Making a quick turnaround will be key for the Georgia Southern men’s basketball team tonight as the Eagles look to redeem themselves from Thursday’s disappointing home loss to Wofford.
The Terriers snuck up on Georgia Southern and used an outstanding offensive performance (21 of 29) in the second half to hand the Eagles a seven-point loss — their first defeat in Hanner Fieldhouse this season.
“The energy wasn’t there,” GSU senior forward Louis Graham said. “From the bench to the floor — it was like we were in a twilight zone. We were in shock pretty much with what was going on out there. You can’t do that with teams that shoot the ball that well from the 3-point line.”
The Eagles (12-7, 5-3) will need a better effort to knock off a struggling but potentially dangerous Furman team (3-16, 2-8) that’s lost five of its last six games and has only won twice this month (Jan. 3 over Western Carolina and Jan. 19 against Charleston). Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. at Hanner.
Despite their record, the young Paladins have improved since starting the season with 11 straight losses, including a five-point defeat by the Eagles in Greenville, S.C., in late November.
“Watching tape of them, they are a much better team now,” Georgia Southern coach Jeff Price said. “They are starting to come together better as a team, and I expect as the season goes on they’ll continue to do that.”
“They scare me,” Graham said. “They are going to beat somebody, and hopefully it’s not us. You can’t take them for granted because you never know which team is going to show up that night.
“You’ve just got to play your style of basketball and don’t get into what they’re doing.”
The Eagles are hoping to make a learning experience out of the Wofford loss — the first of four GSU games in an eight-day span. After tonight, Georgia Southern hits the road for matchups at Western Carolina on Monday and Chattanooga on Thursday.
“We have 11 more conference games left, so we can’t sit back and dwell on (getting beat by Wofford),” said Graham, who tied his career high with 26 points against the Terriers and has scored at least 20 points in three of the last four games. “We’ve got to move on. You’ve got to have tough skin in this conference. We figured out that you can’t be complacent. You can’t just show up to play. You’ve got to play as a team.”
The Paladins have two players averaging in double figures — freshman guard Justin Dehm (11.5) and junior forward Alex Opacic (10.3). Opacic’s led Furman in scoring in three of the last four games, including two 20-point performances. He scored 12 off the bench against GSU in November.
The Eagles, who’ve dropped two straight, have topped Furman four straight times.
“We’ve got to regroup,” Price said. “We hated to lose (to Wofford). We had a great opportunity and let it get away. Now we’ve got to steal one that maybe we are not supposed to get.”
The Terriers snuck up on Georgia Southern and used an outstanding offensive performance (21 of 29) in the second half to hand the Eagles a seven-point loss — their first defeat in Hanner Fieldhouse this season.
“The energy wasn’t there,” GSU senior forward Louis Graham said. “From the bench to the floor — it was like we were in a twilight zone. We were in shock pretty much with what was going on out there. You can’t do that with teams that shoot the ball that well from the 3-point line.”
The Eagles (12-7, 5-3) will need a better effort to knock off a struggling but potentially dangerous Furman team (3-16, 2-8) that’s lost five of its last six games and has only won twice this month (Jan. 3 over Western Carolina and Jan. 19 against Charleston). Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. at Hanner.
Despite their record, the young Paladins have improved since starting the season with 11 straight losses, including a five-point defeat by the Eagles in Greenville, S.C., in late November.
“Watching tape of them, they are a much better team now,” Georgia Southern coach Jeff Price said. “They are starting to come together better as a team, and I expect as the season goes on they’ll continue to do that.”
“They scare me,” Graham said. “They are going to beat somebody, and hopefully it’s not us. You can’t take them for granted because you never know which team is going to show up that night.
“You’ve just got to play your style of basketball and don’t get into what they’re doing.”
The Eagles are hoping to make a learning experience out of the Wofford loss — the first of four GSU games in an eight-day span. After tonight, Georgia Southern hits the road for matchups at Western Carolina on Monday and Chattanooga on Thursday.
“We have 11 more conference games left, so we can’t sit back and dwell on (getting beat by Wofford),” said Graham, who tied his career high with 26 points against the Terriers and has scored at least 20 points in three of the last four games. “We’ve got to move on. You’ve got to have tough skin in this conference. We figured out that you can’t be complacent. You can’t just show up to play. You’ve got to play as a team.”
The Paladins have two players averaging in double figures — freshman guard Justin Dehm (11.5) and junior forward Alex Opacic (10.3). Opacic’s led Furman in scoring in three of the last four games, including two 20-point performances. He scored 12 off the bench against GSU in November.
The Eagles, who’ve dropped two straight, have topped Furman four straight times.
“We’ve got to regroup,” Price said. “We hated to lose (to Wofford). We had a great opportunity and let it get away. Now we’ve got to steal one that maybe we are not supposed to get.”
