Southern Conference Men's Basketball 2019-20
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SOUTHERN CONFERENCE MEN’S BASKETBALL 2019-20 702 North Pine Street, Spartanburg, SC 29303 • 864-591-5100• Fax: 864-591-3448 Phil Perry, Assistant Commissioner for Media Relations (MBK contact) facebook.com/SouthernConference • twitter.com/SoConSports • instagram.com/SouthernConference 2019-20 SOUTHERN CONFERENCE BASKETBALL StaNDINGS NOTES Conference Overall • UNC Greensboro visits No. 3 Kansas on Friday to highlight the Southern Conference’s weekend slate, W-L Pct. H A ST W-L Pct. H A N ST while The Citadel hosts UNC Asheville on Saturday ETSU 0-0 .000 0-0 0-0 - 1-0 1.000 1-0 0-0 0-0 W1 to become the final league team to open its 2019-20 campaign. Furman 0-0 .000 0-0 0-0 - 1-0 1.000 0-0 1-0 0-0 W1 • In other notable contests, Loyola-Chicago visits Fur- UNCG 0-0 .000 0-0 0-0 - 1-0 1.000 1-0 0-0 0-0 W1 man on Friday in a rematch of the battle the Paladins won 60-58 on a Clay Mounce dunk with 1.6 seconds Wofford 0-0 .000 0-0 0-0 - 1-0 1.000 1-0 0-0 0-0 W1 left last season, while Western Carolina hosts defend- Samford 0-0 .000 0-0 0-0 - 1-1 .500 1-0 0-1 0-0 W1 ing Big South Conference tournament champion Gardner-Webb on Saturday. The Citadel 0-0 .000 0-0 0-0 - 0-0 .000 0-0 0-0 0-0 - • Preseason SoCon favorite ETSU hits the road for the Chattanooga 0-0 .000 0-0 0-0 - 0-1 .000 0-0 0-1 0-0 L1 first time this season when it visits UT Martin on Sat- urday. The Bucs opened their season with a 79-50 win Mercer 0-0 .000 0-0 0-0 - 0-1 .000 0-0 0-1 0-0 L1 over Newberry on Wednesday. VMI 0-0 .000 0-0 0-0 - 0-1 .000 0-0 0-1 0-0 L1 • Western Carolina led Georgia 38-37 at the half Tues- Western Carolina 0-0 .000 0-0 0-0 - 0-1 .000 0-0 0-1 0-0 L1 day before falling 91-72. Senior forward Carlos Dot- son notched a double-double with 17 points and 15 rebounds. Likewise, Chattanooga and VMI also held UPCOMING SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES EASTERN) Preseason predictions halftime leads in eventual losses to Eastern Kentucky and East Carolina, respectively. The Mocs fell 79-68 Nov. 8 (Friday) and the Keydets dropped an 80-68 decision. Columbia International at Mercer, 1 p.m. ESPN3 ETSU is the preseason favorite to win Loyola-Chicago at Furman, 7 p.m. ESPN3 • Samford point guard Josh Sharkey moved up one the 2019-20 Southern Conference men’s spot to ninth in SoCon history in career assists with Marist at VMI, 7 p.m. ESPN3 basketball title in polling of the league’s six in the Bulldogs’ opener, a 90-86, double-overtime UNCG at No. 3 Kansas, 9 p.m. ESPNU loss at Morehead State on Tuesday. Sharkey added 10 10 men’s basketball coaches and media. more in a 68-42 win over Kentucky Wesleyan on Thurs- Nov. 9 (Saturday) UNC Greensboro junior guard Isaiah day to push his careeer total to 557. UNC Asheville at The Citadel, 12 p.m. ESPN3 Miller is the coaches’ pick for preseason • Three SoCon teams appear in the preseason edition Gardner-Webb at Western Carolina, 12 p.m. ESPN3 player of the year. of the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, with Tennessee State at Chattanooga, 4:30 p.m. SDN ETSU checking in at No. 3 and Furman and UNCG rank- High Point at Wofford, 7 p.m. SDN ing 15th and 16th, respectively. Wofford is receiving Preseason Player of the Year ETSU at UT Martin, 8 p.m. ESPN+ votes in the poll. Isaiah Miller, Jr., G, UNCG • Three SoCon players were named to the Lou Henson Nov. 11 (Monday) Preseason All-Southern Conference Team Award watch list on Thursday. ETSU’s Jeromy Rodri- Kennesaw State at Mercer, 7 p.m. ESPN+ Bo Hodges, Jr., G, ETSU guez, Furman’s Jordan Lyons and UNCG’s Isaiah Miller Averett at UNCG, 7 p.m. ESPN+ were all on the watch list for the award, which hon- Jeromy Rodriguez, R-Sr., F, ETSU (Spartan Invitational) ors the top mid-major player. Former Wofford guard Daivien Williamson, So., G, ETSU Presbyterian at VMI, 7 p.m. ESPN+ Fletcher Magee won the award last season. Jordan Lyons, Sr., G, Furman Samford at Belmont, 7:30 p.m. ESPN+ Ross Cummings, Sr., G, Mercer • Wofford (30), UNCG (29) and Furman (25) all set James Dickey, R-Sr., F, UNCG school records for wins last season. The Terriers be- Nov. 12 (Tuesday) came just the third team to record 30 wins in league Isaiah Miller, Jr., G, UNCG The Citadel at Georgia, 7 p.m. SEC+ history, joining the 1945-46 North Carolina squad and Josh Sharkey, Sr., G, Samford Chattanooga at Troy, 7 p.m. ESPN+ the 1950-51 NC State team. Carlos Dotson, Sr., F, Western Carolina North Carolina A&T at Western Carolina, 7 p.m. ESPN+ Nathan Hoover, Sr., G, Wofford • ETSU notched 24 wins last season to give the SoCon William & Mary at Wofford, 7 p.m. ESPN+ four teams with 20 wins for the third straight season. (Hall of Fame Classic) The Bucs have reached 20 wins for four straight sea- Furman at Charleston Southern, 7:30 p.m. ESPN+ sons, becoming the first SoCon