| Game 3: Charleston Southern (1-1) vs. Furman (2-0) |
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Charleston Southern men's basketball returns to the Buc Dome for a highly-anticipated clash with longtime foe Furman Tuesday night looking to keep their home record unblemished.
The Bucs (1-1) fell in their first road contest of the season Friday night at North Carolina A&T while Furman comes in 2-0 after downing Loyola-Chicago and reigning Big South champion Gardner-Webb.
Dontrell Shuler has accounted for 35% of CSU's offense through two games scoring 18.0 points per contest and dishing out nine assists.
Phlandrous Fleming Jr. posted the Bucs' first double-double of the season Friday night grabbing 11 rebounds and scoring 11 points finishing just one board shy of a career-best mark.
For Openers
- Charleston Southern returns to the friendly confines of Buccaneer Field House after posting a 99-71 win opening night and falling on the road at North Carolina A&T.
- Tuesday's matchup between longtime foes in Charleston Southern and Furman marks the earliest in the season the teams have squared off since a Nov. 11 meeting in the 2006-07 season, a matchup the home Paladins would take from Timmons Arena.
- The home team has dominated the series with CSU sporting a perfect 4-0 record in the Buc Dome and Furman holding an 8-3 advantage in Greenville. The Bucs and Paladins did play one neutral site affair at the North Charleston Coliseum Dec. 18, 1993 with the Paladins taking a 103-98 thriller.
- Tuesday's meeting is just the fifth since the turn of the century between CSU and Furman with the Paladins taking three of the first four played since 2000 - all three wins coming in Greenville. Head coach Barclay Radebaugh faces his former assistant Bob Richey for just the second time after nearly-upsetting the No. 23 Paladins last season.
- Charleston Southern has been one of the best teams in the Big South and Division I over the past decade at home finishing above .500 every season dating back to 2009-10 and winning at least 10 in five of those campaigns.
Scouting The Paladins
- Furman comes in loaded after back-to-back 20-win seasons in the Southern Conference and 2-0 record in 2019-20 after taking down reigning Big South champ Gardner-Webb and Loyola-Chicago.
- The Paladins were tabbed third in the preseason coaches poll by the SoCon head coaches and media members behind ETSU and UNCG. Defending champion Wofford was slated fourth just behind the Paladins.
- Furman has a high shooting percentage (.509) but has been susceptible to offensive boards allowing 11.0 second chances on misses this season. Meanwhile, CSU has cleaned-up on the offensive glass through two games grabbing nearly 14 offensive rebounds a game.
- Jordan Lyons and Clay Mounce pace the Paladin offense with 16.5 ppg while Noah Gurley adds 12.0 and the tandem of Jalen Slawson and Mike Bothwell add 9.5 and 9.0, respectively.
- Just like the Bucs, Furman has length at the three and four positions with the ability to shoot from deep knocking down over 31% of their treys.
Challenging November Slate
- Four of Charleston Southern's nonconference opponents sit inside the KenPom top-100 rankings headlined by No. 1 Michigan State.
- Of the four top-100 teams CSU plays, three come in a three-game stretch between Nov. 12 and Nov. 18.
- CSU begins that daunting stretch with Furman (98) at home followed by a trip to Dayton (56) Nov. 16 and a visit to East Lansing for the preseason No.1 team in America, Michigan State (1) just 48 hours later on Nov. 18.
- Missouri (38) also looms on the Buccaneer schedule to open the December slate while Southern Utah (207), James Madison (223) and Eastern Kentucky (260) all sit within 40 spots of the Bucs in the KenPom rankings.
A Win on Tuesday Would…
- Be the second win at home in as many tries this season
- Pull the Bucs within one game in series history
- Keep CSU perfect at home versus Furman
- Be the second win over Furman for head coach Barclay Radebaugh and first over former assistant Bob Richey
- Give the Bucs two of the last three wins in the series
