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Virginia Military Institute (8-19) vs. Furman (14-16)
Wednesday, March 05, 2003
Latest Line: Vmi +7 O/U: NL
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FACTS & STATS: Site: Charleston Coliseum (11,475) -- North Charleston, South Carolina. Television: Local. Home Record: VMI 5-7, Furman 10-5. Away Record: VMI 2-11, Furman 2-10. Neutral Record: VMI 1-1, Furman 2-1. Conference Record: VMI 3-13, Furman 8-8. Series Record: Furman leads, 56-31.
GAME NOTES: Charleston Coliseum is the site of tonight's Southern Conference Tournament first round game between fifth-seeded Virginia Military Institute of the North Division and fourth-seeded Furman of the South Division. All 12 SoCon teams participate in this event, and the winner receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The winner of this matchup will move on to face Davidson in the quarterfinal round tomorrow. VMI received considerable national attention at one point this season, but the reason for the coverage was not positive for the program. Star swingman Jason Conley left the squad, and the Keydets proceeded to go 3-13 against SoCon opponents. That poor league record tied them with The Citadel and UNC-Greensboro for the worst mark in the conference. As for Furman, it has run off five consecutive victories to improve to 14-16 overall, including 8-8 against SoCon opposition. The Paladins played tough non-league opponents such as Creighton, Notre Dame and Louisville early on, and those experiences have seemingly strengthened the squad. Furman owns a 56-31 lead in the all-time series between these two teams, including a 61-55 victory over VMI earlier this season.
Conley led the nation in scoring as a freshman last season, and his departure made the Keydets much less formidable. Radee Skipworth has taken over as the team's top offensive weapon, and he has led the way in scoring in 15 of the last 18 games. He is averaging 17.9 ppg on 44 percent shooting from the floor, and his 5.7 rpg are a team high as well since Conley took his 7.3 rpg away from the squad. Unfortunately for Skipworth, he gets little help from his teammates. No other player for VMI is netting more than 8.1 ppg, and the squad is averaging a mediocre 65.4 ppg. Richard Little has proven to be an outstanding ball distributor, as he has racked up a tremendous total of 191 assists.
Furman is led by Karim Souchu, who has proven to be one of the SoCon's most explosive offensive performers. Souchu has led the team in scoring in 20 of 30 games this season, and he is averaging 19.6 ppg overall and 22.1 ppg against SoCon opponents. Guilherme Da Luz is netting 11.3 ppg despite 37.2 percent shooting from the floor, and he has racked up 146 assists against only 93 turnovers. Kenny Zeigler is only scoring a mediocre 8.0 rpg, but is pulling down a team-high 7.6 rpg. Furman is scoring and surrendering an identical 66.4 ppg this season, but the recent string of outstanding play suggests that the Paladins are peaking at the right time.
VMI looked completely lost in its embarrassing loss to Davidson in the regular season finale, and it is difficult to imagine the squad turning things around for tonight's tilt. Expect Furman to jump out to a double-digit lead at intermission and cruise to victory.
Predicted Outcome: Furman 78, VMI 58 -
Well said mbates good reasoning. :DComment
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