SoCon Thursday Previews

A daily preview of all SoCon games.

Thursday Thought

If UNCG, Georgia Southern or Samford are going to make a major move at one of the SoCon byes, this is the day to make that move. This is the chance for those teams to make that move. Can they pull it off?

The Citadel at Appalachian State

The Mountaineers won by thirteen at The Citadel, 80-67, just two weeks ago. The Mountaineers will rely on Tommy Spagnolo to have another solid performance. Mike Kobani has been playing well, too. For the Bulldogs, they have 21.8% of their chance is to not win a single SoCon game, according to Pomeroy. This game is one that they could win. They really need to get something going in this one. They played better against Davidson on Saturday night. Matt Van Scyoc will need to explode onto the scene. It seems unlikely that the Bulldogs are going to be able to pull off beating the Mountaineers. Mountaineers 83, Bulldogs 71.

UNCG at Elon

This game should be interesting. The Phoenix have Lucas Troutman and the Spartans have Kyle Cain and Kayel Locke. The inside battle between these two teams could be interesting. That is, if Cain and Locke can avoid the foul trouble that has been plaguing them lately. The Spartans have to play better offensively than they have been as well. The Phoenix are not a great defensive team, but they are 3-0 in SoCon games at home and 2-3 in SoCon games on the road. The Phoenix will rely on knocking down some long range shots and opening up the paint for Troutman. This should be an interesting game. That being said, the Spartans have not shown up for one of these games against a big SoCon team yet. Hard to envision it happening on the road. Phoenix 76, Spartans 68.

Georgia Southern at Wofford

This was the choice for the SoCon Game of the Week this week. Jelani Hewitt and Tre Bussey against Spencer Collins and Karl Cochran should be tremendously entertaining. Neither team is particularly strong in the paint, and both rely heavily on guard play. What does that mean? That means that Marvin Baynham against Lee Skinner when Wofford has the ball may be the most important match-up. Baynham needs to control Skinner. The Terriers have been rapidly improving offensively. As long as that offensive efficiency continues, ther Terriers are a real threat to win the SoCon. The Eagles are a good team fighting for a bye. I'm not sure which team needs this one more, but the Terriers are just playing so well right now. Terriers 74, Eagles 69.

Davidson at Samford

The Wildcats have been playing well, winning their last five games. Two of those were road games, against UNCG and Western Carolina by an average of eight points per game. Can Samford hang with Davidson at their place? The Bulldogs need to at least come up with a split against Davidson and Chattanooga at home this weekend if they want to stay in the bye race. They have several winnable games coming up (Appalachian State twice and The Citadel), so if they can split their other four (Davidson, Chattanooga, Elon, and Western Carolina) and win those three, they would be 9-7, which might be enough to get a bye. Tim Williams can match De'Mon Brooks physically. The Bulldogs are 6th in the conference in three point shooting. They don't shoot a ton of threes, but Connor Miller is shooting 39.2% from three point range. If Miller is hot and Williams can hold his own, the Bulldogs will have a chance. Brooks is making a big push for SoCon Player of the Year. The Wildcats will need some other guys to step up on this night. Is this a night that Brian Sullivan and Jack Gibbs step up? Maybe. Wildcats get it done in a very close battle at Samford. Wildcats 83, Bulldogs 79.