Under the Radar Game of the Day: Furman at VMI

Furman at VMI, 7:00 PM Eastern, ASN/espn3

The battle for the Southern Conference regular season title was supposed to be a two team race between Chattanooga and East Tennessee State.  About a month ago it started to look like it would be a three team battle, as UNC-Greensboro found themselves near the top of the standings with the two preseason favorites.  Now it is the middle of February, just a few weeks away from conference tournament play, and none of those teams are on the top of the conference standings.  Instead, the Furman Paladins, who have won 8 straight games including wins in that stretch over all three other contenders, are in sole possession of first place at 11-2 (18-8 overall).  Tonight, the Paladins play the third of a stretch of 4 games in 7 days when they travel to Lexington, Virginia to take on the VMI Keydets.  Furman has been led during their win streak by Devin Sibley (20 or more points in 4 of his last 6 games) and Kris Acox (three double-doubles in his last 6 games).  With the two of them leading the way, the Paladins appear poised to capture the regular season title for the first time since 1991 and take a shot at their first NCAA Tournament bid since 1980.

VMI enters play tonight with a record of 3-9 in conference play and 6-17 overall.  The Keydets picked up a huge upset win earlier in the season at Chattanooga and are coming off of a home win over rival military academy The Citadel.  Senior QJ Peterson scored a season-high 40 points in the Chattanooga win and had his second best scoring game, 37 points, in the win over The Citadel.  Peterson has the ability to drop 40 or more on just about any team and on any night, and if he explodes that way tonight against the Paladins, the Keydets have a chance to pull off their second major upset of the SoCon season.