CONFERENCE NOTES:
League Play Resumes Tuesday: Southern Conference play resumes Tuesday with Furman hosting preseason North Division favorite Chattanooga. The Mocs and Paladins are two of only four teams in the league that have yet to play a league contest. The other two, Elon and Wofford, face one another Wednesday in Spartanburg. UTC enters the game as one of the hottest teams in the SoCon, having won four in a row. Conference play gets into high gear on Saturday with five games on tap.
Television Schedule Starts Saturday: The SoCon’s eight-game television package on FSN South starts Saturday with Chattanooga hosting UNC Greensboro in a rematch of last year’s conference championship game. The next game on FSN South is Monday, Jan. 9 as Appalachian State hosts Western Carolina.
SoCon Names New Commissioner Monday: The Southern Conference on Monday named John Iamarino as the league’s eighth commissioner. Iamarino is currently the commissioner of the Northeast Conference and will officially start on January 30.
Losing Streak to ACC Schools Snapped Last Week: Elon picked up its first Division I win of the season on December 30, a 74-69 win at Clemson. The win ended a 37-game losing streak by SoCon schools versus ACC institutions. The last win by a league team over an ACC school prior to last week was December 21, 2001 when College of Charleston defeated North Carolina 66-60.
Draper on Fire for College of Charleston: The Cougars’ Dontaye Draper averaged 22.0 points per game in the College of Charleston’s last six games, including a pair of 30-point games. Draper, who was MVP of the CofC Holiday Classic, scored a career-high 33 points at UNC Wilmington December 27. Draper enters the week ranked second in scoring, averaging 19.4 ppg.
The SoCon and the RPI: The Southern Conference moved up three spots to No. 17 as a league in the latest RPI rankings, according to Collegiate Basketball News. Davidson continues to sport the conference’s best RPI at No. 24 while four others rank in the top 160 -- Georgia Southern (107), Appalachian State (134), College of Charleston (150) and UNC Greensboro (156).
Two New Coaches in SoCon This Year: Western Carolina and UNC Greensboro each have new head coaches for the 2005-06 season. Larry Hunter is the Catamounts’ new coach, while Mike Dement is back for his second stint as the Spartans’ mentor. Hunter, who has 25 years of head coaching experience at Wittenburg and Ohio, spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach at North Carolina State, while Dement was the UNCG head coach from 1991-95. Dement spent the 1995-2004 seasons at SMU.
Top Scorers Return in 2005-06: Eleven of the top-20 scorers from a year ago are back for the upcoming season, including five of the top 10. Georgia Southern’s Elton Nesbitt is the league’s leading returning scorer at 20.2 ppg. Nesbitt, who was second in the conference in scoring in 2004-05, is followed by Davidson’s Brendan Winters (third at 16.7 ppg in 2004-05), Western Carolina’s David Berghoefer (sixth at 14.6) and UNC Greensboro teammates Ricky Hickman (seventh at 14.5) and Kyle Hines (ninth at 13.6).
Two SoCon Teams Among Bracket Buster Pool: College of Charleston and UNC Greensboro are the two Southern Conference representatives for the fourth edition of ESPN’s Bracket Buster Saturday series. This year’s pool has been increased to 100 teams, up from 64 a year ago. The Cougars will participate in the event for the third straight year and will be one of the home teams, while the Spartans will be on the road for the event and are partaking in it for the first time. Last year, CofC defeated Virginia Commonwealth 85-75 in one of the pool games.
SoCon Tournament Returns to Charleston: After a one year hiatus where the conference tournament was being held in Chattanooga, TN in 2005, the SoCon Tournament returns to the North Charleston Coliseum for the fourth time in five seasons ? and for each of the next two years. The start of the championship is being moved back a day to Thursday-Sunday, March 2-5 to accommodate a Sunday afternoon finals broadcast on ESPN2. The 2006 edition of the conference championship will be the SoCon’s 86th tournament, the longest Division I men’s basketball championship.
