(11-23-2021 10:06 AM)posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Wrote:  The Woofers are still trying to see how good they can be. Before the GA Southern game, they were tied with Clemson with about 2 minutes left, but faded after that. And we don't know how good Clemson is yet. They've had close losses to the Bonnies and WVU, while crushing the Temple Owls, all in that intense tournament down in Charleston.
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Wofford falls to USC in Columbia by 11. Was tied with ~15 minutes left.

Like most SoCon teams at this point, still learning what they can be.

The Georgia Southern win was costly - Messiah Jones, their undersized 6-5 "4" with the heart of a lion, but a limited offensive game, was lost for the season with an Achilles injury.

But Isaiah Bigelow at 6-7 and 200 plus (he's gained muscle looks much bigger than his listed 185) is coming back from a year off to a knee injury and gets better with every outing. Against South Carolina he got 13 points and 7 rebounds, despite a bad shooting night from 3 (2-10). This is his 4th year with the program (freshman redshirt, and medical redshirt last year) but only his 2nd year on the floor (RS-Sophomore). He is going to be a matchup nightmare, with the ability to put the ball on the floor and drive for a highlight reel dunk, and hit the three when he gets back to form (.388 with 1.1 makes in a full year of 33 games as a Redshirt Freshman, but struggling at .179 so far this year). He's still just "seeing how good he can be".

B.J. Mack is also stepping up as a Junior, having shed around 30 pounds and muscled up to 6-8 245 or so. He's much more mobile and aggressive and is averaging 12 ppg, on .400 from 3 (1.0 makes), 5.7 rebs and 2.5 assists compare to 6.8 ppg on .321 from 3, 3.3 rebs and 0.7 assists last year.

And just as Coach Jay McAuley predicted, Max Klesmit has "exploded" his sophomore year to 16.3 ppg on .472 from 3 with 2.8 makes, up from 8.2 ppg on .373 from 3 with 1.3 makes last year.

6-9 210 Sam Godwin, a true sophomore with 7.3 ppg and 4.2 rebounds, will need to continue to improve to help make up for the loss of Jones inside. They don't have anybody else besides Godwin and Mack who is really effective at the 4 and 5.

Games this week against # 172 Georgia Sun. Nov. 28th and # 65 Richmond Wed. Dec. 1st will be good markers of the progress thus far.

Samford squeezed out a 77-75 win over NC A&T on a neutral court in the Emerald Coast Classic. They dominated most of the game, but NC A&T closed the gap and missed the chance to tie or win on their final possession.

UNCG also beat NC A&T, by 4 points in Greensboro, 57-53 in the first game of the season.

NC A&T is 1-6 with their only victory coming over NAIA Greensboro. But that includes games with Stanford and Wake Forest, and losses of 2-4 points to Jacksonville, UNCG and now Samford. They are rated #258 by Kenpom.

VMI lost at #301 New Orleans, 79-71. Trey Bonham has not played the last couple of games. Is he injured?

Chattanooga's 7 point win over 2-4 Tennessee Tech (rated #272 by Kenpom), which struck me as awfully unimpressive, looks a bit better today since the Tennessee Vols won by only 11 over Tech today, 80-69. The Vols actually trailed at the half in that one, 35-34.

The results of early season games can be a little quirky, though. One of Tennessee Tech's 2 wins was over Lipscomb at Lipscomb by 11 points 88-77.

A couple weeks earlier, Lipscomb beat #112 Dayton at Dayton by 19 points, 78-59.

So today on a neutral court Dayton gave Kansas their first loss of the season, 74-73. Which means Tennessee Tech is better than Kansas?

Not exactly!

I’ve seen a few results from Tennessee Tech this year and feel like they are much improved.

Chatty loses at home to C of C, looks like their weak schedule finally caught up to them.

Gardner-Webb beat down WCU which was a bit surprising.

(11-27-2021 06:11 PM)Bucster Wrote:  Chatty loses at home to C of C, looks like their week schedule finally caught up to them.

Gardner-Webb beat down WCU which wad a bit surprising.

The Catamounts shot horribly. Like G-W got 14 more field goals.

Sparty is just about finishing off holding onto a W over a decent (northern) Catamount team in G'boro.

The Saviors were down at least 14 in the second half vs. Chatt. De Sousa was 7/8 for 21 total.

Wofford knocks off Georgia by 3 at their place, 68-65. This was NOT, repeat NOT, an upset. The 5-2 Terriers are a better basketball team than the 2-5 Bulldogs, higher rated by Kenpom #113 to #171 going into the game, and favored by Kenpom despite playing on the road, and in control down the stretch, albeit not ahead by much.

