Furman men’s basketball coach Niko Medved didn’t have a ton to time to enjoy his team’s six-point victory at UNC Greensboro last Saturday. Although the 73-67 win put Nedved’s Paladins in the top spot in the Southern Conference at the midway point of the league season, the fourth-year head coach already was considering what lay ahead.
“This league is a bear,” Medved told reporters. “This was a terrific game tonight. All of these games are like that. The margin for error is very small. The next night out, it’s going to be the same kind of test as we had today.”
The SoCon has the 14th-highest conference RPI this season, right behind the Sun Belt and ahead of the Ohio Valley and Conference USA. Six SoCon teams have double-digit wins, five of those with at least 14.
The Paladins are tied with East Tennessee State at 7-2 in league play, with Furman having defeated the Buccaneers 75-62 on Jan. 19 in Greenville, S.C. UNCG ranks third at 7-3 while the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is fourth at 6-3 and Samford is 5-4.
The top of the league is strong, but the bottom is far more competitive than it has been. Western Carolina improved to 2-8 last Saturday with a 68-62 win over Wofford. Virginia Military Institute used 40 points from guard QJ Peterson and 77 percent shooting in the second half to notch an 80-64 win at UTC a week ago.
Wofford’s 9-13 Terriers could be the Jekyll-and-Hyde team of the SoCon, having wins over Furman and UNCG and home losses to the Catamounts and The Citadel.
“I think it’s a great league this year,” ETSU coach Steve Forbes told reporters after the Bucs’ win Saturday over UTC. “You have to play every night. It might not be like that in a lot of leagues. It might not have been like that last year. But this year you have to play every night.
“I think a lot of people can win this thing. You better get your tickets for Asheville – it’s going to be on down there.”
Midseason awards
One man’s choices for SoCon honors at the midpoint:
Coach of the year – Wes Miller, UNCG. The Spartans ran off six straight wins after a 73-62 loss to Samford in their league opener. Included were wins over UTC and ETSU. Also considered: Niko Medved, Furman; Scott Padgett, Samford.
Player of the year – Devin Sibley, Furman. He is averaging 19.6 points on 60 percent shooting in league play for the first-place Paladins, sliding right into the role of last season’s SoCon player of the year, Stephen Croone. Also considered: T.J. Cromer, ETSU; Tre’ McLean, UTC.
Defensive player of the year: Justin Tuoyo, UTC. Well on his way to a third consecutive postseason defensive honor, Tuoyo has averaged 2.8 blocked shots per game in league play, which is twice as many as the No. 2 person (ETSU’s Hanner Mosquera-Perea, 1.3). He also averages seven rebounds per game. Also considered: Diante Baldwin, UNCG; A.J. Merriweather, ETSU.
Freshman of the year: Preston Parks, The Citadel. The 6-foot-1 Parks ranks sixth in the league in scoring at 16.6 points per game, while also ranking seventh in assists (4.1) and seconds in steals (2.1). Also considered: Josh Sharkey, Samford; James Dickey, UNCG.
Peterson earns POW
Peterson followed up his 40-point game against UTC with 21 points at home against Samford. The two games earned him the honor of SoCon player of the week.
Against the Mocs, he was 15-for-19 from the field and 7-for-9 from 3-point range. He made his final 10 shots of the game and was 6-for-6 on 3s in the second half.
Other top performers were UTC’s Greg Pryor, ETSU’s Desonta Bradford, Furman’s Sibley, Mercer’s Ria’n Holland, UNCG’s R.J. White, Samford’s Demetrius Denzel-Dyson and Wofford’s Eric Garcia.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.