By Kenneth Cross
The Southern Conference Tournament commences on Friday in Asheville, NC, as the Samford Bulldogs picked up their first SoCon regular season crown which included three road losses in the conference. although the ‘Dogs won the league by three games over UNC Greensboro and Chattanooga, they will look for their first SoCon Tournament title next Monday evening.
Offensively, Samford has possessed one of the most competitive teams as they had the fourth-best three-point percentage in college basketball at 39.8 percent and 86.9 points per game, both numbers sit at fourth in college basketball.
Leading scorer Achor Achor led the Bulldogs in points per game (15.9 ppg) and rebounds (5.8 rpg). Jaden Campbell averages 46.9 to lead a group of four starters who shoot from 38.5 and 46.9 percent from behind the arc.
UNC Greensboro – At, 6-8, 220, Mikeal Brown-Jones is a force in the middle , who shot 55.3 percent, and led the Spartans with 7.0 rebounds per night.
Coach Mike Jones had a stellar overall season from fifth-year twins Keyshaun and Kobe Langley. Kobe led the SoCon with 5.7 assist per game while Keyshaun was UNCG’s second leading scorer at 15.6 points per night.
In addition to defending the three, the Spartans have to defend three-point takes (25.1) and makes (8.2) as overall, they are known for a defense that only allows 40.9 percent per game (38th/CBB). The Spartans lost a pair of 9-point decisions to Samford this season.
Chattanooga – South Carolina head basketball coach Lamont Paris led the Mocs back into the NCAA Tournament a year ago as it was his fourth season of a rebuild. Dan Earl came over from VMI and the Mocs maintained their success and finished tied for second.
Guard Honor Huff redshirted last season and came back as the Mocs leading scorer with 17.6 points per outing. Trey Bonham overcame injuries to play 20 games where he averaged 16.3 points as he and Huff were the two top three-point shooters. Huff lead the league with 3.4 per game.
Chattanooga has to work on it’s presence on the offensive glass as the Mocs lost three of their last five games.
Western Carolina – Coach Justin Gray has moved the Catamounts’ basketball fortunes to a high level as they started the season at 15-2 and struggled midway through the conference before winning six of it’s last eight.
Vonterius Woolbright has the inside track for the SoCon Player of the Year as he laveraged a double-double with 21.4 points and 12.1 rebounds per night. Woolbright is a dynamic player at 6-6, 215, as he scores inside and also was second in the SoCon at 5.5 assists.
The biggest key for WCU is to continue leading the Southern Conference in defense in allowing only 40.6 percent from the field and a league low 68.4 points per contest.
Furman – The Paladins slipped some although they came off of their first NCAA Tournament berth since 1981. Point guard J.P. Pegues beat Virginia with his buzzer-beater that propelled Furman to a 69-68 win.
Pegues (18.1 ppg) and Marcus Foster (17.2 ppg) have led a solid backcourt where they have been the third and fifth leading scorers in the league. Pegues leads in assists (4.9) while Foster is Coach Mike Richey’s leading rebounder at 7.6 boards per game.
Furman recovered from a 6-9 start as if fought an uphill battle in shooting just 44.6 percent (8th/SoCon) with a tough assist-to-turnover ratio at 11.2-to-8.9, overall.
Wofford – Dwight Perry took over as the head coach of the Terriers, who were eighth in the league by allowing opponents to shooting 34.7 percent from behind the three-point arc.
Chase Cormier shot 49.5 percent from three (51-of-103) as the Terriers continued their reputation of being a three-point shooting team, finishing at 36.2 percent. Corey Tripp (15.6 ppg) and DIllon Bailey (12.0 ppg) are the Terriers’ top two scorers with Tripp operating dynamically in finding lanes and post Kyler Filewich, who shot 57.2 from the floor.
The Terriers and Chattanooga open the SoCon Tourney on Saturday and the Mocs won a pair of double digit victories from Wofford during the regular season. The Terriers have to defend at a higher level and then be able to knock down a turnover margin that was (-2.23), ninth in the conference.
ETSU – Coach Brooks Savage took over the Buccaneers as he was an assistant to Steve Forbes at both ETSU and recently Wake Forest. The Bucs struggled on the offensive end of the floor as they shot 40.5 percent from the floor (343rd/CBB).
The Bucs prospered from three players who averaged double figures in Jaden Seymore (15.0 ppg) Ebby Asamoah (15.3 ppg), and Quimari Peterson (13.7 ppg). Peterson averaged 32.2 minutes as he was ETSU’s point guard who transferred into Johnson City from Indiana State.
ETSU opens against VMI with a matchup with UNC Greensboro on the horizon. The Bucs need a rise in offense for consistent efforts for four days in Asheville, NC.
Mercer – The Bears won four of their last five games as they finished strongly on offense down the stretch. Mercer struggled in shooting overall as they made only 44.8 percent of their shots this season.
Mercer is led by power forward Jalyn McCreary, who takes 35.5 percent of the Bears’ shots from the field and averages a team-leading 15.8 points per game.
Citadel – Another tough season for the Bulldogs, who lost 12 of 13 conference games at one point. AJ Smith (16.4 ppg) checked in as the leading scorer as the Bulldogs struggled with both the 3-Ball and rebounding.
VMI – Ballhandling was a major problem for the Keydets as they averaged 15.6 turnovers and had a (-3.94) assist-to-turnover ratio. Brennan Watkins is the Keydets leading scorer (15.6 ppg) as he shot 37.3 percent from three.