Tag: Furman Paladins

Oklahoma Sooners land another from the transfer portal

The Oklahoma Sooners pick up their second transfer commitment in as many days, adding Furman catcher Riley Ludlum.

We aren’t even through with the week and Oklahoma has added yet another softball transfer. This time it’s Furman Paladins catcher Riley Ludlam, a versatile player who played some at short as well.

She was a first-team All-Southern Conference selection in 2022. Last season she hit 10 home runs, had 41 RBIs and batted .372.

This comes after an impressive junior season in which she hit .279 while leading the Paladins with 15 doubles, seven home runs and 35 RBIs.

In all, she’s made 54 starts between shortstop at catcher. So it’s unclear if she’s being brought in with one year remaining to be Kinzie Hansen’s backup or if she will take Grace Lyons’ spot at short.

Her best game last season was arguably versus Tulsa when she hit two home runs, drew two walks and had three RBIs. She had another two-homer game versus East Tennesee State.

She drove in five runs in that game to help her team get a win. No doubt about it, she comes with a lot of experience as she’s started every game since her freshman year in 2020.

Combine that with her hitting ability, she could be a factor at the designated player position for the Sooners who look to four-peat.

This addition comes after Oklahoma earned a commitment from transfer Paytn Monticelli Wednesday morning.

It’s unclear if the Sooners are done making moves, but with Patty Gasso, nothing is off of the table.

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Furman’s Cinderella runs comes to an end against San Diego State

Furman makes history by beating Virginia but their dream season ends in the second round.

Furman had an opportunity to be the next Cinderella team in the NCAA Tournament after taking down No. 4 Virginia on Thursday. However, that dream came to a quick end with their 75-52 loss to San Diego State on Saturday.

It was the Paladins’ first tournament appearance since 1980 under head coach Eddie Holbrook. That season earned a No. 10 seed after finishing 16-5 in the regular season and winning the Southern Conference tournament. Furman was eliminated by Tennessee in the first round, 80-69.

Furman continued Virginia’s run of futility with another first-round exit. They were led this season by a pair of seniors, guard Mike Bothwell and forward Jalen Slawson.

San Diego State on the other hand moves on to the Sweet 16 as they await the winner of the Alabama and Maryland matchup. The Aztecs hadn’t reached the second of March Madness since 2015 when they were knocked off by Duke, 68-49.

As for Furman, they can walk away from the 2023 NCAA men’s tournament with their heads held high. The Paladins won a tournament game for the first time since 1974.

Head coach Bob Richey will have some work to do as he is tasked with replacing his senior leaders next season.

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MADNESS: Twitter reacts to No. 13 Furman shocks No. 4 Virginia with late three-pointer

No. 13 Furman shocked No. 4 Virginia and the world on Thursday afternoon by defeating the Cavaliers on a steal and three-pointer in the final seconds of the second half.

The No. 13 Furman Paladins started off the 2023 NCAA Tournament with a bang on Thursday afternoon upsetting the No. 4 Virginia Cavaliers 68-67.

The Paladins pulled off the upset on a three-pointer in the final seconds of the second half, as Virginia’s Kihei Clark looked to push the ball up the court trying to stop Furman from getting to the ball or from fouling him.

His heave to half-court, however, would be intercepted by Furman’s Garret Hien who would get the ball quickly to JP Pegues who would knock down the game-winning three with just over two seconds remaining. It was Pegues’s only made three-pointer of the afternoon, missing each of his other three attempts while being 3-for-9 from the floor for the game.

The three-pointer for Pegues also helped cap off a 12-point comeback in the final 12 minutes by the Paladins.

For Virginia, the crucial turnover by Kihei Clark puts an end to his collegiate career. A career that is ironically headlined by a terrific pass he made as a true freshman in Virginia’s 2019 NCAA title.

In the dying seconds of Virginia’s Elite Eight matchup that season against Purdue, Clark would round up a loose ball on the other side of half-court before throwing a bullet of a one-handed pass to Mamadi Diakite who would tie the game at 70-70 and send the game to overtime. They would go on to beat Purdue 80-75, before defeating Auburn 63-62 in the Final Four and eventually defeating Texas Tech 85-77 in the national championship game.