Most recent results:

Gardner-Webb 87, Western Carolina 59 expected a loss, but not by 28!
College of Charleston 68, Chattanooga 66 Up by 9 at the half, the Mocs folded in the 2nd to lose at home to 4-2 College of Charleston – not a bad team with hyper Pat Kelsey on the sideline. But the kind of team you need to beat to be SoCon kingpin. When Malachi Smith struggles, the Mocs are vulnerable (5 pts on 2-11 from the field, 1 assist, 2 rebounds). They need him to play like a SoCon POY. Tonight the Mocs have a chance to make up for their lackluster performance against Tennessee Tech with a rematch on the road. Tech is a team which has been improving and looked good against UT.
Furman 87, USC Upstate 77 6-4 RS-SO Marcus Foster moved into a 4 guard starting lineup in this one with Bothwell, Hunter and Garrison in the backcourt, and Slawson at 6-7 the lone big. And he did well with 15 points on 2-3 from 3 and 10 rebounds, his best game of the year. If he makes the step from role player to difference maker, it’s a big boost for the ‘Dins. Friday 12/3 Furman gets a chance to show that they can handle College of Charleston better than Chattanooga.
UNCG 54, Vermont 51 down early, the Spartans mount yet another scratch and claw comeback against a Vermont team rated more highly at #101 than any in the SoCon for their best win so far, with the help of the home court advantage. There have been no easy D1 wins for UNCG, but they are 6-2
Wofford over Georgia 68-65 The 5-2 Terriers were the better basketball team and have also played well against Clemson and South Carolina. Another big challenge Wed against Richmond, but they get them in the Richardson Center where Wofford rarely loses. Kenpom says they probably will this time - Spiders by 1 in a 50-50 game.
VMI: L 79-71 @ New Orleans. 3-4 Keydets have been struggling with only 1 win over a D1 team and that against lowly #341 Central Arkansas. With Greg Parham and Myles Lewis transferred and Trey Bonham, touted as Parham’s replacement by Coach Earl, sidelined, they are having difficulty scoring at crunch time. But they aren’t quitting: 2 of the losses were in overtime, a third was by 5 points and a fourth by 9.
Mercer 88, Milligan 49
ETSU 92, Lees-McRae 74 Big test at #51 5-2 UAB Wednesday. Maybe the 2nd best team we’ve played thus far after UT. Kenpom favors UAB by 73-64
Samford 83, McNeese State 75 Top 5 guys are all new (Ques Glover, Jermaine Marshall, JUCO JR Jaden Campbell, Loyola/Chicago TR Cooper Kaifes, 4* FR Wesley Cardet). Holdovers Logan Dye and Staton-McRay have yet to play (injury problems). Florida TR Ques Glover leads the SoCon with 20 ppg (32nd in D1) and 5.0 assists (42nd in D1); 6-6 225 stud Akron TR Jermaine Marshall has 12.8 ppg and 8.5 rebounds. By far the most productive returnee is 6-11 Jacob Tryon with 6.7 ppg and 6.0 rebounds. Jaron Rillie at 5.8 ppg is the only other returnee averaging over 2.4 ppg. This is basically a new squad.

Upcoming with Kenpom predictions:

#109 Furman: Tues 11/30 @ High Point W 75-67; Fri 12/3 home Charleston W 85-74; Tue 12/7 @ Winthrop W 77-76; Fri 12/10 home App St W 72-65
#111 Wofford: Wed 12/1 home Richmond L 73-72; Sun 12/5 hme Kenesaw St W 76-63; Wed 12/8 @ Grdnr-Webb W 71-68; Sun 12/12 @ Coastal Carolina W 71-67
#125 ETSU: Wed 12/1 @ UAB L 73-64; Sat 12/4 hme Lenoir Rhyne; Sat 12/11 hme Morehead St W 68-63; Tue 12/14 hme NC A&T W 72-61
#129 Chatt: Tues 11/30 @ Tn Tech W 68-64; Sun 12/5 @ Lipscomb W 69-68; Wed 12/7 @ UNC Asheville W 68-62
#177 UNCG: Tues 11/30 hme Elon W 69-62; Sat 12/11 @ UT L 73-56; Tue 12/14 @ Towson L 64-61; Thu 12/16 @ UMBC L 67-65
#206 Mercer: Wed 12/1 @ Kenesaw St W 71-70; Sat 12/4 hme Ga St L 75-72; Mon 12/6 @ Coastal Car L 70-69; Sat 12/11 hme Ga Sthrn W 67-64
#207 Citadel: Wed 12/1 @ UNC Asheville W 74-73; Mon 12/6 hme NC Cntl W 78-65; Thu 12/15 hm St Andrew; Mon 12/20 hme SC St W 85-68
#243 Samford: Tue 11/30 hm Miss Col W; Sun 12/5 hm Belmont! L 82-73; Wed 12/8 @ Al St @ 76-71; Sat 12/11 hme Al A&M W 77-66; Sat 12/18 Knsw St W 76-70
#260 VMI: Tue 11/30 Clark Summit W; Fri 12/3 @ Portland L 71-70; Sun 12/5 @ Seattle L 75-68; Sat 12/11 hme G-W W 72-71; Tue 12/14 @ Wake L 80-66
#303 W Car: Wed 12/1 Warren Wilson W; Sat 12/4 @ USCU L 72-71; Wed 12/8 hme Tn Tech W 73-72; Sat 12/11 hm UNC-A W 73-70; Mon 12/20 @ UGA L 77- 67

