SoCon Semifinals Preview

No. 1N East Tennessee State vs. No. 2S Davidson
Tim Smith and company look to keep their dream rolling of getting back to the NCAA Tournament as they take on Davidson in the semi-finals of the SoCon Tournament. While Smith, the point guard, is the leader of the team, Zakee Wadood is probably the most talented. The 2003-2004 SoCon Player of the Year scored 25 points against the Wildcats in a 75-70 victory for ETSU in their only meeting of the season. Matt McKillop led Davidson with 19 points. A key match-up in this game will be Smith matching up with Brendan Winters. On paper it appears that ETSU has too much talent for Davidson to overtake.

No. 1S Georgia Southern vs. No. 2N Tennessee-Chattanooga
Tennessee-Chattanooga looks to return to the SoCon Championship game for the second straight year, but first must get through Georgia Southern, a team they lost to at home earlier this season. The Eagles jumped out to a 15-point halftime lead and held all 5 of the Chattanooga starters to single digits in points. The one player they could not contain was Alphonso Pugh who led all scorers with 27 points. It was Pugh who pushed forward the Mocs in their Quarterfinal victory over Charleston. In the early-season match-up with UTC, Frank Bennett had a career-high 26 points. Georgia Southern should have fresher legs, having played earlier and going relatively untested against Wofford.