Virginia vs. Furman Game Preview | NCAA Tournament March Madness

The Cavaliers take on the Paladins in the first round on Thursday in Orlando, looking to win their first NCAA Tournament game since 2019

March Madness, the pinnacle of the college basketball season, has officially arrived. After a one-year absence, Virginia is back in the NCAA Tournament as the No. 4 seed in the South Region. The Cavaliers are 25-7, won a share of the ACC regular season title, finished as the runner-up in the ACC Tournament, and will now look to win their first NCAA Tournament game since the run to the 2019 National Championship. Standing in their way is a talented and experienced Furman squad making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 43 years. The Cavaliers and Paladins will meet for just the second time ever in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday afternoon in Orlando. 

Read on for a full preview of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament first round game between No. 4 Virginia and No. 13 Furman, including details on the game, an opponent scouting report, game notes, and keys to the game. 

Game Details

Who: No. 4 Virginia Cavaliers (25-7, 15-5 ACC) vs. No. 13 Furman Paladins (27-7, 15-3 Southern)

When: Thursday, March 16th at 12:40pm ET

Where: Amway Center in Orlando, Florida

How to watch: truTV / March Madness Live

How to stream: fuboTV (Start your free trial)

How to listen: Westwood One/ NCAA Radio: Sirius 134, XM 202 | Virginia Sports Radio Network - click here for affiliates

All-time series: Virginia leads 1-0

Last meeting: Virginia defeated Furman 79-67 on December 8th, 2004 in Charlottesville.  

Opponent Scouting Report: Furman

2022-2023: 27-7

While Virginia is looking for its first NCAA Tournament win in four years, Furman is searching for its first victory in the NCAA Tournament since 1974. The Paladins are in the midst of a historic season, notching a program-record 27 wins, including victories in 14 of the last 15 games and six in a row coming into the NCAA Tournament. Furman beat Chattanooga to win the Southern Conference Tournament and end a 43-year NCAA Tournament drought. 

But make no mistake, Furman has been a program on the rise for the last several years under one of the game's brightest young coaches Bob Richey. At just 39 years old, Richey already boasts a 138-53 record since becoming Furman's head coach in 2017 and he has guided the Paladins to at least 25 wins in each of the last three seasons. Furman would have gone to the NCAA Tournament last year had it not been for a buzzer-beating loss to Chattanooga in the Southern Conference Championship Game. This time around, Furman got its revenge on Chattanooga and now looks to make some noise in the NCAA Tournament, starting with a date with the Cavaliers in the first round. 

Furman is led by the Southern Conference Player of the Year Jalen Slawson. The 6'7" forward has impressive stats across the board: 15.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game. He also shoots 39.4% from three, can create his own shot off the dribble, and is a willing and capable passer. Slawson will be handful for the Virginia defense, which will likely have Jayden Gardner as Slawson's primary defender, depending on the lineup UVA decides to go with for the game. The Cavaliers could also have Ryan Dunn or Armaan Franklin spend some time guarding Slawson. 

The ACC Defensive Player of the Year Reece Beekman will almost assuredly be guarding Mike Bothwell, Furman's leading scorer. The 6'3" guard and First-Team All-Southern Conference selection is averaging 18.0 points and 3.0 assists and shoots 33.8% from beyond the arc on high volume. Bothwell and Slawson are the veteran leaders of this group, as both are fifth-year seniors. Together, they have won 115 games in their careers at Furman, a program record. 

Joining Bothwell in the backcourt is 6'1" sophomore guard JP Pegues, who will likely be guarded by Kihei Clark. Bothwell averages 12.0 points and 4.0 assists and shoots 34.9% from three. He is coming off of a string of stellar performances last week which earned him the nod as the Southern Conference Tournament's Most Outstanding Player. How well Virginia can neutralize these three leading scorers - with Beekman on Bothwell, Clark on Pegues, and some combination of defenders on Slawson - will be a key factor in this game. If the Cavaliers can hold these players in check and force Furman's supporting cast to make plays, then they'll be in good shape. 

Rounding out the starting five is Marcus Foster, a 6'4" junior guard averaging 10.6 points and shooting 36.4% from three, and 6'9" junior forward Garrett Hien, who averages 8.0 points and shoots 36.6% from three. 