Furman had to struggle through double OT to finally get by High Point on the road, 74-70. Bothwell had a rough night going 5-20 with 0-4 from 3, but muscled through for a couple of key layups, one to tie at the end of regulation, and one to put them ahead in OT. Marcus Foster was not a high percentage shooter, but at 6-4 205 his remarkable 7 foot plus wing span makes him a defensive stopper and tough rebounder with a 15 point 14 rebound effort for his second big game in a row. Furman is basically a 6 man team at this point. (36-46 minutes for Bothwell, Hunter, Garrison, Foster and Slawson and 25 minutes to Hein).

Chattanooga remains a team that sometimes turns it on, and sometimes doesn't. They were down by as much as 13 points the entire first half against Tennessee Tech, closing to within 6 at the half. Then they came out of the gate in the second period, tied it within seconds on 2 quick 3's and went on a 26-2 run to blow the game open, winning 82-65.

UNCG finally found a D1 team that they did not have to struggle against in Elon, controlling the game and winning by 13, 74-61.

VMI and Samford stomped sub D1 teams.

(12-01-2021 09:10 AM)swvabucsfan Wrote:  Furman is basically a 6 man team at this point. (36-46 minutes for Bothwell, Hunter, Garrison, Foster and Slawson and 25 minutes to Hein).

One could argue this is why Furple seems to bow out early in the Socon Tournament every year. Short rotation, tired legs, 3 games in 3 days

(12-01-2021 09:31 AM)Buced_Up Wrote:  

(12-01-2021 09:10 AM)swvabucsfan Wrote:  Furman is basically a 6 man team at this point. (36-46 minutes for Bothwell, Hunter, Garrison, Foster and Slawson and 25 minutes to Hein).

One could argue this is why Furple seems to bow out early in the Socon Tournament every year. Short rotation, tired legs, 3 games in 3 days

This is certainly true, and an injury to one of their minute eaters could be devastating.

(11-28-2021 06:08 PM)swvabucsfan Wrote:  Wofford knocks off Georgia by 3 at their place, 68-65. This was NOT, repeat NOT, an upset. The 5-2 Terriers are a better basketball team than the 2-5 Bulldogs, higher rated by Kenpom #113 to #171 going into the game, and favored by Kenpom despite playing on the road, and in control down the stretch, albeit not ahead by much.

While I don't disagree with this assessment...............that same Georgia team put down 18th-ranked Memphis St. Wednesday night. Just sayin'. So clearly Wofford should be ranked in the top 20 in the next poll.

(12-03-2021 12:58 PM)posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Wrote:  

(11-28-2021 06:08 PM)swvabucsfan Wrote:  Wofford knocks off Georgia by 3 at their place, 68-65. This was NOT, repeat NOT, an upset. The 5-2 Terriers are a better basketball team than the 2-5 Bulldogs, higher rated by Kenpom #113 to #171 going into the game, and favored by Kenpom despite playing on the road, and in control down the stretch, albeit not ahead by much.

While I don't disagree with this assessment...............that same Georgia team put down 18th-ranked Memphis St. Wednesday night. Just sayin'. So clearly Wofford should be ranked in the top 20 in the next poll.

No question that the Bulldogs are physically talented. Just not playing that well together against Wofford - or a few others, judging by the record. Apparently they did a wee bit better against Memphis!

Wofford has been hurt by the loss for the season of Messiah Jones to injury. Without Messiah, and with Max Klesmit having a dismal night (2-13, 0-6 from 3, 1 assist, 2 t.o.'s, 0 rebounds, although he did get 4 steals), Richmond knocked them off at home 73-64 in a game that was 1 possession at 2:25 to go.

No. 12 BYU went into Springfield (Mo.) and *nearly* got knocked off by our previous victim SW Missouri St. All four of SWMS's losses have been by 6 points or less.

