Going Dancing: A look at College of Charleston and Furman’s NCAA tournament path

After winning their conference tournaments, the College of Charleston and Furman men’s basketball teams found out their paths for the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.

The tournament begins Thursday at various sites across the country. Here is a look at College of Charleston and Furman’s first-round matchups. The two teams would play each other if they win in the first round.

No. 12 seed College of Charleston vs. No. 5 seed San Diego State

When: 3:10 p.m. Thursday

TV: truTV

Where: Orlando (South region)

How they got here: College of Charleston (31-3) won the Colonial Athletic Association tournament championship by defeating UNC Wilmington, 63-58, last Tuesday. The Cougars’ 31 wins under second-year coach Pat Kelsey are tied with Houston and Florida Atlantic for the most in Division I this year. CofC’s 31 victories are the most since it went Division I and tied with the 1986-87 team for the second most overall.

San Diego State (27-6) won the regular season and Mountain West Conference tournament. This is the Aztecs’ 18th tournament appearance, 15th at the Division I level and 10th in the last 14 years.

College of Charleston and San Diego State have played once before at the 2013 Wooden Legacy. SDSU won, 72-52.

College of Charleston’s tournament history: This is the sixth NCAA Tournament appearance for the Cougars and first one since 2018. The other appearances came in 1994, 1997, 1998 and 1999. College of Charleston is 1-5 all-time in the NCAA tournament with the lone victory coming in 1997 against Maryland, 75-66. College of Charleston’s highest seeding in the tournament came in 1999 when it was a No. 9 seed and lost to No. 8 seed Tulsa, 62-53.

Where is Charleston? The campus is located downtown in the S.C. port city of Charleston. The college was founded in 1770 and is the oldest college in South Carolina.

Cougars Players to Watch: Dalton Bolon leads the team in scoring (12.2) and was a first-team All-CAA selection. Guard Ryan Larson was MVP of the CAA Tournament and leads the team with 4.0 assists per game. Ante Brzovic was all-tournament selection and third-team all-conference. Brzovic averages 11.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.

No. 13 seed Furman vs. No. 4 seed Virginia

When: 12:40 p.m. Thursday

TV: truTV

Where: Orlando (South Region)

How they got here: Furman (27-7) defeated Chattanooga, 88-79, to win the Southern Conference tournament championship. The Paladins lost to Chattanooga the year before in the title game. Furman’s 27 wins under sixth-year coach and Florence native Bob Richey are the most in school history.

Virginia (25-7) won share of ACC regular-season championship and made it to conference tournament championship. This is the Cavaliers’ 25th NCAA Tournament appearance and ninth under coach Tony Bennett. Virginia won the 2019 NCAA Tournament title.

Furman’s tournament history: This is Furman’s seventh NCAA tournament appearance but the first one since 1980. The Paladins made five appearances in the 1970s in the years of 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1978. Furman is 1-7 all-time in NCAA Tournament games.

The Paladins defeated South Carolina in the first round of the 1974 tournament, 75-67, when the event included 32 teams. Furman lost its next game to Pittsburgh, 81-78.

Where is Furman? The campus is located five miles north of the S.C. city of Greenville.

Furman Players to Watch: Former Pinewood Prep standout Jalen Slawson was Southern Conference Player of the Year in voting by the league’s coaches and media. Slawson earned SoCon all-tournament honors and averaged 15.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists this year. Senior Mike Bothwell was a first-team All SoCon selection and leads the team in scoring at 18 points per game. JP Pegues was the Most Outstanding Player in the Southern Conference Tournament.