Game 21: Furman (13-7, 7-4 SoCon) vs. Samford (6-11, 2-8 SoCon)
Wednesday, February 17, 2021 – 7:00 p.m.
Timmons Arena | Greenville, S.C.
GameDay Sponsor: Southern Recognition
TV: ESPN+
Radio: ESPN Upstate (97.7 FM/1330 AM Greenville, 97.1 FM/950 AM Spartanburg, Radio.com)
Live Stats: FurmanPaladins.com
 
FURMAN NOTABLES

• Furman, ranked No. 16 in the latest College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 and a SoCon-best No. 78 in the latest NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) Rankings, goes for its third win in the last four outings when it hosts Samford on Wednesday night at Timmons Arena.
• After a home-and-home split with UNCG earlier in the week, Furman put together a dominant performance on Saturday, completing a regular season sweep of Western Carolina with an 88-70 victory at Timmons Arena. Trailing 9-2 in the opening minutes, Furman exploded with a 30-6 run to take control of the contest. Noah Gurley and Jalen Slawson led the Paladins with 16 points apiece, while Clay Mounce tallied 14 points and Jonny Lawrence posted 11.
• Furman's victory marked its 11^th straight victory over the Catamounts and 13^th in its last 14 meetings versus Western Carolina.
• The 18-point triumph on Saturday marked Furman's 21 victory in its last 22 games at Timmons Arena and 37 in the last 40 regular season contests played in the facility. Furman is 72-12 at Timmons over the last six seasons, including 42-6 versus SoCon opposition.
• After scoring a team-high 16 points in Saturday's win over Western Carolina, redshirt-junior Noah Gurley enters Wednesday's game needing just to points to become the 47^th player in Furman history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
• Head coach Bob Richey (86-32), now in his fourth year, ranks in the top 15 among active NCAA Division I coaches with a .729 winning percentage. He guided Furman to 23 victories in his first year as head coach before setting school records with 25 wins in each of the last two seasons.
• Junior Jalen Slawson (1.3 spg, 1.4 bpg) is the only player in the Southern Conference to rank in the league's top 10 in steals and blocked shots per game this season.
• Senior Alex Hunter, a starter at point guard in 84 of the last 85 games for the Paladins, is averaging 10.4 points, 3.9 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game while leading the SoCon in assist-to-turnover ratio. He has shot 38.7% from behind the arc this season.
• Clay Mounce (15.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg) grabbed two rebounds in a Dec. 15 loss at Alabama to reach 500 for his career and become just the 10^th player in school history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 150 assists in a career. Mounce currently ranks 31st in school history with 1,228 career points.
• Led by 16 points from Jalen Slawson and 11 from Jonny Lawrence, Furman's bench tallied 44 points in Saturday's win over Western Carolina. It marked the most bench points by the Paladins in a SoCon game since scoring 46 in a 107-67 victory over The Citadel on Jan. 4, 2018.

 
 
Furman vs. Samford Series

• Wednesday night's game marks the 30^th all-time meeting between Furman and Samford on the hardwood with the Paladins holding a 20-9 series lead.
• Furman has won each of the last three meetings and nine of the last 11 encounters with the Bulldogs.
• The Paladins have won five of the last six versus Samford at Timmons Arena. 
• In the last meeting between the schools on February 12, 2020, Furman connected on 14-of-26 three-point tries and Clay Mounce scored 25 points to lead five Paladins in double figures as Furman topped Samford, 86-71, at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham.
• Furman boasts a 5-1 record versus the Bulldogs under head coach Bob Richey.

 
Up Next:
Furman at Mercer
Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021 – 2:00 p.m.
Hawkins Arena | Macon, Ga.
TV: ESPN+
Radio: ESPN Upstate