Those other Bears of/in Macon downed Ga. St. by 6. James Glisson stroked it for 25 in 25 minutes. Jalen Johnson, of UT, almost of ETSU, and briefly of Wake, followed with 19.

4 SoCon games going on this afternoon. Woffers up 8 early on Kennesaw.

While everybody's been watching ETSU football (or in some cases, doing a little picking) there's been lots of basketball action in the SoCon:

#102 Chattanooga: the Mocs finally move up the Kenpom rankings to where the Coaches and others of us have had them for a while – atop the SoCon. Kenpom had both Tennessee Tech and Lipscomb pegged as very close games, and the Mocs made them blowouts: 82-65 on the road at Tech after laying an egg in the first half, and 85-64 on the road at Lipscomb. Kenpom had Tech as a 4 point game and Lipscomb as a 1 point game. Big road challenges are coming up for streaky UTC: at Belmont December 15, and at Murray State December 18.

#115 Furman: despite a lack of depth, Furman took 2 overtime wins – one against High Point in double OT, and the other against a College of Charleston team that Chattanooga could not handle. Seldom used sophomore Joe Anderson came off the bench against Charleston to post 17 big minutes and 5 steals, though only 2 points, as Furman scrambled for a comeback in a game that Charleston had controlled. That’s 4 overtime games in 8 contests, and 3 wins in those OT games. This was an unlikely comeback for the ‘Dins who were down by 6 with 24 seconds left before an Alex Hunter 3 at 17 seconds and a Mike Bothwell 3 with 1 second on the clock, sandwiched around a couple of Charleston turnovers sent it into OT.

#111 Wofford came back from a rough home loss to a fine Richmond team to smash Kennesaw State by 26, 88-62

#203 Mercer struggled on the road against that same Kennesaw State team, eking out a 2 point win 73-71. But they returned home to upset a much better Georgia State team by 6, 83-77

#242 VMI had a very satisfying road trip to the west coast, getting upset wins at Portland 90-82 and Seattle 89-82. The return to action of Trey Bonham makes them a more athletic team, and they got big scoring with 51 points from Jake Stephens and 39 from Kamdyn Curfman as they got 13.5 makes and 42% shooting from 3 in those 2 games.

#242 Samford lost to Belmont at home in a game that went pretty much as predicted, 85-73.

#220 The Citadel pulled away from SC State in OT 91-79 on the road, but got held down in an uncharacteristically low scoring 65-58 loss at UNC Asheville.

#299 Western Carolina crushed tiny Warren Wilson before going on the road to get a 78-73 win at USC Upstate.

(12-06-2021 12:21 PM)swvabucsfan Wrote:  While everybody's been watching ETSU football (or in some cases, doing a little picking) there's been lots of basketball action in the SoCon:

#102 Chattanooga: the Mocs finally move up the Kenpom rankings to where the Coaches and others of us have had them for a while – atop the SoCon. Kenpom had both Tennessee Tech and Lipscomb pegged as very close games, and the Mocs made them blowouts: 82-65 on the road at Tech after laying an egg in the first half, and 85-64 on the road at Lipscomb. Kenpom had Tech as a 4 point game and Lipscomb as a 1 point game. Big road challenges are coming up for streaky UTC: at Belmont December 15, and at Murray State December 18.


#111 Wofford came back from a rough home loss to a fine Richmond team to smash Kennesaw State by 26, 88-62

Jean-Baptiste was feeling it from deep in that game: 7/10. He and Smith accounted for 51 of Chatt's 85 pts. Smith also had 7 dishes. Mocs outrebounded Lipscomb by TWENTY, and throttled them to the tune of only 18 pts. at the half. The Bisons first loss at home this year, but against no really strong comp. They *did* beat a what appeared to be a weaker-than-usual Dayton team in Dayton -- but those Flyers have since knocked off Kansas (with an insane bouncing-around buzzer-beater), Miami, Belmont (by 2), and a couple of other easier wins to make it 5 in a row. So that win by Lipscomb will look pretty shiny on down the road, likely.

B.J. Mack was a horse for the Woofers in that game: 9/12 and totaling 24. Freshman Austin Patterson from CA held his coming-out party with a nice 20-spot. Look for him to maybe win a couple of games for them. Klesmit 'only' had 13 on just 6 efforts.

Mercer held off Coastal in a close one at the beach, giving the Chanticleers their first home loss. Jalen Johnson led the way with 16.

(12-06-2021 09:19 PM)posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Wrote:  Mercer held off Coastal in a close one at the beach, giving the Chanticleers their first home loss. Jalen Johnson led the way with 16.

Neftali Alvarez was injured in the 1st half and didn’t return. He was wearing a boot by the end of the game. Hopefully he’ll be OK soon.