TEAM NOTES:
APPALACHIAN STATE (5-7, 0-1 SoCon): D.J. Thompson surpassed the 700 career-point plateau at the Duquesne Holiday Tournament as the Mountaineers picked up just their fifth non-conference road win in six seasons...The victory over Duquesne also marked the first time this season that ASU defeated an opponent that shot 40 percent or better from the field...After missing the UALR game with a stomach virus, Doug McLaughlin-Williams returned to the floor and recorded his first career double-double versus Niagara with 10 points and 11 rebounds...Demetrius Scott also had a productive holiday, recording career highs in assists (7 vs. NU), rebounds (9 at DU) and steals (3 at DU)...Up next the Apps host former SoCon rival Marshall for the second time this season...ASU won the first meeting, 73-65, in Huntington...Appalachian is 12-8 all-time against the Herd in Boone...Following that game ASU resumes the SoCon season with games at Elon and versus Western Carolina.
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (7-5, 0-1 SoCon): The Cougars went 3-1 last week and are two games above the .500 mark...CofC won for the third consecutive time at UNC Wilmington in an 81-77 win on Dec. 27...CofC is now 23-1 all-time in the CofC Holiday Classic after defeating Longwood and Rider in the title game...CofC has won 17 straight in the Classic dating back to the 1997-98 season...Drew Hall and David Lawrence were named to the all-tournament team...Dontaye Draper was named the tournament’s MVP...Lawrence had 18 rebounds and 14 points vs. Rider in the finals...It was the most rebounds by a CofC player since Jody Lumpkin grabbed 18 boards vs. Davidson in the opening round of the 2001 SoCon Tournament...Lawrence added nine points and 11 boards vs. Towson...Jermaine Johnson had 13 points, 10 rebounds and a career-best three assists vs. Longwood...Draper has scored at least 30 points in two of his last four games, including a career-best 33 at UNC Wilmington...His 33 points tied Jeff Bolton for the most by a Cougar during the school’s Division I era (since 1991-92) ... It was the most by a Cougar player in a non-OT game since Donnelly McCants tallied 40 vs. UNC Asheville in 1990...Before the UNCW game, the last Cougar to tally 30 points in a game was by current CofC assistant coach Troy Wheless, who scored 31 in a 94-89 win in overtime at Davidson on Feb. 25, 2003.
CHATTANOOGA (8-6, 0-0 SoCon): Chattanooga opens league play on Tuesday at Furman as one of the hottest teams in the conference...The Mocs have won four in a row and claimed the tournament crown at their own Dr Pepper Classic last week...During the team’s four-game win streak, the Mocs are averaging 84 points per game and are shooting 52 percent from the floor...Keddric Mays is averaging 17.3 ppg and is shooting 54 percent from the floor in his past four games...Mays also hit 19 3-pointers in the four contests and was tabbed the MVP of the Dr Pepper Classic...In addition, Alphonso Pugh is averaging 15.0 ppg and 9.3 rpg during the past four games...Pugh enters the week five rebounds shy of reaching 500 for his career...After the road contest at Furman, Chattanooga heads home to face UNC Greensboro on Saturday.
THE CITADEL (6-6 0-1 SoCon): The Citadel dropped its only games over the holiday break and have now lost three in a row...The Bulldogs look to end the skid as it hosts a pair of games at home this week...The Citadel faces Penn on Wednesday and then entertains Georgia Southern on Saturday...Over its last five games the Bulldogs have four players averaging better than 10 points a game -- J’Mel Everhart (13.2 ppg), Demetrius Nelson (11.2), Dante Terry (10.2) and Donny McLendon (10.0)...Kevin Hammack scored 13 points in the team’s loss at Navy last Saturday, his highest output since joining the team from an injury that saw him miss the team’s first nine games...Everhart has paced the team in rebounds seven times this season, including his last three contests...Nelson is the only other Bulldog to top the team in rebounds, having tied or led the squad on seven occasions.
DAVIDSON (7-4, 1-0 SoCon): Davidson enters Tuesday’s game with North Carolina with losses in two of its last three games, with each of those defeats coming on the road (Syracuse, Illinois-Chicago)...Ian Johnson has topped the team in scoring in each of his last four games, averaging 21 ppg...Johnson’s 18.9 overall scoring average ranks fourth in the conference while his .539 field goal percentage is fifth...The Wildcats began the week ranked No. 24 in the Collegiate Basketball News RPI Report...Brendan Winters is nine points shy of moving into seventh place on the school’s career scoring list...Kenny Grant leads the SoCon is assists, averaging 5.9 per game and is tenth in school history with 336 career dimes.
ELON (3-9, 0-0 SoCon): Elon knocked off Clemson 74-69 on Dec. 30 for its first Division I victory of the year...It also snapped the conference’s 37-game losing streak against ACC schools...Colin Wyatt and Montell Watson paced the Phoenix with 15 points each in the win over the Tigers...Watson also led Elon with 14 points in a one-point loss at Buffalo on Dec. 21 -- currently ranked No. 6 in the CollegeInsider.com mid-Major Poll...Three of the team’s last four losses have been by a total of four points...The Phoenix travel to Wofford on Wednesday for its first league game of the season, then host Appalachian State on Saturday for the team’s first home game since Dec. 7.
FURMAN (6-5 0-0 SoCon): Furman enters the week winners of two straight and three of its last four...The Paladins claimed the tournament title at their own tourney, knocking off Kennesaw State and South Carolina State..Eric Webb tallied 23 points and dished out five assists while leading Furman to a 75-64 victory over South Carolina State in the championship game of the Jack In The Box Holiday Classic last Friday...The junior earned tournament MVP honors after averaging 19.0 ppg in the two-day event...All-tournament selection Robby Bostain registered a career-high with 27 points to help Furman top Kennesaw State 83-76 in the opening round of the tournament...Either Bostain or Webb has led Furman in scoring in each of the past five games...After Tuesday’s conference opener at home with Chattanooga, the Paladins will play three of their next four on the road.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN (8-4, 0-0 SoCon): Georgia Southern has won four straight, which is tied for the longest current win streak in the conference...Elton Nesbitt has led the Eagles in scoring each of the past five games and is averaging 24.6 ppg over that span...Nesbitt’s 1,336 career points ranks tenth in Eagle history, while his 200 3s are fourth...He also leads the league in scoring at 21.3 ppg...Louis Graham posted his first double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 boards Dec. 29 at Jacksonville...Graham is third in the league with 19 blocks this season and is already fifth all-time in school history with 69 rejections...GSU will be the last SoCon team to start its conference schedule, as the Eagles face The Citadel on the road on Saturday...After Saturday’s tilt, GSU is at home for three straight league games.
UNC GREENSBORO (7-6, 1-0 SoCon): UNC Greensboro lost 102-69 to top-ranked Duke on Dec. 31 before 21,124 fans at Greensboro Coliseum...Ricky Hickman paced the Spartans with 23 points, his fifth 20-point game of the season...UNCG is at #13 NC State Tuesday, then faces Chattanooga on the road Saturday in a game that will be televised on FSN South...Hickman is 17 points from reaching 800 for his career...The Spartans have lost three straight after winning four in a row...Kevin Oleksiak has scored in double figures in 11 of 13 games this season, including three 20-point games..Oleksiak’s 187 points scored this season is already more than he scored a year ago (136), while his 14.4 scoring average is tenth in the conference.
WESTERN CAROLINA (7-8, 1-0 SoCon): The Catamounts dropped an 89-65 game at Georgia on Dec. 31...WCU plays its second straight SEC school Tuesday as the Catamounts travel to Ole Miss...Corey Muirhead came off the bench to score 20 points and add a game-high 12 rebounds in the loss to UGA for his third double-double of the season...David Berghoefer scored 13 points versus the Bulldogs to move him past the 1,000 point barrier for his career...Berghoefer became the 34th Catamount to reach the millennium mark and is 33rd with 1,011 points...Larry Hunter will coach in his 750th game as a head coach Monday, Jan. 9 versus Appalachian State.
WOFFORD (5-8, 0-0 SoCon): The Terriers won for the second time in three games on Monday with a 60-40 win over King College...Howard Wilkerson led Wofford with 16 points and also added nine rebounds...Wilkerson also led the team with 27 points and 10 boards in a three-point loss at Notre Dame last Friday...Wilkerson is 35 points shy of reaching 1,000 for his career...He is second in the league in field goal percentage (.628) and is 13th in scoring (13.4)...Wofford opens up conference play on Wednesday, hosting Elon...The Terriers then head to Davidson Saturday.