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Post by The Cats on Jan 6, 2020 8:14:17 GMT -5
Week 10 in basketball action is here, it looks like Wednesday's ETSU at UNCG and Saturday's UNCG at Furman are the big games of the week. After Wednesday, either the Bucs or Spartans will have two conference losses, and the Spartans get the opportunity to knock off #1 Furman on Saturday in their "big stage", the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in downtown Greenville, S.C. This looks to be a great week of SoCon basketball, as the Cats can potentially be 4-0 in conference play at the end of the week.
Jan. 8 (Wednesday)
ETSU at UNCG, 7 p.m. ESPN+
Furman at Chattanooga, 7 p.m. ESPN+
Western Carolina at VMI, 7 p.m. ESPN3
Wofford at Samford, 7:30 p.m. ESPN+
Jan. 11 (Saturday)
Samford at Chattanooga, 2 p.m. ESPN3
VMI at ETSU, 4 p.m. Nexstar/ESPN3
Mercer at Western Carolina, 5 p.m. ESPN+
UNCG at Furman, 7 p.m. ESPN3
(Bon Secours Wellness Arena; Greenville, S.C.)
The Citadel at Wofford, 7 p.m. ESPN3
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Post by The Cats on Jan 7, 2020 20:30:14 GMT -5
 Week ten action continues on Wednesday night, with four conference games on the schedule. At this point in the season, we have three teams with no conference losses, Furman at 3-0, and WCU/Samford at 2-0. Probably the most anticipated game of the four is between two teams with one loss each, which would be ETSU at UNCG. All four games tip-off at 7 pm ETSU at UNCGInterestingly, these two teams are currently tied for fourth place in the conference standings, something neither team expected this early in the season. ETSU is currently ranked 7th and UNCG 9th in the most recent mid-major top 25 poll and they ranked 3d & 4th respectively in our most recent power poll. In scoring, ETSU is in 4th place with 77.8 ppg, and second in defense, giving up only 62.2 ppg, while the Spartans are ranked at 8th in scoring at 73.7 ppg and 1st in scoring defense, giving up only 57.ppg. UNCG is 14-16 against the Bucs all-time, but have won their past four meetings. Massey projects a home-court advantage for the Spartans with a 65-62 win over the Bucs. Western Carolina at VMIThe Catamounts are seeking to improve their conference record to 3-0, as the #2 (tied) Cats travel to Lexington to face the #9 (tied) Keydets. VMI is one of the three teams that are currently 0-3 in conference play. The Cats are now receiving votes in the mid-major top 25 poll (13 points/38th) and the Keydets are unranked. WCU comes in at #5 in the current power rankings, while the Keydets are 9th in that ranking. The Cats are #2 in the conference in scoring offense with 81.5 ppg and 8th in scoring defense giving up 72.2, while VMI ranks 7th in scoring at 73.7 ppg and ranks 5th in scoring defense, giving up 67.6 ppg. WCU and VMI are two of the better 3=point shooting teams, ranking 2d and 3rd respectively, so a hot hand shooting the threes many well determine the outcome of this game. This will be the 61st meeting between the schools with WCU holding a 34-26 advantage, but the Keydets swept the Cats last season with three wins. Excluding a hot hand on the three-point shooting by the Keydets, Massey projects the Cats to win, 81-75 on the road. Furman at ChattanoogaLeague-leading Furman travels to Chattanooga to face the #6 Mocs as two of the remaining undefeated teams in conference play will meet in the Round House. The Paladins are ranked #3 in the most recent mid-major top 25, Chattanooga is unranked in this poll. The Paladins take the top spot in the most recent conference power poll while Chattanooga comes in at #7. The Paladins are currently 3d in scoring in the conference at 78.4 ppg and 3d in scoring defense, giving up 64.1 ppg, while the Mocs rank 10th in scoring at 70.3 ppg and 4th in scoring defense giving up 65.8 ppg. The Paladins bring a 6 game win streak into the contest and are 5-3 on the road, with 3 OOC losses, while the home-standing Mocs bring a 4 game win streak to the contest, and are 5-0 at home this season. Chattanooga holds a 54-34 lead in the series between the schools, but Furman has won the last five meetings. Massey does not show that home court love for the Mocs and projects