Stitt, Cougars Trounce Furman

Final Score: College of Charleston 89, Furman 55

Top Performers:

Anthony Stitt 21 points (4-8 3Ptr), 4 steals, 2 assts, 2 rebs

Stephen Croone 20 points (7-14 FG)

Just what the doctor ordered. After facing tough challenges early and dropping to 1-3 on the season, the opportunity to face a familiar foe in Furman was just what CofC (and especially Anthony Stitt) needed to find their groove again. After leading by just 7 at halftime the Cougars exploded in the second period, shooting 9-14 from outside the arc and blowing up their lead to well past 30 points.

The most welcome takeaway from this game was Anthony Stitt breaking out of his shooting slump. The junior guard was shooting just 22% from three on the season and had yet to reach double figures in a game this year. The most experienced cog in Wojcik's "Three-Headed Monster" backcourt, Stitt had yet to have the type of impact that freshmen Joe Chealey and Canyon Barry have had. 

Like he has done since his freshman season, Stitt got it going on defense first. Tasked with slowing down Stephen Croone, the "straw that stirs the drink" of the Furman offense, Stitt made his man work to facilitate the Paladin offense. The confidence in slowing Croone defensively seemed to follow Stitt to the other end of the court as he looked confident and composed shooting and running the offense. Joe Chealey played the least minutes of any of the starters with early foul trouble and Stitt ensured the Cougars didn't skip a beat.

Right behind Anthony Stitt in the "let's get this guy going" category was freshmen Jonathan Buroughs-Cook. With Chealey in foul trouble and the Cougars running away from the 'dins in the second half, Burroughs-Cook saw more time on the court than he has all season. He responded with 14 points off the bench including yet another ferocious dunk off a steal (the rim is never safe when JBC is on the floor) and 3-of-4 shooting from downtown. Wojcik mentioned after the game what an advantage it is to now have as many as 5 players (Chealey, Stitt, Barry, Thomas and Cook) who can handle the ball at any given time. If he keeps it up, JBC might find himself doing more than just handling the ball when the team is up 30.

Speaking of freshman, we got the opportunity to see a lot more depth from CofC. There was actually a stretch in the second half where Wojcik rolled with an all-newcomer five man unit of Chealey, Cook, Barry, O'Donohue and Wishon. None of those guys saw a minute of playing time last year. Throw in Theo Johnson getting 8 minutes and you have some idea of how much more firepower the Cougars have in the expanded rotation since last year.

That's going to be a welcome development with the 3-games-in-four-days Wooden Legacy Tournament in California later this week. Last year in the Charleston Classic, the lack of depth became painfully obvious as the Cougars got crushed in their first two contests with both Trent Wiedeman and Andrew Lawrence missing multiple games in such a short time frame. The other teams in the Wooden present a tall task for the Cougars but such a dominating win might be exactly what the Cougars need to make some noise when they hit the road.