Southern Conference Hoops

Welcome! Like a roadtrip to any small town USA I’m not quite sure where this is headed but we’re gonna have a modicum of fun along the way. The goal of this is for me to just practice writing, and follow the Southern Conference through the year (Wait, but didn’t the season start a few weeks ago?? Shh!!). Here’s a brief overview of each team a few games into the season. Once RPI and NET rankings start to have more meaning, maybe I’ll integrate those into the order of how the teams are broken down. Ultimately we’re not kidding ourselves, the league will only get the conference tournament winner into the Big Dance, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun to follow the stories of the little guys through the journey. Finally, the goal will to do these weekly but much like many soccer games, goals sometimes just don’t happen. 

1. East Tennessee State (3-1). A warm-up win against Converse college, followed by a close loss to Presbyterian after blowing a 6 point lead in the last 5 minutes was the story of their first week. In week 2, the Buccaneers bounced back with a home win over NKU and on Saturday went on the road and inched out a 4 point win at Northern Alabama in the ASUN/SoCon Challenge. They are led in scoring this year by seniors guard Brian Taylor II and Cam Morris III, both averaging 14 ppg. In the win over Northern Alabama, the Buccs had a very balanced scoring attack with Taylor, Morris, and sophomore Jordan McCullum scoring 11, and junior guard Jaylen Smith scoring 14 off the bench. 
2. Samford (3-2). In a tough first game the Bulldogs travelled to Tulane and lost, keeping it close in the first half but ultimately Tulane pulled ahead and led by 5-10 most of the second half. Samford went home and got a win a few days later against SC State. A busy week 2 had three games. First, they went on the road and won a tough game against Texas Southern in overtime, and then went back east to play at ranked Arkansas, showing fight and only losing 79-75. Another overtime game on Sunday on the road as the Bulldogs finished the weekend strong beating Central Arkansas 84-77 in the ASUN/SoCon Challenge. Senior Jadin Booth leads their scoring with 23.6 ppg to go along with 5.0 rpg. Senior Keaton Norris and junior Dylan Faukner are also contributing nicely with 14 ppg. Five players scored in double digits in their win at CArk. 
3. VMI (3-2). A warm-up started the season against J&W and they continued the momentum the first week with a great road win at Southern Indiana. Tough times to finish the week though, traveling to play at Missouri, and losing 106-68. Another non-division one win to build some more momentum started week 2, and finally they lost a close one at home on a game winning three, 69-67 to Jacksonville in the ASUN/SoCon Challenge. Junior TJ Johnson leads the Keydets in scoring at 25 ppg, with both sophomore Walker Andrews and freshman Mario Tatum Jr. helping out with 14 ppg. Junior AJ Clark was a big reason VMI stayed so close in the game against Jacksonville, putting in 15 and grabbing 5 rebounds. 
4. Mercer (2-2). Tough road start for the Mercer Bears, travelling to ranked Tennessee to play the Vols, but held their own, only losing 76-61 to start the season. An easy win a couple days later against LaGrange in a 39 point blow out win, and then finished the first week on a high note beating Lipscomb at home, 92-77 in the ASUN/SoCon Challenge. A break in week 2, with only one game on Saturday, where they took one on the chin in a road loss at Winthrop, getting mauled 105-69. Mercer has four players averaging double figures, and two more right behind at 8 ppg. Leading the way is junior guard Baraka Okojie at 15.3 ppg, along with 3.8 rpg and 5.0 apg. He is a transfer from Memphis after playing his first year with George Mason. In the Bears big win against Lipscomb, all five starters scored 14 or more points, and junior Armani Mighty, sophomore Brady Shoulders, and Okojie had double-doubles. 
5. Western Carolina (2-2). WCU started the season on a brutal roadtrip, traveling north to Cincinnati where they lost by 31, and then back down to Duke, losing 95-54. Fortunately they put up 95 of their on to start week 2 against Voorhees, and closing the second week with a solid 76-65 win against Stetson in the ASUN/SoCon Challenge. Senior Julien Soumaoro leads the way with 16.3 ppg for the Catamounts. Soumaoro is a transfer, playing minimally for ECU last year and spending his first three years at Gardner-Webb. Two players also are averaging ppg for Western Carolina, juniors guard Cord Stansberry, and forward Marcus Kell. In the Stetson win, they held Stetson to 35% shooting, and Sumaoro led the way with 23/8/6, including four 3s. 
