The High Point University men's basketball team takes a trip down to Greenville, South Carolina, for a matchup with Furman on Tuesday night. The match is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Timmons Arena.
Game Info
Saturday, Dec. 5 -- VS Furman (Timmons Arena) 7:00 PM on ESPN+
Live Stats | Watch | Game Notes
Last Time Out
High Point hosted North Florida on Saturday afternoon at the Qubein Center. Taking it down to the wire, the Panthers pushed past the Osprey's in the final minutes of play for the 93-88 victory. The high scoring thriller was led by
Zack Austin who scored a season-high 25 points after going 8-for-14 from the floor. Austin wowed the crowd with three high flying dunks in the second half of action. Four of the Panthers five starters scored in double figures, including
Jaden House with his fifth 20+ game, falling in right behind Austin with 23. As a team, the Panthers shot 48.7% from the field, 28.6% from deep and 76.3% from the line, recording the second highest free throw percentage this season.
Across the Bench
Furman has an overall record of 6-2 and are currently 4-0 at their home stand. The Paladins are coming off an 88-76 win over South Carolina State this past Saturday. In the game against the Bulldogs, Furman had four of their five starters reach double digits in scoring, led by Mike Bothwell, a fifth-year guard and Marcus Foster, a redshirt junior guard, who combined for 32 points. Contributing from the bench, sophomore forward, Alex Williams, scored a career-high 15 points. Sharing the ball, Bothwell handed out six assists while Foster and Slawson each had four. It was widespread across the board for rebounding, led by fifth year senior forward, Jalen Slawson with eight. Overall, the team is led by Bothwell, averaging 19.8 points per game and Slawson on the inside, averaging 15.3 points per game and 7.4 rebounds. Bothwell, a precision shooter, is shooting 55.8% from the field, 36.8% from the three and 90.3% from the line, having only missed three in his 31 attempts.
As a team, Furman is shooting 50.6% from the field, 35.6% from the three-point line and 75.9% from the free throw line, averaging 82.4 points per game. The team averages 35.9rebounds, 8.8 steals and 3.0 blocks. The Paladins also share the ball well, averaging 19.5 assists per game.
Furman is coached by Bob Richey, who enters his sixth season as the head coach for the Paladins. He has guided Furman to an 111-46 record since taking over at the helm, including four straight 20-win seasons.
Panther Notes
Best start to a season in D1 Program History
Through the first eight games of the season, the Panthers are 7-1 overall and 5-0 at the Qubein Center. This records the best start to a men's basketball season since becoming Division I in 1999.
House Leads Big South
Jaden House sits atop the poll for scoring in the Big South, averaging 21.2 points per game.
Brought the Hardware Back to N.C.
After defeating Central Michigan in the first round of the SoCal Challenge Sand Division 68-67, the Panthers took the 77-72 victory over Tennessee State in the Championship game. HPU brought back the surfboard to North Carolina, claiming the Sand Division title in the second year of the SoCal Challenge.
House Makes Lou Henson Award Watch list
Jaden House was named to the Lou Henson National Player of the Year Watch List on Tuesday, November 22nd. The award is presented annually to the top mid-major player in Division I basketball, which honors the former Illinois and New Mexico State head coach who won 775 games in 41 seasons. Henson was the winningest coach at both institutions.
First Mid-American Conference Win
For the first time in program history, HPU defeated a team from the MAC conference. The only other MAC team that High Point has competed against was Western Michigan twice.
House remains in the Top 20 in scoring
Dropping slightly, House's 21.2 points per game keeps him in the top 20 overall in the country in scoring. He currently sits in a tie for 12th.
Thiam's Seven Three's-Third in Program History
In the win over Lees-McRae,
Abdoulaye Thiam punched seven three pointers to sit third in program history in a single game.
House's 30-Piece Records New Career-High
After recording a career-high 23 against the Falcons, House blew that out the water with a 33-point game on Saturday. House shot 66.7% from the field and 91.7% from the line. After Saturday's performance, House stated "We have a lot of guys that can come in and score points, and I guess tonight was just my night."
Back-to-Back Double Digits for House
For the second consecutive game,
Jaden House dropped another 20+ point game. He shot 8-for-10 from the field and 2-for-4 from behind the arc to tab 23 points. Adding to his stats, he collected one offensive rebound, one assist and one steal.
Special Guest Harry Giles III
Winston-Salem native, Harry Giles III made a guest appearance at Monday nights game. The former Duke Blue Devil and NBA 1st round draft pick cheered on the Panthers in their 109-71 victory and mingled with the team after the game.
Thiam Drops 23 in Debut
Abdoulaye Thiam kicked off his High Point career with a bang, dropping 23 points, two rebounds and one assist. The sharpshooter went 8-for-15 from and field and knocked down 3-of-6 shots from behind the arc. The Minnesota transfer wowed the crowd with his high-flying windmill dunk early in the first half. After Saturday's performance Thiam stated " It felt really great because I did not have this opportunity where I was at so having a team that trust in me, that knows what I can do, and just come in and play and allows me to be me, made it a good experience."
Mr. Austin
Zack Austin was named to the Big South Preseason First Team. Following the 2021-22 season, Austin was named the Big South Freshman of the year while also being named to the second team all-conference selection. A key player for the Panthers, Austin started all 32 games and averaged 14.4 points per game, shooting 41.4% from the field. He contributed on the defensive end by averaging 8.0 rebounds per game (1st in Big South) and collecting a team-high 69 blocks (3rd in Big South), averaging just over two per game. Along with blocks, Austin also led the team in steals, picking up 43 for the season (10th in Big South). Within the conference, Austin made the top 10 in seven different statistical categories, including scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage, steals, 3-point field goals made, blocked shots and minutes played.
Non-Conference Play
High Point will play 13 non-conference games in total, seven of them taking place inside the beautiful Qubein Center and the other six occurring on the road. The Panther's farthest trip is to the west coast for the SoCal Challenge in San Juan Capistrano, California.
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