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The No. 5 seed South Diego State Aztecs (28-6) will face the No. 13 seed Furman Paladins (28-7) in the second round of the South Region in the NCAA Tournament Saturday.
Making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1980, the Furman Paladins made a big splash Thursday. Trailing 50-38 with 10:54 left in the second half, Furman went on a 19-4 run over the next six and a half minutes to grab a 57-54 lead. Despite the heroic effort, the Paladins down 67-63 with 19 seconds left…and then the magic happened.
After Furman forward Garrett Hien made two free throws with 12 seconds left, Hien also made a steal on a long pass from Virginia guard Kihei Clark. Hien quickly found teammate JP Peagues, who drilled the game-winning three with two seconds to go. It was a complete team effort, led by Jalen Slawson with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Marcus Foster added 14 points, and Mike Bothwell and Peagues bot h had 11. Hien finished with seven points and six boards, but his two assists and one steal were much larger than the box score alone could ever tell you. And as for JP Peagues…he had 17 points in the Southern Conference Championship win that got the Paladins into the NCAA Tournament but went 0 for 7 from three in that game. Peagues was also 0 for 3 from three against Virginia prior to nailing the game-winner. The Paladins were a great example of not giving up and continuing to push and chip away on the way to a historic victory.
ARE YOU SERIOUS?! ??
FURMAN WITH THE STEAL AND 3 TO TAKE THE LEAD WITH 2.2 SECONDS REMAINING #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/fSCNKUzboq
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 16, 2023
During the regular season, Furman finished 11th averaging 82.2 ppg, and 14th shooting 48.6% from the floor. Fifth-year seniors 6'3 guard Mike Bothwell leads the team with 17.8 ppg, and 6'7 Jalen Slawson leads the team with 7.2 rebounds, 1.6 steals, 1.5 blocks, and is second with 15.8 ppg.
After the win, Furman is rated as the 88th-best team in the nation according to KenPom and has faced the 256th-strongest schedule. They are 32nd in adjusted offensive efficiency and 178th in adjusted defensive efficiency.
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