, we've got hope. We've shown that we can play with anybody in this league in a lot of different games," Richey said. "But it takes a certain intensity, a certain defensive mindset and a certain connection on offense. That's all paramount to how we have to be successful. There's going to be no other way to get this done."

Another defensive meltdown costs Furman in loss

J.P. Pegues had 19 points and eight assists, but Furman lost
to Mercer 82-75 Saturday. Photo courtesy of Furman

When the Furman men's basketball team hosted Mercer in Saturday's regular season finale, great moments in Timmons Arena history were highlighted during timeouts as this marked the final men's game in the building before it undergoes a $40 million makeover. It was the last game there until the 2025-26 season, as the transformation into something more closely resembling a Mid-Major arena will take more than a year to complete.

Those highlights primarily came from the last nine seasons. The Paladins won at least 11 games at Timmons each of those years and compiled a 114-20 home record over that time entering Saturday. Unfortunately for most of those in attendance Saturday, Furman's play was more of a tribute to the "bad old days" of the program when it posted three winning records at home over eight seasons from 2007-2015.

For the second consecutive game, the Paladins' defense was completely shredded after halftime. Mercer shot 63.3 percent from the floor (19-of-30), including 71.4 percent (5-of-7) on threes, in the second half on its way to an 82-75 win. After carrying an 18-game losing streak in the series entering this season, the Bears completed the season sweep of the Paladins.

"(Mercer coach) Greg (Gary) did a great job having his team ready to play. I though they played harder than we did, collectively," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "It's hard to win this game when you've got guys that don't want to guard and play connected. We had some guys that did and some that didn't.

"It's a game of connection, chemistry and energy. When you play in your home gym and get beat in all three categories, you can't be surprised by the result. It's on me. It's my job to get a team playing defense. It's my job to get a team that looks like they want to play defense and to get a team connected."

Furman (16-15, 10-8 Southern Conference) entered Saturday with 100 more made three-pointers than Mercer (15-16, 8-10) this season and left Saturday with 100 more as each team made nine. The problem was it took the Paladins 35 attempts to make nine, while it took the Bears just 15.

When the teams met earlier this season in Macon, Mercer hit just one three in each half and went 2-for-9 from beyond the arc. The difference that night was that the Bears dominated down low, outscoring the Paladins 48-32 in the paint. Although that battle was closer Saturday, with Mercer outscoring Furman 40-38 in the paint, the Bears got way too many open looks for three.

"(Mercer's three-pointers) would've been a surprise if we hadn't just given them to them. It's a credit to their ball movement, but I feel like it's a lack of detail on our end," Furman's J.P. Pegues said. "If we give these guys open looks, they're Division I basketball players, they're going to make some. We gave them open looks and when they see one fall and then another, they gain confidence."

The lack of active hands defensively for Furman was highlighted in points off turnovers and fast break points. While the Paladins had just three more turnovers (11) than Mercer (8), the Bears had a 14-5 edge in points off turnovers and a 12-3 scoring advantage on fast breaks.

Furman did outrebound Mercer 40-29, including 19 offensive boards. The Paladins outscored the Bears 18-4 on second chance points, but that was more of a product of Mercer shooting the lights out and Furman shooting like the lights were out. The Paladins trailed by only five at the half despite making just 11-of-34 (32.4 percent) field goals in the first half, including 3-of-16 (18.8 percent) three-pointers.

After the Paladins turned the ball over to open the second half, Mercer got half of its six offensive rebounds and half of its second-chance points on its opening possession. After missing their first three shots of the second half, the Bears didn't miss consecutive shots the rest of the game. From the 13:42 mark of the second half to the 4:29 mark, Mercer made 10-of-12 field goals to turn a four-point lead into a 72-59 lead.

The Bears led by nine with 1:37 left before Pegues hit a three. After a steal by Marcus Foster, Tyrese Hughey drew a foul and hit both free throws to slice the lead to 76-72 with 1:18 left. Mercer ran down all the shot clock on its ensuing possession before 5-foot-10 point guard Caleb Hunter made a tremendous left-handed layup over Foster to push the lead to six with 48 seconds left.

On Furman's next possession, Hughey grabbed an offensive rebound and fired to PJay Smith for a three-pointer that cut the lead to 78-75 as Furman called timeout with 33 seconds left. Hunter was trapped by a pair of Paladins in the corner and had to call Mercer's last timeout with 30 seconds left. The Bears were then able to beat the press and the Paladins had to foul with 25 seconds left. Jalen Cobb hit both free throws to push the lead to 80-75.

After Pegues missed a heavily-contested three, Hunter made a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left to seal Furman's fate. After starting the game with four blocked shots in the opening five minutes, Mercer got its seventh block on the Paladins' final shot of the day.

"I'm not sitting here saying everybody didn't play hard. Let me be real clear. Basketball is a game of connection. It's a game where you have to care about one another and understand how important team is. ... We didn't have a group that just quit. We were down 13 and the game looked like it was cooked and baked, but we fought back to a three-point game," Richey said. "Imagine if we wouldn't have given up wide open threes and would've have everybody crashing (for rebounds). And if we been the more physical, connected team playing with the best energy from a totality standpoint. Maybe it's a different outcome."

Pegues was just 1-of-7 from three, but finished with team-highs in points (19) and assists (8) for Furman. Smith had 17 points and six rebounds. Foster collected his fifth double-double this season with 13 points and 10 rebounds, but had another rough night shooting as he made 1-of-8 three-pointers. Smith and Foster had two assists apiece as they and Pegues combined for all but one of the Paladins' 13 assists. That trio also accounted for all of Furman's three steals with one apiece.

After scoring 28 points on 13-of-21 shooting against Furman the first time the teams played, Mercer's Jalyn McCreary had a game-high 21 points on 10-of-16 shooting Saturday. Meanwhile, freshman David Thomas had 18 points and six assists.

"Jalyn played well and he's playing as good as anybody in our conference on film. We at least made him have to do it on a high volume, but we didn't turn him over. He only had one. We tried to force him to play in crowds, but didn't do that well enough. ... It wasn't just McCreary today. They had four different guys make two or more threes," Richey said. "Marcus is a great shooter. The ball's just not going in from the perimeter for him right now. We will get a lot of shots up this week and get him back on track."

The loss left Furman tied for fifth-place with Wofford in the final SoCon standings. It's the lowest the Paladins have ended up in the standings since finishing in last place in the 2014-15 season. Furman finished at least third every season since until this year.

The Paladins will be the No. 5 seed at this week's SoCon Tournament in Asheville and will face fourth-place Western Carolina at approximately 8:30 p.m. in Saturday's quarterfinal round. The Paladins already knew they were locked into the 4/5 game no matter what happened against Mercer. Richey doesn't believe that factored at all in Furman's play Saturday, and he added that it certainly should not have.

"Heck no. I mean have some pride. You win today, you get the fourth seed. You want to be fourth or fifth? If I get to pick one of those two, I want to be fourth," Richey said. "We've got to make some decisions this week of what we're going to bring to Asheville. We've seen a side of this team that's high in effort, connectivity and defense and we look pretty good. But when you're at 1.24 (rating) on defense in your home gym, you can't expect to win games. Defense has to matter at some point. It's my fault."

Woolbright helps hand Furman another road loss

J.P. Pegues (1) scored 35 points, but Vonterius Woolbright (2) had his fourth triple-double
this season in Western Carolina's 85-77 win over Furman. Photo courtesy of Furman

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - For the second consecutive Wednesday, Furman wasted a career-high night by J.P. Pegues as the Paladins' Jekyll and Hyde, home and away act continued. Western Carolina used a 30-9 run over a nine-minute stretch of the second half to rally for an 85-77 win in Furman's final road game of the season.

The Paladins (16-14, 10-7 Southern Conference) were coming off a 15-point win over Wofford in which they allowed just one made field goal over the final four minutes - a meaningless three-pointer with 25 seconds left after the Terriers had missed six consecutive shots. On Wednesday, the Catamounts led 65-62 with six minutes left and didn't miss a field goal the rest of the way. Those five field goals - three of which were three-pointers - helped Western shoot 60 percent in its 55-point second half.

"We had 11 deflections the entire game. You're not going to beat a whole lot of people doing that. I just thought we were a half-second late on a lot of plays tonight. I'm not sure why that was. I thought we had two good days of practice and we just didn't appear fresh," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "We were up nine at one point in the second half and it was really similar to the game last year. They made a run and hit us and we didn't respond back real well."

Furman finishes with a 4-10 record on the road this season, in addition to 0-2 in neutral site games. It's the Paladins' worst road record since the 2015-16 team went 3-12 on the road. This year's 3-6 mark at SoCon opponents is Furman's first losing record in league road games since that 2015-16 team went 2-7.

"It wasn't all bad, it just wasn't consistent enough in a road environment like this against a team like that. ... This time of year, we've all got to be ready to be our best There's a process that you've got to go in to be ready to play," Richey said. "Unfortunately, that's two games on the road where we've had to put a lot on J.P.'s back. At home, we seem to be freer and looser and we play more connected and relaxed.

"We don't have to go win the conference (tournament) on the road, but we're not going to be in Timmons (Arena). We've got to figure out what we've got to do to come out and be free, be confident and look like we're out there enjoying the game."

In a matchup of what some would say are the two best players in the SoCon, Pegues and Western's Vonterius Woolbright put on a show. After a 33-point performance at Samford a week earlier, Pegues had a new career-high 35 points and a team-high five assists Wednesday. Meanwhile, Woolbright finished with 15 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds for his fourth triple-double this season and fifth of his career.

