NCAAB Game Recap - Wofford at East Tennessee State
Mon Mar 9, 2020 7:00 PM EDT

Del
61
Hof
75
F
ORU
69
NDSU
75
F
IL-C
73
WriSt
56
F
Woff
58
ETSU
72
F
USF
77
Gonz
81
F
WIGB
69
NoKY
80
F
StMar
51
BYU
50
F
UL
81
GaSo
82
F
Mia-O
85
Buff
79
F
E MI
76
Kent
86
F
CoCar
65
App
70
F
Elon
60
NE
68
F
IPFW
56
UND
73
F
W MI
73
Toled
76
F
CenMI
65
Ohio
85
F

Mar 9, 2020, 7:00 PM EDT

Final

1

2

T

(7) Wofford

31

27

58

(1) East Tennessee State

36

36

72

ETSU defeats upset-minded Wofford 72-58 to win SoCon title
Mon Mar 9, 2020 10:00 PM

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) Isaiah Tisdale said he had a dream that East Tennessee State was going to win the Southern Conference Tournament.

That dream was realized on Monday night.

Tisdale scored 24 points and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player as top-seeded ETSU defeated upset-minded Wofford 72-58 to win the SoCon Tournament and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

"You have to dream it to believe it," Tisdale said with a wide smile.

Tray Boyd added 11 points for the Bucs, who become only the fourth team in conference history to win 30 games. It will be ETSU's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2017.

"Thirty wins, I'm not sure where we stand in East Tennessee State history, but if there is a Mount Rushmore this team is on it," said ETSU coach Steve Forbes.

Seventh-seeded Wofford (19-16) was looking to become the first SoCon team since Clemson in 1939 to win four games to capture the conference tournament title after beating The Citadel, Furman and Chattanooga to reach the finals. The Terriers entered the tournament having lost their final seven regular season games, but found some magic in Asheville with an impressive tournament run.

But Wofford seemed to wear down in the second half, falling behind by 15 when Jeromy Rodriguez scored an a spinning drive with four minutes remaining.

"We ran out of gas late," said Wofford coach Jay McAuley. "Our legs started to look a little tired and you could see it in our shots."

Said Wofford point guard Storm Murphy: "The shots weren't falling in the second half, but I think ETSU had something to do with that."

Chevez Goodwin had 18 points on 8-of-8 shooting from the field to lead Wofford. He said "a lot of people painted us as Cinderellas," but that the Terriers expected to come in and win the tournament and defend their title.

ETSU shot 9 of 21 from 3-point range; Wofford was just 6 of 25.

Tisdale came in averaging just 8.8 points per game but had 16 points at halftime, helping the Bucs build a 36-31 lead. Tisdale did most of his damage with strong drives to the hole that got him to the free throw line, where he made 10 of 11 foul shots.

"It's a different guy every night with this group," Forbes said. "Isaiah was phenomenal. He willed us to win."

Leading 40-38 early in the second half, the Bucs went on a 16-4 tear to break the game open. Patrick Good and Joe Hugley hit back-to-back 3s for ETSU to provide a huge spark while Wofford hit a dry spell.

The Terriers hung in early behind the scrappy play of point guard Storm Murphy, who hit big shots and found teammates for open looks. Murphy finished with nine points and five assists, but his hustle set the tone for the Terriers, who bounced back from an early 11-2 deficit to stay in the game in the first half.

BIG PICTURE

Wofford: Had won five of the last 10 SoCon Tournament titles under former coach Mike Young, but couldn't quite finish under McAuley despite an impressive tournament run. This was Wofford's first ever loss in the SoCon title game. This team is extremely scrappy and plays with tremendous heart but just appeared to run out of gas in the second half. They will return several key players including Goodwin, Murphy and Tray Hollwell, all of whom are juniors.

ETSU: The Bucs are a 30-win team, so they shouldn't be considered an easy out in the NCAAs by any stretch of the imagination. They have the speed, height and shooting to compete with some quality teams in the tournament. "There is a good chance that team is going to be playing for a while" in the NCAA Tournament, McAuley said.

UP NEXT

Wofford: Will wait to hear if they receive an invite to the National Invitation Tournament.

ETSU: Will await word on their seed in the NCAA Tournament.

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More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://www.twitter.com/AP-Top25

Leaders

Wofford PTS +/- AST REB ST BLK
C. Goodwin 18 0 0 5 0 1
T. Hollowell 13 0 1 3 1 0
East Tennessee State PTS +/- AST REB ST BLK
I. Tisdale 24 0 1 0 0 0
T. Boyd III 11 0 3 2 0 0

Team Comparison

Woff ETSU
Points For 58 72
Field Goals 23/53-43% 23/47-49%
Three Pointers 6/25-24% 9/21-43%
Free Throws 6/11-55% 17/19-89%
Offensive Rebounds 9 8
Defensive Rebounds 18 24
Rebounds 30 37
Blocks 2 2
Steals 6 4
Turnovers 11 13
Personal Fouls 18 16
Technical Fouls 0 0
Ejections 0 0

2019-20 Reg Season - ETSU Leads Series 3-0

Date Result Away Pts Ldr Home Pts Ldr
Wed Jan 1 Woff 48 @ ETSU 49 M. Jones 18 P. Good 12
Wed Feb 26 ETSU 60 @ Woff 54 T. Boyd III 16 M. Jones 19
Mon Mar 9 Woff 58 @ ETSU 72 C. Goodwin 18 I. Tisdale 24

Game Information

Stadium: Harrah's Cherokee Center, Asheville, North Carolina
Attendance: 6,400
Game Time: