Wofford beat UNCG 48-45 in a game scheduled after both the Terriers and Spartans had other games postponed. Probably what other teams should do.

Although UNCG beat Wofford at Wofford on Wednesday, it didn't help them Saturday. To be honest, the game Saturday was a stinker. UNCG lead 16-15 at the half. Bad shooting by both teams and many turnovers. UNCG's TOs were especially sloppy and unforced. The Spartan defense forced most of the Terrier TOs. Both teams shot better in the second half but Wofford's Storm Murphy was the difference. He started knocking down threes and nobody for UNCG really answered.

Wofford got a solid game from 6'9" freshman Sam Godwin with 10 points and 9 rebounds. Godwin started his first game for the Terriers. I think he replaced transfer B.J. Mack, who had been starting. Isaiah Miller had to battle some injury problems in the second half for UNCG (probably a strained muscle or cramps.)

(01-10-2021 02:56 PM)FUATT Wrote:  Wofford beat UNCG 48-45 in a game scheduled after both the Terriers and Spartans had other games postponed. Probably what other teams should do.

Although UNCG beat Wofford at Wofford on Wednesday, it didn't help them Saturday. To be honest, the game Saturday was a stinker. UNCG lead 16-15 at the half. Bad shooting by both teams and many turnovers. UNCG's TOs were especially sloppy and unforced. The Spartan defense forced most of the Terrier TOs. Both teams shot better in the second half but Wofford's Storm Murphy was the difference. He started knocking down threes and nobody for UNCG really answered.

Wofford got a solid game from 6'9" freshman Sam Godwin with 10 points and 9 rebounds. Godwin started his first game for the Terriers. I think he replaced transfer B.J. Mack, who had been starting. Isaiah Miller had to battle some injury problems in the second half for UNCG (probably a strained muscle or cramps.)

The game was indeed very sloppy. Not either team’s best effort. But to get a road win over one of the conference’s better teams in UNCG is huge no matter how you can get it, especially after just suffering a home loss to that same team. Learn the name Sam Godwin. Messiah Jones, injured during the Wednesday game, did not play in this one and freshman Sam Godwin filled in tremendously with a near double-double. Sam has a chance to be a star in this conference. Also remember Max Klesmit- he started this season late due to injury this freshman is already a great shooter and great defender and we are hoping he can be the next Storm Murphy. This 20-21 season is kind of a throwaway mess for everyone due to the virus. But there is a lot of freshman and sophomore talent on this Wofford team that has us excited for the future and we will at least get a chance to watch these guys develop. And if I’m not mistaken, seniors can come back next season if they choose to and no one loses any eligibility for this season. So our freshmen now will still be freshmen in 21-22. That is a definite silver lining to this COVID cloud.

(01-10-2021 07:53 PM)woffordgrad94 Wrote:  . . . Learn the name Sam Godwin. Messiah Jones, injured during the Wednesday game, did not play in this one and freshman Sam Godwin filled in tremendously with a near double-double. Sam has a chance to be a star in this conference. Also remember Max Klesmit- he started this season late due to injury this freshman is already a great shooter and great defender and we are hoping he can be the next Storm Murphy. This 20-21 season is kind of a throwaway mess for everyone due to the virus. But there is a lot of freshman and sophomore talent on this Wofford team that has us excited for the future and we will at least get a chance to watch these guys develop. . .

I'm guessing Wofford fans are excited about this year's team, too. Having the experienced, steady Murphy running the show gives the Terriers a big advantage in this start/stop COVID season. And, you don't have to tell ETSU fans about Messiah Jones. He went off on the Bucs in both regular season games last year, and played well in Asheville, too.

Max Klesmit has been very impressive in his nascent career. He appears to be the prototypical Wofford guard, though he reminds me more of Nathan Hoover (in appearance, certainly) than Murphy. And Sam Godwin's performance in Greensboro was definitely an eye opener. The rest of the SoCon is hoping he can't also shoot the 3.

I wouldn't blame Terrier fans if some of them are thinking "what if" about Cheves Goodwin's transfer to Southern Cal. Still, I would rate the Terriers as the current SoCon favorite. I'm assuming Wofford will continue it's role as thorn in Furman's side (sorry FUATT). And, though the Bucs were starting to come together, I'm afraid the current layoff will be a setback in their progress.

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UAB's only loss is to Chatt.

Boise St. is 11-1, their only loss being a season-opening one to Houston by 10.

