Mocs 75, Furman 59

The Mocs played their best game in a while to come up with this win over one of the two teams that I consider the favorite in the SoCon Tournament tonight. It was a dominating performance. Furman never really got close in the second half.

The Mocs shot 48.9% from the floor against the best defensive team in the conference. They held the Paladins (who shot over 50% in Greenville earlier this year) to 38.6% shooting. They outrebounded the Paladind by fourteen. They turned the ball over twelve times, which is not an outrageous total.

This game featured Chris Early rising to his stardom. He scored 23 points and had eight rebounds. Keegan Bell scored 14 points and had four assists, while Omar Wattad also had 14 and Ricky Taylor had eleven. Those four played brilliantly in this game. DeAntre Jefferson only had five points and three rebounds, but the big man had three assists, which is a big key for him going forward.

You want me to nitpick? Fine- I will. They let Noah States make 8 of 10 shots. Bell turned the ball over five times, which is unacceptable, and was not how he was playing just a couple of weeks ago.

But it's hard to nitpick when Jordan Miller and Amu Saaka combine to shoot 4 of 23 from the floor, score 12 points and eight rebounds. The Mocs defense was tremendous, and it was an all-around team effort. The Mocs rebounding effort was there, and they had 13 assists on 22 made baskets. Not bad.

The Mocs are still tied for the North Division lead with a home game against Wofford and a trip to Samford left on the schedule. Western Carolina hosts The Citadel and College of Charleston, who will have nothing to play for when they play the Catamounts other than momentum going into the tournament. So Western Carolina's road seems relatively easy. Can the Mocs come up with the division title? Even if they don't, can they just get to 13-5 and be tied for the second best record in the conference behind College of Charleston?

The Mocs played great basketball tonight. The hustle and energy was there. The Mocs are now 8-0 against SoCon teams at home. With the tournament coming to Chattanooga in about a week and a half, the Mocs have to feel pretty good. They needed a win like this- and they needed to performance like this against a Furman team that hammered them earlier.

People are going to start fearing the Mocs if they play like this over the last week. The Blackout was a success. The Mocs are finally playing up to their potential.

GO MOCS!