With the victory, Furman now awaits the winner of No. 5 San Diego State vs No. 12 Charleston.

Where is Furman, the team that upset Virginia in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament?

If you’re wondering where Furman is, you aren’t alone.

The first major upset of the 2023 NCAA men’s tournament happened Thursday when Furman beat Virginia.

That’s 13-seed Furman, to be exact.

The Southern Conference champions knocked off 4-seed UVA, causing absolute pandemonium just a couple games into the first round.

If you’re anything like me, the exciting finish after an unbelievable late turnover caused a loud noise to escape your body. Then, after you calmed yourself down enough to process what just happened, you asked yourself, “where the heck is Furman anyway?”

Thankfully, I looked it up for you. Furman is in Greenville, South Carolina. And the team’s mascot is a Paladin, in case you were wondering.

The more you know.

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What the heck is a Paladin, the Furman team mascot?

Here’s your answer.

We have our first upset of 2023 March Madness: Furman — a No. 13 seed — took down No. 4 Virginia on Thursday.

Furman is known as the Paladins, which had a lot of people on Twitter asking: Wait, what’s a Paladin?

To borrow from the oldest conceit in the book: Merriam-Webster defines a paladin as “a trusted military leader (as for a medieval prince).” The dictionary also tells us that “in ancient Rome, the emperor’s palace was located on the Palatine Hill; since the site was the seat of imperial power, Latin palatium came to mean “imperial” as well as “palace.” From palatium came Latin palatinus, also meaning “imperial” and later “imperial official.”

But a paladin also became a knight who was part of the court of Charlemagne in the 1500s, and that’s the more common definition. Furman took on the nickname per its site in 1961:

The football team had been named the Purple Hurricanes in the 1920s. The basketball team had previously been named the “Paladins” and the “Paladins of the court” by the late J. Carter (Scoop) Latimer, former sports editor of The Greenville News. The baseball team was previously known as the “Hornets” and the cross country and track teams were the “Harriers.”

Through the years many requests had been made to establish a common name for all Furman teams. Not until the spring of 1961 did the move attract enough interest to warrant a change.

Also, fun fact: Furman was No. 3 in this year’s FTW’s ranking of the best mascots of the 2023 NCAA men’s tournament.

 

 

March Madness: Best NCAA Tournament first-round upset picks and predictions

Analyzing NCAA Tournament betting odds for the first round, with predictions and picks for the 4 best underdog bets.

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Cinderella stories are always a fun part of the Big Dance — especially so when we have projected those stories alongside underdog wagers. Below, we break down Tipico Sportsbook’s NCAA Tournament odds and lines and list the best first-round upset bets to cash in on among SportbookWire’s expert college basketball picks and predictions.

It does not always have to be a bet returning enough to finance a Disney movie. It is just plain fun to do the research, make the right call, and be on that side when millions of hoops viewers are stunned (or even mildly surprised) when upsets roll across all the screens where we take in games and results. Let’s identify 4 such plus-money plays in this week’s first-round games.

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NCAA Tournament first-round upset picks

Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Wednesday at 11:10 a.m. ET. All game times ET.

PENN STATE +2.5 (-102) vs. Texas A&M – Thursday, 7:25 p.m.

Penn State is one of several Big Ten teams not named Purdue worth keeping an eye on this first weekend. Teams from this conference are coming out of a meat-grinder, a high-quality round-robin that has leveled stats more so than the talents behind them.

With a 38.5% mark from 3-point-land (13th), the 10th-seeded Nittany Lions can bomb their way into a dogfight with the No. 7 Aggies. PSU also plays at a slowest-third tempo; some slower teams that have beaten Texas A&M outright include Boise State, Kentucky, Mississippi State, and Wofford.

Penn State does well to defend inside and hang onto the basketball, and those strengths fly in the face of what the Aggies want to do. The Lions are a live dog in this match-up.

DRAKE +2.5 (-112) vs. Miami – Friday, 7:25 p.m.

