SoCon Saturday Previews: 1-18-14

A daily preview of each SoCon game.

Saturday Thought

The rest of the conference is excited about the Davidson-Elon game, but Davidson-UNCG may be just as big. Will Samford get back into the heart of the SoCon bye race? If Furman or The Citadel can pull off an upset on Thursday, the winner of their game will have a real chance to get into the SoCon bye race. It's another interesting SoCon day. We'll see the first rematch of the year when the Mocs go to Wofford.

Samford at Western Carolina, 2:00 PM

The Bulldogs have Tim Williams, but are not a good rebounding team despite the fact that they should have a solid frontcourt. Can the Bulldogs pull off the upset in Cullowhee? Western Carolina will rely heavily on Trey Sumler, but may rely more on Tawaski King in this one. Will Brandon Boggs go off again? The Catamounts are 3-0 in SoCon play, and will be gunning for 4-0. Samford is 1-3. The Bulldogs need a win to get back into the bye race. But Western Carolina has been playing too well at home. Catamounts 78, Bulldogs 66.

Georgia Southern at Appalachian State, 2:00 PM

The Eagles are off to a 1-1 start in SoCon play and are at home against Furman on Thursday night. They will bring their guard play lead by Jelani Hewitt and Tre Bussey into this one. The Eagles are looking like they are in decent shape to get a bye. They need to be able to in Boone to keep it in tact. The Mountaineers have Jay Canty back. When will the Mountaineers get a D1 win? Will it be against Chattanooga on Thursday? Will it be against the Eagles in this one? Would it really surprise anyone if they won one or both of these games? I'm going with a mild upset. Mountaineers 72, Eagles 71.

Davidson at UNCG, 5:00 PM

The Wildcats make one last trip to Greensboro. DeMon Brooks may be facing his biggest task yet, going against Kayel Locke and Kyle Cain of the Spartans. The Wildcats are playing so much better defensively. I'm unsure how that will travel to a solid team like UNCG. Davidson will be coming off a tough, emotional home game against Elon on Thursday. UNCG will have to avoid looking ahead to this one on Thursday. I think this is one the Spartans steal because the Wildcats will have to bounce back from playing an emotional game on Thursday to play another team equally emotional about playing the Wildcats. Davidson won't be up two games in a row, and UNCG steals one.  (Of course, the Spartans could lay an egg and Davidson could win by 30. You just never know with those crazy Spartans.) Spartans 74, Wildcats 70.

Furman at The Citadel, 7:00 PM

The Paladins will probably be 0-5 in SoCon play heading into this one after playing a road game against Georgia Southern on Thursday. Stephen Croone will be a challenge for every team in the SoCon to contain. Still, they are not a big team, and PJ Horgan and Brian White will be tough for the Paladins to contain. The Bulldogs have been very close to coming up with a SoCon win. They probably won't get it Thursday at UNCG, but they will find a way to get it done at home against the Paladins on Saturday. Bulldogs 69, Paladins 67.

Chattanooga at Wofford, 7:00 PM

These two just played a classic in Chattanooga last Saturday. The Mocs won by one. What happens in this one, just a week later. The Mocs will need to do a better job on the boards than they did on Saturday night and will need to finish better. The Terriers will again rely on Lee Skinner and hope that Karl Cochran and Spencer Collins play just a touch better. The Mocs and Terriers should be if for another battle, but with this one in Spartanburg with the Mocs coming off a road game in Boone and the Terriers getting a week off between games, Wofford comes up with a win. Terriers 76, Mocs 68.