team to post four con- Coaches poll Media poll secutive 20-win seasons since Davidson turned in five Team (1st) Total Team (1st) Total straight from 2004-09. ETSU’s 100 wins in the last four Nov. 13 (Wednesday) 1. ETSU (8) 80 1. ETSU (20) 286 seasons are a school record over a four-year span. Virginia-Wise at Samford, 7:30 p.m. ESPN3 2. UNCG (2) 74 2. UNCG (6) 264 (Jersey Mike’s Jamaica Classic) 3. Furman 61 3. Furman (4) 245 • Two new head coaches join the league this year in Mercer’s Greg Gary and Wofford’s Jay McAuley. Gary 4. Wofford 52 4. Wofford 216 came to the Bears after spending the previous eight IGItaL EY 5. Samford 48 5. Samford 169 years on Matt Painter’s staff at Purdue, while McAuley TV/D K 6. Chattanooga 41 6. Chattanooga 128 spent the prior two seasons as the Terriers’ associate SDN SoCon Digital Network 7. Western Carolina 38 7. Western Carolina 117 head coach under Mike Young, who departed to take 8. Mercer 29 8. Mercer 115 over the program at Virginia Tech. McAuley picked up SEC+ SEC Network+ his first career win with Wofford’s 86-63 win over Ers- ESPNU ESPNU 9. The Citadel 16 9. The Citadel 70 kine on Tuesday, while Gary seeks is first win at Mercer ESPN3 ESPN3 10. VMI 11 10. VMI 40 when the Bears host Columbia International on Friday. ESPN+ ESPN+ #SoConHoops Release Nov. 8, 2019 Page 1 CONFERENCE NEWS AND NOTES MID-MAJOR TOP 25 (PRESEASON) SOCON PLAYERS OF THE WEEK • Four Southern Conference teams – ETSU, Furman, The Southern Conference has three teams ranked in PRESENTED BY GEICO UNCG and Wofford – earned postseason invites last the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 preseason season, giving the league multiple teams in postsea- poll. Nov. 12 ........................................................................................... son play for the 11th consecutive year. It marked the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Nov. 19 ........................................................................................... ninth time in the last 11 seasons with at least three So- Rank School (1st-place) Record Points LW Conf. Nov. 26 ........................................................................................... Con teams in postseason play. SoCon regular-season 1. Gonzaga (31) 0-0 775 - West Coast Dec. 3 ............................................................................................. and tournament champion Wofford earned its first- 2. Saint Mary’s 0-0 735 - West Coast Dec. 10 ........................................................................................... ever NCAA tournament win with a victory over Seton 3. ETSU 0-0 584 - Southern Dec. 17 ........................................................................................... Hall in the first round. UNCG was the No. 1 seed in the 4. Vermont 0-0 580 - America East Dec. 24 ........................................................................................... NIT and advanced to the second round, while Furman 5. New Mexico State 0-0 578 - WAC 6. Liberty 0-0 576 - ASUN Jan. 7 .............................................................................................. joined the Spartans in the NIT. ETSU hosted a Colleg- 7. Harvard 0-0 555 - Ivy League Jan. 14 ............................................................................................ eInsider.com Postseason Tournament contest. 8. Belmont 0-0 405 - Ohio Valley Jan. 21 ............................................................................................ 9. Bowling Green 0-0 381 - Mid-American Jan. 28 ............................................................................................ • Eight of the 15 coaches’ All-SoCon selections from 10. Missouri State 0-0 374 - Missouri Valley Feb. 4 .............................................................................................. last year return to the league in 2019-20. UNCG’s Isa- 11. Colgate 0-0 313 - Patriot Feb. 11 ........................................................................................... iah Miller is the only returning first-teamer and is this 12. Wright State 0-0 303 - Horizon Feb. 18 ........................................................................................... year’s preseason player of the year. 13. BYU 0-0 291 - West Coast 14. UC Irvine 0-0 283 - Big West Feb. 25 ........................................................................................... 15. Furman 0-0 234 - Southern • Collectively, the league returns 31 of 50 starters from 16. UNCG 0-0 227 - Southern last season. ETSU, Furman, Samford and Western Caro- 17. Charleston 0-0 214 - Colonial lina each returns four starters. 18. Murray State 0-0 196 - Ohio Valley 19. North Dakota State 0-0 189 - Summit O ON LAYERS OF THE ONTH • As a league, the SoCon finished 12th in the final NET 20. Penn 0-0 177 - Ivy League S C P M rankings last year.