This contest is a 12-5 (DU-UM) Midwest Region battle in Albany. It features a Miami Hurricanes squad that may be getting a little too much credit coming out of a weaker-than-usual ACC squaring off with a Drake five on a roll. The Bulldogs are 13-1 over their last 14 games and have outscored foes by an average of 14.7 points while shooting 40.9% from distance over that stretch.

DU is an experienced bunch and one that plays responsible ball at both ends of the floor. Miami can sometimes struggle against teams that defend the perimeter well; that’s a Drake strength (30.6% 3-point defense (30th)).

Under coach Jim Larrañaga, the Hurricanes are 2-5 against the spread in their last 7 NCAA tourney games.

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MONTANA STATE +8.5 (-110) vs. Kansas State – Friday, 9:40 p.m.

It’s cat-scratch fever in this East Region game in Greensboro on Friday. The 14th-seed Bobcats are taking on the No. 3 Wildcats, but peg this as more of a wild opportunity for more of a bracket run than just a 1-time upset. There are some weak spots in the potential 2nd and 3rd games should Montana State advance here.

Kansas State has logged back-to-back flat performances, and the Wildcats are just a few weeks removed from a similar stretch in February. MSU gets to the line a ton (9th most free throws per game nationally), and the Bobcats enter the East Region brackets having won 8 consecutive games.

FURMAN +5.5 (-110) vs. Virginia – Thursday, 12:40 p.m.

Furman — the No. 13 seed in the South Region — is a live wire due to the percentage of buckets it gets at the rim and from 3-point range. The Paladins gave tourney-entrant Penn State a game back in November (73-68 loss on Nov. 17). They swept Southern Conference titles in the regular season and circuit tournament, and they enter the Big Dance with a 14-1 record since Jan. 18.

Virginia can struggle offensively and is shooting just 28.4% from distance since Feb. 7. Under coach Tony Bennett, UVA is 7-13 ATS in NCAA Tournament play.

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Six more teams set to go dancing after conference title wins

The NCAA men’s basketball bracket is starting to become more clear.

Six more mid-majors punched their tickets to The Big Dance on Monday and Tuesday after winning their respective conference tournament championship games.

After five teams punched their own tickets over the weekend, Charleston, Furman, Gonzaga, Louisiana, Northern Kentucky, and Oral Roberts clinched their own spots on Monday and Tuesday evenings.

Charleston, Cougars left little doubt this season of how strong of a team they were, going 31-3 on the year, including 16-2 in CAA conference play. The only three games they lost all season were to North Carolina, Hofstra, and Drexel, the latter two coming in back-to-back games. Heading into the NCAA Tournament, Charleston has won each of their last ten games.

Furman, 27-7, was eyed as a team all season that was likely to win their conference and go dancing in March. They completed that prophecy on Monday with a 88-79 win over Chattanooga, using a 50-point second-half effort to fend off the Mocs.  Their trip to the NCAA Tournament will be the program’s first in 43 years, their last appearance coming in 1980. It’s overall the program’s seventh tournament appearance.

Gonzaga, 28-5 one of the country’s top-10 ranked teams, officially earned their auto-bid with a 77-51 win over St. Mary’s; the Bulldogs dominated the first half, leading 37-19 at halftime, and never looked back. The Bulldogs have now made each NCAA Tournament since the 1998-99 season and will likely be a four-seed or higher for the sixth consecutive season.

Louisiana, 26-7, was the No. 2 seed in the Sun Belt Conference tournament defeating Georgia Southern and Texas State before facing off against South Alabama in the tournament’s championship game. After finding themselves trailing 37-33 at halftime, the Ragin’ Cajuns outscored the Jaguars 38-29 over the final 20 minutes before winning 71-66. It’s the program’s 11th trip overall to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and first since 2014.

Northern Kentucky had to outlast Chicago State 63-61, earning their third-ever NCAA Tournament appearance and the first since the 2018-19 season. The Norse went 22-12 this season, including 14-6 in conference play. They’ll look to make it past the Round of 64 for the first time in this year’s tournament.

Finally, Oral Roberts is headed to its second tournament in three years after getting there in 2020-2021. They defeated North Dakota State 92-58 in the Summit League Championship game. The Golden Eagles won 30 games for the first time this season, going 30-4 while running through their conference schedule with an 18-0 record. The last time they got to the Big Dance, they upset No.2 Ohio State and No.7 Florida before narrowly losing to Arkansas in the Sweet Sixteen.

