Day 1 Wrap Up

Georgia Southern 60,  Wofford 44

Top Performer- GSU guard Tre Bussey led the Eagles with 9 rebounds and went 2-3 from behind the arc en route to 12 points for the winning team.

What started as a punch-for-punch, slow paced contest quickly turned into a romp after Georgia Southern ended the first half on a decisive 14-0 run. The Wofford Terriers were held without a field goal for the final 7:13 of the first half and never looked to be in sync offensively. A team that already struggles to put the ball in the basket, Wofford was thrown off their game by the numerous defensive switches the Eagles threw at them. Man-to-man, 2-3 and 1-2-2  zones were all applied to Indiana Faithful and his teammates and they forced shot after shot.

I mentioned that how Karl Cochran goes, so does the Wofford offense. He ended up with just 4 points on 2-10 shooting (0-5 from behind the arc). The Eagles also held a 38-26 rebounding advantage over the under-sized Wofford front line. Next the Eagles will get their shot at knocking off Davidson again in the quarter-finals tomorrow.

Furman 55, Samford 51

Top Performer- Sixth year senior guard Bobby Austin led the Paladins with 17 points and came down with the go-ahead rebound to secure Furman's upset.

This was a game I expected Samford to walk away with despite their youth at key positions. What I didn't anticipate was Furman fielding a healthy rotation and taking the whole "we're 0-0 right now" mentality all the way to the bank. The Paladins were able to stay in the first half despite never leading because of the rebounding of the Brothers Reddick and their timely three-point shooting. Tim Williams of Samford sat with foul trouble the final 6 minutes of the 1st which contributed to the Bulldogs' rebounding and offensive woes.

At the half Bennie Seltzer said it was his priority to get his guys to crash the boards. Maybe the best way to decrease the rebounding margin may have been to take and make better shots. My "Most Important Player" Raijon Kelly struggled mightily, going 1-13 from the field (1-7 from behind three). Both teams missed a number of easy looks at the rim late but Samford's offense never looked efficient unless Seltzer had the team huddle during timeouts. Down one with 28 seconds to play, the Bulldogs' Tyler Hood turned the ball over after over dribbling. Then with another chance, down 2 with 13 seconds to go, the best thing Samford could muster was a contested layup by Raijon Kelly against two Paladin defenders.

It was a shocking loss for the Bulldogs who have to be at least slightly guilty of overlooking their opponent. Furman snaps a 10-game losing streak, beats Samford in the 1st round for the third straight year and will face App State tomorrow.

UNC Greensboro 87, Chattanooga 81

Top Performer- Derrell Armstrong spearheaded the Spartan's second half comeback by drilling 4 of 5 three point attempts and finishing with a game high 25 points.

Has there ever been a game that more encapsulated UNC Greensboro basketball? The Mocs started the game by opening a can on Wes Miller's defense-optional team and put UNCG in an early double-digit hole. Trevis Simpson and friends were taking one-on-five three pointers, attempting alley-oops and attempting way too many tough shots at the rim. On the other end of the court they weren't rotating on defense and allowed the Z Men and Rico White to have whatever shots they desired.

Then in the second half the Spartans started to hit some of their ridiculous shots and suddenly we had a game on our hands. Once UNCG had erased their deficit, the shift in effort was obvious. Simpson started driving recklessly to the basket and made up for his own poor shooting by converting at the line (6-7 on FT's). Even when the league's leading scorer went to the bench the Spartans stayed aggressive. At the end of 40 minutes it was the Mocs who were left stunned. UNCG meets up with Elon next. Dangerous matchup for the Phoenix.

Western Carolina 76, Citadel 61

Top Performer- Trey Sumler exploded for 27 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Hopefully he got all that scoring out of his system before the Catamounts meet the Cougars.

Can't say I'm very surprised by this outcome. I was more surprised that Citadel stayed in it as long as they did (approximately 7 minutes). Then the Bulldogs came back down to Earth and proceeded to foul and take bad shots. The Catamount crowd grew louder, Trey Sumler heated up and Mike Groselle's career came to an end.

All night long the Bulldogs were two steps too slow for the Bulldogs. Like I predicted in my preview, Citadel had no one capable of keeping up with Sumler: and it showed. Tawaski King also kept Groselle off the boards and off the score sheet for much of the first half. Next up the Catamounts take on the Cougars. It's a tough draw for sure but CofC has to feel good about how well Stitt defended Sumler in their first (only) meeting this year.