a 70-64 victory to the Paladins. Wofford at SamfordThe sixth-place (tied) Terriers travel to Birmingham to meet the second place (tied) Bulldogs in Wednesday night's fourth and final game. The Terriers are receiving votes in the mid-major top 25, as well as, the number two team in this week's power rankings, while Samford comes in at number 6 in that poll. The Terriers are 1-1 in the SoCon, having dropped a 1 point game to ETSU in Johnson City, then rebounded to pick up a two overtime win over UNCG in Spartanburg. While Samford is 2-0 in conference play, the wins are against two of three last-place teams in the conference, so we don't know how they will fare against the top tier. Wofford is currently 6th in the conference in scoring offense at 74.5 ppg and 6th in scoring defense, giving up 68.9 ppg. Samford comes in 5th in scoring with 77.4 ppg and 9th in scoring defense, giving up 76.8 ppg. Massey projects a road win for Wofford, 81-74 over the Bulldogs. The rankings3-0 Furman 2-0 Western 2-0 Samford 2-1 ETSU 2-1 UNCG 1-1 Wofford 1-1 Chattanooga 0-3 Citadel 0-3 VMI 0-3 Mercer |
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Post by The Cats on Jan 9, 2020 0:01:44 GMT -5
Lots of action in tonight's games, with the one big surprise in Wednesday's action, as UNCG's head coach is hit with two technical fouls and ejected from the game, possibly/probably costing the Spartans a victory.
ETSU at UNCG
In a game that could have gone either way, and with the score ETSU 58 - UNCG 57 and 23.8 seconds remaining on the clock, The Spartans have the ball, and as UNCG's Isaiah Miller drives for the basket a somewhat controversial call of offensive charging was made against Miller. ETSU immediately in-bounds the ball and calls time a timeout. During the time out, Coach Miller approaches one of the referees during the time out, says a few words, then turns to walk away, as he turns he throws his clipboard to the floor and is immediately tagged with a technical. ETSU makes one of the two technical free throws score now 59-57 and as the ball is being walked back to the other end of the court for an in-bounds play by ETSU, Coach Miller is hit with the second technical and tossed from the game, there is still 23.8 seconds on the clock. ETSU hits the next two technical free throws and is give the ball at the far end of the court for the in-bounds play (it's 61-57) and the Spartans can not recover from the technical free throws, Bus win 64-57.
Western Carolina at VMI
Mason Faulkner, Carlos Dotson, and Matt Halvorsen all three scores 20 points as the Cats beat VMI 97-85 for their second straight road victory. Faulkner also had 10 rebounds and nine assists just missing his second triple-double of the season, as Dotson grabbed 13 rebounds for his seventh double-double this season. Halvorsen made four of WCU's 11 3-pointers and Faulkner added three. Tyler Harris had 13 points for the Cats, now 11-3 overall and 3-0 in the Southern Conference. WCU totaled 59 second-half points, a season-high for the team.
Furman at Chattanooga
Furman's Mike Bothwell scored a career-high 27 points to lead the Paladins to their seventh consecutive win, topping the Mocs, 73-66 in Chattanooga. Furman held Chattanooga scoreless for nearly nine minutes in the second half as it turned a 50-47 deficit into a 61-50 lead.
Jordan Lyons scored 16 points for Furman. Stefan Kenic had 15 points for the Mocs, whose four-game winning streak ended. Matt Ryan added 13 points, and Rod Johnson had 12 points and 10 rebounds for his second career double-double.
Wofford at Samford
Wofford's Nathan Hoover scored 22 points to lead the Terriers to a 67-62 win over Samford. After falling behind 35-32 at halftime, the Terriers outscored Samford 35-27 in the second half as they scored the game's last six points for the win. The game was tied 10 times in the second half, and the final period was a one-possession game until the very end. Samford only scored 27 second-half points, which was a season-low for the Bulldogs.
The rankings
1. 4-0 Furman
2. 3-0 Western
3. 3-1 ETSU
4. 2-1 Samford
4. 2-1 Wofford
6. 2-2 UNCG
7. 1-2 Chattanooga
8. 0-3 Citadel
8. 0-3 Mercer
10.0-4 VMI
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