Furman Travels To USC Upstate For CollegeInsider.Com Postseason Tournament Opener

GREENVILLE, S.C. (Furman SID) — Furman will open play in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) on Thursday, March 16, when it travels to Spartanburg, S.C. to face USC Upstate of the Atlantic-Sun Conference in a 7 p.m. contest at the G.B. Hodge Center.

The CIT first round match-up will mark the first meeting on the hardwood between the Paladins and Spartans. USC Upstate enters tournament play at 17-15 overall and claimed a share of fourth place in the ASUN with a 7-7 league record. The Spartans are led by Michael Buchanan, a seven-foot, 285-pound center, who averaged 16.1 points and 9.5 rebounds per game en route to earning all-conference honors.

The Paladins, who are 21-11 overall and claimed a share of their first Southern Conference regular season title in 26 years with a 14-4 league mark, will be playing in their third CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament and 10th postseason tournament overall. Furman earned five NCAA Tournament bids during the 1970’s and made the program’s sixth and most recent NCAA trip in 1980. In 1991, the Paladins captured a share of the Southern Conference regular season title before earning a bid to the NIT. Furman dropped a 76-63 decision at ETSU in its first CIT appearance during the 2011 campaign.

Last season, Furman earned its first postseason victory in 40 years when it topped Louisiana Monroe, 58-57, in the opening round of the CIT at Timmons Arena on Daniel Fowler’s buzzer-beating putback before falling to Louisiana Lafayette, 80-72, in the second round.

The Paladins are led by SoCon player of the Year Devin Sibley, who averaged 17.7 points per game and second team All-SoCon forward Kris Acox, who contributed 12.7 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.

The 32-team CIT field is made up of non-Power 5 programs, not selected to participate in the NCAA or NIT (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, PAC-12 and SEC teams are not considered). All 31 games are played on campus sites. In an effort to minimize travel and limit missed class time, the CIT uses the old NIT model, with future round opponents determined by results of the previous round, ensuring geographic stability. The 2009 and 2010 tournaments were contested by 16 teams. The 2011 CIT consisted of 24 teams and the field expanded to its current 32-team format in 2012.

Ticket information for Furman’s first round contest will be made available shortly.

2017 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament Schedule
First Round
March 13-15
Second Round
March 17-20
Quarterfinals
March 23-26
Semifinals
March 29 (CBS Sports Network)
Championship
March 31 (CBS Sports Network)