The difference Wednesday was that Woolbright's assist total matched that of Furman as the Catamounts (21-9, 10-7) had five players in double figures. They were led by Russell Jones, who hit numerous big shots down the stretch and was 4-of-8 on threes. After being held to three points on 1-of-8 shooting in 37 minutes during Western's loss at Furman earlier this season, Jones had a team-high 20 points Wednesday.

While much is deservedly made of Woolbright's eye-popping offensive numbers, his defense was also a factor Wednesday. The 6-foot-6 guard's length was a problem on quite a few of Marcus Foster's shots. Woolbright helped hold Furman's leading scorer to just five points on 2-of-14 shooting, including 1-of-10 on threes.

"J.P. was phenomenal. He really put the team on his back, but our formula has never been for one guy to do it all. ... We just didn't play with as much confidence as I'd like, outside of J.P.," Richey said. "They had five guys in double figures and we had two. That's why they beat us. ... Woolbright was really good. He played with a lot of juice and poise. I think he got a little frustrated with some turnovers early, but man he made some plays - especially when they were down."

Furman trailed by as many as 11 in the first half and was down 29-21 with three-and-a-half minutes left before an 11-0 run helped the Paladins take a 32-30 lead into halftime. Pegues' three-pointer and four free throws and Cooper Bowser's dunk and two free throws accounted for all the scoring in that run.

The Paladins led at the half despite shooting 34.5 percent, including 2-of-13 (15.4 percent) from three. There had to be the thought that if Furman simply played "okay" defense the rest of the way, its offense certainly would improve after halftime. The Paladins did shoot 47 percent in the second half and hit nine threes, but the defensive letdown made their shooting improvement meaningless.

Ben VanderWal hit back-to-back three-pointers sandwiched around a three-point play by Woolbright to start the second half. Then Pegues and Woolbright just starting going back-and-forth like a classic prize fight. In a less than two minute stretch, Pegues hit a pair of threes and a jumper while Woolbright hit a pair of layups and had an assist on a three by Jones. A minute later, Pegues had a three-point play that Western's Bernard Pelote answered with a three off an assist from Woolbright.

Alex Williams' lone three and Foster's lone three gave Furman a 57-48 lead with 11:52 left before the Catamounts went on a 9-0 run. After Garrett Hien answered that run with a dunk, Corneilous Williams came back with a dunk off an assist by Woolbright on the other end. That sent the game to the under-eight timeout tied at 59. Coming out of the timeout, Pegues hit a pair of free throws before Woolbright once again found Williams for a layup.

With the game tied 61-61 and 7:10 left, perhaps the biggest play of the night gave Western a lead it never relinquished. After Woolbright's layup didn't fall, Williams grabbed the offense rebound and was fouled hard by Hien on the putback attempt. After video review, Hien's fouled was changed to a flagrant technical. Williams hit one free throw and after retaining possession, Tre Jackson made a three-point play giving Western a four-point possession and a four-point lead. After a VanderWal free throw cut the lead to three, Pelote hit another three to start a 13-4 run that put the game out of reach.

"They outplayed us tonight. Let's give them credit," Richey said. "We've got to bounce back quickly. We've got to move on and go close out this season well at home on Saturday versus Mercer."

Pelote had 11 points, six rebounds and two blocks and Western outscored Furman by 26 during his 22 minutes off the bench. Williams had just five points and four rebounds in his 13 minutes off the bench, but he had a plus-minus of plus-14.

VanderWal was the lone other Paladin in double figures, as he had 10 points, six rebounds and two of Furman's four steals.

Looking ahead

Furman will wrap up the regular season by hosting Mercer Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will be televised locally by The CW Ch. 62. It will be the final game in Timmons Arena until the 2025-26 season as renovations will take place all next season.

The Paladins could turn around and face Western Carolina again as the No. 4 vs. No. 5 seed game in the final quarterfinal game of the SoCon Tournament next Saturday in Asheville, but a Furman-Wofford matchup seems more likely. The Paladins and Catamounts are currently tied for fourth at 10-7 in league play, while the Terriers are 9-8.

The only guarantee entering Saturday is that Furman will be in that 4/5 game, which means the Paladins will hang around all day waiting to play. This is the first season in which the SoCon has gone to a quarterfinal schedule where the top four seeds' games will be played in order, one through four.

This Saturday, Western Carolina plays at second-place Chattanooga at 2 p.m., while Wofford will play at last-place VMI at 1 p.m. If no upsets (according to standings) occur, Furman and the Terriers would be victorious while the Catamounts would lose. That would leave the Paladins alone in fourth place and Western and Wofford tied. Those teams split in the regular season, but Wofford would earn the No. 5 seed tiebreaker by virtue of its blowout win over SoCon regular season champion Samford on Wednesday.

In any tiebreaker with Western or Wofford or both, Furman would get the tiebreaker for the No. 4 seed.