(01-12-2021 12:11 PM)posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Wrote:  ------[SEMI- OFF-TOPIC] ---------------------------------

UAB's only loss is to Chatt.

Boise St. is 11-1, their only loss being a season-opening one to Houston by 10.

Mladen Armus had a double double last night against Wyoming (7-2 going into the game). Of his 14 rebounds, 8 came on the offensive end, which helped Boise State pull away late to win big in Laramie. He dished out a couple of nifty assists, and threw down at least one power dunk. Throughout the game, the announcers were effusive in their praise (though they kept pronouncing his name as ar-Moosh), and his teammates semi-mobbed him after the game. He still has zero 3-point attempts for the year, and he still has trouble creating a clean shot inside, but he looked very happy after the game.

At halftime The Citadel is down 41-48 at home against Furman. The Bulldogs will almost certainly say goodbye to their 1-0 conference record and undefeated season record (built mostly against D1 bottom feeders and sub D1 teams). But their blistering shooting does give them a puncher's chance. Still, their lack of defense is highly unlikely to give them enough stops to pull this one out.

This game will give the 'Dins a little warmup before they face ETSU Saturday. By Saturday the Bucs will have gone 2 weeks without playing and most of that time without practicing due to Covid. Of course it isn't the experienced Juniors and Seniors on the Furman team that need the work, but the Bucs! ETSU was just starting to get rolling their last couple times out. And now.... Maybe name cards would be useful so they can remember who's who?

Furman by 6, 94-88.

Citadel as usual has powerful offense, but little defense. Furman kept working it out to 15 point lead. Then Citadel, the best 3 point shooting team in the SoCon, would make a run down to 5 or 6. The last run was different, keyed by quick athletic guards true Frosh Brent Davis and Rudy Fitzgibbons, based on steals and fast breaks. The problem with the small ball lineup is the vulnerability to Gurley and Mounce taking it to the hoop.

So Furman gets a tuneup. And the Bucs have their work cut out for them Saturday.

Furman - Citadel game was a game of runs. Furman had 11-2, 12-2, and 9-0 runs and the Citadel had 9-0 and 10-0 runs of their own.

Clay Mounce continued his good play from before the missed games with Western Carolina and VMI by getting a career high 29 points on 10-12 shooting which included 4-5 from three point range. Mounce had matched his previous career high with 27 in the previous game against Mercer. Mike Bothwell filled the columns on the scoresheet with 17 pts., 8 rebs, 5 assists, and 4 steals.

Furman scored 30 points on 20 Citadel TOs which included 13 Paladin steals.

Give credit to the Citadel. They played hard the whole game and shot the ball well against solid Paladin defense.

Furman was missing two of the top guys off the bench. Marcus Foster was out today and Jalen Pugh hasn't returned from his injury yet.

VMI played a fine game against Wofford. They were ahead by 1 until Storm Murphy hit a 3 with 1.3 seconds left for an 80-78 Wofford win.

Mercer versus Chattanooga was another battle. Mercer got Neftali Alvarez back which helped spark the offense, but he seemed to reinjure his leg going down the stretch. He remained in the game, but with a pronounced limp. And for the first time all year Chattanooga got 1,000 point scorer and JMU transfer 6-6 215 Darius Banks into the game. He started but struggled early, getting no points in the first half as Mercer built a 19 point lead. But Banks came on strong in the second half with 10 points to go with Stefan Kenic' career high 27 for the game and 20 for David Jean-Baptiste, to win 83-80. The Mocs were still playing shorthanded with only 7 guys seeing action and key 6-7 transfer K.C. Hankton still on the bench. You don't won't to face these guys if they get both Hankton and Banks on the court.

There is not a team in the SoCon this year that is not dangerous.

UNC-G plays 14 guys in crushing Sammie, who also played that many. Miller goes 18/8. Sparty only turned it over 11 times to 20 for Bulldogs. Guess led the latter with 16, but as a team they were only 5/26 from deep.

In related news....................Belmont is 13-1, with the only loss still being to those very same Bulldogs.

Looking at the box score of WCU and Mercer, saw Kameron Gibson playing for Western. Believe this is his 1st game back since his season ending injury against us last season. Hopefully he can get back into game shape, cause he was a good player.

Catamounts were down TWENTY to Sammie at the half, came back to briefly take the lead at the 5-minute mark, but finally succumbed by 4. Faulkner nets 24; Cork 18. Five 'dogs in double figures, led by Guess with 19 and Tryon with 17.
Catamounts underperforming compared to what this board had been expecting at now 0-3 in the SoCon.