Furman has a deep bench with nine active players averaging at least ten minutes per game. Both Alex Williams and Tyrese Hughey are lengthy and athletic wing players who can come in and hit an open three. 6'7" freshman forward Ben VanderWal gives Furman depth in the front court, shooting 74.5% on two-point field goals, while 6'3" sophomore Carter Whitt, a Wake Forest transfer, provides another option in the backcourt. 

Furman's strength is in its offense, which is efficient and unselfish. The Paladins have excellent shot selection, taking mostly high-percentage shots close the rim and a ton of three-pointers. Furman is an average three-point shooting team by percentage at 34.7%, but ranks 11th in the NCAA in attempted threes per game (27.5) and 20th in the country with 9.5 made three-pointers per contest. The Paladins aren't afraid to let it fly from deep and they'll take advantage of any window presented to them by opposing defenses.

Furman counters its high volume of three-point attempts by only settling for high-percentage looks around the rim on two-point shots. The Paladins rank No. 1 in all of college basketball in two-point field goal percentage at 60.1%. They rank 18th in overall field goal percentage at 48.3% and 19th in field goals per game at 28.8. A little over 17 of those 28 made field goals per game are assisted, showing Furman's willingness to share the ball. All of this produces a top ten offense in the NCAA, averaging 82.1 points per game, which ranks 8th in the country.

Furman's defense is average at best, ranking 186th in KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency rating, so the Paladins have gotten by this season by simply outscoring their opponents in shootout after shootout. In a game played a drastically slower pace than what Furman is accustomed to playing, it will be interesting to see how the Paladins handle and adjust to the contrast in styles. On one end of the court, it will be strength on strength as the high-octane Furman offense tries to break down the strong UVA defense. On the other end, though, the question will be if the Cavaliers can consistently make their shots against a vulnerable Furman defense. 

Game Notes

• Virginia won the only previous matchup against Furman, a 79-67 victory for the Cavaliers on December 8th, 2004 at University Hall.
• Virginia is making its 25th appearance in the NCAA Tournament in program history, ninth under Tony Bennett, and first since 2021.
• The Cavaliers are seeking their first NCAA Tournament win since winning the 2019 National Championship
• UVA holds a 35-23 all-time record in NCAA Tournament games. 
• Virginia is 4-3 as a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
• UVA is 13-7 in eight appearances in the NCAA Tournament under Tony Bennett.

Keys to the Game

Furman

For Furman, the key will be to make the Virginia offense earn its baskets, not giving up any easy looks around the rim on backdoor cuts. Team have found success defending the Cavaliers by forcing them into being a jump-shooting team. UVA occasionally has games where those shots go down, most recently in the ACC semifinals against Clemson, but more often than not lately, the Cavaliers have been unable to consistently hit enough jumpers to bury their opponents, especially from beyond the arc. With the way Furman can score, it won't take a Herculean defensive effort from for the Paladins to keep pace on the scoreboard. 

On offense, it's pivotal that Furman not get frustrated by Virginia's defense. The Paladins haven't faced a defense quite like UVA's before and the experience of facing the Pack Line Defense and Virginia's deliberate play style can be disorienting, resulting in poor shot selection and turnovers. With the veteran experience Furman has on the roster, expect players like Jalen Slawson and Mike Bothwell to settle things down and make a tough shot if and when Virginia gets the Furman offense stuck in a rut. 

Virginia

For Virginia, limiting Mike Bothwell and Jalen Slawson is crucial. Those players are too talented to be held out of the box score completely, but they are the engine to the Furman offense, so if Reece Beekman and company can prevent them from getting into a rhythm offensively, the Paladins will be much less effective on that end of the floor. 

UVA needs to get off to a strong start on the offensive end. With the way Furman can hit shots, a sluggish start to the game on offense could cause Virginia to fall behind. This season and throughout the Tony Bennett era, the Cavaliers have struggled to come from behind due to their pace of play, so they can't afford to dig themselves an early hole. Furman's offense is too good to be entirely suffocated by the UVA defense, so the Hoos will have to show they can execute offensively against a susceptible Furman defense. 

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