6. Wofford (2-2). A tough loss to start the season for the Terriers, falling by 24 at George Mason, but then returning home to bounce back with an 86-76 win against Milwaukee. A similar second week for Wofford, they went down to ranked Auburn and it was unfortunately not close from the jump, ultimately losing by 31. Finishing the week with the ASUN/SoCon Challenge, they found their groove in a 94-86 win at Bellarmine on Saturday. They are led in scoring by their guards, sophomore Charlotte native Kahmare Holmes averaging 15 ppg and junior transfer from UCF Nils Machowski, who is averaging 14 ppg. On the road at Bellarmine, Holmes put in 24 and Machowski a season-high 28.
7. UT-Chattanooga (1-3). A blow-out win against Union (KY) to begin the season and build momentum, they traveled west during the week and lost a tough fight in their second game to Saint Mary’s, 87-66. Chattanooga stayed within ten most of the game until around the 12 minute mark of the second half. The very next night they flew down to Las Vegas and lost in a blowout to UNLV, 101-69. After coming home for rest and practice during week 2, the Mocs lost at FGCU by 18 in the ASUN/SoCon Challenge. It has been a tough road test to start the year for UT-Chattanooga. Their two leading scorers to start the year are senior transfer Teddy Washington Jr., from SE Missouri State, and junior Jordan Frison, both averaging 12 ppg. Highlighting the good from the FGCU game, Frison had 15 and senior Jikari Johnson had 10 off the bench. 
8. Furman (1-3). Furman started the season against High Point, losing by 26 in the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon, and followed it up later that week with a close home loss to Troy, 64-61. Furman had the game tied with 3 minutes to go, but ultimately couldn’t finish the comeback. A win started the second week against Columbia International at home, and then battled in a tough loss on the road to Northern Iowa, 70-54. To start the year for the Paladins, freshman guard Alex Wilkins leads the way with 15.8 ppg, and notably senior forward Charles Johnston is averaging an impressive double-double so far at 10.8 ppg and 10.5 rpg. In their tough road loss to undefeated UNI, Johnston had a double double and junior Cooper Bowser put in 16 points on 7-10 shooting. 
9. The Citadel (1-3). Getting off on the right foot, the Bulldogs beat Erskine 105-61 to start the season, before losing on the road by 29 to Boston College. The Citadel kept it close in their first game of Week 2 at home against Charleston Southern, ultimately losing 96-86. Ending the week in the ASUN/SoCon Challenge, The Citadel went on the road against West Georgia and again kept it within ten most of the game, but ultimately losing 100-92. The Bulldogs have very balanced scoring across the board so far, but sophomore forward Christian Moore leads the way with 13.8 ppg. Senior Sola Adebisi, is second with 10.8 ppg and also leads with 7 rpg. In putting up 92 at UWG, five players scored in double figures, with junior Keynan Davis scoring 17 on 6-9 shooting and freshman Marcos Gonzales adding 14 off the bench, to go along with 5 rebounds and 7 assists. 
10. UNC-Greensboro (0-4). Tough sledding so far for the Spartans. They started the year with a 29 point loss against Kansas State (who is currently 4-0), and then lost a heartbreaker in overtime 92-90 at home against Elon. The game was close the whole stretch and came down to the last minute of OT. Another tough road game started week 2 at NC State, falling 110-64, and then returning home against Austin Peay on Saturday, unfortunately dropping that one as well, 69-63. Two players lead the Spartans so far this year in scoring, senior Donald Whitehead Jr and transfer from Albany, senior Justin Neely, both averaging 13 ppg. Neely is also adding in 11.8 rpg and 2.0 apg to start the year. In the close one against Austin Peay in the ASUN/SoCon Challenge, Neely had a 15/14 double-double and senior Valentino Pindeo helped with 12 points off the bench.