El Cid and UNC-G tied late in the first half.

(01-18-2021 07:38 PM)posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Wrote:  El Cid and UNC-G tied late in the first half.

Miller goes for a silly 30 and 14 (15/25 from the field (0/1 from deep; 0/0 FT!)) as Spartans separate themselves in the second half to cruise by 14. Sparty only turned it over 7 times - and registered 7 rejections.

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Sunday...............in the Va. Tech/Wake game.......Daivien played 39 minutes, by far the most on the team, but only went 3/11 and got 11 points. And *David* N'Guessan for the Hokies went 5/5 from the field, and 3/3 from the line. That was his highest production of the season. Aluma is averaging 15/7.

McClung rang up 24 (and 3 blocks!) for TTU in a close loss to #2 Baylor. I believe that was Saturday.

As bucfan81 posted on the Furman official game thread, El Cid (14/27 from deep) knocks off Wofford tonight. Further.........VMI takes down WCU in Lexington. By 26. After only being up 2 at the half. Like El Cid......the Keydets were deadly from downtown, stroking 13/27, and turned it over only 8 times. Parham 5/7 from beyond, and 23 total. *5* Keydets in double figures. Maybe no fort there, but plenty of cannon tonight. Faulkner only guy in double figures for WCU, with 15. What would have looked like an upset a month ago, is now only a "ho-hum" event - and one wonders about the mental state of that program.


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Monday, McClung went for 30, but barely missed the game-winner at WVU.

Winthrop still undefeated at 15-0.

The Wofford game was a real curiosity. With 2:35 left in the 1st half, Wofford was up by 14, 42-28. They had maintained control for pretty much the entire previous 17 and a half minutes. Jay McCauley had Messiah Jones back after missing several games and was running multiple players through the game. 11 guys had seen action for the Terriers, and they were all performing pretty smoothly in McCauley's system. Citadel had some runs, but Wofford remained solidly in control.

The only warning light blinking was for the Terriers inability to hit the 3: they went 2-12 from beyond the arc in the first half. But how many times have you seen Wofford have one bad shooting half, and then really go off in the other? So, probably nothing to worry about, right?

Instead, this game turned on a dime. With 2:35 left in the half, the Bulldogs went on a 10-0 run to slash it to 42-38 at the half. And coming out of the locker room, the Citadel kept the momentum and outscored them 21-5 to take a 12 point lead, 59 to 47. Wofford never recovered. Three point shooting remained just as bad for Wofford in the second half, 3-17.

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UAB is 13-2, losing only to Chatt. and UNCC.

Belmont is 17-1, losing only to Sammie.

Peay is 8-6, but came close to knocking off Belmont a few days ago.

Winthrop narrowly edged UNC-A to get to 16-0.

[update: with a 1-day turnaround, Asheville comes down from the hills last night to knock off Winthrop in Rock Hill, scoring 10 of the last 11, and ending the Eagles' 21-game winning streak. Eagles a woeful 3/20 from outside.]

[separate addition: Armus went 12 and 9, as the Broncos beat a very good CSU team in Fort Collins to get to 14-2.]

MTSU is only 3-10.

Abilene Christian is 13-3.

And of course most know 'bama is highly-ranked, and hasn't lost since a narrow one to Western KY way back on Dec. 19th - right before they beat us.

The whole point of all this is to note that, other than the first two games, with all our new players nowhere near jelled........we've done ok. Those are the only two that could even remotely be called "bad losses".

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Daivien Williamson is averaging in the ballpark of 17 a game the last 7 games for Wake, and has been playing 35+ minutes most games.
He had 16 yesterday, and Jalen Johnson 15 in a win over U of Miami.

Keve Aluma went OFF on 8th-ranked UVA yesterday, stroking 29 (nearly half the Hokies' pts.), and looked good doing it, in a 65-51 win - *after being down 10 in the 2nd half*. Included in that comeback was a 19-0 run. And apparently VPI gave UVA a heaping helping of their own D-medicine. Virginia had won 7 in a row, and *15* straight in the ACC (wow).
OK..........so I think Aluma is even better than we thought he'd be up there, and Mike Young (*not* really surprisingly (to most)) is being successful fairly quickly.

Faulkner scores in the lane with 5 seconds on the clock to lift WCU over El Cid to give them their first SoCon win, even tho WCU as a team only shot 12.5% from deep. El Cid at 21% wasn't much better.

VMI knocks off Wofford in OT. The game was played in Spartanburg.