List of auto bids: 

ASUN: Kennesaw State (26-8)

Big South: UNC Asheville (27-7)

Colonial Athletic Association: Charleston (31-3)

Horizon League: Northern Kentucky (22-12)

Missouri Valley: Drake (27-7)

Northeast: Farleigh Dickerson (19-14)

Ohio Valley: Southeast Missouri State (19-16)

Southern: Furman (27-7)

Summit League: Oral Roberts (30-4)

Sunbelt: Louisiana (26-7)

West Coast: Gonzaga (28-5)

Penn State tops Furman in Charleston Classic opener; Hokies up next

Jalen Pickett and Seth Lundy lead Penn State to Charleston Classic win over Furman

After starting the season with three wins at home, Penn State improved to 4-0 with a victory over Furman in the opening game of the 2022 Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic in Charleston, South Carolina. Penn State’s 73-68 win was highlighted by 20-point games from [autotag]Jalen Pickett[/autotag] and [autotag]Seth Lundy[/autotag] as Penn State seized control in the first half and held off a second-half rally by the Paladins.

Furman’s big scoring threat, Mike Bothwell, got his scoring in as expected. Bothwell scored a game-high 26 points for Furman, and Tyrese Hughley contributed 15 points off the bench for the Paladins. But Penn State’s balanced scoring attack by Pickett and Lundy helped give Penn State the edge, and [autotag]Myles Dread[/autotag] adding nine points off the Penn State bench helped, with all of the scoring coming by way of three three-point shots.

Penn State once again hit double-digits for made three-pointers with 11, but Furman did win the battle on the glass by out-rebounding Penn State 40-32, which included a 14-7 advantage with offensive rebounds.

[autotag]Camren Wynter[/autotag] had seven points and three rebounds and three assists. [autotag]Andrew Funk[/autotag] was 2-of-8 on his three-point attempts.

Penn State will face Virginia Tech in the second round of the Charleston Classic on Friday. The Nittany Lions and Hokies will kick off the Friday schedule of the tournament at 12:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Virginia Tech defeated Old Dominion in the second game of the day on Thursday following Penn State’s win.

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Penn State a slight favorite vs. Furman in Charleston Classic

Penn State is a slight favorite against Furman in the Charleston Classic opener according to BetMGM

Penn State men’s basketball is on the road for the first time this season as they take part in this year’s Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic. The first matchup of the extended weekend down in South Carolina will be played Thursday morning against Furman from the Southern Conference.

According to the gameday odds from BetMGM, the Nittany Lions are listed as a 2.5-point favorite. Penn State’s hot start to the season with wins over Winthrop, Loyola, and Butler have been fueled by a mix of good defense and some hot three-point shooting.  Penn State could be in for a bit of a shootout in this one, however, because Furman is averaging just over 90 points per game in their first two games of the season as well.

Here is how to watch Penn State’s game vs. Furman and here is the full Charleston Classic schedule for the weekend.

Here is a look at the odds for Thursday’s Charleston Classic opener.

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Penn State vs. Furman men’s basketball: TV and stream info for Charleston Classic

How to watch Penn State vs. Furman in the opening game of the Charleston Classic on Thursday

Penn State has been successful at home to start the season, but Micah Shrewsberry takes his program on the road for the first time this season to participate in the 2022 Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic this weekend in Charleston, South Carolina. Penn State hopes to add a few good quality wins to their collection of wins as Penn State will be put to the test away from the Bryce Jordan Center all weekend.

Penn State will play in the first game of this extended weekend’s tournament when they tip off against the Furman Paladins of the Southern Conference. Furman is 2-0 to start their season with wins over North Greenville and Belmont. Furman guard Mike Bothwell is coming off a 25-point game in the win over Belmont, so Penn State’s defense knows they have a challenge to deal with to start the weekend tournament.

Here is how to catch the game on TV or live stream in case you can’t be home to catch all of the action during the day. You can also find our link to the full Charleston Classic schedule down below so you can have an idea of when Penn State will be playing on Friday and Sunday as well.