It is nice to log a win on the road, especially against last year's Cinderella team from the NCAA tourney. There are a few caution lights flashing however. Furman won that game without playing well offensively. FU sandwiched a great start and a tough, gritty finish around a terrible middle of the game in which they blew a 15 point lead by going scoreless for over 6 minutes while Loyola reeled off 20 straight. The Dins had 17 turnovers for the game with most of them coming during this segment. Both teams shot poorly from the field ( under 40%). Furman shot about 25% of 3 point tries and Loyola incredibly shot 15% from behind the line. Loyola also only made 60 % of their free throws. Rafferty was able to take advantage of their plodding big man very well. He is one of the best passing big men I have seen lately. It was his pass to Mounce's back door cut that led to the winning dunk. Good job by both of them. It is nice to get a win against a team with name recognition but it is clear that although Loyola had a magical year last year, it is not a big time program. However, they are likely not as bad as they played last night. Hopefully, Furman's defensive effort played a part in that. Offensively, we need to shoot much better and likely will, make better shot selections and take much better care of the basketball. It is nice to get off to a good start.
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