# 2018–19 Furman Paladins men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Furman Paladins men's basketball team represented Furman University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Paladins, led by second-year head coach Bob Richey, played their home games at Timmons Arena in Greenville, South Carolina as members of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 25–8, 13–5 in Socon play to finish in a tie for second place. They defeated Mercer in the quarterfinals of the SoCon tournament before losing in the semifinals to UNC Greensboro. They received an at-large bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to Wichita State. This season was the first team in school history to be ranked in the AP Poll.

## Previous season

The Paladins finished the 2017–18 season 23–10, 13–5 in SoCon play to finish in third place. They defeated Western Carolina in the quarterfinals of the SoCon tournament before losing in the semifinals to East Tennessee State. Despite having 23 wins, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.

## Schedule and results

In its first two road games, Furman had a pair victories over teams that had reached the final four of the 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament: Loyola on November 9 and defending national champion Villanova on November 17. On December 3, 8–0 Furman became ranked in the AP Poll for the first time in school history.
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 6, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Bob Jones | W 102–48 | 1–0 | Timmons Arena (1,054) Greenville, SC |
| November 9, 2018* 7:00 pm, NBCSC | | at Loyola–Chicago | W 60–58 | 2–0 | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (4,963) Chicago, IL |
| November 13, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Gardner–Webb | W 88–86 $^{OT}$ | 3–0 | Timmons Arena (1,104) Greenville, SC |
| November 15, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | North Greenville | W 107–67 | 4–0 | Timmons Arena (1,110) Greenville, SC |
| November 17, 2018* 5:00 pm, FS2 | | at No. 8 Villanova | W 76–68 $^{OT}$ | 5–0 | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| November 21, 2018* 6:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Southern Wesleyan | W 74–57 | 6–0 | Timmons Arena (1,506) Greenville, SC |
| November 25, 2018* 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at UNC Asheville | W 65–51 | 7–0 | Kimmel Arena (2,186) Asheville, NC |
| December 1, 2018 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Western Carolina | W 90–88 $^{2OT}$ | 8–0 (1–0) | Timmons Arena (2,131) Greenville, SC |
| December 4, 2018* 7:00 pm | No. 25 | at Elon | W 98–77 | 9–0 | Schar Center (2,017) Elon, NC |
| December 8, 2018* 4:30 pm, ESPN+ | No. 25 | at USC Upstate | W 74–60 | 10–0 | G. B. Hodge Center (833) Spartanburg, SC |
| December 11, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 23 | Charleston Southern | W 77–69 | 11–0 | Timmons Arena (2,210) Greenville, SC |
| December 15, 2018* 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | No. 23 | UNC Wilmington | W 93–50 | 12–0 | Timmons Arena (2,457) Greenville, SC |
| December 21, 2018* 8:00 pm, SECN+ | No. 24 | at LSU | L 57–75 | 12–1 | Pete Maravich Assembly Center (9,765) Baton Rouge, LA |
| December 29, 2018 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at East Tennessee State | L 56–79 | 12–2 (1–1) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (5,439) Johnson City, TN |
| January 3, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Mercer | W 71–58 | 13–2 (2–1) | Timmons Arena (1,753) Greenville, SC |
| January 5, 2019 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | The Citadel | W 101–85 | 14–2 (3–1) | Timmons Arena (2,462) Greenville, SC |
| January 10, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at VMI | W 89–57 | 15–2 (4–1) | Cameron Hall (700) Lexington, VA |
| January 12, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UNC Greensboro | L 79–89 | 15–3 (4–2) | Greensboro Coliseum (3,157) Greensboro, NC |
| January 19, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Wofford | L 54–59 | 15–4 (4–3) | Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium (3,400) Spartanburg, SC |
| January 24, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Chattanooga | W 73–58 | 16–4 (5–3) | Timmons Arena (1,630) Greenville, SC |
| January 26, 2019 4:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Samford | L 73–75 | 16–5 (5–4) | Timmons Arena (2,300) Greenville, SC |
| January 31, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at The Citadel | W 71–61 | 17–5 (6–4) | McAlister Field House (1,411) Charleston, SC |
| February 2, 2019 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Mercer | W 74–63 | 18–5 (7–4) | Hawkins Arena (3,027) Macon, GA |
| February 7, 2019 4:00 pm | | at Western Carolina | W 64–45 | 19–5 (8–4) | Ramsey Center (2,423) Cullowhee, NC |
| February 9, 2019 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | East Tennessee State | W 91–61 | 20–5 (9–4) | Timmons Arena (2,500) Greenville, SC |
| February 14, 2019 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | UNC Greensboro | W 67–57 | 21–5 (10–4) | Timmons Arena (1,719) Greenville, SC |
| February 16, 2019 4:30 pm | | VMI | W 96–62 | 22–5 (11–4) | Timmons Arena (2,381) Greenville, SC |
| February 23, 2019 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Wofford | L 64–72 | 22–6 (11–5) | Timmons Arena (2,508) Greenville, SC |
| February 28, 2019 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Samford | W 90–81 | 23–6 (12–5) | Pete Hanna Center (1,812) Homewood, AL |
| March 2, 2019 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Chattanooga | W 71–50 | 24–6 (13–5) | McKenzie Arena (3,233) Chattanooga, TN |
| SoCon tournament ||||||
| March 9, 2019 8:30 pm, ESPN+ | (3) | vs. (6) Mercer SoCon Tournament Quarterfinal | W 85–74 | 25–6 | U.S. Cellular Center (2,916) Asheville, NC |
| March 10, 2019 6:30 pm, ESPN+ | (3) | vs. (2) UNC Greensboro SoCon Tournament Semifinal | L 62–66 | 25–7 | U.S. Cellular Center (6,273) Asheville, NC |
| NIT ||||||
| March 20, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | (3) | (6) Wichita State First round – Indiana bracket | L 70–76 | 25–8 | Timmons Arena (2,102) Greenville, SC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||
Source

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 23 | 24 | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | Not released |
| Coaches | | | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | |